2014 Surprise Teams

[D3soccerwatcher]

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

Very valid point about the number of seniors Wheaton is losing. But I believe 4 of the 5 players players they placed on the All Region team are returning.  Hollingsworth is an exciting player who can literally will this team to win.  Elliot Borge, a product of the Chicago Fire academy program and very smooth player, will be a critical link if Wheaton is to make the run they hope for.  And watch for Adam Blackman to continue to score more goals - he's a flyer on the wing.  Agree the Calvin and MS games will be telling.  Keep an eye on Wheaton and we'll have to see what impact the announced departure after this season of Head Coach Giuliano will have on the team.

[4231CenterBack]

Take it from someone who lives on the north shore of Boston and watches Gordon soccer matches quite regularly.... They are legit.  2014 will be quite telling as to whether they can make the jump to national prominence. It will be Potteiger's first true recruiting class. It looks like most of the incoming recruits were all-state in PA or OH.  I'm aware of at least 4 that received D1 offers of one sort or another. 

As for their schedule I agree that it is weaker than usual. They have traditionally played Tufts, Babson, Brandeis, and a NEScac team here and there.... Amherst, bates, Colby.  As for their conference, the CCC it is middle of the road. Roger Williams, WNE are quality sides but there are a few weak teams as well. This past year the CCC was much stronger than the Newmac, winning almost every head to head match up. 

As for the Amherst match it was a drubbing. Gordon's "mistake" was not parking the bus like a lot of Amherst opponents do. They went out and played with them and in the first half the possession was fairly even. Amherst wore them down with their size, substitutions, long ball attack and NEScac style "physicality". Give Potteiger one more recruiting class (2015) and I bet they will be on an even footing.

[repete]

Adding to the D-1 player question, D-1 is a much bigger deal and there's a larger range between divisions ... in the sports with the most scholarships.

In D-1 hoops, you get 13 ... for five on the floor
In FB, you get 85/63
In soccer, its 9.9 ... not even enough for a starting 11.

Does this make D-1 coaches cast a wider net? The scenes at most major tournaments would suggest so.

Does it act like salary cap of sorts ... evening things out not only in the division but with the "lower" divisions as well? A lot of kids get D-1 attention, but getting scholarship money is a different thing.

And Midwest is right about the lack of options. St. John's Coburn had legit D-1 scholarship offers, but no school within hundreds of miles. So he stayed close to home.

[D3MidAtlantic]

I am another first timer. I echo Professional Ballboy's thoughts about the CAC, though want to add that Christopher Newport joins the CAC this Fall and will add serious depth. Jalen Brown is legit. Another post remarked about E-Town joining the Landmark Conference. I agree that E-Town could be a surprise some team, bringing a young team that competed well last year. The Landmark has had 4-5 quality teams over the past 3 years, and it will be interesting to see how E-Town does. Both Scranton and Susquehanna have had excellent 2 year runs, competing well versus traditional conference power Catholic, but both are losing significant talent and leadership to graduation (Susqy loses starting keeper, 3-4 defenders and their leading scorer (Murphy) while Scranton loses McGuiness, McFadden and 2 defenders). Catholic loses their leading scorer (Romano) and 2 CB's, but defense should remain strong thru depth from the prior year. The question remains whether CUA can score enough to win against the top tier out of conference teams (ex. lost 2-1 to Messiah, 1-0 to Salisbury).

[NEPAFAN]

I am another first timer. I echo Professional Ballboy's thoughts about the CAC, though want to add that Christopher Newport joins the CAC this Fall and will add serious depth. Jalen Brown is legit. Another post remarked about E-Town joining the Landmark Conference. I agree that E-Town could be a surprise some team, bringing a young team that competed well last year. The Landmark has had 4-5 quality teams over the past 3 years, and it will be interesting to see how E-Town does. Both Scranton and Susquehanna have had excellent 2 year runs, competing well versus traditional conference power Catholic, but both are losing significant talent and leadership to graduation (Susqy loses starting keeper, 3-4 defenders and their leading scorer (Murphy) while Scranton loses McGuiness, McFadden and 2 defenders). Catholic loses their leading scorer (Romano) and 2 CB's, but defense should remain strong thru depth from the prior year. The question remains whether CUA can score enough to win against the top tier out of conference teams (ex. lost 2-1 to Messiah, 1-0 to Salisbury).

Good stuff!

[lastguyoffthebench]

http://www.nscaatv.com/rankings/3112/NCAADivisionIII/men/PreseasonPoll

[KnightFalcon]

I haven't heard anyone mention Salisbury ... Do they have much of their team returning this year? They gave Messiah a strong game in the second round despite the 0-3 score. I thought athletically they matched up very well and that was maybe Messiah's toughest tournament game outside of the final last year.

[PaulNewman]

KnightFalcon, you might want to check Messiah's tourney run again.  Don't think Salisbury was the toughest game other than the final.

[KnightFalcon]

I hear what you are saying and the 3-0 score would support that. However, I attended all 6 of the Messiah tournament games. Three of them were won by a combined score of 17-2. The final vs R-C was definitely the toughest so that leaves Salisbury and Kenyon. By score it would be Kenyon. But I would argue Salisbury was as tough if not tougher - outside of a brilliant 15 minutes of play by messiah in the middle of the 1st half when all 3 goals were scored, it was a very tight game that felt like a final 4 contest. By contrast, while Kenyon was a very good team and played very well, as that game wore on in the second half it was clear that it was just a matter of time before Messiah scored. Kenyon didn't threaten to score much and their loan goal was a fortunate result from a mix-up between messiah's keeper and a defender.

So that's why I thought Salisbury was the tougher game ... And why I was wondering about their prospects for 2014.

[PaulNewman]

KnightFalcon, I will politely disagree.  Messiah was less than 2 minutes from going into OT vs Kenyon, and Kenyon also missed a sitter in the 6 yard area with a little over 15 minutes left to take the lead.  Kenyon had several other good chances as well.  For my money, a high intensity, nail-biter game with the outcome in doubt into the 89th minute trumps a game that was effectively over in the first half.  I think the Messiah players would agree.

[KnightFalcon]

Valid point NCAC NE ... but I actually did get some player corroboration about Salisbury in the off season which is what got me thinking about their prospects for this year. They had good size and speed so if they kept most of that team together, they could have a good year.

[KICKIN95]

Maybe not a Surprise Team post as much as a surprise result.  F &M beats Rutgers - Camden 1-0 and dominated all stats across the board.  Was Rutgers a one trick pony or just off to a slow start?  Rutgers scoring machine Mike Ryan must not gave played,  didn't record a shot the entire match.

[KnightFalcon]

That is an interesting result for F&M ... may be an indication too that they plan to build off last year's success

[lastguyoffthebench]

Surprise results were SIT and Rochester.  Not surprising were the RUC OWU games.


F&M scored a soft goal, had spells of good possession, and were organized defensively.  Camden hit the post twice and struggled in offensive third. They are a young team, but did bring in a few players that should make an impact.  I think F&M was the better side (for now), but would like to add VWU looked like the best of the four.  I can see RUC having fits today.

[Ommadawn]

I was wondering how F&M might do in the post-Ben Beaver era because they relied on him so heavily the past few years (much in the way Muhlenberg relied on Cody Antonini), but the early indications are positive.