NESCAC

[Off Pitch]

Streak week predictions:

Middlebury 1 - Tufts 1      Middlebury has not scored against Tufts since 2011 and has not beaten them since 2010.  One streak ends tomorrow and one continues.

Colby 0 - Wesleyan 1         Colby has not scored a goal against Wesleyan since 2009 and has not beaten them since 1978.

Bowdoin 2 - Trinity 1      The home team has not lost this match-up since 2009

Bates 0 - Conn 2               The home team has not lost this game since 2009.  That streak likely ends tomorrow, but the Camels can't get caught looking ahead to Tuesday's tilt with Amherst.

Amherst 3 - Hamilton 1     The first place Continentals have never beaten Amherst since joining the NESCAC.

Streak update:
Middlebury has still not scored against Tufts since 2011 and has not beaten them since 2010.

Colby ended their scoring drought against Wesleyan but has still not beaten them since 1978.

Hamilton has still never beaten Amherst.

[Mr.Right]

Trouble for Bowdoin as Stevie Van Siclien had to leave the Bowdoin v Trinity game before halftime with an injury. If it is his ACL he would be finished as he has already had past issues with that. I do not know what to make of Bowdoin as they had their chances in this game but could not finish. Trinity looked asleep 1st half but they were the better team 2nd Half. That is a big win for Trinity as that is now 4 wins in a row. Bowdoin has some weapons but they play to conservative for my liking. Dias-Costa was causing Trinity problems on the flank and Charlier and Niang are physical specimens and very good athletes but I am not sure how good of soccer players they are but there athleticism makes up for it. Stenquist was ineffictive in the midfield and was fouling to much. They must beat Colby tomorrow.

[blooter442]

If it is his ACL he would be finished as he has already had past issues with that.

Hope not!

[quicksilver]

I thought I saw Van Siclen on the sidelines on crutches and wearing an ankle boot (like for a sprained ankle). I could not be 100% certain that it was he but it did look like him . .

[Mr.Right]

All I can tell you is he went out of the game in the 1st Half off a relatively simple tackle right outside his box so you could be right.

[Mr.Right]

Tuesday Prediction-

Amherst at Conn---This game has been a heated battle since Murphy took over at Conn but the past few years this match-up has leaned Amherst way. Conn plays very well at home and will have a nice home field advantage. Obviously, Amherst has more depth which can matter in a game like this especially late in the game. However, everything is up in the air depending on who Amherst starts in net. I hate to keep beleaguering this point but that is how bad the situation is IMO from the games I have seen with Lee Owen in net. He grabbed a shutout against Hamilton this wknd but I did not catch the game and I am not sure if he was tested. Conn will test him. The issue is Amherst has enough in midfield really take Devlin out of the game who is having one hell of a season so far. Devlin has 7 Nescac conference goals which is very impressive. Conn's defense will have to bang all game and they have done pretty well all year in front of an average GK in Cameron. I would love to see Diang on the flank cause Amherst problems by beating Amherst wingbacks which he is capable of doing. This game will get UGLY and the ball will be in the air a ton...Tough to predict this one but a win in this game and Conn will certainly be in line for a Pool C at 9-2-0 and frankly also be in line to WIN the Nescac league. Huge game. I will go 1-1 DRAW

[Brother Flounder]

Tuesday Prediction-

Amherst at Conn---This game has been a heated battle since Murphy took over at Conn but the past few years this match-up has leaned Amherst way. Conn plays very well at home and will have a nice home field advantage. Obviously, Amherst has more depth which can matter in a game like this especially late in the game. However, everything is up in the air depending on who Amherst starts in net. I hate to keep beleaguering this point but that is how bad the situation is IMO from the games I have seen with Lee Owen in net. He grabbed a shutout against Hamilton this wknd but I did not catch the game and I am not sure if he was tested. Conn will test him. The issue is Amherst has enough in midfield really take Devlin out of the game who is having one hell of a season so far. Devlin has 7 Nescac conference goals which is very impressive. Conn's defense will have to bang all game and they have done pretty well all year in front of an average GK in Cameron. I would love to see Diang on the flank cause Amherst problems by beating Amherst wingbacks which he is capable of doing. This game will get UGLY and the ball will be in the air a ton...Tough to predict this one but a win in this game and Conn will certainly be in line for a Pool C at 9-2-0 and frankly also be in line to WIN the Nescac league. Huge game. I will go 1-1 DRAW

I really think it will be a draw but to be different, 2-1 Lord Jeffs.  Still waiting to see how the respond the rest of the season to the spanking by Tufts.....

Gotta love the NESCAC conference. Tough battles all of the time....

[Mr.Right]

Forgot to mention in this Amherst v Conn matchup it is a sort of "welcoming home party" for Junior Weller Hlinomaz who played for Conn as a Frosh in 2013 and had a now common dustup with Coach Kenny Murphy. Personally, if I were Conn I would stick him hard the first time he gets the ball and remind him that he used to play at Conn. He looks stronger then he did a couple years ago but he is not a tough kid and can be taken right out of a game with one nice crunching tackle.

[NEsoccerfan20]

Just curious does anyone know when the NCAAS regional rankings start? Getting to that time of year.

[Mr.Right]

I am guessing a week from tomorrow.

[oldonionbag]

Was looking at stats from the NESCAC weekly release, and what jumped out at me was Tufts' GAA. In 10 games, they've conceded only four goals. Middlebury technically has a better GAA, but I would argue they have played a weaker schedule (i.e. Midd has played Norwich, Keene State, and Plymouth State (the only team Tufts has also played)). Tufts has shutout Brandeis, Hamilton, and Midd. I know Greenwood is a stud, but looks like the defense is coming together nicely. Has anyone been following the Tufts D closely and can comment?

[Mr.Right]

Never look at Overall stats just conference stats. So both have played 6 games in conference and only let up 4GA. That is very good. Midd however has only scored 5 goals in 5 games and that is just horrible and Tufts has 11 Goals in 6 games which is a clip of almost 2 a game and is about the best you can do in the league. The best stat is Conn's Pat Devlin has 7 Nescac Goals in 6 games besting 5 teams GF total. That is insane.

[Mr.Right]

As for Tufts CB's. I am a fan of Sullivan but I think Coleman can be a total question mark.  Coleman is good in the air but IMO is 1 1/2 steps to slow and also can give the ball away quite a bit in some games.

[blooter442]

Tufts has shutout Brandeis, Hamilton, and Midd. I know Greenwood is a stud, but looks like the defense is coming together nicely. Has anyone been following the Tufts D closely and can comment?

Amherst, too!

They are quite good on attacking set pieces, but they can be a bit vulnerable defending them. I would agree with Mr.Right's analysis of Coleman, but I would also say that Sullivan can be a bit indecisive. You can read far back for my criticism of Greenwood on set pieces but he is a very good goalkeeper otherwise and a close second (with Van Siclen out injured) to Sydor in the NESCAC IMHO. Tufts' right back Matt Zinner is very good as well, he is fun to watch. Not sure who they are playing at left back but Patel was very good when I saw him play the last two years.

On this subject, I was initially a bit surprised to see that Tufts wasn't even in RV of the NSCAA poll this week, particularly considering they have wins over Amherst and Middlebury, both of whom are ranked. On second thought, while Tufts has some impressive wins in its CV this year, they are currently 5-3-2. The Jumbos have obviously played less games than Carthage, but the average winning percentage of the top 25 is .853 compared to Tufts' .600. It may just be anecdotal, but I feel that there are a lot of teams this year with an uncharacteristically low number of blemishes compared to other years (there are a number of unbeaten or one-loss teams in New England alone: Amherst, Middlebury, Springfield, Gordon, UMASS-Boston), and Tufts may be suffering in the NSCAA Regional polls as a result of its early-season blips.

Of course, the NCAA Regional Rankings are the ones that matter, and not the NSCAA top 25, but an interesting observation nonetheless. If Tufts is to go clean throughout the rest of the regular season, then I think they will surely be in that top 25 at the end of the year, but it is certainly interesting to note that they weren't ranked top 25 by the NSCAA at times during the 2014 regular season, and we all know how that year ended for Tufts. That may well have been representative of the NSCAA's (in my humble opinion) flawed logic, but that's a whole other story.

[blooter442]

I should add that it is very difficult to get a goal against Tufts from open play on the ground - they press very well and usually do enough to eliminate the threat before it gets inside the 18. If they do concede, it is usually from a high ball or a set piece in my observations.