NESCAC

[EnmoreCat]

Colby 2 Amherst 2

Colby led 2-0 until 14 to go and had taken their chances, defended quite well, although in the first half in particular, the Mammoths' entries into the box, were not as dangerous as they might have been.  The Colby keeper made some excellent saves also. Amherst had actually played a lot better than yesterday I thought but seemed likely to not having anything to show for it.  Once Amherst got it back to 2-1 however, they pushed harder, equalised with 8 to go and in the end, Colby hung on and the Topsy Turvy NESCAC season continues.

[Kuiper]

Colby 2 Amherst 2

Colby led 2-0 until 14 to go and had taken their chances, defended quite well, although in the first half in particular, the Mammoths' entries into the box, were not as dangerous as they might have been.  The Colby keeper made some excellent saves also. Amherst had actually played a lot better than yesterday I thought but seemed likely to not having anything to show for it.  Once Amherst got it back to 2-1 however, they pushed harder, equalised with 8 to go and in the end, Colby hung on and the Topsy Turvy NESCAC season continues.

The Colby keeper did well in general, but his play on Amherst's first goal struck a nerve with me.  A lot of coaches recruit a 6'4" keeper thinking they will be able to handle crosses. They may even have seen them do well with lofted balls, but none of that really correlates to commanding your box on a whipped in corner kick.  Amherst's cross was basically on top of him in the six yard box.  While there was traffic there, Colby's GK needed to get a touch on it.  It's not easy and it's largely a lost art, but games are won and lost on those kinds of corners.  Maybe I'm just getting old since I also would like to see more GKs catch the ball.

[Hopkins92]

Preach, Kuiper, preach.

I'm very much on record as an old head GK coach/player that decries the move towards slapping/punching everything now. Simple Coach (I think) is in the same boat. There are times when it is just comical. Catch the damn ball. That's the point of the position.

[SimpleCoach]

Preach, Kuiper, preach.

I'm very much on record as an old head GK coach/player that decries the move towards slapping/punching everything now. Simple Coach (I think) is in the same boat. There are times when it is just comical. Catch the damn ball. That's the point of the position.

I've taught SimplePlayer#2 to catch everything when he can get two hands on it.  No matter what is doing.  Diving.  Corners.  Doesn't matter.  Now his problem is that he makes it look easy.  Coaches don't notice him because he doesn't have to make saves on rebounds, make glamorous one handed punches in the box, or cover up glaring mistakes by making an "incredible" save.  Bizarre world we live in.

For the record, I've watched the 6'4" Colby Keeper in one of the games last week.  I was not impressed other than the fact that he was ginormous.  Same with the Amherst Keeper.

SC.

[EnmoreCat]

I am sure you will tell me otherwise SC, but my view would be is that he isn't being put under the sort of pressure where a punch is the best response.  In the games I have seen here I have generally thought that compared to Australia and certainly the UK, college keepers at least, get a relatively comfortable ride.  None of this means that the first impulse should be to punch, but like every decision any player on the field has to make, making the right one more often is what contrasts players.

[SimpleCoach]

I am sure you will tell me otherwise SC, but my view would be is that he isn't being put under the sort of pressure where a punch is the best response.  In the games I have seen here I have generally thought that compared to Australia and certainly the UK, college keepers at least, get a relatively comfortable ride.  None of this means that the first impulse should be to punch, but like every decision any player on the field has to make, making the right one more often is what contrasts players.

You said it there @EnmoreCat, "...where a punch is the best response."  I think most keepers use a punch even when it is not the best response.  I think it leads to all sorts of complications because I would take it a step further and say .... those that I do see punching the ball, aren't particularly good at it.

SimplePlayer#2 does punch the ball, but his instinct is to navigate the traffic in the box, then catch it.

SC.

[Mr.Right]

Weekend Quick Hitters:

Team of the Wknd- Hamilton. While I am sure they were disappointed for giving Wes CB #5 Evan O'Brien a free header off a set piece in the 88th minute they still were 2 minutes away from a 6 Point Weekend. I knew coming into the season this team was young but talented enough to compete in Nescac this year. I just did not think it would come together so fast. Hamilton not only got 4 pts this weekend they did it playing the most attractive futbol in the league. They dominated Tufts in possession of the ball and with the windy conditions smartly kept the ball on the ground all game. Tufts let them possess up to about midfield and would then pounce but Hamilton kept moving the ball nicely even in Tufts defensive 3rd. Yes, Tufts got an early RC but Hamilton had been controlling play with the wind at their backs before the Tufts RC as they were really playing unselfishly. They used the same starting lineup in both games this weekend. A solid GK in #1 Ben Ziegler, young underrated back 4 of LB #11 Thomas Kantrowitz, LCB #8 Julian Jacobs, RCB #4 Sebastian Ghosh and at RB #20 Luke O'Dowd. Central Midfield is legit with Captain and holder #10 Pandelis Margaronis, linking is #27 Luke Peplowski and attacking is #21 Luke Ehrenfreund. Wide left is the speedy Captain #22 Sam Webber, Wide Right is #7 Jude Rouhana and up top is #9 Charles Hawthorn.

I said it last year, but #27 Luke Peplowski was a Frosh you could build around. Now he is becoming one of Nescac's Top 5 Players in the League. Hamilton has brought in 2 straight legitimate recruiting classes, and it is starting to show on the field. They are a bit undersized in Central Midfield compared to the rest of the league, but they make up for it in skill, IQ and heart. Peplowski's GW'er v Tufts happened when #10 Margaronis drew a double team from Tufts #16 Taylor Feinberg about 25 yards away from Goal. The mistake was that Feinberg stepped and left his mark Peplowski wide open at the top of the box where Margaronis slipped him a nice ball thru the double team and Peplowski sent a rocket to the upper-right corner to beat Tufts GK #1 Lauta. Easily GOAL OF THE WKND and I would love to show a highlight but cannot find one.

Bowdoin- I finally got a chance to see Bowdoin play this weekend and came away impressed. Against Midd they were knocking the ball around pretty well 1st Half and then found the equalizer on a great ball from Frosh #32 Felipe Rueda Duran and a fantastic finish from another Frosh #35 Tyler Huck. Highlight here: https://youtu.be/VhMklezrIKQ. As I mentioned on Friday Bowdoin has a lot of veterans back with most importantly CB #3 Dylan Reid and holder #8 Julian Juantorena BUT they brought in a small but talented Frosh Class that looked hungry on Saturday. #35 Tyler Huck is a wide player with serious skill and speed and was causing Midd LB #19 Casey Lund problems on the day and is a legit Frosh. #32 Felipe Rueda Duran worked his ass off up top and out wide with his skill and pressing. He will score some Goals for them but not sure why he did not play v Williams and lastly, I liked #30 Mateo Pacelli another Frosh who has quickness and IQ with the ball at his feet. All 3 are Frosh and all from the West Coast. They deserved at least a Point v Williams but came away with nothing after allowing Williams an early 2nd Half Goal off a long throw. Still at 5-1-1 (2-1-1) and with only 2 Games (Thomas and Husson) in the next 12 Days they should have plenty of time to rest and get some injured guys back before the stretch run.

Randoms:

I love the Nescac Friday Feature and figured I would share it again. Jaida Hodge-Adams is a Women's Volleyball player at Bowdoin. If you read the interview, she has a lot going for her but IMO her best quality is her innate capacity for intellectual curiosity. This is right up my wheelhouse and so important for personal growth.
https://nescac.com/news/2022/9/11/field-hockey-nescac-friday-feature-jaida-hodge-adams-bowdoin-volleyball.aspx

Quote of the Wknd:
The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.

[College Soccer Observer]

Thoughts on a weekend following Middlebury in Maine.
Saturday vs Bowdoin (1-1)
This seemed a fair result, although there were shouts of offside from Midd on the Bowdoin goal.  Midd still missing Hank Nelson (injured vs Amherst) as well as Brendan Barry and Andrew Juarez.  Bowdoin has pace and used the wide areas well, and Midd allowed them space on the wings.  Backline did well for Midd and Grady had his best game of the year, with several excellent saves and dealing well with the numerous crosses launched his way. 
Sunday vs Bates (3-0)
Coming out party for freshman Alem Hadzic, who started up top and was a threat all day long.  With all due respect to the interim coach at Bates, he does not seem to have control of his team.  They seemed more interested in yelling at the officials than playing soccer.  Center back Iwowo got a foolish caution when he was screaming the F bomb at the referee and AR from 50 yards away.  Several other cautions for Bates on late challenges that revealed their frustration.  As far as the game, Midd totally dominated, with Bates reduced to launching crosses into the penalty area from distance.  Grady had no official saves, but cleanly caught the balls that came his way.  Midd was able to attack down the flanks, with some good close range passing involving Saint-Louis, Hadzic, Kyle Nilsson, and Tyler Payne.  Midd now prepares for a trip to Wesleyan next Saturday.

[nescac1]

It seems kind of crazy that nearly half way through the year Midd, Tufts, Amherst and Conn, all considered legit national title contenders pre-season, are stuck behind four other NESCAC teams in the league standings.  A testament to how incredibly deep the league has become.  Also, perhaps eliminating OT, leading to more teams being able to eek out ties in games where they might be outmatched, creates more random variance in results?  Just a theory.  As of now, eight NESCAC teams are serious contenders for NCAA bids.  Not all will make it, but all would probably be threats to win at least a few games in the tourney if they did ...

[jknezek]

It seems kind of crazy that nearly half way through the year Midd, Tufts, Amherst and Conn, all considered legit national title contenders pre-season, are stuck behind four other NESCAC teams in the league standings.  A testament to how incredibly deep the league has become.  Also, perhaps eliminating OT, leading to more teams being able to eek out ties in games where they might be outmatched, creates more random variance in results?  Just a theory.  As of now, eight NESCAC teams are serious contenders for NCAA bids.  Not all will make it, but all would probably be threats to win at least a few games in the tourney if they did ...

This. I think we are seeing this more. If you get to the 70th minute tied up against a superior opponent, it's a lot easier to shell up for 20 minutes than 40. I wasn't a fan of this rule change and I'm really not a fan seeing a lot of games where I think a superior team would have punched through given more time as a team sitting deep physically and mentally wore out or had more time to make a mistake.

[camosfan]

It seems kind of crazy that nearly half way through the year Midd, Tufts, Amherst and Conn, all considered legit national title contenders pre-season, are stuck behind four other NESCAC teams in the league standings.  A testament to how incredibly deep the league has become.  Also, perhaps eliminating OT, leading to more teams being able to eek out ties in games where they might be outmatched, creates more random variance in results?  Just a theory.  As of now, eight NESCAC teams are serious contenders for NCAA bids.  Not all will make it, but all would probably be threats to win at least a few games in the tourney if they did ...

This. I think we are seeing this more. If you get to the 70th minute tied up against a superior opponent, it's a lot easier to shell up for 20 minutes than 40. I wasn't a fan of this rule change and I'm really not a fan seeing a lot of games where I think a superior team would have punched through given more time as a team sitting deep physically and mentally wore out or had more time to make a mistake.

Any idea of the percentage of OT games in the past that resulted in an outright win?

[jknezek]

It seems kind of crazy that nearly half way through the year Midd, Tufts, Amherst and Conn, all considered legit national title contenders pre-season, are stuck behind four other NESCAC teams in the league standings.  A testament to how incredibly deep the league has become.  Also, perhaps eliminating OT, leading to more teams being able to eek out ties in games where they might be outmatched, creates more random variance in results?  Just a theory.  As of now, eight NESCAC teams are serious contenders for NCAA bids.  Not all will make it, but all would probably be threats to win at least a few games in the tourney if they did ...

This. I think we are seeing this more. If you get to the 70th minute tied up against a superior opponent, it's a lot easier to shell up for 20 minutes than 40. I wasn't a fan of this rule change and I'm really not a fan seeing a lot of games where I think a superior team would have punched through given more time as a team sitting deep physically and mentally wore out or had more time to make a mistake.

Any idea of the percentage of OT games in the past that resulted in an outright win?

sadly no. and I'm way too lazy to try and figure it out.

[College Soccer Observer]

2022 Season thru 9/25 8 games that were ties and would have gone to OT under old rules.  It is also possible teams pushed more for a winner late on knowing there was no OT as an option.
2021 Season:  7 games went to OT, 4 ended up with a winner
2019 Season:  24 games went to OT, 13 ended up with a winner

Outliers from 2019: 
Middlebury had 10 overtime games in 2019, only 2 ended with a winner (Midd over Conn regular season and Tufts over Midd regular season).  This includes 1st round NESCAC Tourn and 2nd round NCAA as well as non-conf.
Bowdoin had ties with Hamilton, Bates, Midd, Wesleyan, and losses to Colby and Conn.

[PaulNewman]

The NESCAC (and UAA) are notorious for serially having an outsized number of draws...which makes sense for strong conferences with a ton of depth.  I don't think the current NESCAC "chaos" has anything to do with OT or no OT.  The conference really does seem to have 8 very good teams, and a 9th (Colby) could probably get a win over any of them on the day.

I'm not gonna do this research either, but anecdotally at least inferior teams frequently have won in OT...so there's possibly a dynamic there, especially in tournament play, where the psychological edge shifts to the underdog.  That pattern, to the degree there really is any, might now be very different with non-golden goal rules for OT, but a team that can hang in for 90 minutes and be level feels pretty jacked up and confident about getting a result and maybe a win.  CSO also makes a good point...teams may be trying much harder to get a winning goal or to draw level in the final 5 minutes than they normally might.

I like the new rule.  OT with no golden goal would be my second choice.

[PaulNewman]

It seems kind of crazy that nearly half way through the year Midd, Tufts, Amherst and Conn, all considered legit national title contenders pre-season, are stuck behind four other NESCAC teams in the league standings.  A testament to how incredibly deep the league has become.  Also, perhaps eliminating OT, leading to more teams being able to eek out ties in games where they might be outmatched, creates more random variance in results?  Just a theory.  As of now, eight NESCAC teams are serious contenders for NCAA bids.  Not all will make it, but all would probably be threats to win at least a few games in the tourney if they did ...

This. I think we are seeing this more. If you get to the 70th minute tied up against a superior opponent, it's a lot easier to shell up for 20 minutes than 40. I wasn't a fan of this rule change and I'm really not a fan seeing a lot of games where I think a superior team would have punched through given more time as a team sitting deep physically and mentally wore out or had more time to make a mistake.

Any idea of the percentage of OT games in the past that resulted in an outright win?

Not quite what you asked, but the percentage of "upsets" in regular time versus in OT would also be very interesting.