NESCAC

[PaulNewman]

WOW...Rojas with a blatant shove on a Bowdoin player.

You can take the kid out of the NJAC, but you can't take the NJAC out of the kid.

[blooter442]

It is worth noting that the Jumbos had a breakaway in the last minute of the second overtime, but Bowdoin defender Bubb did well to push Hallliday wide and win the ball.

[Mr.Right]

God...Midd holding on for dear life here as because of the wind and the game situation the ball is in Midd's defensive end the past 15 minutes.

[Mr.Right]

I must say Midd's GK Yeager might have the worst distribution for a GK I have seen all year..Yes I know it is windy but the announcer has said it has died down and maybe 4 of his Goal Kicks have not crossed midfield and ended up out of bounds..Midd playing with fire as Williams has about 10 corners with most in the 2nd half..Cannot keep giving them corners..Midd starting to waste time on throw ins and goal kicks with is their right...They know this would be a huge win for them

[Mr.Right]

Midd's Goulart clanks one off the post after a bad defensive error for Williams almost put the game away but Williams is still breathing

[Mr.Right]

Final 1-0 Midd over Williams..Gutsy performance today by Midd especially after a horrendous smackdown they took from Bates over the weekend. I must say again that the workmanlike effort of Midd's #10 O'Grady today was fantastic. He gets my game ball as he just busted his butt all day. I honestly did not see that coming as Midd had not looked good the past few games but they looked MUCH better at home today and it does help to have a heated rival come to town. Midd was pumped for that game not that Williams was not but Midd looked to have an extra gear. They got the goal they needed with the terrific wind advantage they had in the 1st Half and made it hold up for the victory. Williams with 2 very tough losses to end the regular season and this is becoming the norm the past few years as they start the year out great and fad at the finish. Midd clinches the #5 side in the Nescac Tournament with their likely opponent being Conn. To bad as they look so much better at home that they did not get home field but an 0-3-0 sweep by the Maine schools of Midd hurt their cause. Still if they show up in New London the way they showed today they will have a very good chance of getting by Conn. They will want that rematch from an early season loss to Conn BUT I have no idea if Midd will show up like they did today. As for Williams their Regional Ranking will most certainly drop after going 1-2-0 on the week. At 8-3-4 they will have to WIN 2 games in the Nescac tournament NOT DRAW and advance but WIN 2 games to get to 10-3-4 to feel at all comfortable IMO for a Pool C. However, with Midd's victory they will stay regionally ranked so that is another loss to a regionally ranked opponent. With Colby certain to drop out that gives Williams ZERO victiories against Regionally Ranked teams UNLESS Coast Guard sneaks in there but that is highly doubtful. With Sullivan continuing to weaken his out of conference schedule it is not helping their SOS. Curry, Coast Guard, RPI, Skidmore and Babson is an average Non-Conference schedule but it could be a bit better. So their RvR will be 0-3-2. That will not cut it. More importantly with the loss Williams will likely grab the #6 seed UNLESS Colby defeats Bates tomorrow and then they would drop to #7. That will make a huge difference for them because Amherst will likely be #2 unless Trinity squeaks a draw from them tomorrow which I highly doubt. A 1st Round game at Bowdoin or at Amherst awaits and I can promise you Williams would much rather be heading back up to Brunswick for a rematch with Bowdoin than heading to Amherst.

[Mr.Right]

It is worth noting that the Jumbos had a breakaway in the last minute of the second overtime, but Bowdoin defender Bubb did well to push Hallliday wide and win the ball.

Well let us remember that Bubb and Ward have been described as super-human so.....

[Mr.Right]

For Tuesday / Wednesday

Weather is going to play a huge factor in all of these games in New England on Tuesday and Wednesday..30 mph winds and heavy rain.

Bowdoin at Tufts---If Bowdoin wins they will be Nescac Regular Season Champions. I do not think the Nescac Regular Season Champion has ever missed out on the NCAA's even back between 2000-2003 when there were only 3 At-Large Bids for the NCAA's. Tufts needs only a draw to win it all. Everyone knows that Bowdoin has been a thorn in Tufts side the past couple years and have used those wins to propel them in the Nescac Tournament. My guess is that Shapiro will play straight up like Tufts has been playing all year but with an extra bit of caution defensively. IMO there is no need to worry against this Bowdoin side. Bowdoin will be unable to break down Tufts midfielders offensively and even if they do Tufts defenders will be up to the task. The only danger man going forward for Bowdoin is the Frosh Byrd as he can beat guys 1v1 and create scoring chances. As long as Tufts does not give away silly set pieces in their defensive 3rd they will keep Bowdoin off the scoreboard. Bowdoin has no reason to sit in defensively because they have atleast clinched 3rd Place but a win would get them the title. Yes a draw will help their Pool C chances but a win would clinch it..Bowdoin will never change under Wiercinski but they should go for it and not worry about opening themselves up to Tufts on the counter. They will not do that however and we will be stuck with a tedious game with both teams total SOG under 10. 0-0

Yeah, that's pretty much what happened.  Of course, that's why he's called Mr. Right!

Haha maybe I got the tedious part wrong as people seemed to be describing a well played game with some excitement..See I can be humble in spots. Also, if the stats are to be believed than Bowdoin had 1 SOG and Tufts 3 SOG...YIKES..I said under 10 but should have said under 5 SOG. Also, only a total of 12 Shots all game..Shots can be liberally counted as well as they do not have to be anywhere near the target. 12 Shots Total is SO BAD..oh well

[Mr.Right]

Amazing Nescac Stat of the Day. With the Nescac Tournament Approaching I thought I would throw this one out there.

2 time NCAA Champion and 2 time NCAA Quarter-Finalist Tufts has had much more success in the NCAA Tournament than the Nescac Tournament. In 17 years of Nescac Tournament play Tufts has qualified 15 times and have never hosted, never won it, never finished runner up and only been in the Semi-Finals once in 2011.

Overall Record: 1-12-4  .176%

They beat Bowdoin in 2012 to make their only Semi-Finals appearance. Honestly that just floored me as when Former Coach Ralph Ferrigno started bringing the program into a Florida drain gutter by 2004 until he got sacked in 2010 they obviously struggled but Shapiro has been their for 7 years. 1 win in 7 years under Shapiro is very surprising. Anyway I guess the only thing that matters is his record in the NCAA's but just thought this stat was to juicy to pass up

[Brother Flounder]

Great reporting guys! But I think Rojas wears converse all stars or PF Flyers!

[SoccerMom_5]

It is worth noting that the Jumbos had a breakaway in the last minute of the second overtime, but Bowdoin defender Bubb did well to push Hallliday wide and win the ball.

Well let us remember that Bubb and Ward have been described as super-human so.....

And McColl.  Don't forget McColl.

On another note:
Blooter -- I didnt get to watch today.   How did both teams line up defense?

Bowdoin: Did they keep their back line home, or were they pushing up high and overlapping at midfield? 
The last games I saw, they were pushing their whole back line high and Bubb or Ward overlapping alternately with their wing, OR. Ward and McColl participating in offense above midfield with Bubb playing a sort of libero role in the back.

Tufts: Did they play a 4-4-2?  They started the season with a flat back four, but the other competitive games of theirs that I saw, they switched mid-game to a 3-5-2, with Zinner holding things down. 
Did Braun play today?  (I was thinking someone said he missed an earlier game this week?)

Thanks for being there and all of the good-natured reporting!

[rudy]

Amazing Nescac Stat of the Day. With the Nescac Tournament Approaching I thought I would throw this one out there.

2 time NCAA Champion and 2 time NCAA Quarter-Finalist Tufts has had much more success in the NCAA Tournament than the Nescac Tournament. In 17 years of Nescac Tournament play Tufts has qualified 15 times and have never hosted, never won it, never finished runner up and only been in the Semi-Finals once in 2011.

Overall Record: 1-12-4  .176%

They beat Bowdoin in 2012 to make their only Semi-Finals appearance. Honestly that just floored me as when Former Coach Ralph Ferrigno started bringing the program into a Florida drain gutter by 2004 until he got sacked in 2010 they obviously struggled but Shapiro has been their for 7 years. 1 win in 7 years under Shapiro is very surprising. Anyway I guess the only thing that matters is his record in the NCAA's but just thought this stat was to juicy to pass up

That is a crazy stat. I just looked up another one I was curious about. Prior to 2014 there is only one NESCAC team that has won the national championship since it began in 1974. What team and year was that? I expected more since NESCAC is always considered a top conference every year. Babson actually had won a couple in the early years

[Ejay]

Only one?  Hmmm, I thought both Middlebury and Williams had won.  I'll go with Williams sometime in mid-late 90s. They had a few successful teams around that time.

[oldonionbag]

@ Rudy - I think that actually shows exactly why the NESCAC is considered the best conference in the country...on any given day a national champion can get knocked out of the conference tournament in the first round...can't say the same for any other conferences - maybe UAA?

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

I am almost certain, without checking, that Babson, Midd, Williams, Tufts, and Amherst have all won titles. Midd was in 2007 that much I know because it split up Messiah's 3 peats. Williams somewhere in the mid-90s as EB stated. Babson in the early years as well as you already mentioned although I couldn't tell you which years those were!