NESCAC

[amh63]

Amherst website posted that Amherst will host the sectional.  Lycoming, Brandeis and Trinity University will join Amherst....on the Hitchcock grass pitch.  Hope I got that correct.
Someone posted earlier that maybe the case.  Brandeis vs Trinity....both ranked higher than Amherst presently.

[Corazon]

Tufts with a great comeback yesterday and looked dangerous on the turf. Back to the grass at Kenyon.

I also just found out this Seton Hall Prep Stud committed to Tufts this summer. More Jersey roots / connections for Shapiro. This kid is going to be a good one in Nescac.

http://leagueathletics.com/Page.asp?n=55813&org=fccopa.com

Interesting. There's also a kid headed to Williams. Mr. Right, have you heard anything about him?

[FamilyFriend]

High time Serpone and the Amherst boys perform. Look to see it happen this year. GK and 4 year starter Bull is has big game experience and looked in the zone against Morrisville, going to be tough to beat the potential D3 shutout record holder on his pitch.

[Mr.Right]

Tufts with a great comeback yesterday and looked dangerous on the turf. Back to the grass at Kenyon.

I also just found out this Seton Hall Prep Stud committed to Tufts this summer. More Jersey roots / connections for Shapiro. This kid is going to be a good one in Nescac.

http://leagueathletics.com/Page.asp?n=55813&org=fccopa.com

Interesting. There's also a kid headed to Williams. Mr. Right, have you heard anything about him?

He is not a difference maker.

[nescac1]

Mr. Right, what do you think of Sullivan as a recruiter, generally, based on early results?

[Mr.Right]

Well we do not know yet. This will be Sullivan's 1st class at Williams. I have no idea who has committed yet but we will not know until next season what type of player he will bring in. This year's frosh were Russo's last class and I believe it will turn out to be a very good class. Fyke, Andreau, MacDonald are all good technical frisky players which should of seen more time this year IMO. If Rashid comes back then the only true loss will be Danilack. Everyone else is replaceable. This team needs field leaders badly and I certainly am having a hard time seeing that in next year's seniors. Like I said before they better pick their captains wisely. Personally, the only captain material I am seeing on this roster is GK Alcorn and that can be tricky as GK's are sometimes not the best captains even if he is the best leader.

[nescac1]

Gotcha.  Agree that Rashid coming back is key, with him and everyone else back on offense and hopefully some additions, they could be pretty dynamic up front, lots of quickness.  Need to clean up the late-game goals surrendered and Danilack is a big hole and D was hit-or-miss at times, so hopefully some good defenders coming in.  He does have Chris Fleischer coming in at MF who was Gatorade POY in D.C.  as a junior, but hard to know what to make of those awards at times.  Sometimes leaders are made, not born, so perhaps a few surprising figures will step to the forefront.  Also after a year as coach Sullivan has now had a chance to place his stamp on the team, always tough in the first year following a legend. 

[Nutmeg]

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.

Wouldn't be surprised if Tufts comes out technical with someone off bench with technical skill on the MSU turf. Big physical backs will either foul or get beat by that. Tufts been good on corners and set pieces so the fouls would benefit them. Looking for a sleeper off the bench and a dominant showing by them against both opponents this weekend then it is off to Ohio for the Kenyon leg and sweet 16.

Troll, you called that one!

[Nutmeg]

How would one describe Kenyon's style or type of play?

[Brother Flounder]

How would one describe Kenyon's style or type of play?

Wingtips or NCAC would probably know this....

[Shooter McGavin]

Amherst website posted that Amherst will host the sectional.  Lycoming, Brandeis and Trinity University will join Amherst....on the Hitchcock grass pitch.  Hope I got that correct.
Someone posted earlier that maybe the case.  Brandeis vs Trinity....both ranked higher than Amherst presently.

Ranked higher in the polls that aren't the NCAA...all the teams that got byes are hosting...why do you think they got byes? It's cuz they are the top 3 seeds in the committee's perspective. It would be contradictory to have Amherst get a bye then have say Brandeis host? Trinity wouldn't host because that would mean 3 teams flying rather than just 1 in Trinity flying to Mass.

[PaulNewman]

How would one describe Kenyon's style or type of play?

Wingtips or NCAC would probably know this....

We are in the quiet period.

Honestly, a homer fan is not the best person to get impressions from IMO.  Sort of like it's easier to know what someone else's issue are than your own.  Perceptions of one's own team often can be distorted.  The views of an opponent or neutral fan would likely be more credible.  I've also ironically seen Tufts LIVE exactly 1 more more time than I've seen Kenyon this year (zero).

In that vein, I may offer my thoughts on how to defeat Tufts at some point later today.

[Domino1195]

How would one describe Kenyon's style or type of play?

Wingtips or NCAC would probably know this....

We are in the quiet period.

Honestly, a homer fan is not the best person to get impressions from IMO.  Sort of like it's easier to know what someone else's issue are than your own.  Perceptions of one's own team often can be distorted.  The views of an opponent or neutral fan would likely be more credible.  I've also ironically seen Tufts LIVE exactly 1 more more time than I've seen Kenyon this year (zero).

In that vein, I may offer my thoughts on how to defeat Tufts at some point later today.

Saw both games this weekend and the earlier game versus Marietta. As I said after the Marietta game: when the front two lines stay connected they play the game beautifully. There were questions early on about replacing all four backs, for the most part Kenyon's backs have performed well.

Saturday's game was a test of patience as Westminster parked the bus and waited for a counter. I was hanging on the fence at the attacking end second half -the cross from Barnes was 10 feet in front of me. You did hear a little dissention among the Kenyon players - to be expected given Westminster's tactics.

Sunday's game against Chicago was not their finest moment. #11 (I was told he was UAA Newcomer of the Year) had his way against Kenyon's left back - creating multiple scoring chances. Chicago really should have had 3 goals min in the first half. Unfortunately a hard studs-in tackle(a foul was called) on #11's ankle hobbled him for the rest of the half. He did not start the second, came in and left within minutes 2nd half - tried to retape his ankle - did not return. That injury and the concussion suffered by #2 took two starters out for Chicago. Should be noted that all but 2 starters return for them and they have some good recruits coming - a very highly rated player from Cincinnati.

Just before Kenyon scored - Amolo got the ball in his half and was one on three - I said aloud," You better foul him now!" I repeated this twice - moments later they got the trying goal. The Chicago fans looked at me - I smiled and said - " I was trying to tell you what was going to happen!"

If you give Kenyon space - especially Amolo - they will hurt you. If you force them to play possession in their attacking end you may find success with counters. We saw that pacy wingers can get by the outside backs - and we saw that Kenyon is not opposed to hard fouls.

[blooter442]

We are in the quiet period.

Honestly, a homer fan is not the best person to get impressions from IMO.  Sort of like it's easier to know what someone else's issue are than your own.  Perceptions of one's own team often can be distorted.  The views of an opponent or neutral fan would likely be more credible.  I've also ironically seen Tufts LIVE exactly 1 more more time than I've seen Kenyon this year (zero).

In that vein, I may offer my thoughts on how to defeat Tufts at some point later today.

As Domino posted, I'll offer one to the contrary - about how to play Tufts. NCAC, I have been meaning to do this for a while, so apologies if I take some of your material, but having seen Tufts live twice and online several other times I thought I would provide a guide to their strengths and weaknesses. For the record, I am a complete neutral in this one, so this is no attempt to "out" Tufts - just conveying things that are there on the pitch for all to see.

Strengths:

Passing. Jason Kayne is one of the best central midfielders in Division III. I would easily put him top three. He's a two-way player who can defend just as well as he can attack, and he can thread a ball through the eye of a needle. Though his counterparts Pinheiro and Halliday are also very good, Kayne is a class above and makes everything look easy, most notably his passing. Aside from Kayne, Tufts is very good at passing the ball, from front to back, and Greenwood's distribution is excellent. Keeping them out of their rhythm is key.

Set Pieces: Do not give Tufts set pieces. They have excellent delivery, whether from Patel or Pinheiro, and they have weapons to get on the end of it like Sullivan, Coleman, and Majumder. Sullivan and Coleman are not even in the same class defensively as Williams and Lee-Kramer were, but they both can attack the ball very well. Three of Tufts' five goals this weekend came from attacking set pieces, so that should tell you enough.

Wing Play: Connor Brown isn't quite on the same level as Gus Santos was, but he is still an excellent winger. Between him and the Tufts fullbacks, they're very good at getting down the side and either putting in crosses or taking a shot.

Weaknesses:

Defending Set Pieces: I've said a million times that Scott Greenwood is an excellent goalkeeper in terms of shot-stopping, but that he is not nearly good enough on dead balls. But it's not just him - Sullivan and Coleman are good at attacking set pieces, but they don't seem to be on the same level in terms of clearing them out. This is completely anecdotal, but the only times I've seen Tufts especially vulnerable defensively is when they're defending a corner kick or free kick.

They Over-Complicate Things (esp. finishing): Tufts is the NESCAC's best example of a possession side, and they play some great stuff. But sometimes they make one passes too many, or try to take the perfect shot when a simple effort (e.g. Connor Brown's screamer vs. MSU) would do.  Also, Majumder has a tendency to drop too deep and too wide at times for a central striker, and while I know it's part of Tufts' play to have the striker hold up the ball, sometimes there's no one there in the box to finish chances.

Based on what I've seen of Kenyon, Tufts and Kenyon seem to be very similar teams in that they both possess excellent players on both sides of the ball, and are both very good in terms of "team defense" and going forward. The key for Kenyon will be to keep Tufts from getting set pieces and disrupt Tufts' rhythm, as they are incredibly dangerous when they build up a head of steam. Brandeis did an excellent job of this when the two teams played earlier this year, breaking up Tufts' midfield play despite the fact that they dominated possession and kept them from having any clear-cut opportunities. That is another key - if Tufts gets a good chance, more often than not they will finish it (of course, there was the Bates game when the Tufts players couldn't hit a barn door if they tried, but that was an anomaly), so keeping them out of those positions is important, too.

[Brother Flounder]

We are in the quiet period.

Honestly, a homer fan is not the best person to get impressions from IMO.  Sort of like it's easier to know what someone else's issue are than your own.  Perceptions of one's own team often can be distorted.  The views of an opponent or neutral fan would likely be more credible.  I've also ironically seen Tufts LIVE exactly 1 more more time than I've seen Kenyon this year (zero).

In that vein, I may offer my thoughts on how to defeat Tufts at some point later today.

As Domino posted, I'll offer one to the contrary - about how to play Tufts. NCAC, I have been meaning to do this for a while, so apologies if I take some of your material, but having seen Tufts live twice and online several other times I thought I would provide a guide to their strengths and weaknesses. For the record, I am a complete neutral in this one, so this is no attempt to "out" Tufts - just conveying things that are there on the pitch for all to see.

Strengths:

Passing. Jason Kayne is one of the best central midfielders in Division III. I would easily put him top three. He's a two-way player who can defend just as well as he can attack, and he can thread a ball through the eye of a needle. Though his counterparts Pinheiro and Halliday are also very good, Kayne is a class above and makes everything look easy, most notably his passing. Aside from Kayne, Tufts is very good at passing the ball, from front to back, and Greenwood's distribution is excellent. Keeping them out of their rhythm is key.

Set Pieces: Do not give Tufts set pieces. They have excellent delivery, whether from Patel or Pinheiro, and they have weapons to get on the end of it like Sullivan, Coleman, and Majumder. Sullivan and Coleman are not even in the same class defensively as Williams and Lee-Kramer were, but they both can attack the ball very well. Three of Tufts' five goals this weekend came from attacking set pieces, so that should tell you enough.

Wing Play: Connor Brown isn't quite on the same level as Gus Santos was, but he is still an excellent winger. Between him and the Tufts fullbacks, they're very good at getting down the side and either putting in crosses or taking a shot.

Weaknesses:

Defending Set Pieces: I've said a million times that Scott Greenwood is an excellent goalkeeper in terms of shot-stopping, but that he is not nearly good enough on dead balls. But it's not just him - Sullivan and Coleman are good at attacking set pieces, but they don't seem to be on the same level in terms of clearing them out. This is completely anecdotal, but the only times I've seen Tufts especially vulnerable defensively is when they're defending a corner kick or free kick.

They Over-Complicate Things (esp. finishing): Tufts is the NESCAC's best example of a possession side, and they play some great stuff. But sometimes they make one passes too many, or try to take the perfect shot when a simple effort (e.g. Connor Brown's screamer vs. MSU) would do.  Also, Majumder has a tendency to drop too deep and too wide at times for a central striker, and while I know it's part of Tufts' play to have the striker hold up the ball, sometimes there's no one there in the box to finish chances.

Based on what I've seen of Kenyon, Tufts and Kenyon seem to be very similar teams in that they both possess excellent players on both sides of the ball, and are both very good in terms of "team defense" and going forward. The key for Kenyon will be to keep Tufts from getting set pieces and disrupt Tufts' rhythm, as they are incredibly dangerous when they build up a head of steam. Brandeis did an excellent job of this when the two teams played earlier this year, breaking up Tufts' midfield play despite the fact that they dominated possession and kept them from having any clear-cut opportunities. That is another key - if Tufts gets a good chance, more often than not they will finish it (of course, there was the Bates game when the Tufts players couldn't hit a barn door if they tried, but that was an anomaly), so keeping them out of those positions is important, too.

Excellent analysis BLOOTS!    I would add one intangible.  Many players on Tufts played in the final four and championship game last year.  Not so with Kenyon.  So, there is the outstanding issue of how a team will handle the pressure....