2014 D3 Season: National Perspective

[ppn512]

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

Wchandy22--- The reason had nothing to do with the "mess". More had to do with paying for officials against and more importantly getting officials that could commit to a 4pm game last minute. I believe they tried to see if they could get all three or 4 officials for the Women's game tonight do the men's game at three. Like you know, refeereeing is a second job for many of them.

[PaulNewman]

Some tense, intriguing action thus far nationally.

Christopher Newport ties game with Greensboro in 89th minute via their star goal scorer and then devastates the Pride 5 minutes into the 1st OT with the winner.

OWU loses another game, this time to Capital on goal conceded in 89th minute.

I get at least half-credit on Salisbury vs Catholic as that one ends 0-0.  A flurry of yellow cards in OT and apparently a 110th minute straight red on a Salisbury player.

Williams gives up PK early to Midd but grinds out a critical 2-1 win in OT.

Eastern smacked York 4-1 and were up 4-0.

[PaulNewman]

Getting my snacks and drinks ready for Wartburg-Luther.

[wchandy22]

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?

I have heard a few (slight) variations of the story but the one most often told goes something like this . . .

E-Town was a perennial national power throughout the 80s and they culminated the decade by winning the NCAA Division III national championship in 1989.  Sometime in the late 80s (maybe 1987) a scouting report was found which labeled the Falcons as being "soft."  When Messiah beat E-Town the following year fans started throwing marshmallows at E-Town players and fans while chanting, "Who's soft now?"  One thing led to another and before you know it, everyone is throwing marshmallows at everyone else . . . especially the poor assistant referees.

[PaulNewman]

Wartburg draws first blood.  The Luther video gives the best perspective I have seen of what it is like on the field.  From a close angle down in a corner and pretty low to the ground.  Interesting.  Anyway, check it out.  Gives good sense of talent and skills levels.

Amherst was down 1-0 to WNE but the dam has broken as Amherst just kept pelting and pelting with WNE not able to get the ball in the other half at all.

Last I checked both evening NJAC games were 0-0 in the 81st minutes now 86 and 88).

[PaulNewman]

Wow!  Rowan scores in 90th minute against Rutgers-C.

And Hopkins brought Gettysburg down to earth with 3-0 win.

[PaulNewman]

Great game going at Decorah, Iowa.  Luther leveled at 1-1 and then Wartburg scored just before the half ended, so 2-1 at the half.  These teams look really good.  Very offensive but still possession-oriented.

[mjan]

Wartburg draws first blood.  The Luther video gives the best perspective I have seen of what it is like on the field.  From a close angle down in a corner and pretty low to the ground.  Interesting.  Anyway, check it out.  Gives good sense of talent and skills levels.

Amherst was down 1-0 to WNE but the dam has broken as Amherst just kept pelting and pelting with WNE not able to get the ball in the other half at all.

Last I checked both evening NJAC games were 0-0 in the 81st minutes now 86 and 88).

The angle stinks for action at the other side of the field.

[jknezek]

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?

I have heard a few (slight) variations of the story but the one most often told goes something like this . . .

E-Town was a perennial national power throughout the 80s and they culminated the decade by winning the NCAA Division III national championship in 1989.  Sometime in the late 80s (maybe 1987) a scouting report was found which labeled the Falcons as being "soft."  When Messiah beat E-Town the following year fans started throwing marshmallows at E-Town players and fans while chanting, "Who's soft now?"  One thing led to another and before you know it, everyone is throwing marshmallows at everyone else . . . especially the poor assistant referees.

Thanks. +k

[KnightFalcon]

Not that it matters but that is the history of the Marshmallow Bowl as I have heard it as well.

[chelseafc30]

Has anyone else noticed that the NCAC has been playing very poorly this year? OWU and Depauw, both thought to be excellent teams preseason, have been very subpar. Today, for instance, saw Hiram, Oberlin and OWU all lose. OWU specifically lost to Capital, who lost to Kenyon 5-1. Does anyone have any input on this?

[Midwest Soccer]

It certainly has been a slow start for teams from the NCAC. One thing I'd caution you to do is compare scores to try and gauge teams. DePauw but more so OWU will always get every opponents best game given their long tradition of history. Teams play differently against OWU/Wheaton/Messiah then they do mediocre teams or even relatively new but good programs.

I doubt when OWU and Kenyon play it will be a 5-0 affair in favor of Kenyon (based on comparative scores). I think it will be a great game and without looking at stats I doubt anyone on this Kenyon team has ever beaten OWU so I'm sure that just adds to their fire. Kenyon is CERTAINLY the favorite though and need to be feeling good about this game. Role reversal from previous meetings?

One thing I've always given Kenyon credit for is winning the games they are suppose to win. A few slip ups here and there but collectively, they usually trounce the teams they are suppose to and that's what good teams do. I'm looking forward to that matchup in a few weeks.

As for DePauw, I have to say I'm shocked by their season. I know they have talent still which makes them dangerous come NCAC post season but I did not see this season coming for them. Especially with Morrison still there and their other forward Gonzales is a good player. Hiram....I don't know if anyone had expectations coming into the season for them so that's sort of a moot point but Oberlin is struggling a bit as well after their trip to the NCAA's last year. Wesleyan lost a pretty talented senior class that started 7 or so players so maybe their struggles were more transparent than others but they still have a good team and shouldn't be dropping games to Capital, Otterbein, and taking Hanover to OT.

[Durantula]

Does anyone know where i can find a good strength of schedule rating?

[PaulNewman]

Good post Midwest Soccer.

When we see a team like OWU struggle by their standards (and don't forget that they split with Calvin and Hope and throttled an Ohio Northern team also underperforming), I am more impressed by how consistently they have performed year in and year out.  It is one thing for a school to have a great season here and there, but to do it year after year is not easy.  OWU hasn't lost a single NCAC regular season game in a number of years.  They did lose a big senior group and predictions of them being the top NCAC team again this year were based on tradition more than reality.  That said, OWU has too much talent and is too well coached not to be there in the end.  They may actually benefit from lowered expectations and being in a slight underdog role versus Kenyon certainly will be very different for them. 

It is true that the strong Kenyon senior group has never beaten OWU.  They've tied a couple of times and had some very good competitive games, and especially last year I would think OWU could feel Kenyon closing the gap.  I would expect OWU and Kenyon to play at least twice this season and maybe three times, and I also would expect all of their games to be very tense, tight affairs with 1 (or at most 2) goal margins and/or draws.  The difference this year is that Kenyon can match OWU on experience and talent.  Should be very good games in a match-up where there is no love lost.  A big question mark for Kenyon will be how they handle being the hunted instead of the hunter.  I also would expect Kenyon to remain very good for at least several years running as the soph and frosh classes are loaded with talent, and as recruiting appears to have ramped up with the addition of an assistant very focused on recruiting.  Soph phenom Amolo has got to be one of the top 5-10 D3 players in the country.

DePauw is a mystery and I would not count them out.  They are very capable of winning the NCAC tournament, as they have done twice in the past 4 years.  The talent is there and I expected them to start strong and fast after last year's disappointment at missing out on the NCAA tourney (despite an outstanding record overall).  If the Tigers do get it together they are a team no one will want to play come tourney time.

Oberlin has been disappointing and seems to be in a sort of sophomore slump.  No doubt they overachieved last year, with a combination of improved talent, good coaching, and some good breaks.  I don't think they have the firepower for a major turnaround this season, but we'll see, and they certainly have enough talent to play some kind of spoiler role. 

Not sure what is happening with Denison, a traditional top 4 finisher in the NCAC.  They have been up and down over the past 2-3 years and seems their overall talent level is down a bit, but they are always dangerous in big rivalry games with Kenyon, OWU, etc.

The usual bottom half of the NCAC actually looks stronger, with the exception of Wooster.  Wabash is undefeated and beginning to attract some notice.  They have had a fairly soft schedule so far, so we'll see what happens with them.  Allegheny, Hiram, and Wittenberg seem to have added some talent as well.

[Midwest Soccer]

Agreed on all fronts NCAC...

The move to the NCAC was great for DePauw. I'll never forget 2010 for the Tigers. They were something like 14-2-3 with their only losses being to Trinity (TX) 1-0 and 1-0 to OWU in OT who finished the last NSCAA national ranking of the regular season #1 and #2 and DePauw DID NOT make the tournament. Can you imagine only losing 2 games to the 1 and 2 ranked teams in the country and not getting in? That being said, their old conference killed them because they didn't have many in-region games and the ones they did schedule excluding OWU were all cup cakes. Still a crazy stat none the less.

Will be interesting to see how the NCAC shakes out but right now I'm predicting the winner of the Kenyon OWU game to win the conference, however I won't be surprised to see OWU tripped up with some ties to other teams.

My top 3 will be Kenyon, OWU, DePauw, and the last playoff spot will go to Wabash, Denison, Hiram, or Allegheny. Maybe I give Hiram the nod out of that group. I don't want to read too much into Wabash's undefeated start as I remember 2 years ago Allegheny was undefeated and ranked in the top 15 I believe and then lost 4 straight games in conference and failed to make the NCAC tournament.