NESCAC

[Ejay]

Falconer - where are other Messiah alumni now coaching?

[Yankeesoccerdad]

Where's the eating popcorn emoticon when you need it?

I can't decide whether to go with some traditional Orville R, moderate-liberal Smartfood Cheddar, or some more Wesleyan-esque Trader Joe's Herbs and Spices.

This is great stuff and hopefully will spiral into a regular blog as the saga unfolds, with the side benefit of some of us (including me) reminding everyone another time or two about the cool, elite places WE and our kids went to college.  I'm in.  The college search was a great, exhilarating time, when, before actual realities and decisions roll in, everything and every place is possible.  Great stuff for those of us who loved making and re-making lists and would love to go through the whole thing again.

So many nuances.  Too Jewish.  Midfield plays the way we like but doesn't need us.  Too rural.  City is great except if its Hartford.  Classes too big but at least mimics Europe.  Better than any strong Academy players that have played at F&M but not even playing Academy and might not even make a good Academy squad.  Could get bored.  Needs the ball but might not get off the bench.  Well, at least will be able to pull the strings for the scout team and use that intuitive decision-making in practices.  One national title coach is a jerk (proven fact apparently) who plays crap soccer.  Colby might have a flake.  The Wesleyan coach is cool but he keeps it real about realistic academic chances, and who wants all that deconstructive chalking in Middletown anyway?  So many schools that aren't good enough even though there's no signal about any suggesting admission.  Live in the Midwest but can only consider what works with Logan Airport.  Rochester has an airport.  In fact, all the UAA schools do.  No consideration of the excellent schools that sound like actual fits....Gettysburg, Dickinson, Denison, DePauw, Centre, Rhodes.

Several people have suggested what to do.  Pursue what you think you like broadly.  Pick some places to visit that want you to visit, and be sure to include at least a couple where you're very confident that admission is not an issue.  Go on said visits, and then decide on small vs big, rural vs city, campus cultures, team cultures, coaches, playing styles, likely playing time at places where you think playing style fits, etc, etc.

That's quite the stand-up routine... whatever the popcorn flavor, I'm throwing it at the screen watching this reel of "facts" which are quite "nuanced" themselves! A few corrections are in order before this commentary is permanently stamped on the collective mind of this board regarding our poor non-superstud:
- "Better than any strong academy players that have ever played at F and M." You mean all one of them? [burn emoji] What I actually said: Better than the incoming freshman. Small nuance...
- "Not even playing academy and might not even make a good squad."  Truth: Played middling academy before, then made squad this year again but turned it down. (You can pick on that decision all you want, but consider driving 25 miles in rush hour straight through a huge city four or five night a week and get home at 11pm... If you survive to apply to college, see if any nescac school thinks you are "well-rounded.")
- "Lives in midwest...."  Fact: Never said that. Guess another region...
"..But can only consider what works with Logan Airport." That's right. Or Philadelphia. Unless you are offering to give him your frequent flyer miles on American Eagle, he's going Southwest, heck, maybe even Spirit.
- "Could get bored." Fine. Son (and you all) have put to rest that silly Mom Concern. As an alum of a nescac school, I have duly warned him, however, that if he is bored, it won't be because of the soccer, it will be due to the lack thereof during a long, miserable winter stuck on a hill outside of New Hartford or Pittsfield or some other exciting place...
- "So many schools aren't good enough..."  Huh? I assure you, they are all more than good enough."... but no signal about any suggesting admission." Sure they are, but I'm not going to tell you which...
- "No consideration of the excellent schools that sound like actual fits....Gettysburg, Dickinson..." These two were and are, but I hadn't brought them into the discussion.

On that note, it's probably time for Mom to spare this board any more of the recruiting "saga." We'll suffer through the madness on the sidelines.

For the record I get that my kid is not superstud. Just don't be mean to poor Mom on some future date if he ends up sitting on a bench!

Let me guess:

You're from Texas, not the Midwest.
You're considering Gettysburg, F&M, Hamilton (alum), and other NESCAC schools
Did the "D3 East Coast Summer ID Camp Tour - 2018"
You prefer bigger city - would be good fit in Boston area D3 or Rhodes or Johns Hopkins for their location - rules out some of NESCAC and Gettysbury and F&M since not near airports or metro areas.

Your son (R) is very talented - would fit in at any of these schools but wouldn't stand out on day 1. Sone schools are a bit of a stretch academically but he can handle the workload.
Best of luck - let everyone know where he ends up.

Wow BillWill, eerily correct on a few points, specifically Texas and Hamilton. If you aren't psychic, where do we know you from?

Anyway, even though you all more interested in the fall season currently, I'll share what happened with recruiting (and the mistakes we made) while it's fresh in my mind in hopes of helping anothermom or any other parents. (This isn't over until it's over, so I have plenty of time to make more mistakes and let you know later:)

S ended up committing to F&M and is perfectly happy with his choice for the time being, but we'll see. In a nutshell, being strategic about which schools to visit and when was no easy task and this played a big role in determining his options in the end. To be honest, the other big calcualtion was financial. With F&M, you basically hand the coaches a printout of the net price calculator, and they submit it with the preread and tell you, as long as you put the numbers in right, this is pretty much what you'll get. No NESCAC school will do that. You are in the dark with no recourse or bargaining power to later say to the school, "Hey, you said it would be xyz." The real purpose of having ED1 rounds is to bring in not only top athletes but top dollars. No secret there.

As far as NESCAC, S had "support" from Conn College, Bowdoin, and Hamilton, but he ended up a "C" band student for both Bowdoin and Hamilton. Sounded like he was A band for Conn, but he turned the offer down because he didn't feel the love with Murphy, F&M is a stronger school, and anyways, muddiness about cost for all three scared the heck out of me.

So here's what I learned. Maybe these personal stories offer some insight for anyone looking for it.

1. Don't let your kid decide he's going to ditch a school just because he doesn't like the coach, because that guy might not be there tomorrow. If your kid likes a school that is not too far off academically, make him keep communicating and do the clinics. In hindsight, IF S hadn't flaked in the midst of Bates' coaching turnover, he'd probably have it as an option. But it was too little too late: Within a week of Sheikh getting hired on, S tried to jump back in the game, got B band on the preread, but ultimately a new coach who's trying to do things right is not about to hand out a tip at the 11th hour to a kid he hasn't seen play in person when he has other decent players who the assistant coach had seen and are committing. S doesn't share my regret because he prefers to go to a team where he knows where he stands rather than jumping into something in flux where it might hard to have a sense of how you are going to fit in.

2. Think twice about going to a clinic for a school that you haven't visited prior. We tried the best we could, but we couldn't get to enough schools simply because of geography and the constraints of school, soccer, etc. So we wasted S's time by going to the late July clinic at Tufts when he could have been at Bates; well, he got there, did the tour, etc. and instantly hated the school. We also wasted his physical and mental energy at Middlebury; the drive there sucked, he decided it felt too remote for him, he got negative, and showed poorly. And perhaps our worst mistake was to wear him out at Amherst. We didn't even have to visit to know it wasn't an option on any level, but S's Grandpa seemed to think it was a grand idea and dragged him there. Grandparents must not have a say!

3.  Especially if you live in an area where NESCAC coaches have fewer chances to see your kid in tournament play, carefully measure out your kid's physical and mental resources by spreading your clinics more evenly out over winter, spring, and summer or even prior year. If you pile up too many over the summer before senior year, your kid will get worn out at an unpredetermined moment and suddenly show poorly. And he's had just the one chance. Good thing S hated Tufts, because it was at the very end of July after a loonnggg summer that started with the Region 3 championship back in mid-June... so he blew that one. Just no legs left at all. If you have to travel like us, it's hard to not get compressed in summer because it's near impossible to fly out more than twice for random one-day clinics sprinkled all over February, March, April, and May when your kid is in the middle of a spring season and school. I remember wanting to send him to Bates' clinic last January, but thinking, Seriously? Texas to Lewiston in January? And predictably, a noreaster wiped out travel then. I thought that coach should be a little more strategic in his planning if he wants to widen his scope, but anyway. Now by comparison, we got to F and M and Hamilton in the spring when he was fresh, so S knew early where he stood with the coaches, they submitted prereads on July 1, got answers quickly, and it all was smooth. That saved stress.

4.  Not sure if I can offer advice but more of a head's up: Even if you look carefully at each school's GPA/SAT stats to see how close your kid is to the MEAN scores for a particular school, it's really hard to know what Admissions is going to say. But it helps to at least understand the banding system (A, B, or C) and make an educated guess. Logic told me that with a 4.0 and 29 ACT, S could not possibly be B band for Bowdoin, but coach acted optimistic, so we put our eggs in his basket. I understand these coaches have a hard time guessing, but mainly it's in it for them to always err on the positive side. Admissions' said nothing about S's marks being sub-par; only that they didn't like that S had been to more than one high school. Well geez. Parents sometimes move, and plus he went on a foreign exchange program. So apparently predictability is better for a kid than diverse experiences? What happened to liberal arts. Never know what these schools are going to come out with.

5.  Don't put much stake in legacy. According to "sources," about five years ago Admissions started weighing legacy far less than they used to. Huge donors might be another story, but I really don't know. Geography definitely helped us a bit, but for a C band, it's not going to be a deal-maker. For this reason and because Hamilton is test-score crazy, I should have gone strictly with the ACT averages, guessed C band, and scrapped Hamilton.

6. Closely monitor your kid's communications with coaches to be sure he's understanding a coach's intentions, and keep your radar up for anything funky. You are wiser. In my experience coaches were forthright and pretty clear, but we did have one situation that I'm sure is very rare in NESCAC: a coach who, without seeing your kid play, tells him—yes this actually happened and I heard it with my own ears because it was a phone message—"I'll use a tip on you" when he does not necessarily intend to do so and later retracts. I hate to throw this guy under the bus because he's truly a good guy just finding his way. Even when coaches are being open, the untrained ear of a 17-year-old can easily gloss over the difference between "You're definitely on my list of top recruits" and "you're my top recruit." So just find out exactly what is being said.

So that's the run-down. I guess it's time to jump over to the Centennial board if such a thing exists...

mom1234,

First, thanks for being so open about your experience during the process.  Our son recently finished committing after looking at NESCAC, Liberty League and Centennial League schools, and your comments and the replies were very helpful to us.

Second, i wanted to add a couple of things we learned in the process that haven't been touched on, in case useful for others.

A.  Encourage your kid to be open-minded.  Different schools and different coaches look for different things, and the way your kid is perceived may change based on his/her interests, junior year GPA, additional standardized tests and additional ID clinics.  Over the course of several months, the schools our son was considering changed significantly.  Some schools that seemed like reaches came back quickly with positive results from the pre-read, while some other schools that seemed like targets took a long time to respond or didn't respond as positively.

B.  Start early.  Go on college visits during 10th grade, and maybe do a couple of ID clinics the summer before 11th grade.  Our son found it very helpful--it allowed him to feel less stressed and also allowed coaches to see his progression from 10th to 11th grade.

C.  Don't overdo it.  Some kids thrive at the clinics and enjoy themselves, and some kids feel the stress much more.  Know your kid and adjust accordingly.  For almost all kids, the ID clinics and mentally and physically exhausting.  Don't let your kid do a clinic every weekend over the summer, unless you think your kid is really up for that.

D.  Not everyone follows the same timeline.  My son went to one clinic early in the summer where the coach said his incoming class was filled except for maybe one slot.  Another coach gave feedback and did pre-reads over the summer, but was not ready to make any decisions until the very end of August.  I'm not sure there is much you can do about this, but this is why you should start early and cast a wide net.

E.  Words matter, a lot.  In my experience, the coaches all chose their words carefully, if you are listening.  This isn't surprising--they have been recruiting a long time and they don't want to be misleading, for ethical and reputational reasons.  You said this, and I would just emphasize that subtle difference in words are lost on a 17 year old.  I asked to speak to coaches if the coach demonstrated strong interest, and I found they were all open to it.  Several coaches even told my son that they wanted to speak to a parent to be sure there was no misunderstanding. 

Congrats on your son going to F&M.  Our son visited and went to the spring 2018 clinic.  We were impressed by the school and the soccer program.

[Mr.Right]

Wesleyan at Vassar has been cancelled which usually means there will not be a makeup date.

Conn at Trinity has been moved to Wednesday night at 8pm on Trinity's turf field. Conn is 4-0-0 and have started well this season but with this game being moved they will now have Trinity at 8pm on a Wednesday,  at Hamilton on Saturday at 1:30pm and v Colby 2pm on Sunday. Those are all winnable games but it will be very tough to play 3 games in basically 4 days. Colby could be the biggest benefactor of this because Conn should be real leg heavy by the 2nd Half of their game.

Nescac POW is Midd's Henry Wilhelm.....hmmm who?? Yes he scored the game winner v Amherst but that was his first game played this year and he is not a starter on Midd's team.  I did not realize all it took to win POW was to score a GW goal.

[NESCAC11]

Wesleyan at Vassar has been cancelled which usually means there will not be a makeup date.

Conn at Trinity has been moved to Wednesday night at 8pm on Trinity's turf field. Conn is 4-0-0 and have started well this season but with this game being moved they will now have Trinity at 8pm on a Wednesday,  at Hamilton on Saturday at 1:30pm and v Colby 2pm on Sunday. Those are all winnable games but it will be very tough to play 3 games in basically 4 days. Colby could be the biggest benefactor of this because Conn should be real leg heavy by the 2nd Half of their game.

Nescac POW is Midd's Henry Wilhelm.....hmmm who?? Yes he scored the game winner v Amherst but that was his first game played this year and he is not a starter on Midd's team.  I did not realize all it took to win POW was to score a GW goal.

A goal in the NESCAC is so rare that everyone stops and looks at it like it's a unicorn.

[Falconer]

Falconer - where are other Messiah alumni now coaching?

There are probably more, and I apologize to anyone I should have named here.

3 at F&M (including the former head coach at Eastern)

3 at Eastern men's team, with at least two more coaching the women (Nick West's brother Brandon West & his wife both played at Messiah)

2 at Hope (David Brandt and his son Danny)

4 at Messiah

1 at Virginia Wesleyan (assistant coach Dustin Shambach, who was IMO the all-time best GK at Messiah)

Many others coach at the HS level in PA and OH. One very successful local coach, Matt Billman at Cumberland Valley, did not actually play at Messiah (as far as I know), but he graduated from Messiah. He has sent the odd player to Messiah, but has also coached other collegiate players.

NOTE: At first I said that Billman coached Josh Gros of DC United, but he might have just missed that opportunity. Unsure exactly when he started coaching at Cumberland Valley and exactly when Gros finished. If someone has the precise information please chime in.

[rudy]

Falconer - where are other Messiah alumni now coaching?

There are probably more, and I apologize to anyone I should have named here.

3 at F&M (including the former head coach at Eastern)

3 at Eastern men's team, with at least two more coaching the women (Nick West's brother Brandon West & his wife both played at Messiah)

2 at Hope (David Brandt and his son Danny)

4 at Messiah

1 at Virginia Wesleyan (assistant coach Dustin Shambach, who was IMO the all-time best GK at Messiah)

Many others coach at the HS level in PA and OH. One very successful local coach, Matt Billman at Cumberland Valley, did not actually play at Messiah (as far as I know), but he graduated from Messiah. He has sent the odd player to Messiah, but has also coached D1 players, among them Josh Gross who played a few years for DC United.

Nick Thompson assistant at Williams.  Michael Kovak was assisting at Conn college..now at Gettysburg. Keaton kasiguran was at Eastern Nazarene as assistant but moved on.

[Falconer]

Another very successful Falcon alum coaching in HS is Fred Winey at Lancaster Mennonite, who played under Layton Shoemaker. His teams have won or nearly won PA state titles multiple times. His former players include Keegan Rosenberry (Georgetown and Philadelphia Union), many Falcons (including current players David Alejos and Nate Flanders), and Caleb Cole (a 3-time AA for Gordon).

[Mr.Right]

Nescac Predictions:


Bowdoin at Midd-----Bowdoin as predicted as struggled a bit to start the season in Nescac play. They are 0-2-0 in the league with 0 Goals scored. This is not really the game that Bowdoin would want to try to get the offense going. Middlebury has looked pretty solid to start the year under first year Head Coach Alex Elias. They are 1-1-0 in Nescac with 1 Goal scored and 1 Goal allowed. You might say they are also struggling to score but they have played Amherst and Conn which are two of the toughest teams in Nescac this year. They lost 1-0 at Conn on a disastrous GK'ing error. They beat Amherst 1-0 last weekend at Home but I did not see the goal or how it was scored. The Midd recap said something to the effect of the ball was bouncing around in the restrictive area and Midd pounced on it and scored. I have no idea what that is supposed to mean so I am guessing there was an Amherst defensive breakdown or a GK error. Either way Midd beat Amherst and more importantly look to be injury free to start the year. The back 4 of Moffat, Davis, Robinson and Frosh McFarlane have been consistent and tough to break down. Holding midfielder Barovick has held his own and I really like the attacking midfielder Barsamian who has skill and plays a nice final ball. Potter got a brace mid-week and Goulart are playing wide and both have skill and 1v1 ability especially Goulart. O'Grady looks to be healthy and Reid are up top. A real solid lineup. I will say though that their 2 strikers O'Grady and Reid have not scored a goal this year nor has Goulart. If Midd is going to make a run in late October / November those 3 guys MUST start getting goals. As predicted before the season started Bowdoin would struggle early because they had to replace Van Siclen and CB's Ward and Bubb. Wiercinski started the year with Frosh GK Chris Kingston in net but he must have given up a soft goal to St.Joe's or got injured in that game because ever since Wiercinski has gone with another Frosh GK Owen Wolfson. I thought Kingston looked decent v Amherst but he wasn't tested much so who knows. Either way they have a Frosh in net. Wesleyan beat Bowdoin 2-0 and we got a nice recap of the game from "Metro" as I did not see the match. It sounds like Wesleyan scored 2 fluky goals on a long throw and own goal which means there was most likely some mix of defensive breakdown / GK indecisiveness / lack of communication. This happens when you have a young team and inexperienced backline. I will say I do like what Wiercinski did to start the year by keeping McColl at LB and making Niang a CB along with the Frosh Reid and Miller as RB. However, I am guessing Reid is injured as he did not play against Wesleyan so that could of added to the confusion back there. I would guess he moved McColl to CB but not sure. Anyway, this game is always a tight game and I think Midd has more talent and more depth. Bowdoin does have some dangerous attacking players like Drake Byrd and Alex Chaban who are quick 1v1 players who can cause problems for Midd's wingbacks. I think if Midd starts Moffat at RB like Elias has been doing if I were Wiercinski I would put Byrd wide left as he can burn Moffat with his wheels and cause problems. Other than that I am not sure how Bowdoin scores in this game as usually they have the advantage on set pieces but Midd can match up well with Bowdoin with Moffat, Robinson and Davis in the back. As much as I like Stenquist in front of Bowdoin's back 4 I think Midd can take advantage of all the changes Bowdoin has made in net and in the back. Midd has more weapons going at goal plus they are playing at Home..........Midd 1-0



Conn at Hamilton----Both Conn and Hamilton are off to real solid starts in 2018. Both teams are 2-0-0 in Nescac and Conn is 5-0-0 and Hamilton 4-1-0 overall. Both teams each have a signature victory under their belts which means they have both beaten a team that most likely will be regionally ranked in November. Conn beat Midd and Hamilton beat Oneonta. Impressively, Conn has given up only 1 Goal in 5 games and that goal was a PK. Hamilton has 4 Shutouts in 5 games. Conn is coming off a 3-0 thrashing of lowly Trinity midweek and Hamilton has had the whole week off after winning a back to back at Home last weekend v Trinity and Oneonta. Looking at the boxscore for Conn's win last night I see 2 key players, Matt Butera and Liam Donelan, did not play. Hopefully, they are not injured as those are 2 solid players and Conn has some depth but not the kind of depth that the top Nescac sides have. Conn has one of the best GK's in the league with AJ Marcucci. When I saw Conn they were in a 4-2-3-1. Their back 4 is solid with LB Hoadley and CB's Frosh Stoneback and I thought Donelan but I think Murphy has put in the Jersey kid Berkanish who is a big kid and RB Stokes. I personally like Donelan at CB and he is real effective at scoring goals with his head on set pieces so I hope he is not out for long.  In the middle of the park you have Conn's 3 of Milhollen, Butera and Manoogian all interchange nicely with all 3 looking quite fit and with decent skill. Not sure if any of the 3 are real holding middies but they all have skill and grit. Out wide you have #17 Christian Murphy wide left and # 7 Uzii Dieng wide right. Up top #10 Ben Highton. Not sure Conn has a true goalscorer but like last year everyone chips in. This year Murphy, Dieng and Highton have been scoring goals but last years leading goalscorer Manoogian has yet to find the net. This Conn team works very well together and from a distance look to have a real solid team chemistry. They also are extremely fit and work very hard. A team that is easy to root for as they do all the dirty work and everyone pitches in. The difference from last year to this year is Dieng out wide gives them a serious threat 1v1 on the flank as he is skilled and has speed. They will miss Lockwood banging home crosses though. Hamilton does have 4 shutouts and are led in the back by Luke Eckels. They look to be more organized in the back this season as the other CB is Milo Donovan who is also a big guy. Eckels and Donovan have decent speed for their size. LB Jack Sheehan is also 6'1 and pacey but has no skill. He bombs everything downfield. Nizzi had been playing the quick 5'7 Deguines at RB but he did not play against Oneonta so not sure what is going on with that. He likes to attack though and with his speed and skill he can just not sure how much of a defender he is. GK Lins Cadwell has looked solid in every game except the Ithaca match where he made 2 costly mistakes but looking at the boxscore he either got injured v Oneonta or was sacked 21 minutes into the game and the Frosh from Jersey Thomas Benson relieved him and performed well making 4 saves in his debut. Not sure what Cadwell's injury is but Benson looks to be a solid GK who is not afraid to put his body on the line. He is not the tallest GK but is a reactive type that makes big saves and will have to rely on his big defenders to clear crosses and corners. Hamilton has done what I said WAS A MUST before the season which was BEAT Trinity and Bates. I knew those 2 teams are a year or 2 away and they just do not have the talent to keep up with the rest of Nescac. Trinity looks even worse than predicted and Bates actually looks to be going in a solid direction under their new Head Coach. Still, Hamilton only managed to beat both Trinity and Bates 1-0, they beat Oswego St 2-0 and nicely took down Oneonta 1-0. My point is I thought Hamilton would be creating more goal scoring opportunities and maybe finishing their chances more than they have. They had no answer at Bates 2nd Half and were lucky to have gotten out of Lewiston with a 1-0 win. They beat Trinity 1-0 on a sick free kick by Noah Giovannelli but did not score in the run of play. I guess I want to see more from strikers Wood and Schmidt plus Chapman, Milnarik and Casadei. Anyway, this game all depends on both of these teams respective injuries. Neither side has the depth of the Top teams in Nescac but both sides have about 14-15 real solid players that can beat anyone. This is a real big game for BOTH schools as they both play on Sunday and a win in this game would be huge. The match Hamilton played v Ithaca is still sticking in my brain and the careless play of Hamilton's LB and GK on that day cannot just be forgotten. I think Conn has more horses and they have an advantage in net. Dieng will be the difference maker as he should be playing out wide v Hamilton's LB Sheehan who is quick but not as quick as Dieng and Dieng should get Sheehan's feet tangled 1v1 and cause problems..............Conn 1-0


Wesleyan at Bates---------I have not seen a full 90 of either of these teams play. I know both teams are starting some Frosh mixed in with some veterans. As "Metro" noted Wesleyan is playing in their usual flat 4-4-2 as Wheeler NEVER changes. From what I can gather Bates is in a 4-2-3-1 but not 100% sure. Wesleyan has got to try to get a Win in Lewiston as it is vital they get points in September because their last 4 Nescac games are at Williams, at Midd, v Amherst and v Conn. Not an easy way to finish your year so they MUST get 3 pts here. They have Soph Chris Franklin in net and he is coming off of 2 straight shutouts of Bowdoin and Eastern. I am not sure who has replaced Nick Jackson but it looks like Wesleyan starts 2 Frosh on the backline in #7 Tucker Kelsch and #6 Nicholas Wallick. I am guessing Teddy Lyons is either holding or defending. Martinez-Paiz is one of the more skilled players in Nescac but for Wesleyan to be successful this year he must contribute with goals and he has none in 4 games. Devanny was out wide in 2017 but maybe Wheeler moved him to wingback not sure.  Gallo could be anywhere on the field. My point is I do not quite know their lineup yet until I see them in person but I know their personnel well enough. Bates is starting 2 Frosh #4 James Peter and 6'5 #20 Frederick Hohmann. I know most of their personnel as #5 Williamson has the long throw, GK Montanaro is solid in net, Bakken is a workhorse in midfield and Captain as a JR and Huebschmann a solid defender...I will say there are a ton of changes. Looks like new Head Coach Tyler Sheikh has benched a few regular starters from 2017. Kimpolo-Pene and Opoku I have seen get a ton of minutes this season BUT they are not in the starting lineup and they are 2 dangerous players. He dropped defender Munoz who had been starting in defense the past 3 years.  He is using both Marceau brothers but not sure where. I am not questioning his decisions as I think he is the right man for this job unlike the former Head Coach and frankly is doing wonders with what Flaherty left him which was not much. Bates looks MUCH more organized this season than under Flaherty and are keeping their wingers wide which I like. Bates is 0-2-0 in Nescac and have 0 Goals in 2 Nescac games BUT have only allowed 2 Goals in 4 Games total. A 1-0 OT loss at Tufts is impressive even though it sounds like it was a half field scrimmage. Still Bates only allowed Tufts 6 SOG which is not many and compared to the pounding Tufts put on them last year 3-0 and how unorganized they looked in that game this is a big improvement. Both Wesleyan and Bates are obviously offensively challenged so I am not expecting many goals if any unless 1 of these teams takes a chance and comes out and attacks which will open things up for both teams. I do not see Wesleyan doing that but maybe Sheikh will give it a go as Bates has nothing to lose.  If both teams come out in their normal shapes and are defensive then I give the edge to Wesleyan as they have more talent that can score goals and should be able to find a winner......Wesleyan 1-0

[Mr.Right]

Colby at Trinity----Colby MUST get a Win in this game as they need 3 pts here. Colby is 0-1-1 in Nescac with a tough 1-0 loss to Tufts in which they had some looks and a great 0-0 draw at Williams. Colby is also in a 4-2-3-1. Colby has 11 very solid starters but once they go 2 guys deep off their bench they drop off considerably. This is not helpful in back to backs as they have NO DEPTH but like I said they have a very solid starting 11. GK Dan Carlson is one of the better GK's in the league. He is a pretty good shot stopper and makes some great saves. The backline has 2 solid CB's in 6'8 Garrett Dickey and Frosh Graham Pugh. Pugh is a tremendous athlete and reads the game really well plus is skilled and poised for a Frosh. I think the weakness is LB #6 Grady Jendzejec as he works hard and is quick but is not a good 1v1 defender and can be beaten. RB is #17 Jack Fletcher who is decent. #5 Berolzheimer is an absolute workhorse in midfield and has skill along with #10 Clouse who is a big body long thrower. However, Clouse is NOT FIT and gets gassed really quickly so he can be a weakness in the run of play. #9 Wyett MacDonald who I did not remember from 2017 but has really impressed me this season. He is a fantastic attacking midfielder with skill and is also a tough kid that works hard. Out wide are 2 dangerous players in #11 Jeff Rosenberg and #2 Kyle Douglas(Or as his teammates call him Dougie). Both Rosenberg and Douglas are lightning quick and good 1v1 players and really can spring a quick counterattack with their speed and skill. Up top is #31 Pereira who works hard BUT MUST start netting goals for Colby. He has none. Trinity is in complete shambles right now. They are 0-3-0 in Nescac and 1-4-0 overall. They have scored ZERO Goals in Nescac while allowing 9 and have allowed 14 goals in 5 games overall. NOT GOOD. They are extremely weak in net and in the back. Three of their better players did not play last night v Conn as defender Alex Steel did not play last night because of a Red Card at Hamilton. I have no idea where their best attacking player Henry Farr was or their other veteran on defense Mike Burns. Trinity is not a good side right now and even though I predicted them to finish last in 2018 i had no idea they would be this bad. They have a real chance at going 0-10-0 which surely will put Mike Pilger on the hot seat. In the past 10 years we have seen 2 teams go 0-10-0 which would be Bates in 2011 and Colby in 2013 and both Head Coaches were "re-assigned in the athletic department for a couple years" before retiring immediately following those 0-10-0 seasons. Kind of a nice way of saying your fired. This Trinity side is dangerously close to going 0-10-0 as they really need to change things up and maybe play ultra defensive just to make sure they get a few draws. I have no idea who in Nescac they will score against. They have not scored yet. They certainly are not going to be able to break down Colby and beat them in Hartford are they? Doubtful.......Colby 2-0


Williams at Amherst--------Huge game for both teams. Williams coming off an impressive showing in a 1-0 win over Babson and Amherst a disappointing loss at Midd. Amherst will be pumped to the max as they are playing their rival and 1st game at Home. Serpone has basically stuck with the same lineup in all 3 games except Will Cohen did not play at Midd. He has moved Fikayo Ajayi to CB along with Felix Wu. Long throwing Bryce Johnson is at RB and LB is the feisty 5'8 Jack O'Brien with GK Michael Stone. IMO this is Amherst weakness this year. I do not think Ajayi is a CB and Wu is decent but not the quality that Amherst used to have at CB. Both Wu and Ajayi are tough kids and good in the air but not sure about their positioning as defenders. Johnson and O'Brien are good solid backs but Williams strikers should be able to use their speed and 1v1 skill to beat these defenders off the dribble. However, Williams strikers Petrik and Gass are not physically tough kids so it is also conceivable that Amherst size and toughness in the back gets those 2 attackers out of their game completely. Fabricant is a tough striker for Williams and is playing real well to start the year and he will be needed to get a goal in this game for Williams to win. He will battle Bryce Johnson down the left flank and should be able to take him. Both teams MUST SHOOT on these GK's as both are very suspect and the game could come down to which GK does not make a mistake. Hopefully, Sullivan saw what the rest of the Williams fans saw in Oberg and moves him into the middle of the field. He has the poise to dictate this game as long as he does not get to wide eyed to Amherst field and style of play. As much as I love Bardong and Scatt at CB for Williams I think Amherst should be able to take advantage in the air on all their corners and long throws throughout the game. Sure they waste a minute off the clock every time Johnson trots to the opposite side of the field to bomb a throw in the box but that is how they want to play it. Amherst striker McMillian did play at Midd so expect him to start but if Ranieri is at LB he should be able to hold him in check. Dane Lind has been Amherst most dangerous player so far this year and with him and McMillian they will cause Williams defense problems. Williams RB Andrew Mathew is a good back but the weakest of the 4 so look for Amherst to attack him. I would expect McMillian going against him. The heralded Frosh Giammattei has yet to prove all the accolades but with the focus on Lind, Derby and McMillian maybe he gets his chances Saturday. Should be a wild game and Amherst 65 yard wide field only favors Amherst in this one as I hope Williams defenders plus Dory / Andreou / Oberg have been practicing defensive heading all week. Both teams have only played 3 games this year and both teams had all week off. Both teams NEED a Win if they want to win the league but neither get it..........2-2


Tufts at Brandeis--------Tufts is 5-0-0 and rolling along and Brandeis is struggling at 3-3-0. Both teams graduated a ton of talent but it seems Tufts has had an easier time replacing their graduated seniors than Brandeis has. The losses of Ocel, Flahive, Lynch, Berg, Vinson and especially Hernandez have been felt to start the year. Looking at those players I thought Brandeis would still be solid defensively but might struggle scoring goals with the losses of Ocel, Flahive and Lynch. Well besides a nightmare 3 goals allowed to Gordon on some GK errors they do have 3 Shutouts. Babson defeated Brandeis 2-0 but Babson is MUCH improved this year and WPI beat Brandeis 1-0 on a 35 yard set piece bomb. IMO I think Brandeis has had a mix of poor decisions(scheduling 5 games in 10 days to open season), bad luck and some issues scoring goals(being shutout against WPI and Babson). Brandeis still has plenty of talent and with their SOS this year they have plenty of opportunities to get wins v ranked teams. 5 teams in the UAA will be ranked in November, Tufts, Amherst and Clark. So they still have 8 chances to get Wins v ranked opponents. They beat Springfield earlier in the year and it is possible they will be ranked. Unfortunately, WPI and Babson probably will be ranked so that is 2 losses already. Actually Brandeis cannot not even think about this stuff right now they just pounded Mass Maritime 8-0 so hopefully that gets them going on offense. Tufts is 5-0-0 but not exactly lighting up the scoreboard either with tight 1-0 wins against Colby and Bates. They have a solid GK in Mieth, Paoletta has been a stud at CB, Lane and Tasker always dangerous out wide and Max Jacobs has been putting Tufts on his back with 3 goals in his last 4 games. These teams know each other so well there are no secrets. They know each other strengths and weaknesses. Should be a fun game to watch because both teams will be busting ass. Tufts will want revenge from Brandeis ending their season in 2017 as teams do not forget that stuff especially an outfit like Tufts and Brandeis just needs a Win to keep their season alive as if they lose this game they are going to be put into the position of most likely having to Win the UAA which will be VERY TOUGH. Brandeis might come out a little tight because they know what is on the line but if they take advantage of Tufts weaknesses they can win this game. Najjar WILL give the ball away so force him to cough it up in dangerous areas of the field. Aroh is not as quick as Kulcsar so take advantage of that. The Frosh Daly is a good player but he is still a Frosh and the Brandeis fans should be trying to rattle him and Brandeis should be attacking his side. I will say I love Weatherbie's workrate and toughness but he can be beat 1v1 if you have a solid flank player. This game is going to be a battle and I think Brandeis will have chances BUT CAN THEY FINISH? They have looked to have issues finishing every time I have tuned in this year. Brandeis MUST stay in Jacobs mug the second he touches the ball and be wary of Van Brewer / Trevorrow / Rojas in midfield. I still say those 3 NEED to be sticked HARD and you will take them out of the game early. Especially VanBrewer......Complete Toss Up but edge must go to Brandeis at Home. A win against Tufts would give Brandeis such a big boost of confidence..2-1 Brandeis

[Mr.Right]

Just an update on Stewart Flaherty's Dartmouth Big Green -----They are 0-4-2 with a recent loss to Hofstra..

[truenorth]

I'm not sure I'd blame Dartmouth's slow start on Flaherty, but I knew that this was going to be a tough transition to a new coaching staff after Chad Riley's departure for the golden dome in South Bend...despite the fact that there is some good talent remaining on the roster...

[blooter442]

Great stuff Right.

Despite being in Amherst this year I think this is Williams' best chance in years to get a result in this regular-season fixture. If I am not mistaken they haven't won this game in the regular season since 2009 (ties last year and in 2012), although there have been the two well-documented triumphs in the Elite 8 in 2012 and 2013. I think Giammattei is quite the player — he got two goals in a minute in his first collegiate game, the rout of Wentworth — but I think there's a lot of pressure on him and he is still adapting. Also I might not have taken the #9 shirt as a FY (actually, I probably would have, as 9 is my favorite number, but you get my drift). Regardless I think it's pretty clear that he is being expected to deliver the goods right off the bat, which — while it's great they're putting that faith in him — can be tough for a freshman to deal with, regardless of how talented he is. Of course I am prepared to eat my words at the end of the season if he has a fantastic first year. I agree that Williams has looked its best since Sullivan has been there and it seems like there is a good synergy throughout the team — it doesn't seem like one person is shouldering the majority of the responsibility in the way that Rashid or Sisco had to in recent years. I think they have certainly improved defensively — just 1 goal against in the first 3 games — but even with Babson's improvement I still don't think they've faced a real high-octane offense just yet. It will be interesting to see how they hold up against the Jeffs' patented combination of gegenpressing and hoofball. I think a draw is most likely and Amherst will always fight to win but I could see Williams sneaking it as well.

As I've said before I think Brandeis was unlucky in the Gordon game but were outplayed by Babson, although I think in hindsight they were perhaps just gassed. WPI they were in the game and working hard but they didn't stand out for me and I think WPI perhaps just shaded it. 5 games in 11 days does seem a bit much but then again I remember in 2012-13 they started with 5 games in 8 days. Then again those games were against Ithaca, Keene State, Colby-Sawyer, Clark, and MIT — IIRC MIT was the only team out of those five who was a regional power — whereas this year's 5 in 11 were against Endicott, Gordon, Springfield, Babson, and WPI, all of whom will be contending this year (I say that even with the Gulls' tough start). Clearly the latter slate of games is a lot more difficult, so I agree that they will want to rethink their scheduling in the future.

I won't be able to make the game — $200 round trip to Iceland was too good to resist — but I would personally pick Tufts (back in 2015 I picked defending champion Tufts to win 1-0 at home but then Brandeis pulled the upset on the road. Reverse psychology!). I think it is much more of a must-win for Brandeis although I think they would accept a draw. They cannot get caught on the break the way they did two years ago in the last minute of 2OT — I like to say "if you can't win, don't lose" and they lost by throwing too many guys forward in that game. That being said I expect Tufts to come out going for the win, as they will want revenge for losing to Brandeis in 2OT last year in the Elite 8. This will be a big test for the Judges — can they prove they're still a legit contender, or will the perception of the Judges having a "down year" that has persisted thus far continue? Should be a good one.

Outside of those two marquee fixtures, I am most intrigued by Conn-Hamilton. Two teams that have made steady progress over the last few years and Conn. was unlucky to lose to Rochester in last year's 1st Round so it will be interesting to see how they stack up. Hamilton was undone by some shoddy defending against Ithaca but has run the table otherwise and despite having home field advantage I, too, would pick Conn. on the road.

[NESCAC11]

Great analysis and predictions this morning. I am going to try to get to Brandeis's tonight. I have not seen either team play this season. I have seen Williams 3 times this season and Amherst on video. The factor that I think distinguishes Williams for the first time in years is that offensively they are explosive. They create opportunities that they haven't in years. Even in the Colby and Babson games they had quite a few opportunities. I think they will get a couple of goals at Amherst. I agree with Mr. Right that the defense might be small and GK unproven to deal with the Amherst onslaught in the box. They may give up goals as well. I do think the Williams GK is more of a shot stopper than a sweeper and this may hurt them at some points but might be a benefit in this physical battle. I have huge faith in Scatt and the other backs. I think Jules Oberg will just add to the opportunities created and that this will be a big opportunity to make a statement.

The Hamilton-Conn game will also be a statement game and although I don't think Conn is the same team as it was last year, Coach Murphy has them working extremely hard and that often will get the job done.

[Sir.MixALotz]

Mr. Right:

As always thank you for your very extensive write ups that are gold and much appreciated...

[NESCAC43]

Got to catch the second half of Tufts/Brandeis. Looked like a good game and scoreline seemed to reflect the run of play. Brandeis not as good as previous years but still looked threatening at times. Tufts played their normal style, Shapiro should be happy with the result.