Liberty League

[Mr.Right]

Damn...i should of gone today...I know NSN is going to screw us toiday

[deutschfan]

LL 3 -  Messiah 0

[Falconer]

LL 3 -  Messiah 0

Big ouch, but you can fairly say it. Congratulations to RPI, who in OT won a highly entertaining, unusually well played, dead even game. A few inches this way or that way, and either team wins before OT. The PK looked like a good call.

Messiah definitely missed Reid Ruark, who started at DMF all season but received some sort of ankle or lower leg injury vs Oneonta last week. I noticed they made a further adjustment at halftime, putting Jake Loop-Kent at CB and moving Adam Cole forward, where he played very effectively. A tough way to go out, but I'm glad it wasn't on PKs. If RPI gets past Amherst on that small field in what might be a torrential downpour tomorrow, I say they win it all.

Messiah will lose to graduation two top notch defenders, one of whom I predict finally gets his AA citation (Cooper Robbins), plus the keeper and the very dangerous winger Micah Fitz. But, the current FR and SO classes are loaded with talent. I don't know yet what's coming in next year, but I do know the Falcons did not get their most highly sought recruit, who chose D1 Maryland over Messiah. (His two brothers were Falcons, so Messiah truly was in the running for an extraordinarily gifted recruit.)

[Saint of Old]

In Praise of RPI.

I am absolutely proud of the way this team represented theLL.
I think the season was a huge success and something the program will build on.
As an Old Saint, I can recall losing a Quater Final Game the team thought it should have won to a former champion from the NESCAC.

That type of thing can inspire a Very young team playing good football for a very good Coach.

Saying all of the above should have Saint fans and the rest of the league really worried because I see the foundation for great success being laid right now at RPI.

Teams will have big problems with them next season after the confidence and hunger they will have going forward.
The most important thing for a player or team is confidence followed closely by hunger.
RPI has more of that than they ever have as a program and now the future is extremely bright with a coach that wont allow them to rest on what they have done, but keep pushing towards the pinnacle.

[deutschfan]

RPI has a great foundation and has a bunch of returning impact players for next year.  Ithaca and Hobart will graduate a bunch of quality seniors so time will tell for those programs.  As we saw again this year a newcomer can make a huge difference in the success of a team.  Finally, I am sometimes perplexed by the league and regional awards.  This year what I don't understand is how a team that finished third in the league and sixth in the region didn't have one player make first or second team LL (sorry HM doesn't count--see NESCAC) or receive any regional recognition.  Vassar's coaching staff should be applauded for almost making the Dance with, according to the league's and region's coaches, no player worthy of all star team status. 

[Red Dog]

As the final four plays out this weekend a shout out to the LL representative on the woman's side, William Smith, who play this afternoon. Great to see LL soccer in the national spotlight. It is also worth recognizing Hobart & William Smith Colleges for winning both sides of the LL championships this year which is a great achievement for the institution.

[Saint of Old]

The ladies from William Smith have been balling now for quite some time.
They have already reached the pinnacle and won national championships and now they will likely add more.

Big shout out to these girls and hats off to them for being a National Powerhouse representing the LL.

[deutschfan]

2020 was a lost year and it is time to start early for 2021 on this last day of June.  Some LL schedules already out.  Kudos to Hobart for demanding fixtures.  Two strong UAA teams and Cortland along with a Buffalo State team with 15 wins in 2019  are some excellent non-conference tests.   

[Saint of Old]

It is the Big Reset Nationally.
The head coach of the kings of the country and the top dog in D3 soccer during this era has moved to Harvard, so nationally it might be wide open. We all know that a change of head coach can have a drastic impact on a program, unless you are Messiah ofcoarse and decide to not fix what is not broken.
It may be the same reset after covid regionally, and definitely for the LL.
I see 4 teams really gunning for the title of top dog in the conference this year and Hobart leads the list, so I am happy that they are proactive.
Hobart has some great returning talent, a good recent and mid-term history, great coach and a very good assistant,AB7, who  has dominated the league and country before with his skills, and now is becoming a master tactician.
The Bombers will also have a good run and in only the 3rd year in the LL has made it to the dance and competed very hard for the league and tourney title.
RPI is always there, they are so very well coached and a model program, you know Clinton has used this time off to really fine tune his machine and get the boys where he wants them.
Vassar earns this spot over my dark horse (RIT) because they are simply consistent. Year after year they will compete.

[deutschfan]

Saint--Glad to see you survived the pandemic.  Hopefully all of the regulars on the board came through relatively unscathed.  I like your predictions but you left out your alma mater.  I think it is very difficult to predict this year until we see the rosters.  A lot depends on whether seniors who would normally have graduated this spring actually return to school.  The sole All American from 2019 would have been a senior at RPI during 20-21.  Whether Bisson graduates and doesn't stay at RPI as a grad student will have a big impact on that team.  Indeed all of the universities offering large menus of graduate degrees will have an advantage keeping seniors with a year of eligibility than the liberal arts colleges with no graduate programs.  Also, with the demise of the Development Academy, and the pandemic, recruiting of players starting in the fall must have been a real crap shoot.   

[Saint of Old]

Fan, how are you Brother.
Glad to see you made it out on the other side as well.
Hats off to these boys representing the LL.
They can honestly say that they overcame more off field distractions than any of us ever did.
It also means, instead of listening to old timers like us saying "it goes fast" they actually know this as a fact.

I never overlook my beloved boys in Canton. 

I hope they can bounce back and have a good year.  This is just a very tough and competitive league top to bottom right now.

I might do a write-up on what I see happening this season, but I am sure that whoever comes out of the LL will do the league proud.

[stlawus]

We won't know until the rosters are posted, but I too am wondering if there were any seniors in the league that took a semester off last year in order to play this upcoming fall.   Soccer benefits from the fact that it is in one semester so you wouldn't have to take an entire year off to save your eligibility.   I say this because a significant amount of players on the SLU basketball team took the entire year off which would lead one to believe players around the league would likely have taken the spring semester off in order to play this fall.

[deutschfan]

That's a really good point.  There may be some very large rosters or some disappointed freshman.  On a different subject, and this was already addressed on the schedules thread, Union has outdone itself in putting together an out of conference schedule that may have the lowest SOS in league history.

[stlawus]

Union does this every year and I continue to be baffled why.   It appears like they try to rely on the league SOS to help them or they think the only chance they have of making the tourney is to win the league tournament.  They have not been particularly competitive in that regard so you would think you would at least try to schedule some potential good wins in the case you did have a good league showing but fell short in the tournament.

[Saint of Old]

Yeah, kinda like playing around  with the ball in the back forever, without purpose and getting pressed,  picked on and scored on time and time again.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.