NESCAC

[SoccerMom_5]

Watched the very end of Bowdoin's game today.  Going into overtime. Against Southern Maine.

Look at the stats (attached) after regulation play:

That is parking TWO buses! 31-1 on shots, with no score.  I don't think that I have seen that, at any level.

Not to mentuon 15-0 on corners.  And, nearly all the fouls happened on So.Me.'s end of the field.  Bowdoin took quite a few free kicks that could have been converted amd weren't, and those are not even showing up on the stat sheet... so those numbers arent even reflecting the full extemt of their offensive problems. 
I was kind of aghast, actually.

[blooter442]

That is parking TWO buses! 31-1 on shots, with no score.  I don't think that I have seen that, at any level.

Tufts outshot Bates 29-8 a couple of years ago en route to a 0-0 draw (at Bates) -- although that was more due to Tufts being unable to finish rather than a resolute defensive effort from the Bobcats. I remember watching that game and being floored that it wasn't 4-0 at half.

Back to the bit about Bates being "in contention" for an NCAA bid in 2015: part of the reason that some (including myself) were optimistic about the Bobcats having a good year was that -- in addition to their good start -- they had arguably its three most difficult NESCAC opponents all at home: Tufts, Middlebury, and Amherst. However, that draw with Tufts was the lone point that Bates picked up in those three home matches (ironically, Bowdoin ended up winning the NESCAC that year).

[oldonionbag]

Tufts' two goals vs. Trinity. Great finish on the second and good build up on the first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEh2Ibf0qL4

[NESCAC11]

Williams will have to play Wednesday against Skidmore without their best player and top defender Scat Macdonald. This may expose defense and GK as Macdonald makes more than a few goal saving plays each match. Interestingly, I believe that Skidmore may be playing without their top striker who received a red card last game as well.

[Part_Bart]

Williams will have to play Wednesday against Skidmore without their best player and top defender Scat Macdonald. This may expose defense and GK as Macdonald makes more than a few goal saving plays each match. Interestingly, I believe that Skidmore may be playing without their top striker who received a red card last game as well.

Skidmore will be without Santos, red-carded in Saturday's game v. Hobart. The game ended up a 1-1 tie after Skidmore equalized in final 90 seconds and down a player for 60+ minutes.   The box score will show 23 fouls by Skidmore, 14 by Hobart, 7 yellow cards (four to Skidmore) and the straight red card  .

[Bobcat1]

I should have watched the Bates game instead. Their results are so interesting...I have to confess that my curiosity is piqued.

I concur. A couple of years ago, they started the season pretty well, I think they were 5-1-1 including a 2OT win at Williams and some of us thought they might be worth a shot for NCAAs. The rest of their season wasn't so great, though, and they didn't even make the NESCAC tournament. In fact, IIRC, they followed up the Williams win with a home loss to Trinity the next week, so they have developed a propensity for getting a big win followed immediately by dropping a clanger. I think they have some nice players and decent team potential, but I have been waiting for a while for a breakthrough that hasn't come yet.

Great job on the Nor'Easter report Blooter. Bates has certainly shown an ability to put the ball in the back of the net. I think Merchant already has 5 goals this season. I thought they played well for stretches this weekend, but as the games wore on both Wesleyan and Williams carried the play and generated far more chances. Bates has to shore up its team D late in these games. Having said that, it's not easy to win on the road in NESCAC. I don't think a visiting team won at all this past weekend in the conference games. Bates is 1-1-1 in three conference roads games so far. If they can find a way to total 6 or 7 conference road points, I like their chances to finish in the top 8 and make the NESCAC tournament.

One other match Blooter touched on in his report from earlier in the week was St. Joe's win over Bowdoin. This was no fluke. St. Joe's out shot Bowdoin 11-1 in the first half and 16-9 overall. I realize Soccer Mom already has Bowdoin in the NESCAC finals with Middlebury (which very well may happen), but Bowdoin is going to have to find a way to win some quality games on the road or their only way in the NCAA Tournament will be to win the NESCAC tournament. They now have road losses at Amherst and St. Joe's.  I know they play Tufts at the end of the season and lately they have had the better of the Jumbos, but do not overlook the importance of their road game at Conn College prior to the Tufts game.  That will likely be a huge game for both teams in terms of NESCAC tournament seeding and record versus ranked opponents.

[SoccerMom_5]

I should have watched the Bates game instead. Their results are so interesting...I have to confess that my curiosity is piqued.

I concur. A couple of years ago, they started the season pretty well, I think they were 5-1-1 including a 2OT win at Williams and some of us thought they might be worth a shot for NCAAs. The rest of their season wasn't so great, though, and they didn't even make the NESCAC tournament. In fact, IIRC, they followed up the Williams win with a home loss to Trinity the next week, so they have developed a propensity for getting a big win followed immediately by dropping a clanger. I think they have some nice players and decent team potential, but I have been waiting for a while for a breakthrough that hasn't come yet.

1. 
I realize Soccer Mom already has Bowdoin in the NESCAC finals with Middlebury (which very well may happen),

2.
I know they play Tufts at the end of the season and lately they have had the better of the Jumbos.
But do not overlook the importance of their road game at Conn College prior to the Tufts game.  That will likely be a huge game for both teams in terms of NESCAC tournament seeding and record versus ranked opponents.

LOL.  Not me.   I am saying that they struggle in the midfield and they can't score.    I have repeatedly said that their defense looks pretty solid but that they struggle in the midfield.  As of yesterday, I am also adding that they need a finisher.       
My observation has been that their keeper is very good and their back line is pretty hard to beat by playing the "NESCAC" style of get-the-ball-up-to-a-fast-guy-parked-up-front. And, based on this, I said that I thought that IF they could get their midfield  organized, that I would like them all the way through the finals... but that is a pretty big IF, in my opinion.   Other than in the Midd game, Bowdoin has been struggling to score at home,  so we will see if it gets worse when they are away.   

I watched them at Amherst.   Amherst's only goal was a PK.   But... as I feel like I have said on this thread several times about Bowdoin:  you can't win if you don't score. 

2.   
re: Tufts.  I guess we will see.  I have only watched part of one game this season.  I liked Tasker, and that Weatherby did a nice job in the back, but I thought they looked like they were still figuring out how to play without Majumber and Becherano.

re: Conn.   I watched most of the Conn/Colby game last week, and thought that Colby very much had the better of them for most of the game that I saw.  Maybe that will prove to be a fluke and I certainly would need to watch more, to be sure, but...on the other hand....    Conn still has to play Amherst, Williams, and Wesleyan, in addition to Bowdoin.   And... it seems that they would have to win two of those tougher NESCAC matches on the road, too.  So, who knows where Conn will be by the time they meet Bowdoin.   And - as you pointed out -  who knows where Bowdoin will be when they meet Conn.

[blooter442]

Great job on the Nor'Easter report Blooter. Bates has certainly shown an ability to put the ball in the back of the net. I think Merchant already has 5 goals this season. I thought they played well for stretches this weekend, but as the games wore on both Wesleyan and Williams carried the play and generated far more chances. Bates has to shore up its team D late in these games. Having said that, it's not easy to win on the road in NESCAC. I don't think a visiting team won at all this past weekend in the conference games. Bates is 1-1-1 in three conference roads games so far. If they can find a way to total 6 or 7 conference road points, I like their chances to finish in the top 8 and make the NESCAC tournament.

One other match Blooter touched on in his report from earlier in the week was St. Joe's win over Bowdoin. This was no fluke. St. Joe's out shot Bowdoin 11-1 in the first half and 16-9 overall. I realize Soccer Mom already has Bowdoin in the NESCAC finals with Middlebury (which very well may happen), but Bowdoin is going to have to find a way to win some quality games on the road or their only way in the NCAA Tournament will be to win the NESCAC tournament. They now have road losses at Amherst and St. Joe's.  I know they play Tufts at the end of the season and lately they have had the better of the Jumbos, but do not overlook the importance of their road game at Conn College prior to the Tufts game.  That will likely be a huge game for both teams in terms of NESCAC tournament seeding and record versus ranked opponents.

Appreciate it! I agree that Bates could be in with a shout for the conference tournament if it can continue its away form. The Bobcats have 4 road points thus far (W over Hamilton and T at Williams), so -- to get to that 6-7 point mark -- they'd need to either draw at both Conn. and Colby or win one of those two games. That said, much like 2015, they have Tufts, Amherst, and Middlebury at home, which is preferable from their standpoint as far as where you want to play against the heavy hitters. If they can get 3+ total points from those three games (a big ask, but possible) I think that, coupled with good away form, could put them not only into the tournament, but could also give them a decent seed (as to avoid the heavy hitters in the quarterfinals). They'd probably still be on the road, but I think there is much more parity in the 4/5 and 3/6 battles as opposed to 2/7 and 1/8 (although, as we've seen in recent years, sometimes the No. 1 seed gets bounced from the NESCAC quarters and then wins the NCAA title.)

As far as St. Joe's go, they are a good, solid side. The Monks did deserve to beat Bowdoin and have looked good on their new turf (installed this year). I have watched them a bit over the last couple of years, including the 3-0 loss to Brandeis in last year's NCAA 2nd Round. They actually played reasonably well that game, but simply ran into a team with too much offensive firepower that was hitting its stride at that point in the season. I think if they had kept it 0-0 to half they would have had a decent chance, but Brandeis was opportunistic in its finishing (scoring on two rebounds in the first half) and just had too much for them to handle. Their defense is definitely their calling card, and -- while Babson can be anemic offensively at times -- it is no small feat to shut Babson out at home, much less in a high-pressure atmosphere such as the 1st Round of NCAAs like they did last year. I don't know if they are a Sweet 16 team by any means, but I think if they get into the tournament and get a favorable draw that they could surprise some people.

[Mr.Right]

Bates has like most teams some positives and some negatives. Let's start with the positives. With Opoku, Merchant, Dibenedetto, and Bakken they have some skill and speed going forward. When they had the ball especially the first 15 minutes of the Williams game they were knocking the ball around very well with some nice two touch passing. They had Williams on its heels for a bit and Merchant snagged a nice goal from it. The negatives. They have to have the worst defense in Nescac. They are not physically imposing, not super fast, not very big and not very skilled. They are very average at best in all those areas. After thinking about it I was way to harsh on their GK Montanaro as he really had no chance at saving Williams goal to tie it up and made a very legit save near the end of the game to keep the score level. He is not a big GK but is quick and for Bates he is a pretty decent option. Bates problem is they still have to play Midd, Amherst, Bowdoin, Conn and Tufts. Those teams except maybe Conn will be able to score against them and even this weekend with Trinity, Savonen will enjoy going against this Bates defense. They must beat Trinity and Colby and somehow get as many point as possible against the 5 teams I just named. Still a ton of work left to do before booking their Top 8 finish.

[Mr.Right]

For Tomorrow:

Trinity at Conn-----Honestly, I am still not enamored with Conn. Lockwood is a beast for sure and will get his chances and shots in this game but he is surrounded by a ton of role players like Manoogian, Highton and a ton of Frosh / Soph. GK Marcucci impressed me in the Tufts match but Conn looked overmatched in that game as I do not remember them having any dangerous chances or for that matter any SOG against Tufts. Now Tufts is the best team in Nescac this year but Conn looked offensively challenged in that game. They worked very hard but were chasing for a lot of that match. That was the only game I have seen them so I am only going off of that. Trinity is 1-5-0 and 0-4-0 in Nescac. Just a complete mess. A win here and a win Saturday at Bates would turn their season around very quickly. If I remember correctly these 2 teams had a game either last year or the year before that was VERY chippy. So maybe some bad blood will wake Trinity up. Trinity will not go 0-10-0 as they are not that much worse than the other bottom feeders. The question is where will they get their points? Conn's luck runs out. 2-1 Trinity

Tufts at Wesleyan-----Tufts is rolling along and have not let up a goal all season. They are going to have a serious size advantage on Wesleyan. Not sure why Wheeler agreed to play this game on the turf as that might play right into Tufts hands. I would of rather slogged it out on that junk grass field with a 4pm start to get Tufts out of its comfort zone. I must say I am a big fan of most of Wesleyan's starting 11. They have skill and speed and try to play some futbol. ACH will get his chances and Martinez-Paiz is one of the more dangerous players in Nescac, Devanney on the flank played well at Bowdoin and am a big fan of Nick Jackson. Having said all that Wesleyan's GK makes me nervous and while their wingbacks like Chin have speed and skill they are not tough kids and Tufts will be able to bully them all they want. If Wesleyan can stick to its game plan and move the ball quickly on the turf they might just cause Tufts some problems. Stay focused for 90 minutes, no mental mistakes and certainly no GK'ing errors. While Tufts is the top team in Nescac this year they are a far cry from 2014-2016. They can and will be beaten. This is a HUGE game for Wesleyan as a win or even a draw here will start to get them into Pool C consideration as they have some good non-conference wins. 1-1

[Ommadawn]

ACH will get his chances

I think he's hurt, as he hasn't played since the September 13 game against Manhattanville.  Does that affect your prediction?

[blooter442]

Williams will have to play Wednesday against Skidmore without their best player and top defender Scat Macdonald. This may expose defense and GK as Macdonald makes more than a few goal saving plays each match. Interestingly, I believe that Skidmore may be playing without their top striker who received a red card last game as well.

Just learned that his name is actually "Scatt." For the longest time (from when I first saw his name on the boards to now) I thought it was a typo and his name was Scott. Well, to this point, he is the only Scatt I know of.

[PaulNewman]

This is a little tangential to NESCAC proper, but a couple of points of trivia.  ACH, Hurlburt at Wheaton (4 year starter), and Nemes and Beatty for WPI all played club together, coached by a guy who holds a bunch of Keene St records, John McCully, who coached both Savonen boys in high school and club, and whose son led their high school to an undefeated, unblemished season and state title last year AS A JUNIOR, with a chance to repeat and who no doubt is considered one of the top few recruits this year in Massachusetts.  He is on pace to break his father's high school records.

[Mr.Right]

ACH will get his chances

I think he's hurt, as he hasn't played since the September 13 game against Manhattanville.  Does that affect your prediction?

Nah...he gets his goals but the only player that would affect my prediction would be Martinez-Paiz

[Mr.Right]

Williams will have to play Wednesday against Skidmore without their best player and top defender Scat Macdonald. This may expose defense and GK as Macdonald makes more than a few goal saving plays each match. Interestingly, I believe that Skidmore may be playing without their top striker who received a red card last game as well.

I never thought I would see the day when a Williams College defender would be highlighted as their "best" player. Don't get me wrong I like the kid's toughness and tackling and his tenacity but for it to get to this is beyond troubling. Personally, I think he can be replaced in this game v Skidmore and the much bugger loss is that of Skidmore's Santos as he would have caused some headaches in midfield for Williams.