2014 Surprise Teams

[deutschfan]

Two teams from the Liberty League (other than St. Lawrence which also returns everyone but their All-American midfielder) are loaded, Skidmore and Hobart.  Skidmore has two all-region offensive threats returning as seniors and graduates almost no one.  Hobart graduates even less, was the youngest team in the league, and was led by the Liberty League newcomer of the year.  Additionally Hobart has two quality Academy commits.  While this may be a one hit wonder year for Skidmore making the NCAA tourney, Hobart will be deep for years to come. 

[Pat Coleman]

I promoted this conversation from the front page -- good topic and some good debate so far.

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[Professional Ballboy]

Lets not forget the Capital Athletic Conference.  Some pretty good teams such as Salisbury and York.  I have been told that Frostburg State has a great recruiting class this year and may be very strong.  It seems that there was some heavily recruited D1 players that decided to stay in DIII.

[repete]

Ok, Ballboy, don't be a one-post wonder ... who are these "heavily-recruited D1 players?"

And if they decided to "stay D1," then why Frostburg? These kind of posts are nothing without names.

Frostburg will be hurting to replace Torrano and Jones, plus hard-nosed guys like Phil Nana. They were very close to threatening for a post-season bid.

York and Salisbury are not really surprise teams. I will, however, predict a breakout season ahead for Ben Aryeetey, a JC transfer headed into his second season at Salisbury. Started only four games last season but had four goals and four assists.

[Professional Ballboy]

See this is why people don't want to post because of negative reactions to positive posts.  Why not Frostburg, is that the worst school in the world for soccer?  I'm not associated with any of these kids that are going there but I surely have watched most of them for the past 4 years and I have talked to many D1 coaches who have commented on them.  Great clubs such as Olney Rangers, Bays and FC Frederick are producing good Maryland players who "I guess" want to stay close to home.  I understand that 1 player from Olney and 4 from FC Frederick are heading their way.  I only wanted to have a decent debate because I believe in the players from this region and they are very competitive nationally. Sorry about being the possibility of being a one-post wonder.  You obviously have not watched many Highly ranked region 1 teams.

[repete]

Ballboy ... you seem a little defensive there.

Just asking for names.  Now it seems your declaration is really a "guess." I've been one these boards for a long time and unnamed D-1 rumors are like navels and .... --- everybody's got them.

Wasn't ripping Frostburg in that post ... just looking for details. As I mentioned they were very close to being contender last season.  Here's what I said on this very board last fall:

Frostburg would be a contender in most leagues. I could well be proven wrong, but having seen them play and knowing some of the personnel, they are very, very strong.

But they had 14 seniors on their roster last season, including the guys I mentioned. They are not noted for bringing in d1 transfers or high-profile talent. Torrano was a JC transfer from Montgomery College.  It's a tough school to recruit to. The chance to play 30 miles from the beach in Salisbury ranks a bit higher than the chance to play 5 miles from West Virginia. Plus the problems at FSU the past few years makes some parents concerned.

I have absolutely no idea where you get the "You obviously have not watched many Highly ranked region 1 teams" stuff. Baseless.

Olney has some great players and I've seen a lot of the U-18s play since they were freshmen in HS. The best of them are committed. Beyond the kid at Arsenal, two are headed for Colgate and two more to UVA, plus Duke, Indiana and Navy. The best of the uncommitted was Moradel .... who had looks from Temple (I believe) but spent last season assisting his old HS team. Is that who you're taking about?

The Bay rosters are heavily picked over for their talent. Will admit to not knowing much about FC Frederick. Not a bad program.

Stick around, the soccer board needs more from this neck of the woods.

[Professional Ballboy]

So repete,  to redeem my "baseless" thought and through some research I found that one player (Hunter Strine- FC Frederick) was recruited by Radford, Shippensburg, loch haven and JMU among others.  (Ben Yount-Delaware Rush) and (Brett Basham-FC Frederick) had looks from Div II and I believe Elon.  These kids have committed to Frostburg (why I dont know but obviuosly have some talent).  Strine is listed as a 3 star recruit in topdrawer soccer for what that is worth but nonetheless Frostburg seems to be recruiting better players.  My original post however was not meant to be a Frostburg session, I just truly believe that there is some great talent in these very local teams and some of the players actually want to stay close to home.  You wont hear more from me, I've been red-carded.

[repete]

Ballboy ...

Unless you're an active player, stick around. That was a pretty soft red. (I spend most of my time over in the FB boards anyway.)

Nameless d-1 rumors are a dime a dozen here and I think most folks would agree they usually don't advance the discussion. Plus there's a big gap between being "recruited by" and having an offer (or making an official visit). The tournament nature of soccer, where there is much more social contact between recruiters and players, makes "recruiting interest" a much broader term than in other team sports IMO.

But I'm completely in agreement over the talent in the CAC. Great league ... even before MSM and Towson made the bizarre decisions to drop their d1 programs. That made the talent pool for potential "stay-at homes" even deeper. Even Wesley is pretty solid. I saw them beat d1 American in spring game a few years back.  Glad to hear Frostburg is stepping it up ... they aren't that far away.

Yeah, the talent around here is very good. When Montgomery (a non-scholarship CC) played an exhibition against George Washington last fall, the d1 school included that result (an 85th minute 2-1 win) in the season  record ... alongside all its d-1 scores.
 

[D3soccerwatcher]

Watch out for Gordon College.  Under new Coach Derek Potteiger they will continue to maximize their talent.  Potteiger was a Penn State standout player and assisted Navy Head Coach Dave Brandt for several years.  So no doubt he's learned from one of the best.

Wheaton (IL) has talent and probably one of the most underrated D3 players in the land in Marshall Hollingsworth.  They are very hungry for a championship and are pushing hard to achieve it.

Kenyon looked good in the playoffs this year against Wheaton and while they could not overcome powerhouse Messiah they have much to build on.

Franklin & Marshall also had a great run ultimately ended by Messiah but they looked strong and well organized under Coach Dan Wagner.  Expect them to be around again in 2014.

Rutgers-Camden is a great team and expect them to go deep again in 2014.

Dark Horse - Grove City College (President's Athletic Conference).  With 5 ties in 2013 and all but one of their losses by only one goal, they are poised to breakout over the next few years.  An additional 5 or 6 goals in an upcoming season and all of the sudden they will be on the map.  Something good is brewing under Coach Mike Dreves there.  Keep an eye on them.

[LaPaz]

When Gordon College decides to schedule some Nescac teams or even Newmac teams and can get some results then they will get respect in New england soccer circles. There schedule is beyond weak and their out of conference SOS I would be willing to bet is close to the worst in New England. It showed last year after losing 5-0 to Amherst in the NCAA's. Their regional ranking of #3 was a joke. There league is getting better but by no means anywhere near Nescac or even Newmac

[KnightFalcon]

Wheaton(IL) has some very talented players coming back, but they lose a large senior class so I'm not sure how strong they will be. We should know more after early season contest with Calvin and a trip to the east coast to play Montclair State

[D3soccerwatcher]

Gordon had a similar schedule in 2013 as they did in 2012, but their 2013 results were dramatically better under their new coach.  So no doubt they are on the rise.  Agree their SOS needs to be improved and it's certainly hard to defend a 5-0 result in the play-offs.  But remember they had not been there in a long time.  I heard from a coach from one of the premier east coast club teams that he is sending a player there who had a D1 offer, but decided to go to Gordon.  Looks like there is more then one D3 school "recruiting D1 talent".

[FourMoreYears]

I do not claim to have the knowledge of college soccer others possess on this board.
My question (and yes it is a question not an opinion disguised as a question!) is this:

In regards to "D1 players", would a top quartile D3 team be able to beat a bottom quartile D1 team?

[MidwestAficionado]

Everyone throws around this idea that a handful of schools are getting "D1 players" as if it is a rarity and it separates them from the rest of the pack. But in reality, is much more commonplace than you think... here's a sampling of what I found nationally as well as locally here in the Midwest:

-Amherst has an incoming transfer from Creighton - as documented by Sheldon Shealer
-Remember the 80 yard goal in 2013's semi-final by the Rutgers-Camden kid who had transferred in from Bradley
-Loras picked up two Loyola transfers last Fall and pull in many kids who are potential "D1 players"
-Wheaton (IL) has guys like Noah Anthony (Ohio State) and the GK Paprocki (Xavier) who transferred out of D1
-North Park's starting GK is a D1 transfer from St. Francis
-Benedictine had a player this season who started at D1 and had another player transfer out to Valpo two years ago
-Carthage had a player in 2012 who transferred in from Wright State

I am sure if you looked at every region of D3 soccer, you would find a laundry list of guys who transferred out of D1 or made the choice of a top D3 program over a D1 roster spot or a very low level D1. Keep in mind some states have very few D1 options... MN has 0, Texas has 2, AZ has 0, etc.

[D3soccerwatcher]

Great point on the number of D1 players at the D3 level.