NESCAC

[amh63]

Amherst's first men's soccer game will be online today!  Yes, let the games begin....before Amherst's prez makes another strange decision.

[Ommadawn]

Bates scored 5 goals in the first 15' against Maine Maritime!

[hiyasoccer]

Conn College seems to have had a bit of a COVID outbreak and have shifted to "Level 3 status". Based on what the website says, there will be no athletics while they are in this status. Who knows how long that will be, but through the grapevine it sounds like a minimum of a week or two.

Going to be a challenging start to the season for the Camels, although I suppose it's better than during playoffs? There's just so little room for time off during the season, and the pre season is already so short....

[CC United]

The MIT v. Tufts video quality is the worst ever. Come on Jumbos. You are the reigning National Champions. Put some money into your video production. The Beavers are making a strong showing. 0-0 in the first overtime period.

[College Soccer Observer]

Middlebury 6 Mt. St. Mary's 0
Middlebury started in 4-3-3.
Grady (Soph) in goal.  Back four of Ulku-Steiner (jr), Nelson (fr), McFarlane (sr), O'Brien (fr).  Midfield was Pape (fr), Farrell (fr), Sloan (jr).  Forwards Barry (jr), Reid (jr), Saint-Louis (so)

The score of the corresponding fixture in 2019 was 1-0 to Midd.

Middlebury applied pressure from the beginning, but took awhile to generate chances.  The game opened up after Midd subbed in freshmen Pilson and Roberts up top.  First goal was created by Pilson splitting two defenders off the dribble in 34th minute.  Second goal was a penalty kick converted by Saint-Louis and earned by freshman Juarez who beat his man and was pulled back by the jersey in 38th minute.  Roberts converted a cross from Chae (fr) in the 41st to make it 3-0 at half.  Midd made it 4-0 in 48th minute when high pressure by Sloan caused a turnover and Sloan crossed to a wide open Barry in front.  Saint-Louis got his brace in the 49th when he picked up a loose ball, beat his defender, and finished to the far post.  Sakouvogui (sr) added the 6th in the 89th.

Midd was very dangerous attacking down the flanks.  They routinely took on and beat their defenders to get into the penalty area.
If they get consistent offensive output, look out given the strength of their defense.  Wesleyan on Saturday will be a much stiffer test.

Ulku-Steiner left the game injured in the 34th minute after being on the receiving end of a nasty elbow to the face that was somehow only deemed worthy of a yellow card. 

[amh63]

First ever mtg between Amherst and Norwich in Vt.  Norwich went up 1-0 early....tied at the break ...Amherst finished strong in a 2-1 win.

[deutschfan]

Really good win for Williams and its new coach against at very quality side in RPI.

[Saint of Old]

This Williams coach will lead the program in a brilliant way.
95 Champions Williams are Back and Coach Russo would be proud of this performance

This new coach had a team that was down 1-2 after one half and wins 5-2.

Watch out for these guys.

[d4_Pace]

I think this may be a bit of an overreaction especially since the new coach isn't even guaranteed to have the job at the end of the year. That being said, Williams has the perfect opportunity to make a statement this weekend at Tufts who were pushed hard by MIT.

[Saint of Old]

Football/Footballers/Coaches reveal themselves not overtime, but in situations.
When Sir Bobby Robson and the rest of us  saw Ronoldo run through the Defense and score while playing for Barcelona, we knew.

When Jose outcoached seasoned veterans with Porto we knew.



Not an over reaction my friend.
It has nothing to do with whether the man has a job at the end of the year or not, this is a boss coach.
No one will want to play Williams this year. Save the post!

[d4_Pace]

You may be right my friend. This weekend's match against my Jumbos will be revealing.  Last night Tufts had a crowd the same size as Elite 8 matches back in my day. If they can turn our similar size crowds throughout this season it could be a big advantage.

[Saint of Old]

True.
If memory serves right Adam Clinton, gr8 coach BTW, and RPI were elite 8 last go round.

Yes, that game will be an early season banger.

Tufts owns D3 now, but as you know the program is very connected to the coach, so we will see soon.

[nescac1]

Williams is no doubt at least several years away from (hopefully) rejoining the Tufts and Amherst tier of NESCAC, which in the 1990s and 2000s it owned along with Middlebury, but it's certainly nice to hear some excitement about the team - even if a BIT over the top based on one result .   Tufts and Amherst have been SO dominant nationally lately but there is no reason that Williams and Midd can't steal some of their thunder back.

The interim coach obviously had tremendous success at Springfield, so if he leads a fairly green Eph team (seniors played a total of 95 minutes vs. RPI; most of the top guys from 2019 including Gass, Bardong, Fleischer, Matthew and Oberg are gone; Ephs returned only nine goals TOTAL from the 2019 roster) with modest expectations to surprising results this year, I'd think he would have a big advantage in a search for a permanent coach. 

Williams has generally been stingy in giving up goals in recent years, but has struggled mightily with generating offense for years now, so great to see it knock five goals in during the first game of the season.  The last time the Ephs managed even FOUR goals in a game was October 6, 2018.  And this was only the third time the Ephs have scored even four or more times in the last five years!  I don't think there is anything close to an elite individual finisher on the roster (unless a first-year emerges), so it's going to take effort from a lot of different guys, like it did against RPI. 

To Sullivan's credit, he did leave behind what looks like a solid first-year class.  Five first-years played in the first game including two starters, and Keel Brissett, who was a well-regarded prep player, had three shots including the last goal of the game.  The first-year who played the most yesterday, Felipe Gutierrez, had very strong credentials at a top program in NJ soccer, which is always a place you want to recruit from. 

The Ephs also had a few huge guys defending out there in Felitto, Holland and Grady, all of whom will be around for the next two years, those guys will be needed against some of the more physical NESCAC squads (Tufts and Amherst included).

[blooter442]

I think this may be a bit of an overreaction especially since the new coach isn't even guaranteed to have the job at the end of the year. That being said, Williams has the perfect opportunity to make a statement this weekend at Tufts who were pushed hard by MIT.

Even knowing that Tufts and MIT don't play that often, was surprised to learn that this was Tufts' first victory over MIT in quite a while. They played every year between 2012 and 2014, and Tufts went 0-2-1 — even in the first national title year, Tufts battered MIT but the visitors scored with their only shot on target. This year, it could have been one of those games if that MIT shot that hit the post went in, but a quick look at the numbers suggests Tufts was the dominant side.

They've not been as competitive recently, but MIT had some solid sides with All-Americans like Ben Lewis and Sean Bingham in the first part of the 2010s, and got to the Sweet 16 in 2015. Given what I've heard about how tough it is to recruit — MIT admissions apparently gives some priority for athletes but not as much as other comparable academic institutions — I have to think they somewhat overachieved during that time.

[Another Mom]

Arguably the reason MIT did so well in 2012-14 is that Michael Singleton was their head coach. He left MIT and went to Washington and Lee, where he has a strong record.