NESCAC

[Mr.Right]

Exactly...Without Majumder Tufts will have to play Dexter Eichorst up top who has Size and that is it. He lacks any kind of creativity and is unable to create anything for himself. It will be an absolute struggle for Tufts.

[blooter442]

Interesting... did he receive a straight red or a double yellow? If it was a straight red, what was it for? I completely missed that game.

Two yellows; not sure.

Exactly...Without Majumder Tufts will have to play Dexter Eichorst up top who has Size and that is it. He lacks any kind of creativity and is unable to create anything for himself. It will be an absolute struggle for Tufts.

I totally forgot about that. Yup, that will be a problem. Eichhorst is a lacrosse player and I watched him up top a few times, not even on the same planet as Majumder.

Maybe they'll put Connor Brown up top instead? Becherano? Both are wide players IIRC but still better than Eichhorst methinks.

[Brother Flounder]

Exactly...Without Majumder Tufts will have to play Dexter Eichorst up top who has Size and that is it. He lacks any kind of creativity and is unable to create anything for himself. It will be an absolute struggle for Tufts.

Maybe Brown or Kayne???

[Mr.Right]

There is no way they would take Kayne out of midfield and Brown would get eaten alive by bigger more physical CB's. There is no reason to panic and move everyone around. They will have to keep things in place and hope to get a goal somehow.

[dacac]

Glad to see Odulate won POY. Best defender in the league in my opinion. No sensational strikers this season and a few great midfielders (Devlin & Kayne) who aren't goal scorers... so why not give it to the best defender.

Leon is a very deserving ROY.

Regarding COY - It's pretty hard to argue Serpone isn't the most deserving in terms of his team's performance, but clearly the voters (coaches) are making a statement that there is more to being a great coach than winning percentage.

[blooter442]

Odulate is a good selection. Personally would have gone for NPL, but as you said the best defender in the league hands-down.

Looks like the only time Serpone did win COY was in 2013. And while I can understand giving it to Shapiro last year, Russo in 2012, Pilger in 2011 (Trinity was NESCAC finalists), and O'Leary in 2010, this year is different. What those years have in common is that you could make a case in each of those years that there was a deserving recipient other than Serpone, but this year going 14-0-1 through the regular season and guiding his team to the No. 1 rank made Serpone the absolute clear favorite and the most deserving in terms of objective criteria, especially in a year where the rest of the NESCAC is a bit down in terms of Amherst being the absolute clear-as-daylight favorite. But as dacac says, there's clearly something else that's going into it - of all the years he's been in the running, and except for the year that he won it, he's had valid challengers beat him out, but this was the year that he was the absolute clear-as-daylight favorite but didn't get it. This year makes it obvious, if it wasn't already, that some feathers have been ruffled.

[12SNoon]

Glad to see Odulate won POY. Best defender in the league in my opinion. No sensational strikers this season and a few great midfielders (Devlin & Kayne) who aren't goal scorers... so why not give it to the best defender.

Leon is a very deserving ROY.

Regarding COY - It's pretty hard to argue Serpone isn't the most deserving in terms of his team's performance, but clearly the voters (coaches) are making a statement that there is more to being a great coach than winning percentage.

This has been clear for quite some time now.

Serpone has steered an Amherst team to a 1st round NCAA bye with only two 1st-team and one 2nd-team NESCAC players. Shouldn't that make him one of the best coaches ever, of all time?

Odulate is a really good defender, but the fact that nobody on these boards picked him to win POY speaks volumes. How many posters picked NPL? Most of you, because he was the league's best player, hands down.

[NEsoccerfan]

Odulate is a good selection. Personally would have gone for NPL, but as you said the best defender in the league hands-down.

Looks like the only time Serpone did win COY was in 2013. And while I can understand giving it to Shapiro last year, Russo in 2012, and Pilger in 2011 (Trinity was NESCAC finalists), and O'Leary won it in 2010, this year is different. What those years have in common is that you could make a case in each of those years that there was a deserving recipient other than Serpone, but this year going 14-0-1 through the regular season and guiding his team to the No. 1 rank made Serpone the absolute clear favorite and the most deserving in terms of objective criteria, especially in a year where the rest of the NESCAC is a bit down in terms of Amherst being the absolute clear-as-daylight favorite. But as dacac says, there's clearly something else that's going into it - of all the years he's been in the running, and except for the year that he won it, he's had valid challengers beat him out, but this was the year that he was the absolute clear-as-daylight favorite but didn't get it. This year makes it obvious, if it wasn't already, that some feathers have been ruffled.

Looks like this ruffling trickled down to the players as well, as Amherst only had 3 players make all-conference compared to middlebury's 5 and Tufts 4. Seems pretty silly IMHO.

[Bucket]

Serpone has steered an Amherst team to a 1st round NCAA bye with only two 1st-team and one 2nd-team NESCAC players. Shouldn't that make him one of the best coaches ever, of all time?

Yes, best ever. He's on the odds-on favorite to replace Klinsmann if the US struggles in early qualifying.

[Brother Flounder]

Glad to see Odulate won POY. Best defender in the league in my opinion. No sensational strikers this season and a few great midfielders (Devlin & Kayne) who aren't goal scorers... so why not give it to the best defender.

Leon is a very deserving ROY.

Regarding COY - It's pretty hard to argue Serpone isn't the most deserving in terms of his team's performance, but clearly the voters (coaches) are making a statement that there is more to being a great coach than winning percentage.

This has been clear for quite some time now.

Serpone has steered an Amherst team to a 1st round NCAA bye with only two 1st-team and one 2nd-team NESCAC players. Shouldn't that make him one of the best coaches ever, of all time?

Odulate is a really good defender, but the fact that nobody on these boards picked him to win POY speaks volumes. How many posters picked NPL? Most of you, because he was the league's best player, hands down.

Yes, I think most think NPL would be deserving, and picked him because they thought the voters like goals.   People also stated that Kayne would be a good pick.  You cannot take away from Odulate.  I would have had no qualms with any of the 3 winning.  Yes, if they voted before the tourney, people thought Serpone would win.  I bet if Amherst won out he would have. 

[Brother Flounder]

Serpone has steered an Amherst team to a 1st round NCAA bye with only two 1st-team and one 2nd-team NESCAC players. Shouldn't that make him one of the best coaches ever, of all time?

Yes, best ever. He's on the odds-on favorite to replace Klinsmann if the US struggles in early qualifying.

that's pretty funny....  Humor is a good way to battle sour grapes....

[Bucket]

Serpone has steered an Amherst team to a 1st round NCAA bye with only two 1st-team and one 2nd-team NESCAC players. Shouldn't that make him one of the best coaches ever, of all time?

Yes, best ever. He's on the odds-on favorite to replace Klinsmann if the US struggles in early qualifying.

that's pretty funny....  Humor is a good way to battle sour grapes....

I try. 

[GabWirz]

It really bothers me that Nico did not win player of the year.  He is quite obviously the best player in the NESCAC and on top of the ridiculous skill, physicality, and general effectiveness he has exhibited each game this season, he also has the best stat line in the league to back it up (11 goals and 4 assists).  While these awards should be taken with a grain of salt, they do mean something, and it really is too bad that 30 years down the road Nico will not have a NESCAC POY award to look back upon.   I am somewhat embarrassed for the NESCAC coaches who voted in Odulate over Nico because it shows not only a huge bias but also an inability to evaluate talent (which might be why Serpone is such a superior recruiter to his NESCAC counterparts).  At first I thought Amherst had a recruiting edge because Serpone worked hard and had Amherst's academic reputation working in his favor, but now I am really starting to wonder if it actually has to do with the fact that many NESCAC coaches watch games and genuinely think, "Oh that kid Nico who just scored 3 goals against us in 20 minutes,  one of which was a bicycle kick, is not as good as that solid defender we played against last week".  People always criticize Amherst for a so-called inability to play soccer, but I am really starting to question who knows what about the game and whether the guys who didn't pick Nico are the same guys who try and argue that Hazard is better than Messi.  I am not trying to badmouth Odulate here.  I just think Nico is THAT good.

[blooter442]

It really bothers me that Nico did not win player of the year.  He is quite obviously the best player in the NESCAC and on top of the ridiculous skill, physicality, and general effectiveness he has exhibited each game this season, he also has the best stat line in the league to back it up (11 goals and 4 assists).  While these awards should be taken with a grain of salt, they do mean something, and it really is too bad that 30 years down the road Nico will not have a NESCAC POY award to look back upon.   I am somewhat embarrassed for the NESCAC coaches who voted in Odulate over Nico because it shows not only a huge bias but also an inability to evaluate talent (which might be why Serpone is such a superior recruiter to his NESCAC counterparts).  At first I thought Amherst had a recruiting edge because Serpone worked hard and had Amherst's academic reputation working in his favor, but now I am really starting to wonder if it actually has to do with the fact that many NESCAC coaches watch games and genuinely think, "Oh that kid Nico who just scored 3 goals against us in 20 minutes,  one of which was a bicycle kick, is not as good as that solid defender we played against last week".  People always criticize Amherst for a so-called inability to play soccer, but I am really starting to question who knows what about the game and whether the guys who didn't pick Nico are the same guys who try and argue that Hazard is better than Messi.  I am not trying to badmouth Odulate here.  I just think Nico is THAT good.

Yeah I have to say that despite me saying that Odulate was a good pick, and I'll stand by that as he's the best defender in the conference in my book, NPL was my pick hands-down. And the fact that he has 11 goals from the wing - many of them important and many of them spectacular - makes him the standout player in the league. There was a bit of a clamor that he didn't win it last year, and I think he had a strong case, but he was absolutely the best for me this year. Just my 2¢

[Brother Flounder]

It really bothers me that Nico did not win player of the year.  He is quite obviously the best player in the NESCAC and on top of the ridiculous skill, physicality, and general effectiveness he has exhibited each game this season, he also has the best stat line in the league to back it up (11 goals and 4 assists).  While these awards should be taken with a grain of salt, they do mean something, and it really is too bad that 30 years down the road Nico will not have a NESCAC POY award to look back upon.   I am somewhat embarrassed for the NESCAC coaches who voted in Odulate over Nico because it shows not only a huge bias but also an inability to evaluate talent (which might be why Serpone is such a superior recruiter to his NESCAC counterparts).  At first I thought Amherst had a recruiting edge because Serpone worked hard and had Amherst's academic reputation working in his favor, but now I am really starting to wonder if it actually has to do with the fact that many NESCAC coaches watch games and genuinely think, "Oh that kid Nico who just scored 3 goals against us in 20 minutes,  one of which was a bicycle kick, is not as good as that solid defender we played against last week".  People always criticize Amherst for a so-called inability to play soccer, but I am really starting to question who knows what about the game and whether the guys who didn't pick Nico are the same guys who try and argue that Hazard is better than Messi.  I am not trying to badmouth Odulate here.  I just think Nico is THAT good.

I know NCAC will "rag" me but they haven't won an NCAA Championship (team names withheld) so you can't rag on the other coaches who have in the NESCAC.  They must have some ability to recruit.  I stated that Nico would have been a good choice. The same with Kayne and Odulate.  Nico knows how to play the game.  No question.