NESCAC

[EnmoreCat]

Thanks Another Mom, it was pretty cool.  I got way too excited though, I will be checking next time where the nearest defibrillator is!

[Mr.Right]

Midd at Norwich---


Midd Starters: #33 Ryan Grady in net, backline of LB #19 Casey Lund, LCB #13 Luke Madden (UNH transfer), RCB #15 McFarlane and at RB #6 William O'Brien(who played CB in 2021). Midfield was #7 Eujin Chae holding with #30 Shane Farrell and #11 Tyler Payne. Wide Left #9 Noah Hannam, Wide Right was #20 Kyle Nillson and up top #23 Jordan Saint-Louis.

Midd Bench: #14 Alem Hadzic came in up top and Saint-Louis went out wide, #10 Liam Sloan played Centrally with #26 Gavin Randolph and #18 Daniel Kaye both Frosh playing out wide. That is it only 4 Subs were used.

Injured / Out:  Defender #2 Hank Nelson, Central Midfielder #12 Ben Powers. Winger #8 Brendan Barry and Central Midfielder #17 Andrew Juarez are two good players that have not played since the season began.

Frosh from 2021 Missing from 2022 Roster: #11 Jonah Roberts(this kid had potential and wheels)and #16 Aiden Pape(who scored a great back post Goal in the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2021 and is now not playing). Both #17 Nathan Pilson and #18 Ivan Watkins did not play much but still another 2 Frosh brought in that are now off the roster.

-I thought Norwich looked good the first 5 minutes of the Game with 2 solid goal scoring opportunities. A nice left footed cross from Norwich #10 Amerle Nemeye found the wide open head of Norwich danger man #8 Joseph Thongsythavong who banged it off the crossbar. Still Thongsythavong cleverly found his way in between Midd #19 Lund and #13 Madden to catch them both ball watching but not his best effort off the noggin. Still you can see why he is a load to handle. The other possible opportunity came about because Midd's  #13 Madden misjudged the speed of Norwich #18 Mamadi Jiana as he got beat down the flank but the chance petered out. Madden replacing O'Brien Centrally is interesting because O'Brien looked pretty comfortable there in 2021 except for his slip in the NCAA Elite 8 that allowed Amherst #9 to score the lone Goal of the match. Madden has wheels and a long throw but I thought O'Brien a good header of the ball.
-Midd's Chae was switching fields nicely all game to the weak side winger and if he can do that consistently it will give Midd numbers in attack on the weak side.
-Midd's Goal was off a long throw by Lund, McFarlane checked to the ball but misjudged it and the ball bounced over everyone and into the mixer where Madden showed his competitiveness and went for the ball hard and nicely finished it with his own little flick.
-The quick speedy winger #9 Hannam had a disaster of a back pass in midfield that led to Norwich's Goal and his sacking. Hannam just lost focus for a split second as he back passed it right to the dangerous Norwich #8 Thongsythavong who then proceeded to somehow beat two Midd defenders who were closing in on him #15 McFarlane and #19 Lund. Neither Lund or McFarlane wanted to tackle so Thongsythavong drove himself right between the two and burnt them both. He then found a wide open #10 Nemeye who had only O'Brien to beat in a foot race and was in alone on Grady. Grady guessed the kid Nemeye was all right footed (he guessed right) and got big and had a fine kick save that unluckily deflected right back off the Norwich #10 and into net. 1-1 50'.
-For Norwich I obviously liked #8 and #10 but also #5 Dante Mancini who was holding showed he is a worker bee for that team. RB #27 Sam Stowell played well and is a classy player and CB #24 Elias Gabrielsson also did well. #16 Kam Jorgenson while a decent player can easily be distracted and card baited as he needs to mature before the backline can get to where it needs to for this team to win the GNAC.
-Lastly, if McFarlane is going to check to every long throw to flick than Norwich had to either double him or just front him(they did neither) or put a man right up in the throwers grill to bother the accuracy of the thing.

-Saint-Louis a nice Goal to finish the Game off but College Soccer Observer is correct that Norwich will be a real tough out especially in the GNAC.

[Mr.Right]

Two Predicts

Hamilton at Midd- Have not seen Hamilton yet but they return a lot of young guys from 2021 with plenty of potential. #27 Peplowski and #10 Margaronis are two of the young guys that lead the way with 2 Goals each in Hamilton's 3-0 start allowing only 1 Goal(a PK) in 3 Games. #9 Hawthorn can finish with his head and feet but especially the "noggin". #7 Rouhana is a crafty player and just looking at the stats they are basically using the same lineup they finished with last season minus Matt Jordan, Dils, Wetzel etc up front. #4 Gnosh, #11 Kantrowitz, #20 O'Dowd and #21 Ehrenfreund all were starting by the end of 2021 with Peplowski and Margaronis so all these guys have experience. Looks like #1 Ben Ziegler has regained the starting spot after an injury last year and is a solid GK. That is the good news BUT now the bad news is that Hamilton has only defeated Middlebury ONCE since coming back into Nescac way back in 2011. Hamilton beat Midd in a Nescac Tourney Game on a neutral field in 2016 but are 1-11-0 in their last 12 Games against Midd and 0-5 at Midd in that timespan. Those are just horrible numbers BUT / EH / SO does Hamilton have the guts to go beat Midd on their field? Not yet....2-1 Midd

Bates at Williams- Have not seen Bates yet either but am looking forward to seeing them in person tomorrow in Williamstown. They are 3-1(0-1) with the loss coming to rival Bowdoin last weekend. They have been using a big 6'3 Frosh in net #00 Nico Hessel who is an NMH product. I expect Williams Frosh #4 David Armini who played with Hessel at NMH to give Williams a good scout but either way Williams really needs to test this kid in net. Keep those shots DOWN as I am sure he will catch everything else. Bates has a danger man up top in Senior Captaion #24 Alec Szwarcewicz who had 5 Goals last season and is on his way to improving on that number with 2 already in 4 Games. #11 Gara Grady and #6 Boardo will be key to keeping him off the scoresheet. #11 Tife Agunloye is another big time threat that I remember from last season. Senior Captain #3 Alex Kovacs has been their CB since he was a Frosh and is a good player as he puts out a lot of fires in the back. Captain / Senior#6 Jacob Iwowo is probably holding and Senior / Captain #8 Max McKersie at CB. Bates is using a mix of veterans and Frosh in the starting lineup so we will see what they bring tomorrow. Williams really needs to use the width of their field better than they have to start the year and really try to whip crosses into the mixer for #13 Felitto and Co. to finish. He is at his best finishing crosses from the wings. Bates has a big advantage as this is their only Game of the weekend while Williams plays Tufts on Sunday so Bates can throw the kitchen sink at them. I think Bates gives Williams a solid effort but Williams will wear them out late and take it...Williams 2-1

Sorry I ran out of time...Got to remember to do predictions on a Thursday...

Brandeis at Wes- Junior Captain #5 Evan O'Brien got his head to a nice set piece from #10 Lucas Ruehlemann to finish off Tufts 1-0 at Home on Wednesday. That is a big Win for the program and I believe it continues thru this weekend v Brandeis. Brandeis will probably sit deep and counter but Wes will need to be able to break down teams that sit in on them so this could be a good test. Wes 3-1

Tufts at Amherst- This is not your older brother's Tufts. They just do not have a dominant goal scorer that can Win them Games like a Joe Braun or a Zach Lane. They do have a very organized defense, are still very athletic at most positions and have a phenomenal GK but I do not see where the Goals are coming from yet? Amherst is usually not the Game where your team is going to find your goal scoring magic. Tufts will make Amherst work for it but I think in the end Amherst takes it. 1-0 Amherst

Trin at Colby I have not seen Trinity yet but if Colby overlooks them they could be in for a real surprise. 2-0 Colby

Bowdoin at Conn I have not seen Bowdoin but I know they will be sitting conservatively in this one. Conn will have to break them down with 10 behind the ball and it will not be easy but it will be done. Jaran with a brace 2-0 Conn

[camosfan]

NESCAC  is wide open this year.

[EnmoreCat]

Amherst 2 Tufts 3

This one didn't feel quite as intense as the game against Middlebury, but there was still a lot riding on it. Tufts had a couple of things go their way, which is always welcome and Amherst hit the crossbar in the final minute.  On the balance of play, a draw felt right to me, but the Jumbos took their chances and will enjoy the moment.

My final night in Amherst, it's onto Boston tomorrow for my final in attendance game, against Babson on Tuesday. 

[blooter442]

Screamer from Tufts #29 to give the Jumbos a 2-1 halftime lead at Cole Field. Just tuned in, saw the opener for Williams was a rare Lauta mistake where he was beaten to a high ball, before the visitors equalized shortly thereafter. The Ephs failed to clear a few times prior to the go-ahead goal but you can't legislate for a rocket like that, the Williams 'keeper had no chance. You would have to fancy Tufts from here but still a good game.

[SimpleCoach]

The Williams 'keeper had no chance.

I don't know about that.  He was clearly caught flat footed.  He may or may have been able to get to it, but think his effort looked real suspect.

SC.

[PaulNewman]

Props to Dezotell.  All kidding aside, he is under tremendous pressure (comparatively speaking for D3).  Two frosh have scored the two Tufts goals today, and he listened to me and started Shin.  Again, kidding, but Dezotell has shown a strong willingness to mix up his line-ups, sit vets, play frosh, etc.

[stlawus]

Whenever I watch NESCAC sports I'm always perplexed at the quality of facilities.   These soccer fields are indistinguishable from high school fields. 

[PaulNewman]

If Tufts can close this one out what a response to the tight Wesleyan loss...the Western Mass NESCAC double...and probably jumps ahead of Conn, Amherst, Midd rankings-wise.  And then what to do with Wesleyan...and Bowdoin...and Hamilton.  I'm not ready bump any of the latter to the top, but might have to slot Wesleyan above Midd (and maybe Conn?) at this juncture.  Hard to believe that NESCAC may be even stronger than last year.

[PaulNewman]

Whenever I watch NESCAC sports I'm always perplexed at the quality of facilities.   These soccer fields are indistinguishable from high school fields.

And then there's the $5K dogs roaming around back and forth behind the goals and on the sidelines.  Just some understated NESCAC charm.

[blooter442]

The Williams 'keeper had no chance.

I don't know about that.  He was clearly caught flat footed.  He may or may not have been able to get to it, but think his effort looked real suspect.

SC.

From my subjective POV, it was pacy and hit the far corner – even accounting for the surprise factor of shooting from 25+ yards I don't think he is getting there even if he was perfectly set. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the attacker, although the Ephs D didn't seem to do much to close him down.

[blooter442]

2-2, Lauta beaten to another high ball. He is a brilliant goalie but hasn't been his best day today.

[PaulNewman]

I have to admit that I didn't trust the hype on Ian Daly from prior years, so I paid closer attention when I watched Tufts-Conn live and in subsequent games...and he might be the best player in the country.  Really, really good.

[blooter442]

So, uh...no overtime?