NESCAC

[Bobcat_Fan]

Proud of the Bates Bobcats getting a point on the road against Hamilton. Way to believe in yourselves and keep competing. Not much rest another away game tomorrow but the bus ride should be fun.

[hiyasoccer]

Yeah I could about the last 30 minutes of the Game and it was not pretty, bowdoin was not executing well, couldn't connect basic passes, and also were playing very conservative against a not good Trinity team down a man. They got the result they needed to keep themselves on course for a home playoff game and possible at large though.

Otherwise chaos still seems to be the order of the year with Amherst dropping Wes and Bates getting a draw at Hamilton. Haven't watched much and don't really know what to think of most of these teams.

[EnmoreCat]

Amherst 2 Wesleyan 0

A few weeks ago, Wesleyan were on fire, including early in the season, a meritorious win against Tufts, so on that basis, this loomed as a tough fixture for the Mammoths.  However, in recent games it seems the Cardinals have lost form, whereas Amherst is starting to roll and today's result did mean six games undefeated, with today's representing an all important conference win.

Amherst scored early and it did take Wesleyan a while to get going.  Once they did, there was some tidy play on transition, but no one to quite pull the strings for the final pass, which of course was fine by the Mammoths supporters.  Most would be familiar with the aerial threat Amherst poses and in this regard, up until the second goal, the Cardinals keeper had done a really good job, catching balls (that one was for you Simple Coach) under considerable pressure.  However, the one moment he didn't get it right, led to the second Amherst goal.  On balance, the 2-0 scoreline at half-time might have been a little flattering, but only a little.

Second half, Amherst pushed hard and on another day, could easily have taken it out to 3 or 4 to nil, but didn't, which of course gave the Cardinals a possible lifeline out.  Ultimately, whilst they did push, in the end, that also created space behind them, which the Mammoths tried to exploit, but to no avail. 

There's a ten day break for the Mammoths after tomorrow's game against Bowdoin, so there's absolutely no reason to leave anything at all on the field.  The Polar Bears have beaten Conn and drawn with Middlebury and like Amherst, have only the one loss, so will have every reason to go in confident.  Bowdoin has been very good at keeping clean sheets and Amherst has been pretty good at getting goals, so an interesting afternoon beckons (or early morning if you happen to live in Sydney).

[camosfan]

Important matchups today:
Conn @ Mid

Bow @ Amh

Wes v Bates this should give us a feel of where Wesleyan is headed.

[College Soccer Observer]

Midd 1 Conn 0.
Midd took an early lead with Chae curled in a ball from the left touchline that eluded everyone and dropped in the net.  Red card to Conn #21 Dutkewych for an unnecessary off the ball charge against Midd's Daniel Kaye in the 44th minute.  Midd had numberous chances to add to the lead on the counter, but they did not convert any.  Grady with a key kick save in the first half and a good reaction save late to preserve the win.  Big 6 point weekend for Midd.

[Bobcat_Fan]

Wesleyan 4 - 4 Bates

Bates Bobcat Fan Here.

Really happy that the boys were able to battle back after being down 3 goals at the half!  They really kept on competing and were able to get another point on the road against a good Wesleyan team.  Unfortunately, had to pretty much monitor the live stats, on the website, since the live stream of the game did not seem to be working.  The game ended as a 4 - 4 draw.

[Kuiper]

Wesleyan 4 - 4 Bates

Bates Bobcat Fan Here.

Really happy that the boys were able to battle back after being down 3 goals at the half!  They really kept on competing and were able to get another point on the road against a good Wesleyan team.  Unfortunately, had to pretty much monitor the live stats, on the website, since the live stream of the game did not seem to be working.  The game ended as a 4 - 4 draw.

Credit to Coach Noah Riskin.  He took over the Bates job at the very last minute and has done well keeping the boys motivated and fighting to the end.  Today's kind of turnaround is a true test for a coach and the belief he has instilled in his players (plus the motivation and adjustments he can make at halftime).

[EnmoreCat]

Amherst 0 Bowdoin 0

Both teams had periods of dominance and would be frustrated at not scoring.  You always remember what happens right at the end of games and the Mammoths could have iced it. A longish break now for Amherst, which probably comes at a good time and gives the camp a chance to recharge for the end of season onslaught.

[D3Coach]

Wesleyan 4 - 4 Bates

Bates Bobcat Fan Here.

Really happy that the boys were able to battle back after being down 3 goals at the half!  They really kept on competing and were able to get another point on the road against a good Wesleyan team.  Unfortunately, had to pretty much monitor the live stats, on the website, since the live stream of the game did not seem to be working.  The game ended as a 4 - 4 draw.

Credit to Coach Noah Riskin.  He took over the Bates job at the very last minute and has done well keeping the boys motivated and fighting to the end.  Today's kind of turnaround is a true test for a coach and the belief he has instilled in his players (plus the motivation and adjustments he can make at halftime).

I'll show my bias,, but not many teams could be down 0-3 at the half on the Sunday of a doubleheader away weekend at the #1 and #2 teams in the standings and pull out a 4-4 result after a Saturday 2-2 result in the final minute.  Interim tag should've been removed YESTERDAY. 

Proud former coach however the season turns out for the 'cats. 

Amazing year in the NESCAC. 

[coach analytics]

Wesleyan 4 - 4 Bates

Bates Bobcat Fan Here.

Really happy that the boys were able to battle back after being down 3 goals at the half!  They really kept on competing and were able to get another point on the road against a good Wesleyan team.  Unfortunately, had to pretty much monitor the live stats, on the website, since the live stream of the game did not seem to be working.  The game ended as a 4 - 4 draw.

Credit to Coach Noah Riskin.  He took over the Bates job at the very last minute and has done well keeping the boys motivated and fighting to the end.  Today's kind of turnaround is a true test for a coach and the belief he has instilled in his players (plus the motivation and adjustments he can make at halftime).

I'll show my bias,, but not many teams could be down 0-3 at the half on the Sunday of a doubleheader away weekend at the #1 and #2 teams in the standings and pull out a 4-4 result after a Saturday 2-2 result in the final minute.  Interim tag should've been removed YESTERDAY. 

Proud former coach however the season turns out for the 'cats. 

Amazing year in the NESCAC.






Coach - love your thoughts on 4-4-2 line up...most teams in league, college and pros have gone to systems which create more natural triangles and angles through out the field versus a more vertical formation. Hard for me to see how 2 central midfielders can be successful but I would ove your thoughts.

[D3Coach]

Wesleyan 4 - 4 Bates

Bates Bobcat Fan Here.

Really happy that the boys were able to battle back after being down 3 goals at the half!  They really kept on competing and were able to get another point on the road against a good Wesleyan team.  Unfortunately, had to pretty much monitor the live stats, on the website, since the live stream of the game did not seem to be working.  The game ended as a 4 - 4 draw.

Credit to Coach Noah Riskin.  He took over the Bates job at the very last minute and has done well keeping the boys motivated and fighting to the end.  Today's kind of turnaround is a true test for a coach and the belief he has instilled in his players (plus the motivation and adjustments he can make at halftime).

I'll show my bias,, but not many teams could be down 0-3 at the half on the Sunday of a doubleheader away weekend at the #1 and #2 teams in the standings and pull out a 4-4 result after a Saturday 2-2 result in the final minute.  Interim tag should've been removed YESTERDAY. 

Proud former coach however the season turns out for the 'cats. 

Amazing year in the NESCAC.






Coach - love your thoughts on 4-4-2 line up...most teams in league, college and pros have gone to systems which create more natural triangles and angles through out the field versus a more vertical formation. Hard for me to see how 2 central midfielders can be successful but I would ove your thoughts.

Could chat for hours and maybe some day we'll get the pleasure, but I would say:  "we don't get them for very long or with very much continuity."

Injuries per condensed schedule, nescac rules etc... notwithstanding these primarily top academic schools get a lot of the top athletes.  However good the depth of soccer talent increases year after year, these pretty darn good coaches understand simple tactics can possibly win more on game day.  Defensively I think those banks of 4 stagger much more to create some often robust defenses, but NESCAC has been so open (league-wise) that it seems more coaches are playing some swashbuckling stuff.  Get back in numbers get forward in numbers.  4-4-2 creates an easy enough "level up" style of play that can be easily substituted into especially in the 7, 11, 9, 10 and 8.  And if it's as simple as matchups on the wing then I'd include the 2 and 3.  Anyways, my two cents having loved it. 

The team I had prior to bates was pretty dominant in a lesser conference out of a strict 4-1-4-1 that morphed into a 3-3-4.  We also had the ball a lot. 

The nescac has been a mostly dominated by 2 or 3 teams for 5 or 6 years so rest of teams trying to get results in that climate.  See Colby's 8th seeded championship. Notwithstanding, those tufts and Amherst teams were silly athletic and big and there was a "this is the game" trickle down.  Conn bucked that.  Wesleyans re-rise has bucked that.  But Williams, Hamilton and Midd's seasons thus far speak to simple tactics and pressing to take nothing away from rosters and coaching staffs alike that are incredible.  Midd's playmakers are their offense and Coach Elias can set up a team to defend the Alamo if he so chose. 

[hiyasoccer]

there's no "best formation".... also saying a team plays a single formation is almost always some degree of a lie, two teams can "play a 4-3-3" with very different positioning, and as D3Coach shows you frequently want to describe your offensive and defensive formations separately, and you probably also want to describe them differently depending on the phase of play (for example teams "playing a 4-3-3" when forced to defend deep will end up in a 4-5-1 in most cases).

Personally I love a 4-4-2 though. You can press or sit selectively, and there are lots of good offensive rotations you can do naturally. You can put a winger as one of your strikers and it gets easy to create overloads and attack on the wing. You can put a creative player as one of your strikers who will drop between the lines and help you in build up (giving you effectively 3 mids in possesion, but in a less predictable way). You can put two strikers up there and just force the other team to reckon with your direct-ness, which usually forces a midfielder back to help cover or opens up space on the wing for you to attack. Probably most importantly, having two strikers creates a big threat of getting behind the defense which is key in such high-octane games, and opens up a lot of space for you to do more on the ground once you have that threat. You can also play an 8/10 as a wide midfielder who will tuck into the midfield offensively, and play an offensive fullback to overlap that side and give width.

Could chat for hours

yeah uhhhh again what he said is how I feel

[Coach Jeff]

The surprise for me this year is how undisciplined Conn College appears after being crowned National Champs last year.  It seems as if they have forgotten what took them to the top last year.  Hopefully they can right the ship before it is to late for them. 

Hamilton looks good with Middlebury ready to take over first place. 

There is a log jam with 3-8.  Tough schedules with the back to back weekend games.  Not easy for any team.  It will have them ready for the NCAA 22 tournament though

[upthepanthers]

Quick question, do Conn get an automatic bid to the tourney since they won last year? A regular bid for them looking unlikely after the performances this weekend.

[Coach Jeff]

Pervious winners must earn a spot every year.  Just like all teams