NESCAC

[blooter442]

IDK Bloots this looks like a 4-5-1 with Tasker and Lane wide..Kinda like last year...Announcer gives us his tactical analysis of Northeastern Mens Soccer using 5 at the back but pushing the wingbacks high so its like a Juve 3 back system..Not sure about that

Could be. Both pretty similar, but obviously wingers in 4-5-1 are wider and lower, while these two wingers have been high and looking to cut in so that's why I went 4-3-3.

Could also be 4-1-4-1 like the 2014 system, but that year they had a real target at CF in Hoppenot. Jacobs strikes me more as a false 9. Either way I do not see 3 at the back; Aroh is the shield rather than a third CB.

Braun and Van Brewer in. Wonder if the shape will change.

[blooter442]

Ooooooof...that was close. UMB guy not closed down, rounded the keep but fired over.

[Mr.Right]

Ahh the stream is nice now...Went back to see the goal and that was a fantastic run by Tasker to lose his man and get the free header...Perfect service by Lane and actually a really nice deft touch and chip by Najjar to Lane...

UPDATE: REAL NICE ball by UMB defender to split Tufts defenders and UMB striker BURNS Najjar with speed and runs onto it and proceeds to sky it over the net...Very dangerous chance...Game should be 1-1

[Mr.Right]

I cannot deal with this stream but I did catch Tufts 2nd goal..No clue who it was but the guy turned on the jets down the left flank burned a defender and looked to have roofed it in the net...Impressive...

[blooter442]

Dangle of a run by Cano and great blast to make it 2-0. Apparently a sophomore. Don't even remember him playing last year but what an impact.

[blooter442]

Bad foul by Tufts defender and a yellow as a UMB guy broke downfield. Just outside the box.

Decent left footed effort from the free kick, just over.

[blooter442]

Van Brewer rounds things off with a nice left footed finish.

Tufts with a comfortable win, and they never really looked like getting out of second gear. That said, the visitors gave them a few nervy moments and could well have had one or two of their own.  Will be a tough road trip up to Colby on Saturday.

[OldNed]

I was looking at the box score for the Conn College vs. Mitchell game and I didn't see any mention of Lockwood for Conn College.  It doesn't look like he's on the roster this year either - I was expecting him to have a big senior year, but it looks like he isn't playing.

On a side note, freshman Augie Djerdjaj scored 2 goals against Mitchell and he's from Mahopac, NY.  I guess they grow goal scorers there because St. Joe's F Brett Mattos is also from Mahopac.

[blooter442]

One note about the Tufts midfield: last night, Aroh started behind Delaney and Trevorrow — van Brewer came in for a bit to end each half and was, my opinion, the best player on the pitch. Apparently he has just started training, as he was nursing an injury, so perhaps is being eased back into the team. Rojas was serving the one-game suspension he incurred for last year's red card (double yellow) against Brandeis in the Elite 8. I thought that only straight reds merited a ban, but clearly I was mistaken. Either way, I'd perhaps expect to see the Jumbos play Aroh/van Brewer/Rojas in the future.

On Aroh: He looked really good, and was everywhere. He played in every game as a freshman (starting one) but looks even more at home this year. I think he could be as good as Kulcsar in that holding role.

[rangerfan]

I was looking at the box score for the Conn College vs. Mitchell game and I didn't see any mention of Lockwood for Conn College.  It doesn't look like he's on the roster this year either - I was expecting him to have a big senior year, but it looks like he isn't playing.

On a side note, freshman Augie Djerdjaj scored 2 goals against Mitchell and he's from Mahopac, NY.  I guess they grow goal scorers there because St. Joe's F Brett Mattos is also from Mahopac.

Augie isn't a true goal scorer, but he can score goals some very nice goals. He's a skilled midfielder who plays a good, smart game. Not a bad college debut!

[Mr.Right]

One note about the Tufts midfield: last night, Aroh started behind Delaney and Trevorrow — van Brewer came in for a bit to end each half and was, my opinion, the best player on the pitch. Apparently he has just started training, as he was nursing an injury, so perhaps is being eased back into the team. Rojas was serving the one-game suspension he incurred for last year's red card (double yellow) against Brandeis in the Elite 8. I thought that only straight reds merited a ban, but clearly I was mistaken. Either way, I'd perhaps expect to see the Jumbos play Aroh/van Brewer/Rojas in the future.

On Aroh: He looked really good, and was everywhere. He played in every game as a freshman (starting one) but looks even more at home this year. I think he could be as good as Kulcsar in that holding role.

Since the stream was useless I could not get a good read on Tufts last night so I will have to wait to this weekend. Maybe it was the horrible stream but to me I agree Aroh and Najjar were solid but they looked to be lacking speed. I could be wrong but if both of them are slow afoot that could be problems down the road. So if Delaney is a player like you said does that mean Van Brewer will be coming off the bench? Where does Rojas fit in because I think Shapiro likes Trevorrow on the field. So if he plays Aroh and Trevorrow then you have 1 spot for Rojas / Van Brewer / Delaney to attack. Obviously, Shapiro is great at moving guys around and changing formations and tactics mid game so I assume all these guys will get enough minutes but maybe in different roles. I will say this Colby might have more questions about Tufts than before the game started except on player strengths and weaknesses.

[Mr.Right]

I was looking at the box score for the Conn College vs. Mitchell game and I didn't see any mention of Lockwood for Conn College.  It doesn't look like he's on the roster this year either - I was expecting him to have a big senior year, but it looks like he isn't playing.

On a side note, freshman Augie Djerdjaj scored 2 goals against Mitchell and he's from Mahopac, NY.  I guess they grow goal scorers there because St. Joe's F Brett Mattos is also from Mahopac.

WOW...I did not see this. You are correct Lockwood is not on the Conn roster. Some things just do not change as I said at the end of last season we always have to study Conn's roster to see who has either quit or been booted off. Lockwood is a massive loss as he could score goals and battled up top. Honestly, though because of Murphy's style this is a yearly event.

[Mr.Right]

Tonight another bunch of Nescac Men's Soccer teams get going. All night games tonight.

Amherst will be travelling to Wentworth and have brought in 7 Frosh. Only 1 GK has arrived so will be curious to see who is in net for them. Obviously, the frosh everyone will be interested in seeing is German Giammattei who has grabbed the #9 jersey. That's a good sign. On paper this kid looks to be the real deal so I want to see what he has tonight and how he fits into Serpone's lineup tonight. Serpone brings back a couple starters on the backline in Bryce Johnson, Kyle Kelly, Felix Wu and Cutler Coleman. Will Cohen might also fit into the mix. However, besides the 6'5 Sean Fitzgerald who saw limited minutes last season Amherst looks to have gotten a bit smaller and hopefully more skilled. Wu and Kelly are 6'2 and Johnson 6'1 but they have more guys under 6' than in years past.

Trinity opens up under the lights at Endicott.  Endicott should be one angry and motivated bunch tonight after going 0-2-0 on the weekend. Trinity will battle them tonight but Endicott must win this game to get back on track. Trinity has brought in 7 Frosh and their starting lineup might have a couple of them in it. Either way their lineup will look a lot different than it did in 2017. This would be a good result if Trinity shows up and great preparation for their opening Nescac match this weekend up at Williams.

Colby will open with a walk over to rival Thomas who has opened 2-0-0 after wins v Coast Guard and Westfield State. Thomas will be looking to go 3-0-0 tonight by trying to get their first win over Colby since an OT W in 2015. Colby has brought in 12 Frosh and have a roster size near 30. It's just ridiculous IMO to have such a big roster but anyhow. One of the Frosh is Ethan Fabricant who is Williams striker Bobby Fabricant's brother. If he is anything like his brother he will be a very hard worker but slower than pond water. Usually brothers though can be very different so we will see. Colby brings back many starters but I would not be surprised to see a couple Frosh tonight.
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Wesleyan will host a solid side in WPI tonight on the turf. This is a very challenging opening game for Wheeler. Wesleyan has brought in 11 Frosh including a 6'5 GK. Wheeler has also brought in a ton more size which was needed. There are a ton of questions that need to be answered. Who will be in net? Who replaces Nick Jackson and ACH? If Wesleyan can get a win here that would be a fantastic result. They did beat WPI last year in their opening game and I am betting WPI remembers that. Even a draw here would be ok for Wesleyan but I will be interested to see their lineup tonight.

Bates hosts Maine Farmington on the turf at 8pm tonight. Main Farmington usually is a very weak team so even with a new coach and a ton of question marks for Bates this game should be controlled by the Bobcats. Looks like Bates has 7 Frosh on the roster but only 4 with #'s. So they will be relying on returning players a ton. Captains look to be a couple of average defenders in Drew Munoz and Sam Huebschmann, Peder Bakken who should be one of Bates key players this season and Aleks Marceau who I have to admit I do not remember at all.  Bates also returns dangerous players in Eric Opoku and Beaufils Kimpolo-Pene who  will be needed to score goals for Bates this season.  Robbie Montanaro returns in net and he will be needed bigtime this season. He is IMO one of the better GK's in the league.  Bates also has a new Head Coach in Tyler Sheikh who comes from Knox College. I have no idea what his philosophy is or how he will play with this bunch. If I were in charge I would all out attack with this bunch. There is still enough skill on this team to be dangerous going forward. Defensively, they need a ton of work but with such a solid GK if you attack with your wingbacks and happen to leave your GK high and dry on the counter coming back the other way at least Montanaro would hold up. Try to outscore your opponents. There is no doubt in my mind that unless this Coach is defensive minded and sits deep than Bates is going to leak goals this season. Even if they do sit deep they will still let up a decent amount goals so why not go balls out and attack and press your opponents like crazy. Some Nescac defenses would be very uncomfortable under that type of pressure and Bates has the guys to do this. Point is this Coach can tinker as much as he wants and try a ton of stuff with this group. Because this Head Coach is new I am guessing players came back extra fit to impress a new coach so that should be another positive. Will be interested in catching Bates 2nd Half tonight.

[amh63]

All the Nescac teams that opened their seasons last night won.....only Midd was held to a 0-0 2ot draw.  See scores on Nescac scoreboard website.
Amherst had a scrimmage recently and the new #9 FY got in the scoring column.  On the Amherst athletic website, there is a preview and a roster of the 2018 squad....with #9 specifically cited.

[blooter442]

Since the stream was useless I could not get a good read on Tufts last night so I will have to wait to this weekend. Maybe it was the horrible stream but to me I agree Aroh and Najjar were solid but they looked to be lacking speed. I could be wrong but if both of them are slow afoot that could be problems down the road. So if Delaney is a player like you said does that mean Van Brewer will be coming off the bench? Where does Rojas fit in because I think Shapiro likes Trevorrow on the field. So if he plays Aroh and Trevorrow then you have 1 spot for Rojas / Van Brewer / Delaney to attack. Obviously, Shapiro is great at moving guys around and changing formations and tactics mid game so I assume all these guys will get enough minutes but maybe in different roles. I will say this Colby might have more questions about Tufts than before the game started except on player strengths and weaknesses.

If Aroh is holding, you have two No. 8s, and I think those would be Rojas and van Brewer. Rojas brings the size and athleticism while van Brewer is smaller but has great vision and trickery. I actually thought Aroh got around fairly well last night, but wouldn't disagree with your assessment of his speed overall.

Delaney is athletic, works hard, and had a solid game, but I am not sure he gets ahead of either Rojas or van Brewer. I do not think Trevorrow starts; I think he mostly comes off the bench. Regardless, he put in a good shift last night.

Najjar did have a couple of giveaways but was solid otherwise. That being said, I agree he doesn't have the wheels that some other CBs have.