NESCAC

[ECSUalum]

WRT the LEC, I would start to watch UM Boston as contending for the future, (see my NE post), if they can continue to recruit the Portuguese/other, (Cape Verde Island/other) international players to the team and play a more disciplined game.  Not sure ECSU can ever compete with NESCAC w/o recruiting some top scorers of the caliber of Max Fantle, (their D has always been above average), but we will see.  BTW, Maxim Fantle will be assisting Coach DeVito this year.
Don't know what has happened to Keene St, they have really dropped out of being a competitive side, but, as Mr Right states above, can be a pain in the butt at home.

Yeah I remember Brandeis having problems with Keene St. a couple of years back – eventually winning 2-1 on a somewhat fluky goal, but having been given a run for their money.

UMass-Boston is definitely one to watch, but I think their two biggest issues last year were their players' temperament and composure. They were on a tear last year before getting tripped up at a very average Babson, and while they went on to win the conference title they made an uneventful exit from NCAAs (amidst a player controversy). That said, if they can get those issues together and bring in some solid recruits, I think we may well be talking about them in the same vein as Gordon, etc. about being ready to make that next step to New England powerhouse (while UMB might have more talent, I think Gordon is a much more established program at this point).

ECSUalum, I should have mentioned that ECSU always puts up a good test against the NESCACs – I think my brain was tired by the end of the post, and so just did a quick summary of the other conferences I could think of.

No problem Blooter, your analysis was excellent!!

[amh63]

FYI.....Amherst just announced the hiring of two new assistant coaches.....details on Amherst soccer website.  It is interesting to note that one new assistant is a 2016 graduate of Bates and a former player on the soccer team...the women's team.

[blooter442]

FYI.....Amherst just announced the hiring of two new assistant coaches.....details on Amherst soccer website.  It is interesting to note that one new assistant is a 2016 graduate of Bates and a former player on the soccer team...the women's team.

I say good for her! Looks like she has a lot of great experience that could lend itself to coaching with SAAC involvement, etc.

The other hire has links to D3 soccer as well - Matt Travis, son of Emory coach Sonny Travis.

[Mr.Right]

I will give Serpone some credit with his assistants. It seems like every off season one of his assistants is getting hired to be a Head Coach. I am guessing maybe 4-5 the last 5 years....That is very impressive.

[Off Pitch]

Prediction 2016
1.  Middlebury - senior-laden team bests Amherst early at home and also has Tufts at home
2.  Amherst - too much talent
3.  Williams - played well at times in '15 after a slow start, will be better still in '16
4.  Tufts - must reload after losing five starters
5.  Bowdoin - will finish 5th or 6th then win conference tourney
6.  Trinity - young team on the upswing
7.  Conn
8.  Wesleyan
9.  Bates
10. Hamilton
11. Colby

[PaulNewman]

Looks like a lot of early money on Middlebury, not only to take the NESCAC but also to be a prime threat for the national title.

Definitely a high risk, high reward pick. I'm going the other way with a hunch that they will disappoint, and with the view that last year was their year to shine which didn't pan out due to a combination of blowing it and getting screwed.  I think they would have been a tough out had they made the tourney last year.  Obviously could do it this year but all of the good NESCAC teams are very familiar with how to deal with the two big guns up top.

I expect this to be one of best NESCAC seasons since I've been paying attention. Tufts is here to stay and Williams will come back. Amherst will be a load to handle with the pressure finally off of them and even with the high profile graduations. And Wesleyan is due to take over the Bowdoin role sooner or later.

Tufts
Amherst
Williams
Wesleyan
Midd
Conn Coll
Trinity
Bowdoin
Colby
Bates
Hamilton

In case my picks got too buried at end of last page...

[Nutmeg]

Prediction 2016
1.  Middlebury - senior-laden team bests Amherst early at home and also has Tufts at home
2.  Amherst - too much talent
3.  Williams - played well at times in '15 after a slow start, will be better still in '16
4.  Tufts - must reload after losing five starters
5.  Bowdoin - will finish 5th or 6th then win conference tourney
6.  Trinity - young team on the upswing
7.  Conn
8.  Wesleyan
9.  Bates
10. Hamilton
11. Colby

p

I like this but would probably switch Tufts and Williams. Much parity given the loss of Tufts and Amherst studs to graduation. Rashid needs to step up this year...

[blooter442]

Regular Season Prediction 2016

1. Middlebury - Senior talent puts them slightly above Amherst for me. Don't know if they'll win conference title, but I'd say they'll make NCAAs and go to the Sweet 16 at the very least and probably Elite 8.
2. Amherst - Bull and NPL losses are huge, as well as that of Singer, but they still bring back the majority of their spine. We will see. I'd give them Elite 8 given their tourney know-how.
3. Tufts - While there are skeptics (including myself for a bit) I actually think Tufts will be relatively strong this year, as they bring back their GK, 2 CBs, Majumder, etc. Still, losing 2/3 CMs, Brown, et al will hurt. NCAAs possible.
4. Bowdoin - Graduated a bit of talent this past year, including a huge defensive loss in Odulate, but Van Siclen will keep them in games and they can score goals when they need to.
5. Williams - They have been "soft" the last couple of years, but we saw glimpses of what they can do. Rashid being back is huge, although I don't think he's the same player since the injury. Could surprise.
6. Wesleyan - Cowie-Haskell and Martinez-Paiz have to be the two best hyphenated last names in the NESCAC this year. They'll spring a few surprises, and could well finish higher than 6th.
7. Trinity - We all know of their "Jekyll and Hyde" status, but their talent puts them at the halfway point of the rankings over other teams.
8. Conn - Devlin is primed to have a good year, but not sure that his teammates are on his level. Would love to be proved wrong, as I have always enjoyed Conn.
9. Bates - My dark horse pick. They have a decent squad of players coming back and some talent in Knoth/Merchant/Murphy/Watson, but I am hesitant to put them higher. Could surprise.
10. Hamilton - Just barely above Colby. Not a ton of goals and not super solid defensively either.
11. Colby - 11 total goals scored last year. Beating Williams for the first time in a while had to do some good for confidence, but the rest of the season was lackluster.

[Mr.Right]

Bloots has been talking up Bates as his sleeper Nescac pic( by that I mean a top 8) and I will continue to talk up Trinity as my sleeper pick(by that a top 6).

For Trinity to accomplish this they need to so a couple of things.

1, Their Junior and Senior leaders MUST get these guys focused and ready to go in pre-pre season( by this I mean Captain's practice. NO la-de-da go for a 2 mile run and drink the night away. They must focus as players as this is one of Head Coach Pilger's weaknesses. i.e getting his team up for games against weaker competition.

2. Come back to pre-season in the best fitness shape as possible. This team has 3-4 very good players and the rest are all interchangeable as Pilger will give everyone minutes and substitutes freely.

3. Pilger needs to get a SET starting 11 and stick to it. Far to often he mixes things up and I get the feeling players do not know where they stand all the time.

4. Pilger is one of the best coaches in Nescac at drawing up and practicing set pieces. Trinity always catches opponents napping in the Fiinal 3rd on set pieces. So keep this up.

5. THEY MUST have solid GK'ing. GK mistakes can devastate a team like Trinity as they tend to snowball into field players giving up. A great example was last year in the Nescac quarters last year against Midd at Midd. They were 0-0 20 minutes in and had some chances to sneak a goal but did not, GK made a couple mistakes and Trinity gave up in the 2nd Half and finished their season getting trashed by Midd 5-0.

6/ MUST MUST start the season off strong. Only 6 games in September is good news and their first 7 games look like this.

at Rivier------Cakewalk win
at Williams----A win here would be such a lift but a draw will work. Fight hard here and catch Williams off guard in there 1st game and an unsure team.
v Conn--------Always a heated battle but a 1-0 win or a draw will work in this one.
at Hamilton----MUST MUST get a win here. They are a more talented team but Hamilton can be tricky at home. A loss here will devastate morale.
at Endicott----Typical Pilger scheduling bungle as he schedules this on the Monday after a 5 hour Hamilton trip..Winnable game here if focused.
v Colby--------Get a quick goal and you will win this game. Colby has nothing up front. Keep Colby at 0-0 by the 70th minute and your looking at a useless draw
v Bares--------Could be some goals in this game but Bates should have some heavy legs with 8-9 games in September and a couple back to backs already.


So in 7 games they really need to go 5-1-1. At the very least in those 5 conference games they really need at least 3 wins there.

If this team plays the way they did against Amherst last year they are a top 4 side.

[Off Pitch]

Trinity will be improved this year but may be a year away from the level of their 2008-9 and 2011 "High Five City" teams.

[EasyGoer27]

1) Amherst- You are King until your not.  Owen will be an excellent replacement for Bull.  Drop off will be less than expected.  Fix, Nguyen go box to box with a year under their belt. Khan and Murray can fly.  Might surprise and be a better team on the ground.  Defense always solid. Reload indeed.
2) Tufts- Once again the players coming off the bench should fit the system well.  They will be hard to breakdown- they simply will not give up the ball.  Majumder will get a basket of goals slipping between the CB's with the high possession.  Shapiro's last two classes were excellent and you will see them step up this year.  Dogfight to the end with Amherst.
3) Middlebury- Same crew that was robbed a birth last year.  With their style they can be shut down if opposition has a few large pacey players at the back/holding.  Will absolutely beat up on less physical teams.  The boys up in Middlebury claim last two classes are best of Saward tenure.  Only a tic behind top two but I think they will loose a tight game or two on style and that will cost them.
3a) Conn- Very underrated.  Speed all over the field.  Devlin is a superior player. You could see in stretches where they were dominate last year.  With a year of playing together........Leon might lead the league in goals.  Murphy's year.
5) Williams-Rashid back is huge.  They failed to finish off games last year, never quite seemed organized at the back.  If they can improve that they can beat anyone.  One of the top offensive players injured.  Fyke (top recruit) also gone.  Still have enough up top to work the ball.  Team seemed to not have identity last year, play over the top or keep the ball, changed game by game.  It's all on the back.
6) Bowdoin- Excellent coach but a middling roster.  They will play tight but it seems they are often outplayed and get a result.  No idea about quality of last year's class or incoming.  Maybe Scott starts to make the team "his". 
7) Trinity- Can bang a bit, Cody tough as nails. Very tough box to box and when "on" can give possession teams fits with high pressure.   Do they play hard every game?  If they do move up a spot or two.
8) Wesleyan- Nothing wrong with what they do but they just seem to play a tic slower than the other possession teams.  Very organized, well coached, Gooden should make an impact this year to go along with  Paiz and Haskell. 
The gap between the top eight spots very tight in my eyes, then a gap to:
9) Hamilton-  The outgoing class was top heavy.  They lost top recruit to transfer.  Played very well for stretches with underclassmen.  Played Amherst, Williams even for a half, beat Tufts and Trinity in OT.  Back line needs to tighten up after league last goals against.  If no improvement at back drop to last.
10) Colby- Pretty decent back line. Cam can cover box to box with anyone.  A lot of young players logged minutes, let's see if those minutes cause next step...
11 Bates- Fiesty, scrappy bit of skill and pace up top but I've always felt just getting by....

Reading what I'm about to post some points seem negative, not meant to be.  We are comparing teams in what most believe is the toughest conference in the county.  Even bottom three compete anywhere else.......

[oldonionbag]

Well -- it's been quite a while since I posted on d3boards, but happy to be back! I was perusing Hero and Massey rankings and came across an article with Shapiro's preview for the 2016 season: http://herosports.com/news/ncaa-d3-mens-soccer/tufts-mens-soccer-2016-preview?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=D3MSoccer. Enjoy. Can't wait for the season - the past several years have been the most exciting NESCAC seasons I can remember (of course, two national champion teams help)!

[oldonionbag]

And would you look at that -- Hero sports really stepping up their game! It looks like Hero is previewing its preseason top-25 teams. See below - looks like these all came out on August 17. Apologies if someone has already posted this.

Wesleyan: http://herosports.com/news/ncaa-d3-mens-soccer/wesleyan-mens-soccer-2016-preview

Williams: http://herosports.com/news/ncaa-d3-mens-soccer/williams-mens-soccer-2016-preview

Bowdoin: http://herosports.com/news/ncaa-d3-mens-soccer/bowdoin-mens-soccer-2016-preview

[Flying Weasel]

Looks like Hero Sports has previews for the top 27 men's and top 33 women's teams in their pre-season rankings, and likely more to come.  Not sure how that one guy is cranking out so many, but more power to him.  Granted most are pretty basic and simple (and who knows how insightful they really are), but if they can be trusted, they can quickly give a sense of what a team has returning.  Hero is also doing pre-season All-Americans.  Hero is trying to do some nice things.  My impression in past seasons (which could be wrong) is that they still don't have someone that knows and loves Division III soccer which has always seemed to be the case with the different sites that start covering Division I and then try to expand down into Division II and III.  For example, someone might want to tell Hero Sports that their second ranked conference in men's soccer, WIAC, stopped sponsoring men's soccer last season, while also mentioning that the Commonwealth and Freedom should be treated as separate conferences not a single Middle Atlantic Conference and that the logo they are showing for the Middle Atlantic Conference is actually that of the Division I Mid-American Conference.

[Mr.Right]

I must say that is a good effort by hero Sports to do these previews. The best part are the coaches interviews giving us more knowledgeable Nescac people an insight to what each coach is thinking before the season begins. Also, a great way to solidify what newcomers will have the most impact compared to what we know about some of them.