NESCAC

[All NESCAC]

Amherst wins the National Title 2-1 over Loras!  Great night for the CAC as Williams won the women's Title.
Second straight year that Nescac teams have won.

Congratulations Amherst Men and Williams Women. GO NESCAC!

[SoccerTroll]

Big congrats to Amherst. Nice to see NESCAC showing itself as the premier D3 soccer conference. Don't agree Bull more than a great D3 goalie. He needs to hold on to more shots and be a tiny bit more agile to be National team considered. Not trying to take away from his great skill and props for winning Championship, just need to temper his accolades to the realm in which he plays. Yea being 6'5" helps, but I have seen big guys who are lights out agile, fast, smart and don't drop anything and they are National team material. Must say I was not impressed by his 1970's throwback mustache. Well done Lord Jeffs. Go NESCAC.

[FamilyFriend]

Soccer troll living up to his name. Congrats to Amherst and d3 shutout record holder Tom bull.

[letsGOswans!]

Good possibility Amherst might repeat the feat next year. Their whole defense (besides Bull) and midfield return. If they can find a few people to pick up the goal scoring burden Pascual-Leone and Singer take with them then they should be set for a great season. This championship would not have been possible without many unsung heroes (Bean, Ciambella, Orozco, etc...) Keep an eye out for the freshman Nguyen because the kid is a great player and will only improve.

Can't wait for next season.

[stlawus]

Bull on the national team?  I hope we're being sarcastic here.  The current GK pool is set for a very long time. 

[firstplaceloser]

the chances of USMNT looking at any D3 player is very rare. he is good but there is at least 10 D1 keepers better than him. he should probably start with PDL and see how it goes there

[stlawus]

There are tons of DI keepers that are better in combination with the pool that is already around.  Hamid and Sean Johnson are 2 of the best keepers in MLS, and Cody Cropper is only 22 playing in the English Championship, as well as Charlie Horton. 

[FamilyFriend]

A .940~ save percentage deserves some respect. He will get the chance to prove his ability on the professional level and from there certain assumptions on here will either be nixed or verified. Personally think he has what it takes to make it at the top level of US soccer.

[firstplaceloser]

A .940~ save percentage deserves some respect. He will get the chance to prove his ability on the professional level and from there certain assumptions on here will either be nixed or verified. Personally think he has what it takes to make it at the top level of US soccer.

it's a .940 at the D3 level my friend. he needs to see how he does at the PDL level first before national team is brought up. he's an above average D3 goalie.

I'm not taking away any respect the kid just won a national championship

[blooter442]

The best keeper in D3? In my mind, absolutely. But despite his stature, Bull isn't quite as quick or agile (read: athletic) as top D1 keepers.

Hey, a D3 athlete dominating national competition has been done before, like track 800m runner Nick Symmonds did, but still unlikely.

On another note: Lewiston (ME) high school senior Abdi Shariff-Hassan was recently profiled in a Press Herald article. The kid is good - athletic, skilled, and an excellent leader. One of those kids that you could see sliding into a college XI while he was still in high school. The article stated that "Shariff-Hassan is being recruited by top academic schools from all three divisions, McGraw said, including Dartmouth, Swarthmore, Bates, Colby, Vermont, New Haven and Southern New Hampshire." While he could go for Bates given the hometown connection with Lewiston, I would have a hard time believing that he would pass up the chance to play for Dartmouth, and Bates isn't exactly a D3 soccer hotbed, so I couldn't really see him going there if a more legit program was truly interested. Thoughts?

[lastguyoffthebench]

Bull's shutout percentage seems more of a direct result of defend first team mentality...  He only had to make 73 saves in 21 games.  In 2014 his save percentage was only 78% (16 GA, 57 SVs).    His ceiling is probably mid-tier USL, and will likely end up in NASL... He's got the frame and leg strength, but his athleticism is not MLS worthy.  It's not like he was AA all four years...  NSCAA 2nd team in 2013 and 3rd team in 2015...  Zero times AA for d3soccer.com. 

Bull's save percentage of .936 is 10th all time, just ahead of another National Champion, Brian Bush ('07 Middlebury).  Bush had 87 saves, 6 GA in 20 games in comparison to Bull's 73 saves, 5 GA, 21 games.

Why has he not played PDL during the summer?

Amherst GK Leonard Kovacs had 32 shutouts in 74 games...  Where is he these days? 

[Mr.Right]

Kovacs thought he was god's gift to GK'ing. Opponents could not stand him. He would wind up opposing teams crowds, wave to players he stuffed...Just a complete nightmare.

[Brother Flounder]

Congrats to Amherst!!! Back to Back NESCAC.... Next year Middlebury to make a CAC 3 peat?

[Nutmeg]

Yes, well done Amherst!  Middlebury was slighted this year so maybe they get there revenge next year.

[Mr.Right]

The best keeper in D3? In my mind, absolutely. But despite his stature, Bull isn't quite as quick or agile (read: athletic) as top D1 keepers.

Hey, a D3 athlete dominating national competition has been done before, like track 800m runner Nick Symmonds did, but still unlikely.

On another note: Lewiston (ME) high school senior Abdi Shariff-Hassan was recently profiled in a Press Herald article. The kid is good - athletic, skilled, and an excellent leader. One of those kids that you could see sliding into a college XI while he was still in high school. The article stated that "Shariff-Hassan is being recruited by top academic schools from all three divisions, McGraw said, including Dartmouth, Swarthmore, Bates, Colby, Vermont, New Haven and Southern New Hampshire." While he could go for Bates given the hometown connection with Lewiston, I would have a hard time believing that he would pass up the chance to play for Dartmouth, and Bates isn't exactly a D3 soccer hotbed, so I couldn't really see him going there if a more legit program was truly interested. Thoughts?

This is interesting, can u send a link to the article? Off topic I was wondering when the flux of Somali refugees that came to Lewiston at the turn of the century would actually help the soccer community up there. Also, it is past ED time so if he was hot on Dartmouth's list then he would already be heading there. My total guess is he would be fringe at Dartmouth and Bates most likely has to be pushing hard. I have never seen such a strange mix of schools that someone would be applying to. They all are very different in so many ways. usually kids clump a bunch of the same school together and maybe have one wildcard that they apply to.