NESCAC

[BigEast]

Looks like Bates just got a new coach. Not sure who he is but goes to a struggling program with a strikingly good record.

https://www.gobatesbobcats.com/sports/msoc/2018-19/releases/20180730lon8ji

[Ommadawn]

Looks like Bates just got a new coach. Not sure who he is but goes to a struggling program with a strikingly good record.

https://www.gobatesbobcats.com/sports/msoc/2018-19/releases/20180730lon8ji

If I'm not mistaken, the foundation for Coach Sheikh's successful run at Knox was laid by former Amherst and Springfield assistant Matt Edwards, who is currently the head coach at Claremont-Mudd in SoCal.

[Another Mom]

Hello!  This is my first post on this board.  I've been reading a lot of the threads in an attempt to educate myself as my son is just beginning this process (college recruiting).  I have to thank Mom1234 for asking all her questions, they've been very helpful to me.  One post several pages back, I think it was by TrueNorth, said their experience was that it was easier to get into an Ivy than a Nescac with a tip.  This seems counterintuitive, but I'd love to learn more.  Any opinions on this?

Thanks, and I look forward to reading a lot more!

[midwest]

Sheikh is a terrific hire for Bates, he is a dynamic guy who inspires tremendous loyalty in his players. He had a bunch of international players at Knox who brought great technical skills. I can imagine that in a couple years, Bates could really be a lot of fun to watch. Happy for him, he's a great guy.

[truenorth]

Hello!  This is my first post on this board.  I've been reading a lot of the threads in an attempt to educate myself as my son is just beginning this process (college recruiting).  I have to thank Mom1234 for asking all her questions, they've been very helpful to me.  One post several pages back, I think it was by TrueNorth, said their experience was that it was easier to get into an Ivy than a Nescac with a tip.  This seems counterintuitive, but I'd love to learn more.  Any opinions on this?

Thanks, and I look forward to reading a lot more!

Another Mom, that was our anecdotal experience as one family, but I think there is some broader truth at work here.  Put simply, the Ivies (all with enrollments of 4,000+) are much larger than the NESCAC schools (typically <2,000 with a few exceptions).  The Ivies have more room for "diversity" criteria in their admissions processes, and "recruited athletes" who meet certain academic criteria are one component in their overall diversity goals.

In this article about Harvard's admissions practices, you'll see athletes are listed as one of their target populations:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/us/harvard-admissions-asian-americans.html

Among NESCAC and other selective liberal arts colleges, there is not as overt an effort to include athletes as a defined subpopulation in their admissions practices.  Due to the desirability and culture of these schools, a significant number of athletic and academically qualified high school students apply, but relatively few receive tips.

Related to all of the above, my observations have been that Ivy coaches have more direct pull with the admissions office than their NESCAC counterparts.  Hope this explains at least part of this, but other posters may have some thoughts to add.

[rangerfan]

Hello!  This is my first post on this board.  I've been reading a lot of the threads in an attempt to educate myself as my son is just beginning this process (college recruiting).  I have to thank Mom1234 for asking all her questions, they've been very helpful to me.  One post several pages back, I think it was by TrueNorth, said their experience was that it was easier to get into an Ivy than a Nescac with a tip.  This seems counterintuitive, but I'd love to learn more.  Any opinions on this?

Thanks, and I look forward to reading a lot more!

Another Mom, that was our anecdotal experience as one family, but I think there is some broader truth at work here.  Put simply, the Ivies (all with enrollments of 4,000+) are much larger than the NESCAC schools (typically <2,000 with a few exceptions).  The Ivies have more room for "diversity" criteria in their admissions processes, and "recruited athletes" who meet certain academic criteria are one component in their overall diversity goals.

In this article about Harvard's admissions practices, you'll see athletes are listed as one of their target populations:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/us/harvard-admissions-asian-americans.html

Among NESCAC and other selective liberal arts colleges, there is not as overt an effort to include athletes as a defined subpopulation in their admissions practices.  Due to the desirability and culture of these schools, a significant number of athletic and academically qualified high school students apply, but relatively few receive tips.

Related to all of the above, my observations have been that Ivy coaches have more direct pull with the admissions office than their NESCAC counterparts.  Hope this explains at least part of this, but other posters may have some thoughts to add.

Just went through this process with my son (a rising HS senior committed to NESCAC who decided to pass on the Ivys--I'll post more about his process at the appropriate time), and I agree with the info provided by truenorth. The only additional info I'd add is that the schools are, as of now, drawing from different player populations, and the timelines are different. The Ivys are focused primarily on Academy players (and that focus narrows each year) and are looking to lock up those players as early as possible. Many (I dare say even most) Ivy spots are now filled in a player's junior year of high school, often after the Academy winter showcase. The NESCAC schools hope to pick up Academy players that fall through the cracks, or change their minds, or can't get their 1st or 2nd Ivy choice, along with the top non-Academy players.

[Another Mom]

Thanks TrueNorth and RangerFan.  Perhaps one difference in the time line is that the Ivies are D1 and Nescacs D3.  The only thing about getting kids locked up before/early in their Junior year is that even with tips I suspect ivy admission is extremely difficult and there is no way at that point in time to know if a kid will definitely get admitted . . . I know there are likely letters but didn't think they were issued that early.

My son is a strong student with good scores but would be a long shot with Ivy admissions (and Nescac!).  He plays Academy-level soccer and goes to a strong prep school, so thinking about Ivies etc is not out of the question, but is a reach.

We've had two older kids go through the college process so I'm very familiar with that; the others though did not go through the soccer recruiting piece, although one serendipitously did in fact get recruited to play soccer at a well known D3.   Thank you so much for your responses! Any and all insight into recruiting are very much appreciated.

[rangerfan]

Thanks TrueNorth and RangerFan.  Perhaps one difference in the time line is that the Ivies are D1 and Nescacs D3.  The only thing about getting kids locked up before/early in their Junior year is that even with tips I suspect ivy admission is extremely difficult and there is no way at that point in time to know if a kid will definitely get admitted . . . I know there are likely letters but didn't think they were issued that early.

My son is a strong student with good scores but would be a long shot with Ivy admissions (and Nescac!).  He plays Academy-level soccer and goes to a strong prep school, so thinking about Ivies etc is not out of the question, but is a reach.

We've had two older kids go through the college process so I'm very familiar with that; the others though did not go through the soccer recruiting piece, although one serendipitously did in fact get recruited to play soccer at a well known D3.   Thank you so much for your responses! Any and all insight into recruiting are very much appreciated.

Good luck to your son! It's a frustrating and exciting and exhausting process.

[truenorth]

As a practical matter, if your student athlete catches the attention of an Ivy coach in his junior year and receives strong verbal support (and/or a likely letter), he would simply need to maintain his academic performance level during his senior year of high school and would have to apply ED.  If he doesn't receive that level of support, then it's probably a nonstarter (no pun intended)...

The good news is that there are a number of fabulous D3 and D1 schools out there beyond the Ivies and the NESCAC...and given your son's athletic and academic achievements he's likely to have some very desirable choices...

[Mr.Right]

Be careful getting advice from parents of former players in the recruiting process. You can see what they say and compare it to your visits but the difference is obviously the player. Some of these parents with kids that had their ass stuck to the bench for 4 years would have had a totally different recruiting experience than a player of high quality and vice versa. Personally, go in blind and decide for yourselves what you like best. If you find yourself chasing the coach with phones and email than they are not interested in the player. That should be a warning sign right away. If you are doing the chasing then you could be in for a rude awakening at that school in terms of your soccer experience. However, if the kid likes the school I would enroll and forget the soccer and try to improve as much as you can b4 the fall. If you are being chased by the coach then you can dig ur heels in and really find the best fit. My point if you are being chased than go with the best total atmosphere in regards to soccer and school. If you have to chase than go with best academic fit.

[rangerfan]

Be careful getting advice from parents of former players in the recruiting process. You can see what they say and compare it to your visits but the difference is obviously the player. Some of these parents with kids that had their ass stuck to the bench for 4 years would have had a totally different recruiting experience than a player of high quality and vice versa. Personally, go in blind and decide for yourselves what you like best. If you find yourself chasing the coach with phones and email than they are not interested in the player. That should be a warning sign right away. If you are doing the chasing then you could be in for a rude awakening at that school in terms of your soccer experience. However, if the kid likes the school I would enroll and forget the soccer and try to improve as much as you can b4 the fall. If you are being chased by the coach then you can dig ur heels in and really find the best fit. My point if you are being chased than go with the best total atmosphere in regards to soccer and school. If you have to chase than go with best academic fit.

As the parent of a 2019 NESCAC commit, based upon our experience, I think this is good advice and pretty much spot on.

[Mr.Right]

2018 Nescac Predictions:


1.  Amherst------Amherst finished 2017 with a disappointing NCAA Sweet 16 exit at Messiah v Rochester. Considering the wild ride of their season it could have been much worse. They had GK'ing issues all season and used all 4 GK's throughout the season to find someone that could stick. Hope-Gund had an unforgettable meltdown against Hamilton in the Nescac Quaters that basically summed up Amherst troubles in net all year. 9 months removed from that game and I still cannot get that performance out of my head anytime I randomly think of Nescac Mens Soccer. The question is can Hope-Gund? We sometimes take for granted that athletes just get up the next day and wipe that effort out of one's mind and move on. It is not a given and frankly you have to be mentally tough to bounce back from something like that. Sure it's just a game and he has played many games since but at moments notice, like a former drug addict trying to stay sober or a golfer fighting the yips, bad thoughts can creep up out of nowhere. He will be competing with the other Frosh Stone who Amherst turned to after the Hamilton game and the highly touted 6'5 GK Will Dunne. Dunne has been a massive disappointment in his first 2 years. He has made a handful of appearances against the New England College and Pine Manor's of D3 Soccer. I do not think he has ever started a game against a Nescac school. I am assuming Serpone will be bringing in another GK for 2018 to compete with the other 3.  I will say that if Amherst can get that position shored up WATCH OUT. The second concern I am having for Amherst in 2018 is tidying up some of the defensive miscues that came about in 2017. There was a lack of focus for parts of games with a ton of ball watching and missed tackles BUT they were very young back there. With a year of experience and confidence playing with one another I am expecting a much improved backline especially if they can get a GK to stick for more than 2-3 games to help with communication and positioning. Other than those issues everything else is looking really good. If this incoming Frosh German Giammattei is the real deal than Nescac teams especially the bottom feeders are going to have some serious issues defensively v Amherst. His academy numbers with Kendall SC are that of a highly touted D1 recruit. He scored 31 goals in 32 games against top competition. On paper, this is the type of recruit you get once every 10 years if your lucky. A recruit that can turn a program around and in turn attract other top recruits that want to play with him. A recruit that can make a good team great. From 1998-2004 Williams was getting a kid like this every year which in turn made them a dominant program in which they would routinely beat up Nescac's by 4,5 even 6 goals. Look at the archives if you want proof.  I have never seen him play but have heard he is a banger with a nose for the goal. Every defender in Nescac will be gunning for him as they will know exactly who he is and will want to get his attention in every game. That is a TON of pressure for an incoming Frosh and we will see right away if he has the guts to deal with it. Luckily, he is joining an already loaded Amherst squad so he can afford to blend in a little more than say if he was attending Bates or something where he would stand out like a sore thumb. With him, McMillian and Nguyen Amherst will have a potent attack. Hands down the best athlete in Nescac I will be interested to see if McMillian has improved his overall skill and composure in front of net. With plenty of pace and athleticism if this kid improved his technique he would be a complete stud. Nguyen is Amherst most technical player and should have a blast feeding those two poachers this year. I know Amherst will never change their style but I noticed they did play a little bit last year. If there was ever a year to change styles and attack all game it would be this year. With this bunch, Amherst could win games 6-3 or 4-2. It will never happen but a man can wish. It is almost impossible to string more than 3 passes together ever since Serpone narrowed the width of the field to what amounts to be a large sandbox. He loves his advantage on long throws and his big bodies on that narrow field but it just congests and suffocates the whole game. It's a disgrace to the game but it works. Opponents must immediately feel uncomfortable on such a narrow field and I would imagine some of his own skilled players as well. Notice how it took me this long to get to who they lost to graduation because it will not matter. Even before this highly touted recruit Amherst was bringing back a TON of talent with some solid depth. They graduated like 9 players but really only Weller Hlinomaz, Kieran Bellew and maybe Cam Hardington will be missed. Honestly, they were so young last year that a ton of the rising Sophomores saw significant minutes that it will not matter. They can replace those 3 easily. Assuming, they bring in maybe another 3-4 solid recruits they are going to have a ton of depth to use if injuries start creeping or on back to backs. Even with the monster question mark in net, on paper this is the best team in Nescac. This is a team that if they can get a decent effort in net especially in November they can win the 2018 NCAA Championship. Barring injuries to their top players anything less than the Nescac Championship and deep run in November would be a disappointment.


2. Tufts-------Tufts graduates 7 Seniors from their 2017 NCAA Elite 8 side. Kulcsar, Coleman, Zinner and Halliday are the starters that have graduated along with GK Bruce Johnson and 2 key bench players Zazzali and Eichhorst. All 7 made solid contributions to that team. On paper it doesn't look different than any other year and any other team in Nescac. Usually you graduate about 4 starters on average every year and some key reserves. However, not only were all 7 of these guys key contributors they were all leaders. You could tell the 7 of them were all in together and the underclassman respected them and busted their ass for them. The seniors on this team dictated to the underclassman how to act on and off the field. They showed them a complete 100% work effort all season and probably all off-season in which they learned from the players before them. This is the type of environment that has been built the past 5 years at Tufts and continues year to year. That is a sign of a program that has got to the top and is motivated to stay there. My question is will it continue in 2018? The answer looks to be most likely but you never know and you cannot just assume these things are on auto pilot. Tufts will be a very young team as they have 4 Seniors on the roster in 2018. 3 starters in Najjar, Weatherbie, Mieth and Glover who came off the bench. If I had to guess those 3 starters will be Tufts Captains with Weatherbie pumping the guys up, Najjar the quiet leader that does his job and Mieth dictating from his net. All 3 are key players on this team. I see a ton of talent in the rising Junior class with Tasker, Rojas, Trevorrow, Lane, Jameson and Braun. All 6 were serious contributors in 2017 as that is one hell of a recruiting class that Shapiro brought it 2 years ago. Those rising Juniors will determine how well Tufts does in 2018 IMO. They all saw significant minutes in 2017 and were key contributors as Soph and that experience and confidence they gained last year is vital. If even half of them have improved their own games like other players in Shaprio's program in past years than this team will be in good shape. However, they will all need to step up and be leaders on and off the field as well. I have no question that most of them will be great leaders but if Tufts wants to win a National Championship in 2018 Tufts will need Rojas and Tasker to man up and mature and be on field generals and give 100% in practice. The on field leadership of Halliday, Kulcsar, Zinner and Coleman which was basically their whole spine will not be there in 2018 so those 2 in my mind need to step up the most. If Shapiro decides to stay in the same system of play who are his CB's? Najjar and Jameson or does Aroh move back there? I see Rojas and Van Brewer in the middle of the park with Lane and Tasker wide but who is taking Kulcsar's role holding? Can Braun be a legitimate striker in this league? He has the size and strength but only has 2 Career goals as a striker in 2 years. Can he learn to finish consistently in 2018? These are all good questions to have. Tufts will have the depth to contend for a National Championship with talent all over the field and a very solid GK in Mieth. My only concern will be scoring goals. Tasker, Lane, Van Brewer and Rojas all contributed 3 or more goals last season. Will that continue and will Tufts be relying on its midfield for their goals. They basically did in 2017 minus Eichhorst's 5 goals so that is not really a problem but can a Braun or someone else step up and be a legit finisher? Tufts opens up under the lights at Bello Field in 2 weeks v UMASS Boston so we will have our answer soon enough.


3.  Middlebury-------This will be the inaugural season for Alex Elias who takes over from David Saward after 33 years at the helm. Saward was the final coach of a past generation of coaches in Nescac to retire. Saward was a very successful coach at Midd and it took about 5 years but by 1990 Saward turned Middlebury into one of the toughest teams to defeat in Nescac throughout the rest of his tenure. Those are big shoes to fill and Middlebury has decided to hand the keys over to Alex Elias. Elias was a key cog in Midd's 2007 NCAA Championship run. He was their captain and was a steady player who played with extreme composure.  He must be no older than 30 or 31 years old. That is VERY young to get a job opportunity like this in Nescac these days. I am not here to trample on his party or anything but he has never been a Head Coach at any level. It is very different than being a lead assistant. Lead Assistants sometimes play good cop to the Head Coach's bad cop.  Lead assistants are sometimes way more approachable than Head Coach's for players and even parents. It is just a whole different experience and he will need to learn on the fly. He has brought in a familiar face in Greg Conrad to assist him.  I am curious if he will turn into a players coach or a hard disciplinarian or something in between. It is always interesting to see it all play out and develop. Sometimes you do not have enough time to see it play out because the coach has been let go. Look at the massive mistake Harvard made when hiring an extremely young and immature Carl Junot. It was a disaster all around as he barely lasted 3 years before leading the program into the gutter and turning it back about 5-7 years. I am not saying that will happen here as Elias knows this program very well but I am saying it is always a possibility and Coaches need to be on their toes and prepared for anything and everything that comes at them on and off the field. As far as the team goes in 2018 it is looking very good. They return absolutely everyone except the GK Yeager. Yeager was a very good GK and once they moved Moffat and Robinson together as CB's in front of Yeager they had something like 6 shutouts in 7 games. It was an amazing run in early October that turned the whole 2017 season around and led them to another NCAA appearance. I think they can build on that because even though Midd had a disappointing 1st round exit in the NCAA's they finished the season with a ton of confidence and looked to be gelling as a team. I think they can carry that into 2018. I suppose it also depends on if Elias makes major changes to system and style to put his own stamp on the program. I have a hunch they are not going to change much if anything at all. Midd has decent depth and unlike Bowdoin Saward went deep into his bench to give the younger guys a run. If Moffat and Robinson lead the backline like they did in 2017 and O'Grady comes back fully healthy in midfield they will be tough to break down. With Potter and Goulart you have skill on the flanks and if Reid has improved any up top he could turn into a legit scoring threat in the league. Add in a couple new recruits an you have a very solid team. The GK'ing is the only serious question mark for me as Midd's 3 backup's on the roster in 2017 have really no playing experience. If they get GK'ing production like Yeager gave them than this is a Top 4 side.


4.  Williams-----In Sullivan's 3 years at Williams he has failed to get them into the Nescac Semi-Finals. Williams has had their season end in late October the past 3 years. Something needs to change and fast. Sullivan is a good coach and great motivator and from a distance it seems like his players love playing for him and work hard for him BUT the results are not there. They are not playing futbol like they used to and playing far to conservative and defensive for my liking. We might have a solution in Messiah's Nick Thompson, who Sullivan just hired in August to assist him for 2018. Nick will remember playing against Williams in the 2009 NCAA Semi-Final and will notice a decline in talent and style in the 9 years since. The question is will Sullivan allow Thompson to actually coach the players in practice and in games or will he be used as just a recruiter. I am guessing something in between but if Thompson can focus in practice every day with the midfielders and strikers we might start to see a change in style and creativeness. I am not saying Thompson is some sort of coaching genius but more I am hoping he will take what he has learned from Brandt and rub it off on Sullivan a bit. I think this would be the most ideal solution to get the program jump started and more entertaining to watch and play in like it used to be. Use their 120 x 80 field to their advantage. Teams used to fear playing at Williams because unless they were incredibly lucky or played the best of their lives they would be sent home with a complete smackdown. Teams do not fear Williams at all anymore. Also, it is known fact that kids are starting to choose schools like Tufts and Bowdoin over Williams in recruiting. That was UNHEARD of 10 years ago. If a kid got into Williams and Bowdoin the kid would choose Williams 99% of the time. This is starting to change and Sullivan needs to stop this from continuing before it starts to spiral further. The good news is I think Sullivan has brought in his best recruiting class since arriving with the striker from Chicago who looks VERY promising, Oberg who was the Berkshire School defender who took a year off and a couple other solid recruits. You can never really rely on Frosh unless you have an Alex Blake but this looks to be one of the better classes in Nescac this year. Williams has a big question mark in net with Schneiderman graduating, a total lack of creativity in midfield unless Petrik can step up and run the show, massive holes at striker with the loss of Sisco and his 19 career goals and a lack of mental toughness needed to win games against top teams. I would like to see the skilled and pacey Demian Gass fit and injury free as he could be a factor. I am a big fan of seniors Sean Dory in midfield, Scatt Macdonald on the backline and Greg Andreou as either a midfielder or defender. Personally, I like Andreou in midfield. As usual Williams schedule has some very winnable games to start the year and extremely difficult games by mid October to finish it. This does give Williams some time to work out the kinks and find some confidence heading into the latter part of October. In Williams first 10 games I see only 2 difficult games at Amherst and at Conn the others are all winnable games if they play well.

[Mr.Right]

5. Colby--------This was one of the unluckiest teams in all of D3 last year. They were better than 6-6-2 (3-5-2) and a T-8 finish in Nescac. They beat Middlebury and Amherst and had five 1 goal losses(all 0-1 defeats). Scoring goals was an issue in some games but creating chances was not as they had some really good looks on net whenever I tuned in, they just could not finish. Colby only graduated 4 contributing seniors and 2 starters from last season as Chandler Smith and Avery Heilbron are two key players that have graduated. The good news is that everyone else is back with one more year of experience. They might be one of the most experienced sides heading into 2018 as they have 12 seniors.  Jansen Aoyama is one of the more technical players in the league and he will be needed to score goals and create chances. Either he had some injury problems in 2017 or is a bit of a pain in the ass as he only started 3 games last season. They need him to produce on the field and act as a leader off of it. Long thrower Cam Clouse is back and will be needed to get his head on the end of set pieces for some goals. The speedy striker Rosenberg returns after scoring 2 goals last season and creating dangerous chances for his teammates. He is going to need to get 5-6 goals and dish out 4-5 assists this year if Colby wants to contend. Avery Gibson showed he was a solid GK in this league last year and he will need to continue his steadiness in net. Lucas Pereira and Asa Berolzheimer who both contributed solid numbers last season will need to continue where they left off. My point of all this is besides Berolzheimer and Gibson all the other guys I mentioned along with Garrett Dickey and Kyle Douglas were part of that monster class that Seabrook brought in his 1st recruiting cycle. These guys have gotten a ton of experience playing with one another the past 3 years and this is the year they need to get the results on the field. This has to be Colby's year to fight for a Top 4 in Nescac and a Pool C NCAA bid. Colby has not been in a position like this in decades but they have the talent to make it happen this fall. Seabrook is a good coach and organizes the troops well but that is not enough anymore. The players have to take control and find a way to score more goals. Colby scored 8 goals in 10 Nescac games last year. Thats's not going to cut it if they want to move the program to the next level. Chandler Smith and Avery Heilbron are massive losses to a program like this but they can replace those 2 if guys step up and give 100% every game.


6. Hamilton-------Hamilton was one of the more inconsistent teams last year in Nescac. They did advance to the Nescac Semi-Finals for the 2nd straight year. They showed serious courage and fight by coming back to defeat Amherst 4-3 after a 2-0 Halftime hole in the Nescac Quarters. However, they also showed a lack of courage and guts by getting bounced by Tufts in the Nescac Semi's 4-0 to end their season. It was like that all year. One game they looked like a Top 4 side and the next they looked uninterested. They had some big results in 2017 including wins at Bowdoin, at Amherst and a draw v Amherst plus a tough 1-0 loss to Tufts at home where they played them straight up and were unlucky not to get a result. They also had bad losses at Tufts 4-0, at Oneonta 4-1 and v Bates 2-1.  I gave Nizzi credit all year as Hamilton was one of the few teams in Nescac that tried to play futbol. For the most part they played the ball to feet and on the ground when they could. That takes guts in this league nowadays. For 2018, Hamilton has some holes that need to be filled. 3/4 of their backline has graduated. Lichtman, O'Malley and Kastilahn are all gone and while Hamilton's backline was a bit of a weakness IMO in 2017 it is still very tough to lose 3 starters on your backline. Lins Cadwell returns in net and should be pushed by that Frosh that is coming in. Hamilton returns 3 very solid attacking players in strikers Aidan Wood and Jefri Schmidt and attacking midfielder Bobby Chapman. I am a huge fan of Wood who is as quick as a cat and finished the season with 8 goals. Chapman is a decent 1v1 player and Schmidt a solid striker that works well with Wood. The graduation of Eli Morris in midfield leaves a big hole to fill. His leadership on and off the field, work ethic and tackling will be hard to replace right away. I think if Nizzi brings in a solid recruiting class, can get a consistent effort on defense and in net and get 100% focus in every game they play they will have a good chance to contend for a Top 4 in Nescac.


7.   Wesleyan------Wesleyan has now finished outside the Top 8 in Nescac 2 years in a row which has never happened. They had four 1 goal losses and finished 2-6-2 in conference. They had the talent in 2017 to qualify for the Nescac Tournament but they finished 1-4-0 on the road in Nescac and losses at Trinity and at Hamilton in OT absolutely killed them. They graduated 8 Seniors from 2017 but the biggest loss will be Nick Jackson who will be difficult to replace. His leadership, passion and competitiveness will be sorely missed. They also lose Cowie-Haskell who actually has 1 year of eligibility left because of so many injuries this kid had. ACH had a serious nose for the goal but finished with only 35 Games Played in a 4 year career. However, when healthy he could find the net and scored 15 Goals in those 35 Games. With only 4 rising Seniors on the 2018 roster this is another Nescac team that will be very young. Komar Martinez-Paiz is one of the more talented players in the league and Wesleyan is going to need him to step up his game this season. He has only scored 4 goals in his career and he really needs to sneak maybe 6-7 Goals next season for Wesleyan. Teddy Lyons the other rising Senior will be needed to step up with the loss of Jackson and really lead this team with KMP. Lyons is a worker and I think he could be a leader on this team. A couple serious problems from 2017 need to be addressed. 1. Scoring Goals...No player on the team last year scored more than 2 goals and yes 5 players did score 2 goals but you cannot win in this league with that lack of production. 2. GK....Wheeler must get a solid GK because that was always a given when you played Wesleyan in the past during their successful runs is that they had legit GK'ing. Their starter Brian Harnett has moved on but he was not the answer either. 3....The backline needs to get bigger and more physical. Wesleyan had plenty of speed last year on its backline but they need to add muscle and grit back there especially with the loss of Jackson.  This team does still have some good players and will need guys like Alec Haas, Trevor Devanny, Mauricio Bailleres and Jack Wolf to step up. I like all 4 players especially Haas as I think he can score goals in this league and Devanny on the flank has speed and toughness. If Wheeler can get a focused bunch next year, max effort all season, consistent steady GK'ing and more goals this team will finish in the Top 8 and might surprise and compete for a Top 4. 


8.  Bowdoin------Bowdoin finished a solid season in 2017 with another NCAA Tournament appearance but had a quick exit. This was a team that relied on a tight organized defense and superior GK'ing. They struggled scoring goals all year and more importantly they struggled creating goal scoring chances. They relied solely on set pieces and pouncing on scrums after the set piece landed.  They had no schemer in midfield, no one that could pull the strings. They tried some players there like McPherron and a couple others but nothing looked right to me. Somewhere along the line Wiercinski said screw it and had combinations of Niang, Morant and Stenquist all roaming around in the middle of the field but none a steady playmaker. He went with sheer size and power and decided if he could not create scoring chances thru midfield during the run of play then they will create them off set pieces. Frankly. he had no choice but it is his own doing. If you really study Bowdoin's roster a ton of players are very identical. Tons of size, athleticism and heart but not much skill. It's almost like he over recruited size one year just to match up with Amherst or Middlebury or whatever. Also, they had no depth last year because of all this duplication. I would say they had maybe 4 guys come off the bench in meaningful games that I can remember. Drake Byrd the pacey frosh who is one of the few players on this roster that can take guys 1v1, Will Herman an athletic kid with some size and toughness, CJ Masterson a quick little front player who scored a couple goals and Jason Oliver a steady midfielder with a good work ethic. That was it and I expect those 4 to be starters in 2018. Bowdoin had 27 players on their roster in 2017 and I would guess maybe 10 of them never saw the field or maybe got in 1 or 2 games all year. Van Siclen's backup last year Sam McDowell will be a rising JR and has never played in a game. He is the only other GK on the roster. My point is if you are afraid to give guys a run here and there throughout the season how will any of them get any experience? How do you rely on these players for 2018 or are we relying on bringing in another 8-10 Frosh and weeding some of these kids out? Anyhow.....Bowdoin does still have one of the best athletes in the league in Niang. He will need to get more than the 2 goals he scored in 2017. I think Bowdoin is going to need him to match his Soph year performance when he tallied 6 goals and 3 game winners. The left-footed McColl is a really solid player as he is 6'2 tough and fast. Excellent server of the ball on crosses and set pieces as he has 10 assists in his career as a defender. I assume he will be a Captain in 2018 and move to CB. I am a big fan of Stenquist as a holding midfielder as he is tough as nails and gets stuck in. One of the better tacklers of the ball in Nescac. He is on the shorter side for holding middies in this league nowadays but there is plenty of size around him to make up for it. The only other player besides these 3 and the 4 bench players from 2017 that I named would be Levi Morant. He is not my type of player if I was building a team from scratch but he does work hard and is very dangerous finishing set pieces. When I watched Columbia University last year in the NCAA 1st Round his brother Zach Morant scored a fantastic goal to equalize William & Mary off a corner kick and eventually Columbia secured a 2-1 OT Win and its first NCAA Win in probably decades. I remember him saying in the interview he was saying something along the lines of "I just crashed the box its something we work on every day in practice and if guys have the desire to lay your body out you will get the ball in the net". Levi has this exact same mentality and scored 3 goals in 2018. He will need to up that tally to 4-5 goals in 2018 especially if he moves back up top. Unless Bowdoin brings in a stellar class with 2-3 guys that can contribute right away I am predicting that they will drop down the standings. A brand new backline and GK will need time to gel. They will still play the same old defensive, tedious, conservative style that Wiercinski relies on and be a very organized unit but I see way more problems than I did in 2017. They still will struggle to score and create but now they will not be as strong in the back and in net and those 1-0 victories in 2017 will turn into draws and losses in 2018.

[Mr.Right]

9. Conn---------I am going to get some grief for predicting Conn finishes outside the Top 8 but I just have a hunch even though they have a ton  of positives heading into the season. The first being their schedule. Out of 15 games on the schedule they will play ONLY 3 games (at Bates, at Bowdoin and at Hamitlon) outside the state of Connecticut. That is one the more favorable schedules I have seen in a long time. Their Nescac schedule worked in their favor this year and they have some pretty good non-conference games at Home including Endicott, UMASS Boston and Rhode Island College plus Away at ECONN. The second positive is they return more than 20 players from last season. They only lose one key starter in Nate Summers and one bench player Graham Koval. So you have basically 10 starters coming back from an team that qualified for the NCAA's for the first time in 22 years. You also can add a brand new recruiting class to all the returning players. The third positive is Murphy. One of the better coaches in Nescac he absolutely got everything out of these players that he could in 2017. They were one of the hardest working sides in Nescac last year and props have to go to the players but also Murphy. So on paper this looks like a side that could finish maybe 4th / 5th in Nescac and I would not be shocked if they do. Rising Senior Ben Manoogian was recognized with all kinds of wards last season for scoring 8 goals with 3 GW's. Rising Soph GK AJ Marcucci was solid in net all season for Conn and might be Conn's best GK in decades. All of this, the schedule, the returning players, Manoogian, the GK and the Coach make it look like a Top 4 side. However, there is always one team in Nescac every year that surprises everyone(That would be Conn in 2017) and always one team in Nescac that falls way short of expectations(IMO that will be Conn in 2018). Just a hunch thats all. I like Lockwood as a striker and I think he will continue to score some goals and they will need him to. I am not completely sold on Manoogian as his 8 goals were not scored against any top teams. The top teams shut him down. Marcucci's performance in net for Conn in the NCAA 1st Round game v Rochester cost his team the game as the goal he let up in the final minutes was a horrific mistake. Murphy can wear on players very easily and his negativity and yelling can tune players out. I do not like their midfield at all as they can not create decent chances for their strikers. There is no real stud that can take guys on 1v1. This is just my hunch for some reason that all that went right last season will go wrong this season. I could totally be wrong and would not be surprised to see Conn finish 4th or whatever but right now they are my pick to blow up.


10. /  11. ------Trinity / Bates-----I am putting these 2 teams together because IMO both of these sides are lacking talent to compete with the other 9 teams. I have never seen Trinity's roster look so thin. They graduate key players from a team that under achieved all year last year. Bednarek, Savonen and Brazina are big losses for this program. It is going to take 1-2 recruiting classes for Trinity to get back on track. They have holes all over the field. Who is going to score goals? Who is going to lead the backline? Who will create in midfield? Who is in net? They do have a brand new field that recruits should love plus a fantastic campus and decent financial aid packages. There is nor reason for Trinity not to be competing for Top 4's in Men's Soccer every year. They should at the very least be able to get real solid athletes into that program. The kid Henry Belt from South Kent is a good player as is Alex Steel from Loomis. The 2 boys from PA / Shipley Henry Farr and Mike Burns are also good players. Other than that I am not seeing much unless kids have been busting all offseason and a real solid class is coming in.  It could be a long year in Hartford.  Bates is coming off their first Top 8 in eight years even if it was eighth place and 20 seconds away from being eliminated. Their Head Coach Stu Flaherty is gone and that could be a positive IMO. The new Coach came from Knox College and is a total mystery to me. His name is Tyler Sheikh and might be one of the youngest coaches in D3. I think he might be one or 2 years younger than Elias. However, unlike Elias he has Head Coaching experience which is KEY. This is a very good change for Bates and I have a hunch he might start turning this program around. It will be a massive challenge especially this year. The loss of Nate Merchant for a program like Bates is devastating. DiBenedetto will also be a loss. I will say besides Max Watson they do bring their defense back plus I am a big fan of their GK Robbie Montanaro. Whenever I tuned in, Montanaro was making some key saves and keeping Bates in the game. Hopefully, he will be the only player to stay put because I am curious if this new coach blows up the whole lineup and starts from scratch maybe changing systems and style of play plus trying guys in different positions. The great thing for him taking over Bates right now is there are no expectations at all for 2018. Flaherty left him a solid GK and a couple decent players and that is it. Unlike Elias at Midd, this new coach can play around with this whole program in 2018 and try any number of different things to see what he has and what he needs for 2019. Teams MUST get 6 points v Trinity and Bates in 2018. It is an absolute MUST to get get 6 points against both these sides if you want to finish in the top half of the league. Bates and Trinity will not just roll over but if the other 9 squads play their best and give 100% they should be able to beat them. Will Trinity and Bates go 0-10-0? ...NO....They each will get a couple draws and maybe a couple wins but I predict these 2 will be at the bottom of the table by late October.

[blooter442]

Well done Right as always...+K