2014 D3 Season: National Perspective

[Sirius90]

Wow.  More negative karma after spending a bit of time trying to put something fun together that might be of some interest?  I don't get the karma thing on this site (which will probably earn me some more negative karma), but wouldn't it be more revealing (and interesting) for the reader to actually post the objection in words?  The way it is one has no idea what it is that is being responded to negatively.

I won't mess with the karma button, but your post was excellent and entertaining.

[Corazon]

There you go Corazon.  Got you on the karma comeback trail!

Ha ha. Thanks!  I'd reciprocate, except I have no idea where the karma button is.

[ECSUalum]

There you go Corazon.  Got you on the karma comeback trail!

Ha ha. Thanks!  I'd reciprocate, except I have no idea where the karma button is.

Corazon,
You get to give +, - karma points once you have around 50 posts, then you will see "applaud" and "smite" icons under a posters karma scores.  Click on applaud and you give a + karma point, click on the smite and you give the recipient - karma point.  Here is a +k for your posts!!

[jknezek]

Best thing to do with Karma is ignore it. Some people will ding you for your screen name, others for the team you support, sometimes for the way a game goes. You hope it's mostly because what you write, and it usually is, but you never know. I tend to tell people when I give it, usually for something that was very insightful or because it made me laugh out loud, or because they corrected something I wrote incorrectly. I almost never take it away unless someone really gets on my nerves. Other times people get into what seems like Karma wars, although I haven't heard of a good one of those in a while.

Overall, it doesn't really mean anything. Don't sweat it. I have found the more you talk about it the more you are likely to get dinged just for bringing it up.

[Off Pitch]

Games of the Week

Tuesday

Center Court

Wheaton (MA) at Brandeis -- Biggest non-NESCAC game in New England thus far and maybe for entire regular season.  Both teams are skilled and experienced.  Wheaton may be a bit more athletic overall while Brandeis may have a slight edge in cohesion and overall confidence.  Could see game going either way so perhaps a draw is likely.


Babson at Wheaton (MA) -- Important NEWMAC contest.  Will the NEWMAC get more bids than the NESCAC???

Wheaton has more potential offensive firepower, but Brandeis is the more complete team.  Brandeis takes this one 2-1.

Also, based on results so far the NEWMAC should get more bids than the NESCAC.  NESCAC teams are 0-2-2 against the NEWMAC to date with all of the games involving NESCAC teams currently in the top half of their conference standings.

[lastguyoffthebench]

I think Brandeis wins this one 2-0; Swat over Mules; Messiah over E-town 4-0; Kings will beat overhyped Lycoming in a revenge re-match of last year's opening NCAA round game.    Now the decision is what game to watch... Messiah at home in the Marshmallow Cup atmosphere or Wheaton at Brandeis?



Bassett and Oz separated at birth?   Both graduated in '01...

http://www.kingscollegeathletics.com/coaches.aspx?rc=607&path=msoc
http://scarletraptors.com/coaches.aspx?rc=320&path=msoc



Also, congrats to McGinlay for his 400th win!   

[KnightFalcon]

I've never understood the karma thing either.

Onto more interesting topics, my upset prediction of Montclair over Messiah didn't turn out so well. In looking at Messiah's schedule, I'm not sure I see any possible upsets left. Any thoughts?  Looks like deep into NCAAs before a serious challenger might emerge.

I would have agreed that the tough part of Messiah's schedule is past now -at least until tournaments, but lets give Lycoming their due and put Messiah on upset watch for that game in a couple of weeks. They know how to defend Messiah and have confidence in their ability to do so. Does anyone know if they have much scoring firepower?

[blooter442]

Brandeis beats Wheaton 1-0. Judges in control in first half but couldn't create any threatening opportunities. Second half, they came out stronger and scored through a great finish from Soboff, keeper no chance. After that Wheaton ramped up the pressure and despite not creating a lot put Brandeis under pressure. Even though I'm a Brandeis fan Wheaton should've gotten a PK for a blatant foul in the box. One goal victory was probably a fair result but Wheaton played very well and are definitely for real. Luke Finkelstein is very underrated IMO, excellent player. Any team would love to have him.

[PaulNewman]

blooter, did you see the game in person?  I find that watching online doesn't give any feel for how the game is actually played.  Looks much slower and sloppier when watching online and then in person seems like a completely different game, like high speed with little time of the ball and much more impressive skill than otherwise apparent. 

In terms of this game, Brandeis seemed a little more physical which surprised me having seen Wheaton previously.  I see Brandeis did in fact lead in fouls 22 to 13.  Also seemed like Brandeis believed they were the team that was supposed to win, perhaps just giving them a slight edge.

Muhlenberg beat Swat, creating showdown with F&M, who btw were in trouble with Ursinus.  Messiah game halted by weather.

Lycoming draws with King's 1-1.

[KnightFalcon]

Elizabethtown and Messiah - game cancelled in 58th minute due to weather with Messiah leading 1-0. Apparently game will be restarted from scratch on Wednesday

[wchandy22]

Lycoming and Kings ends in a 1-1 draw after 2 OTs.  There were a total of 11 yellow cards and a straight red.  Lycoming was playing a man down and later two men down.  Sounds like things got a bit on edge.

E-Town and Messiah will do it all over again tomorrow at 4:00.  Messiah had a 1-0 lead in the 2nd half but it was decided to start from scratch.  There were plenty of marshmallows on the field and it is pouring heavily at the moment.  So things might be a stick mess at the moment.

[blooter442]

blooter, did you see the game in person?  I find that watching online doesn't give any feel for how the game is actually played.  Looks much slower and sloppier when watching online and then in person seems like a completely different game, like high speed with little time of the ball and much more impressive skill than otherwise apparent. 

In terms of this game, Brandeis seemed a little more physical which surprised me having seen Wheaton previously.  I see Brandeis did in fact lead in fouls 22 to 13.  Also seemed like Brandeis believed they were the team that was supposed to win, perhaps just giving them a slight edge.

I was indeed there. It was definitely a fast-paced, physical game with lots of great pressure and speed on display from both sides. Got very chippy at the end as the hosts tried to close the game out while Wheaton put them under immense pressure. I'd agree with you that Brandeis was the more physical of the two teams, which, having watched the Judges for three years be mostly a skill-based team, was a surprise to me as well. Soboff (M/F), J. Ocel (M), Lanahan (CB) and R. Lynch (LB) have definitely learned to impose themselves physically, giving them a different approach. Weather was a slight mist, which, combined with the speed of the turf, probably suited Brandeis.

[wchandy22]

No go for Messiah and E-Town.  The game was to have been replayed today at 4:00 but I the powers that be have decided that this game will not be made up.  The game is considered a "No Contest" as it fell short of the required 70 minutes.  But for a brief moment last night, marshmallows were in the air.  The Messiah women host E-Town at 7:00 tonight and I believe some discussion was made about not being able to clean up the "mess" between games.  You can see some of the fluffy white confectioneries in flight from last night in the video at the following link.

http://gomessiah.com/news/2014/9/30/MSOC_0930141657.aspx

[jknezek]

No go for Messiah and E-Town.  The game was to have been replayed today at 4:00 but I the powers that be have decided that this game will not be made up.  The game is considered a "No Contest" as it fell short of the required 70 minutes.  But for a brief moment last night, marshmallows were in the air.  The Messiah women host E-Town at 7:00 tonight and I believe some discussion was made about not being able to clean up the "mess" between games.  You can see some of the fluffy white confectioneries in flight from last night in the video at the following link.

http://gomessiah.com/news/2014/9/30/MSOC_0930141657.aspx

Can you tell me why it is called the Marshmallow Bowl? I don't usually equate marshmallows with Messiah and E'town in soccer, so there must be a reason behind it. I get that the kids throw marshmallows, but why?

[ppn512]

I don't know the definite reason but the game used to always be around Halloween time.