NESCAC

[Mr.Right]

No idea if Ocel is injured but Brandeis is a totally different team with him. Don't know why Flahive didn't play but even though he is not a traditional CF he usually does well enough to get a goal when he plays up top.

Vieira got the winner last year, so he'll be up for it, I'm sure. I think Brandeis usually takes around a 10-day break at some point in the season; however, last year they went from the Tufts game right into Carnegie the following weekend, so no break then. Then again, IIRC, last year I'm pretty sure they took 9 days off between the WashU game and the next game on the calendar, so perhaps the break is just happening earlier in the year this year.

lol..Vieira is always UP for every game..That is the best part about the kid. He works so hard and is non-stop pressing and moving. Fun to watch

[blooter442]

lol..Vieira is always UP for every game..That is the best part about the kid. He works so hard and is non-stop pressing and moving. Fun to watch

You are RIGHT...pun intended haha. I was at the Brandeis-Haverford game standing by the goal when Brandeis was attacking first half, and Vieira busted down the left wing and put in a cross only for no one to be in the box...he goes "GET IN THERE! WHAT THE HELL?!" Miskin scored a few minutes later so it was a moot point, but it was pretty funny, and epitomizes his drive.

[NewEngland]

Middlebury 1 - Bowdoin 0
Hamilton 0 - Conn 2
Bates 1 - Wesleyan 2
Trinity 3 - Colby 1
Amherst 2 - Williams 2

[Once_A_Metro_Always_A_Red]

For your weekly CLASSY move of the week.......Word has it Amherst and Serpone have scheduled a 10-15 minute honoring of its 2015 National Championship RIGHT before kick-off against Williams tomorrow almost forcing Williams players to stand there and watch.   1. I have never heard of a team doing an "honoring" of a championship the next season. IMHO I believe Serpone is loving the opportunity to STICK it to their rivals. He has been known for mind games before like forcing SLU to switch benches in an NCAA game on their home field because Amherst was the "home" team. This type of honoring will do 1 of 3 things....1. Pump Williams UP to stick it to Amherst.   2. Instill a little fear into Williams, reminding them they are playing the National Champions. 3. NO Impact...With these bitter rivals I am guessing their will be some kind of mental impact somewhere...

Your reminder that Serpone bears a creepy and uncanny resemblance to Voldemort

[Jump4Joy]

Raising the championship banner at the next season's first home game is standard practice for teams from high school right through the pros. Are all those other teams in the history of sport classless? Bruins? Pats? Sox? Celts?

[rudy]

Raising the championship banner at the next season's first home game is standard practice for teams from high school right through the pros. Are all those other teams in the history of sport classless? Bruins? Pats? Sox? Celts?

Have to agree with you. Nothing wrong with doing this at first home game.

[PaulNewman]

The 1972 theft of a gold medal by Russia over the USA in men's bball courtesy of the officials relived on the pitch at Trinity today.  With under a minute in 2nd OT ref gives Colby a second throw-in attempt after Trinity had cleared the first one and this time Colby scored to win it.  Great road win for the Mules.  Trinity already struggling mightily takes a loss they could not afford.

Amherst closes out Williams 4-2 after Williams came back from a 2-0 deficit to draw even at 2-2.  I'm sure commentators who were at the game will chime in later.

Bates enjoys an almost routine 2-0 win over Wesleyan.  The Cardinals may have a tough time bouncing back from this one.

And Hamilton is now 3-0 in the NESCAC after beating a Devlin-less Conn Coll squad.

Almost forgot.  Midd gets by Bowdoin 2-1 in OT on a PK.  Not convinced Midd is more than a round of 32 or at most Sweet 16 team especially considering the teams they would likely face at those stages.

[1970s NESCAC Player]

The 1972 theft of a gold medal by Russia over the USA in men's bball courtesy of the officials relived on the pitch at Trinity today.  With under a minute in 2nd OT ref gives Colby a second throw-in attempt after Trinity had cleared the first one and this time Colby scored to win it.  Great road win for the Mules.  Trinity already struggling mightily takes a loss they could not afford.

Amherst closes out Williams 4-2 after Williams came back from a 2-0 deficit to draw even at 2-2.  I'm sure commentators who were at the game will chime in later.

Bates enjoys an almost routine 2-0 win over Wesleyan.  The Cardinals may have a tough time bouncing back from this one.

And Hamilton is now 3-0 in the NESCAC after beating a Devlin-less Conn Coll squad.

Almost forgot.  Midd gets by Bowdoin 2-1 in OT on a PK.  Not convinced Midd is more than a round of 32 or at most Sweet 16 team especially considering the teams they would likely face at those stages.

NCAC, I went back to watch the end of the Colby-Trinity game. Before the first throw, the ref walked out of the screen to the right (towards midfield), perhaps to speak to one of the benches or to the official's table.  Whatever, it was clear that although the players were playing, time was out.  In fact, the assistant ref directly in front of the camera was looking across the field during the first throw and never even looked at the play. Then, the ref walked back into the action, and the re-throw ensued.  Obviously, Trinity feels hard done, but if the ball had gone in while time was out, Colby would have complained mightily about the goal not counting. 

With Conn's loss at Hamilton, tomorrow's Colby-Conn clash could decide which team remains in the playoff race.

Wesleyan looked horrible at Bates.  Something is wrong with the Cardinals. With their last two results, Bates looks like they are figuring things out.

I was impressed by Hamilton.  They had the better of the play while I watched.  This looks like the best team they've had in 7-8 years, when they were a contender in the Liberty League.

Williams looks like they will struggle with big athletic teams.

[PaulNewman]

70sNP, thanks for the explanation.  I have no stake at all in that one but watching on video and seeing events unfold was pretty stunning.

[1970s NESCAC Player]

70sNP, thanks for the explanation.  I have no stake at all in that one but watching on video and seeing events unfold was pretty stunning.

I agree that the way it unfolded on the video was stunning. That's why I re-viewed, hoping to see something that I missed in real time.  I hope to be at the Conn-Colby game tomorrow, and may get a better explanation.  Hopefully that ending will not decide which team makes or misses the playoffs.

[Once_A_Metro_Always_A_Red]

The 1972 theft of a gold medal by Russia over the USA in men's bball courtesy of the officials relived on the pitch at Trinity today.  With under a minute in 2nd OT ref gives Colby a second throw-in attempt after Trinity had cleared the first one and this time Colby scored to win it.  Great road win for the Mules.  Trinity already struggling mightily takes a loss they could not afford.

Amherst closes out Williams 4-2 after Williams came back from a 2-0 deficit to draw even at 2-2.  I'm sure commentators who were at the game will chime in later.

Bates enjoys an almost routine 2-0 win over Wesleyan.  The Cardinals may have a tough time bouncing back from this one.

And Hamilton is now 3-0 in the NESCAC after beating a Devlin-less Conn Coll squad.

Almost forgot.  Midd gets by Bowdoin 2-1 in OT on a PK.  Not convinced Midd is more than a round of 32 or at most Sweet 16 team especially considering the teams they would likely face at those stages.

NCAC, I went back to watch the end of the Colby-Trinity game. Before the first throw, the ref walked out of the screen to the right (towards midfield), perhaps to speak to one of the benches or to the official's table.  Whatever, it was clear that although the players were playing, time was out.  In fact, the assistant ref directly in front of the camera was looking across the field during the first throw and never even looked at the play. Then, the ref walked back into the action, and the re-throw ensued.  Obviously, Trinity feels hard done, but if the ball had gone in while time was out, Colby would have complained mightily about the goal not counting. 

With Conn's loss at Hamilton, tomorrow's Colby-Conn clash could decide which team remains in the playoff race.

Wesleyan looked horrible at Bates.  Something is wrong with the Cardinals. With their last two results, Bates looks like they are figuring things out.

I was impressed by Hamilton.  They had the better of the play while I watched.  This looks like the best team they've had in 7-8 years, when they were a contender in the Liberty League.

Williams looks like they will struggle with big athletic teams.

I agree with a lot of this.

Nice to see Hamilton start to make the jump, but let's see where they are after they go through the tough part of their schedule.

Conn-Colby game will be big. I'm not ready to give up on Conn, I think there is a decent team there; they were competitive vs. Middlebury and ought to have gotten a result off them.

I think Wesleyan struggled missing Cowie-Haskell for almost the whole game and Komar for another game. They are probably the team's most dangerous attacking players.
That being said, this team - and this program - seems lost. They lack identity. The program seems devoid of any overarching culture or identity. And on the field, there's no real tactical identity for teams to contend with, or for Wesleyan to hang it's hat on when the going gets tough. Don't remember the last time Wesleyan didn't make the tournament, but I wouldn't rule it out. They rarely troubled Bates, whofound plenty of space behind Wesleyan's defense.

*Was going to write something about Bowdoin and Middlebury tying, and then I realized that's not what happened. Weird*

Hot Take: I think Williams plays the best soccer in the conference. They are composed on the ball and endeavor to keep the ball on the ground. They have the ability to play precise, right combinations in the final 3rd and move fairly well off the ball. Plus, they have Rashid -- that helps. But, as Amherst has shown year after year, all the great soccer in the world can be crushed by ruthlessly executed anti-soccer. I don't know how Williams overcomes that. Even though I think Amherst is plenty beatable, they're King of the Hill until someone comes and knocks 'em off.

[blooter442]

Brandeis-Tufts about to go to 2OT. A relatively even, well-fought game in which both sides have created some decent chances without really opening things up. The Judges bossed the first half and had a shot cleared off the line in the first half, while the Jumbos came into the game in the second and only a great save from Woodhouse denied Rojas. Finely poised.

[blooter442]

Tufts takes it with less than a minute left in 2OT 1-0 through Zazzali. That's a tough one to take for Brandeis, who loses its second 2OT game of the year. Judges need to learn to close games out better - losing with less than a minute left in 2OT is really, really poor game management.

[PaulNewman]

Brandeis kid made a decision to go with a big slide and didn't come up with ball allowing Braun (thought Rojas at first as both big tall kids) to make a play to the end line and find a player for an open net.  Superb play by Braun in a big moment.  And will be tough for Brandeis who has their chances and from what I saw was mostly controlling the two OTs.

As a neutral a very exciting, intense game even on video.  Like a Sweet 16 game.  Would love to hear about the atmosphere in person.

[Nutmeg]

Tufts takes it with less than a minute left in 2OT 1-0 through Zazzali. That's a tough one to take for Brandeis, who loses its second 2OT game of the year. Judges need to learn to close games out better - losing with less than a minute left in 2OT is really, really poor game management.

Good analysis, Bloots. Great game that either side could have won. Jumbos still without Majumbder. The win was good for the young teams confidence. Both teams showed big hearts in the game and the crowd was very into the game. Nice pass by the big guy, Braun...