NESCAC

[PaulNewman]

Yes, David Green, the current Colby president is a high roller who comes from a family of college administrators.  He is aggressive, has sterling contacts, and has done a lot in a relatively short period of time to raise Colby's profile .  But I've heard some alums and faculty members say some of this change has been too much, too fast and has caused Colby to lose a little bit of its soul in the process...

Interesting point about soul.  Of course we're all going to mostly defend/promote our own schools and those our kids attend.  I tried to pump Kenyon as hard as I could for a couple of years here.  Anyway, 35-40 years ago Davidson was beautiful and very quaint with a little village almost like Kenyon is to this day.  Nowadays, Davidson still has a very attractive and impressive campus but also the school and area have grown and developed  so much that it is like a cross between an upscale planned community a la Reston, VA and a fancy amusement/water park.  I personally now prefer Kenyon despite the disparity in USNWR type rankings and greater resources, and that -- aside from the lingering Southern religiosity that I don't love -- is mostly a gut feeling about soul and some Platonic idea about what college should look and feel like (and of course "soul" is something that such schools also market so one can certainly question what is real and what is mirage in terms of soul).

The thing about athletic complexes is also a huge point.  Kenyon has gotten a ton of mileage out of their fancy, state of the art complex, but now it's 10 or more years old.  Wooster has since built a beautiful place.  I think Denison has or is in the process of doing so.  I know there are a number of schools like Colby that have or are doing so.  It's sort of like brand-new NFL stadiums and NBA arenas....what's state of the art today will seem old and outdated in 15-25 years. 

[PaulNewman]

Sounds about right...Shapiro is very attentive to every detail in every process. I find it a bit much to be spelling out to your son where he will play and who he will play behind and how many minutes and starts he will get as a Frosh. NO ONE can control that. You get injuries, maybe your son doesn't pan out as expected and now Shapiro has to change things up or change his position. These are all things out of his control unless he has super natural powers to be able to discern EVERY recruit and tip he brings in and know before the kid enrolls how good he will be. Most Coaches make mistakes EVERY year on at least 1 player and I am betting Shapiro falls into that category as well. It is only realistic to make a mistake once in a while so promising minutes, position and # of goals he will tally is WAY to much information. There is no way he could make all those promises happen......I am just using your son as an example as I am not saying he will fail or whatever just making a point...

Adding to your point Mr. R, I once knew a skinny SLU freshman  kid who was third in line for the #7 shirt but by game number 2  both players ahead of him broke their leg and he inherited the classic number not based on anything but weird freak destiny or chance.... 

That is how random things can be in the college game.

I would advise any HS senior to do their best to diversify their game in order to give the coach more to think about in terms of where you can slot in if need be.

Great points, SoO....a team's top recruits certainly come in with a substantial advantage (in addition to usually being really good) and most often do well, but not always.  There is hope for those who come in far more unheralded if they work really hard, are determined, and are mostly all about the team and being a great teammate.

I knew a kid who didn't even get a jersey or dress for his first 3 games, got a chance after the coach benched a couple of guys for various reasons, then started for the rest of frosh year and most of soph year, was first sub off the bench his last 2 years, scored on Shoemaker Field in a NCAA game, and was a highly valued part of a squad that rose to #2 in the country.  Pretty cool for a kid who didn't think he could (or would be cleared to) play college soccer at all.

[Mr.Right]

Halftime on a dreary rainy day in Hartford.....Midd leads Trinity 3-2 in what was easily the most entertaining Half I have seen all year in Nescac. Credit to Trinity for coming out and busting their butt with nothing on the line. They took it to Midd the first 20 minutes as they were the better team. Once Midd went down 2-0 they suddenly awoke and ripped off 3 straight goals to take a 3-2 lead into Halftime. Midd's usual holding midfielder #4 Jeremy Barovick is not in the lineup today so I am assuming he suffered an injury against Tufts last weekend as he did not play against Utica midweek. Trinity got a nice 1st Goal after picking Goulart's pocket(as Goulart stood and watched instead of busting back and tracking) and sent a nice thru ball to Trinity's #7 Alistar Matule who slotted it near post right under Hyer's arms. Trinity took a 2-0 lead off a nice give and go by Henry Belt and Logan Peterson and then a pass to Allistar Matule who scored his 2nd Goal of the game as he slotted it in the corner of the net. At this point in the game Midd was not playing with any energy and looked disinterested as a team. Trinity's 2-0 lead I think woke Midd up as they got 1 Goal back by Drew Goulart on a terrible giveaway by Trinity in their own half and then some porous defending and weak tackling. Some really bad stuff by Trinity and they showed on that goal why they are leaking so many goals this season. Even before getting a goal back Midd was dominating possession as they would soon grab the equalizer 4 minutes later off a long ball by Midd's Raffi Barsamian and led Drew Goulart into a breakaway in on Trinity's GK and slotted it near post and easily tied the game up 2-2. Trinity stopped playing hard like they were earlier in the Half and were running out of gas as they are certainly not the fittest team even this deep into the season. Usually Pilger liberally makes tons of substitutions but he has only made 1 today which I have never seen before. I think it speaks to how little talent is on this squad as they have no depth at all. Right before Halftime Midd took the lead 3-2 off a set piece. Midd's O'Grady got tripped right outside the box. The Frosh Brendan Barry who has started to get more and more playing time off the bench hit a beauty of a ball into the mixer and Aidan Robinson banged it home with a sweet header. Trinity does not have the size to deal with Midd on set pieces...3-2 Halftime in a wild and fun game. Trinity came out hot but since going down 2-0 Midd has dominated the game and I look for Midd to settle in the 2nd Half and calm the game down and get a little more conservative as they must get 3pts here.

[Mr.Right]

Uneventful 2nd Half in Hartford as Midd defeats Trinity 3-2. Trinity had one really solid look with about 5 minutes left. Off a cross from the endline the ball landed at Trinity's John Mullin's feet and he took a nice touch to deke one defender and give himself a clear look at net near the 6 yard box. At this point Midd GK Hyer had made a very questionable decision to come charging out of his net and mucked it up as a Midd defender was in his way and Mullin shot the ball but it was hit pretty weak and right to Midd's Aiden Robinson who was standing right in the middle of the goal on the goaline and he cleared it out. Robinson saved Hyer's bacon as that decision almost cost Midd an important 3pts.  I have to give Trinity credit as the first 30 minutes they were battling and working but then they just dropped off and completely lost focus the last 15 minutes of the 1st Half. Trinity drops to 2-10-0 and 0-8-0 in Nescac with their final Home game and Senior day tomorrow when they take on Tufts.

[PaulNewman]

On the bright side for Trinity...their game announcer was one of the best I've heard.

[Mr.Right]

On the bright side for Trinity...their game announcer was one of the best I've heard.

Yes...He was excellent.....

Hamilton takes a 1-0 lead on Bowdoin into Halftime in what would be their 4th Win and that should clinch a Nescac Playoff spot if they can hold on..I do not think there has been any team with 4 Wins or 12 points never to not qualify.

Williams goes ahead of Wesleyan late in the 1st Half off a complete hot mess by Wesleyan's GK. It is raining hard but a long shot by Williams gets under the Wesleyan GK as he goes to ground and Williams Nathan Song capitalizes on the easy tap in. Wesleyan is absolutely AWFUL as they have had nothing in attack maybe a couple counters but there is nothing in attack for them. Defensively as usual they are organized but they have nowhere near the talent they used to have in net and on defense. Wesleyan is almost in as bad a spot as Trinity IMO. They need another recruiting class or two before they can compete. I do not see how this Wesleyan team can even this game up unless they get a few bounces go there way. Williams should hold onto the victory,

Tufts at Conn about to kickoff now...

[Mr.Right]

Hamilton's lead did not last long as Niang bangs home a header off a corner...1-1 about 7 minutes into 2nd Half

[Mr.Right]

Conn looks ok to start to this game and as predicted they are bypassing midfield and hitting balls over the top which I think is very smart...0-0 about 20 minutes in

[Once_A_Metro_Always_A_Red]

My two cents of Conn/Tufts, having admittedly not watched a ton of NESCAC games this year, is that it has been extremely not entertaining from a neutral perspective. I blame a lot of this on the quality of the fields at most schools in the conference, but the soccer in the NESCAC is pretty brutal to watch if you're not invested in a particular outcome. That's not making a judgment on the quality of the teams, but most of these games look like one big muddle, and it is tough to tell exactly what teams are trying to do.

Granted, you can tell Conn likes to put their wingers out on the touchlines, play long and diagonal to their wingers and let them go 1v1, and some attacking patterns from Tufts comes through, but I wished teams in this conference spent more time actually developing an on-field identity. Like, sure we all hate it, but give Amherst some credit for having a unique style and going all-in on it.

Anyways, hope for more from the second 45

[Mr.Right]

AMEN but blame must go to the Head Coaches as well...Most if not all of them are way to cautious as I have been saying for years now..I mean go at teams and attack and if you give up an early goal...so what...go get the equalizer...these coaches are scared to give up the 1st goal...I just think the tactics are very conservative

[Mr.Right]

Tufts with a golden chance as Braun stripped Conn's CB and gets in on a tough angle with Marcucci but Braun shows he has NO LEFT FOOT as did not attempt to rip it and instead cut it back and turned to pass it to I think Rojas who hit a beauty just wide of the net...

[Once_A_Metro_Always_A_Red]

AMEN but blame must go to the Head Coaches as well...Most if not all of them are way to cautious as I have been saying for years now..I mean go at teams and attack and if you give up an early goal...so what...go get the equalizer...these coaches are scared to give up the 1st goal...I just think the tactics are very conservative

There's something to be said for the art of bunkering and counter-attacking, but most coaches figure out how to do the former but ignore trying to do the latter.

[quicksilver]

Arrival of new President has coincided with a somewhat meteoric rise in popularity and rankings.  He has made it a priority to increase diversity and market the school nationally, resulting in record numbers of applications and a class profile that seems to become more impressive each year. Colby's endowment is now in the $800 million plus range, whereas Bates is more like $300 million.  Bowdoin's endowment is approximately $1.4 billion. . . .

FWIW, It was recently announced that Bowdoin's endowment has passed $1.6 billion. Bowdoin has a superb team that manages its finances. It's not in the Williams and Amherst category yet but has made a lot of progress on the wealth front in recent years . .

That being said, the new Colby president has done amazing things on many fronts, whether it is a long-term project like the downtown redevelopment or the amazing new art museum and collection or the multi-sport athletic complex under construction . .  . . .

[blooter442]

Well given the score line, a bit silly for D3soccer to call that game the game of the week, huh?

In all seriousness, looks like the visitors dominated play but the hosts held their own.

[PaulNewman]

IMO that is a good result for Conn...and will leave them feeling like they can compete with anyone.  Result also did nothing to hurt Tufts and I'm sure leave New London frustrated that they did not get the win.

I do think Conn has a special player in Marcucci....can't imagine there is a better GK in D3.  And Mieth is extremely solid as well.