Liberty League

paclassic89 · September 20, 2023, 11:28:59 PM

Quote from: Saint_Dad on September 20, 2023, 10:51:48 PM
We will see how Bard does in Liberty League play. 41-0 in shots? 11-0? Game stops after 77 mins? Is 11-0 a mercy rule of was it because York didn't have enough players to continue? I think they started with only 10 players.

According to the box score they only played with 10 for the entire 77 mins. Really weird since they have 17 on the roster according to the website. I don't remember ever seeing something like this before in a D3 game

Hopkins92 · September 21, 2023, 09:43:53 AM

COVID??

d3d3d3 · September 21, 2023, 10:14:19 AM

York is a CUNYAC school located in Brooklyn, and many of those players have jobs. So if you look at their box scores, they always have enough players and a few subs at home, and barely have enough guys and no subs when they go on the road.

None of it really matters. If Bard is a paper tiger, it'll be obvious at Ithaca on Saturday.

Caz Bombers · September 21, 2023, 10:38:21 AM

York is in Jamaica Queens not Brooklyn but otherwise spot on. Medgar Evers (which is in Brooklyn) has had similar issues and perpetually struggles particularly in women's soccer and volleyball just to field teams. I've seen MEC only bring 7 for WSOC, for example. York women's squads also tend to have major numbers problems.

deutschfan · September 22, 2023, 12:25:45 PM

For the first time like ever for me I look at a slate of Liberty League fixtures and would not be surprised by any team obtaining a result. There are no gimme games on Saturday. If Bard is not a paper tiger then this league's parity is pretty remarkable.

Saint_Dad · September 22, 2023, 12:35:52 PM

I agree. But I'm expecting RIT and Vassar to fight it out with SLU and RPI challenging.

Saint of Old · September 23, 2023, 08:38:07 AM

RPI v SLU is maybe the best Alphabet derby in the league with all due respect to RIT. This game will tell these two experienced and good coaches exactly where their team is and what type of season to expect.
St. Lawrence got off to a bit of a slow start but seem to be righting the ship just before the LL season begins.
RPI got an early wake up call first game of the season playing one of the best teams in the country and have steadily improved as well.

I give a slight advantage to the home team on their home field.

Racoon72 · September 23, 2023, 02:07:54 PM

Quote from: saint_forever on August 18, 2023, 11:55:56 AM
Felt like making a prediction chart for the league this year. Bias towards the Saints for sure.

1. Vassar
2. SLU
3. RPI
4. Hobart
5. Skidmore
6. Ithaca
7. Union
8. Bard
9. RIT
10. Clarkson

Clarkson bottom, SLU bias aside I think the turnover of coach will hurt them. Vassar stays strong, but SLU right behind, could be another case of ties making the difference.

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On August 23rd I wrote, "Those who underestimate Clarkson will be very, very sorry! GO TECH!"

Well, the halftime score of the Clarkson - RIT game is Clarkson 2 - RIT 0. Former coach Carter Lincoln prepared the CU boys for a great season during their Spring European trip and the new coach is managing a great group of talented players.

Looking forward to seeing some great soccer this season! GO TECH!

Kuiper · September 23, 2023, 03:37:22 PM

Quote from: Racoon72 on September 23, 2023, 02:07:54 PM
Quote from: saint_forever on August 18, 2023, 11:55:56 AM
Felt like making a prediction chart for the league this year. Bias towards the Saints for sure.

1. Vassar
2. SLU
3. RPI
4. Hobart
5. Skidmore
6. Ithaca
7. Union
8. Bard
9. RIT
10. Clarkson

Clarkson bottom, SLU bias aside I think the turnover of coach will hurt them. Vassar stays strong, but SLU right behind, could be another case of ties making the difference.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On August 23rd I wrote, "Those who underestimate Clarkson will be very, very sorry! GO TECH!"

Well, the halftime score of the Clarkson - RIT game is Clarkson 2 - RIT 0. Former coach Carter Lincoln prepared the CU boys for a great season during their Spring European trip and the new coach is managing a great group of talented players.

Looking forward to seeing some great soccer this season! GO TECH!

Clarkson 2 - RIT 1

Nice win, but to add to the above I wanted to emphasize that Coach Lima was a great hire for Clarkson and not just as a caretaker for the former coach's players. Before he was at Northeastern, he spent a year or so at Rochester and recruited many strong players there. He's really good at identifying the best traits of a player and finding the ways to utilize them. I'm sure he'll do well at Clarkson even if institutional support isn't as strong as at other schools in the league.

stlawus · September 23, 2023, 04:29:56 PM

Great win for Clarkson, no two ways about it. Road victory over a team expected to compete for the LL title. Clarkson doubled RIT up on shots and shots on goal. I've noticed that 2021 LL ROY Jaden Longdon is no longer on the RIT roster, he transferred closer to home to play for PSU Harrisburg. Can't wait to watch Clarkson and SLU play under the lights in Potsdam in 10 days.

Union has been playing very well despite their results, and that showed today with a shut out of Vassar. Looks like they made the right coaching hire to replace Guinn. Who could have guessed that playing tough non conference games prepared you for the top teams in the league like Vassar. Very happy for the Garnet today. Vassar's next opponents better be ready because the Brewers are going to come back with a vengeance I think.

Ithaca finds their goal scoring by giving Bard their first loss. I don't think Bard is as bad as the scoreline indicates, but that's the first real competition for them. Ithaca quietly putting together a solid start to the season. They are very tough to play on their home field.

Hobart stole one at Skidmore, excellent win for the Statesmen. Skidmore is reeling, they are clearly having a hard time replacing Kilmnick who helped get them to the LL championship game.

SLU put together a solid game today getting their first home win against RPI since 2017. Took advantage of a bad mental error by RPI who stopped the clock with 3 seconds left on a free kick giving McDougald the chance to blast a beautiful free kick into the net. McDougald has gotten closer and closer on free kicks this season and finally got one. Very impressed with first year Henry Brown today, he is getting so close to bagging one. Had great hold up play, vision and passing. Good recruiting on Tosh's part. Woelfinger also played like the reigning DPOY, was a vacuum on crosses and made the big saves.

Gaudiano was neutralized for the most part, Will Baker had him pretty well bottled up. Clinton was not happy at all during that game, very frustrated with his midfield. RPI does look like they have technical quality of years past but seem to lack speed which prevented a lot of counters and vertical play.

kevdog · September 23, 2023, 05:26:09 PM

I thought SLU played solid as well. The jury is still out for me on Brown. I don't think he is a back to the goal type player but more of heads on type player. Maybe due to injuries that is where Tosh has to player him. Love to see more of Campbell. He gets the ball and takes guys on, putting defenders on their heels.Diaz, Ogulach, and Baker were solid back there and Woeflinger was commanding his box. Made a great save at the end of the game to preserve the win. Argueleta was also solid today. Nothing great but was at the right place at the right time. Hart impressed me today. This was top notch competition he was facing. Hustle and very composed on the ball. Touch seemed to be better. Looks like he is gaining the confidence.

stlawus · September 23, 2023, 05:34:49 PM

I always find it interesting the contrast of viewpoints that come from people who see the game in person and those who stream. Neither is wrong, but you can pick up things in each scenario you might not pick up the other way. Campbell is a good player, but he's still getting up to speed as he lost the ball quite a bit today. In person Brown just seemed solid, made great weighted passes and had a good touch but YMMV. Fully agreed on Hart though, he was a last minute addition to the roster last year as a first year, it's clear that he's developed.

Best player for RPI in my view was their center back Kedy Nana. I was shocked to find out he's a first year. He has great size and never mistimed a tackle. He'll be a rock solid anchor back there for the next 4 years.

deutschfan · September 23, 2023, 06:01:04 PM

Kudos for Union as they get first LL payoff from their schedule upgrade. It was also their first win over Vassar since 2015. As for Vassar one has to wonder whether the decision to finish the Brandeis game on Thursday was a pyrrhic victory. On Wednesday the team did a four hour roundtrip to Drew and pulled out a victory in the last ten. On Thursday the team does a 7 hour round trip to Brandeis to play a second half where there are up 2-0. Obviously the staff thought they would close out 1-4-2 Brandeis but with all that travel and game time it just may be that the Vassar players were all running on tired legs for their 4th road contest in a row at Union. Moreover, given the emphasis on SOS in making pool C decisions it is possible that the W against Brandeis will actually hurt them as it looks like Brandeis will be trying to avoid the bottom of the UAA table. Anyway, as I have said, this year is up for grabs--the teams with the two best preseason results against UR and MSU go down in their LL openers.

kevdog · September 23, 2023, 06:49:42 PM

Quote from: stlawus on September 23, 2023, 05:34:49 PM
I always find it interesting the contrast of viewpoints that come from people who see the game in person and those who stream. Neither is wrong, but you can pick up things in each scenario you might not pick up the other way. Campbell is a good player, but he's still getting up to speed as he lost the ball quite a bit today. In person Brown just seemed solid, made great weighted passes and had a good touch but YMMV. Fully agreed on Hart though, he was a last minute addition to the roster last year as a first year, it's clear that he's developed.

Best player for RPI in my view was their center back Kedy Nana. I was shocked to find out he's a first year. He has great size and never mistimed a tackle. He'll be a rock solid anchor back there for the next 4 years.

Your right. It is easier in person than on stream. You are at the mercy of the video person so your assessment of Brown might be better than mine. You're right the RPI center back was impressive and I too looked him up. He is only a freshman but very solid.

Saint_Dad · September 26, 2023, 10:58:07 PM

It's nice to see SLU making the rankings this week after winning three in a row. Their defense is doing very well. In the 5 games the Woelfinger has started, they have not let in a goal from the run of play with 11 men on the field. They also have shutouts in 3 of those 5 games. They haven't been performing as well on offense. Hopefully Mogul will find some room on the wing against Ithaca and some of the other forwards will finish. Peacock is needed in midfield. Hopefully he will be healthy enough to return. Things are moving in the right direction but expect another 1-0 game this weekend.