Liberty League

[Mr.Right]

Big mid-week LL battle today with Skidmore travelling 3 hours for a 7pm kickoff at CLarkson. Monster game for both teams but more important for Skidmore IMO. Interesting because IMO you have 4 teams battling for the last 2 Playoff spots. Since RIT found some life this past weekend with Wins over Skidmore and RPI they are right in the mixer especially with winnable games against Union and Bard still on the schedule. Skidmore still has SLU at Home but Skidmore plays well at Home and IIRC they usually play SLU tough on that turf. Clarkson has 2 road matches after tonight's final league Home game as they will travel to RPI and Union. Skidmore does not play very well on the Road but they have a funny way of getting pts in these type of games. They are well coached and tough to break down so I expect a tight match tonight. Skidmore needs at least a draw which I think they can get. Normally, in Skidmore's position I would say this is a MUST WIN especially with SLU on Saturday but they finish with Bard. All I know is that 5th/6th Place is going to be tight which is all we wanted before LL went to 6 teams.

BTW those 2 losses by Vassar to Clarkson and SLU this past weekend were killers. All of a sudden they went from an NCAA bubble team to losing out on a bye in the LL...They still have Hobart, Ithaca and RPI and while I expect them to bounce back it is a shame one weekend can kill all your Pool C hopes.

[deutschfan]

Another huge Saturday in the LL.  Burning questions include:  Can RPI take down another highly rated LL side in Ithaca and better its chances of avoiding missing the playoffs two years in a row; Can SLU avoid OT with Skidmore, a team that has lived and died there; Can Vassar obtain a win against a team in the top half of the LL; Can Hobart repeat its 2017 run to the LL regular season title by beating Vassar and then SLU next Saturday; Can Bard steal a win; Can Clarkson recover from a devastating OT loss midweek at home to Skidmore after it had just entered the East Region's top 10?

[Mr.Right]

I thought Clarkson outplayed Skidmore for 60 minutes and grabbed a 1-0 lead in the process but then tried to sit on its lead and it woke Skidmore up. Skidmore has SLU today at 3pm and then Bard so I think not only do they qualify for the LL Playoffs if they beat SLU today they have a shot at slipping into the East Regional Rankings even with a shockingly low SOS. They would have I think without looking 3-4 Wins v Ranked.

[deutschfan]

Skidmore regretting that last second goal to Vassar.  RIT padding its stats against Bard. 

[Saint of Old]

Big day!
SLU v. Skidmore is a huge game.
Skidmore were tourney finalists in 15 and 16 and made it in the tourney last year as well.
You can never count them out.
Clarkson has been surprisingly good, I did not have them making the tourney and they still might not, but a very good season regardless of how this plays out.

Both RIT and RPI have a good shot of making it in with RIT the slight edge after winning the Alpjhabet derby 2-1 earlier in the year.

[stlawus]

Vassar had a much needed win at home against Hobart.   Hard to figure either of those teams out.  Vassar controls their fate with a game in hand and could sneak a 2nd place finish and potentially a 1st place finish depending on the SLU-Hobart result next week, but getting 6 points off of RPI and Ithaca is a tough task.  Either way that was a very big win for them. 

SLU did what they needed to do today.   Nice goal midway through the first and then kept possession the rest of the game.  They seem to be finally gelling as a team.   Charlton Kelly has had a very nice season thus far, and has been a very good asset at striker.   Skidmore away is never an easy task. 

[deutschfan]

Hobart's offense is feeble.  There is a reason their leading scorer has 3 goals.  If RPI score against Ithaca holds, the only chance of two dancers coming out of the LL are if SLU makes the final after beating Hobart and loses, or if Vassar runs the table til the final and loses a close one.  I don't see SLU getting a bid if they lose their first playoff game after beating Hobart, but perhaps Mr. Right has a take on that.  If Vassar's next loss is the LL playoff final can they get in with 5 losses?  Maybe Mr. Right can chime in on that as well.  Other than Vassar and SLU, no other team has any hope of a Pool C bid.   

[Caz Bombers]

gonna cross-post this here, just because I think it's so incredible that this more widely read forum should see it.

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WSOC - Vassar beat #7 William Smith 1-0 on the road today, handing the Herons their first Liberty League loss in six seasons. WS had won 54 consecutive conference matches and was 65-0-1 against LL opponents (66 if you count an NCAA win over Ithaca when IC was in the E8) since 9/28/12. It's also the first conference L for the Herons at home in 15 years (10/24/03 to Union).

Congrats to the Brewers.

[Saint of Old]

I guess there is no more time to wait before making league predictions.

Now we have  a 6 team LL Playoff field, I see it playing out like this.

#6- RPI- I picked them to make it last year and they did not, I just cannot see this program missing out on the playoffs in back to back years.

#5- Ithaca- Getting back two big pieces on offense who missed basically all last season should help, also they have a year to become adjusted to what is required in this tough league.

#4-  Vassar- Could be a tough year for the Brewers, but thier pedigree and recent form over the past few seasons means they wont drop any further than this.


#3- SLU- Cannot recall the Saints ever having this big a recruiting class, this should help them to bounce back after a seriously dissapointing , by their standards, season last year. Also have perhaps the best player in the league back for his senior year.

#2- RIT- This team seems to be hitting new heights. Had a bad start last season yet lmost turned it around at the end.


#1- Hobart- I feel like it has to be unanamous after such an incredible performance last year, but teams will be gunning for them this year.


Apologies to Skidmore, as I had RPI edge them by a hair.


Bard, Clarkson and Union will compete, but I just dont think they will have enough to make top 6.

Would love for one or two of them to prove me wrong, then the season would really be crazy.

With one week left in the regular season, I am going to hold firm with these and change my name to Soccerdamus if the seedings actually play out like this.

I thought SLU might finish top 2 with the senior class as deep as it is, but I told myself it was a homer call.

Didn't predict such a rough start for RIT and had them much higher.

The thing about RPI is that you just canot count them out.

[Ommadawn]

I thought SLU might finish top 2 with the senior class as deep as it is, but I told myself it was a homer call.

SLU in the top 2 of the LL?  Not a homer call at all!  My projections for the LL always start with SLU at the top and then proceed downward from there.  It appears that the Saints have broken the "Vassar curse" that Deutschfan identified (3 losses to Vassar from 2000-2013 and 3 losses to Vassar from 2014-2017), the picture is especially rosy! 

[Saint of Old]

I thought SLU might finish top 2 with the senior class as deep as it is, but I told myself it was a homer call.

SLU in the top 2 of the LL?  Not a homer call at all!  My projections for the LL always start with SLU at the top and then proceed downward from there.  It appears that the Saints have broken the "Vassar curse" that Deutschfan identified (3 losses to Vassar from 2000-2013 and 3 losses to Vassar from 2014-2017), the picture is especially rosy!

Tough year last year for sure.
Same as 2009.
Similar to 1997
Seems that once a decade the boys have a difficult season. Really cannot complain as a program considering we are normally a dancing team.

I think it simply took the boys a season or two to transition to a new Coach.
Like Coach Durocher, Tosh loves the possession game, but there are slight nuances in playing styles.
Still Saint football with passing at the core.
I think Tosh and Durocher believe in the same philosophy of how the game should be played.
They developed this philosophy together almost 3 decades ago.

The Saints still need to focus and have to take care of business against an equally hungry Hobart team.

Hobart is seeking its 3rd straight league title. Yes. Third straight.
That program deserves alot of rrespect for how well they have done over the past few seasons (sometimes getting overlooked for well deserved NCAA bids).
Ditto for Vassar who were tourney finalists last year and could win league this year again with two wins.

These two programs unfortunately now have to win the tourney in order to dance.
Saints might have to as well.
Time will tell.

[stlawus]

RPI gets it done at Vassar and is likely looking at a home playoff game.  Odd season for them, but they got the wins they needed.   Bit of a disappointing 2nd half for Vassar as they looked like they were going to finish in the top 2.    SLU just needs to draw with Hobart at Sandy to wrap up the league title, but that is MUCH easier said than done as Hobart is going to jump out of the gate looking to pounce.  Should be a great game. 

[deutschfan]

Saint:  With RPI's win over Vassar you are looking like soccerdamus.  Two conceivable pool c's, Ithaca and SLU.  If Vassar beats Ithaca at home on Saturday then there will be one.  If they lose to Ithaca Saturday Vassar likely is in the 5 spot.  Three hours ago they could have finished first.  League is very competitive again this year.  Today's game was a very bad result for a Vassar team that normally is very tough at home.  Given that the regular season champ gets homefield for the semis and finals, Saturday's bout between Hobart and SLU is huge.  Smart money says the rest of SLU's pre NCAA games are at home. 

[Saint of Old]

I agree Deutschfan:
Ithaca might get a pool C indeed.
SLU's loss to RPI I thought was the only game they were outplayed this year.
RPI is a difficult team to play.
Beating Vassar on grass (penalty save) come from behind v. SLU, shutting out Hobart and Ithaca shows that these guys are for real.

Dissapointed tjough as RPI should have a much better record if they only had consistent effort.
They proved that they are a top team in the league.
RPI can still finish second concievably.
Hobart can finish First or second concievably.
SLU can finish first or second concievably.
Vassar can still finish second concievably.
Skidmore can still make the playoffs.
RIT can still make the playoffs.
Clarkson can still make the playoffs.
Ithaca has made the playoffs and can still finish second concievably.

Wow.
What a season!

[deutschfan]

If Bard can't get a result against Skidmore the 4 teams on the outs are set including the very talented RIT squad and a 10 win Clarkson team that had been regionally ranked.