2014 D3 Season: National Perspective

[PaulNewman]

Kenyon tops Wabash in a solid, workmanlike (if less than attractive) 3-0 win.  The Lords have spurts of putting passes together and looking dynamic and very dangerous, but then they often are their own worst enemy as they get undisciplined and lose their rhythm.  8 offside calls today which is an outrageous number and I believe in one stretch when the subs first came in 4 offside calls in a row.  Also had 4 yellows today which is too many, along with some other unnecessary fouls.  Their whole flow gets too disrupted leading to choppy play, lack of sustained possession, and resorting to too many long balls over the top.  They are going to have to play better, more focused soccer for 90 minutes if they hope to do some real damage in the tournament.  They are a team that needs to play very aggressively with high energy but they have to still play good soccer.  On the plus side, the did rack up another shutout and Amolo is scoring again which is good news.  Congrats to Wabash on a great season.  The turnaround time for them after just traveling to Wooster Saturday and getting home very late that night could not have been helpful.

[PaulNewman]

I was gonna say Geneva is better than I thought as they took Thomas More to 2nd OT before losing in the 109th minute.  Then I looked at the box and saw they were outshot 26 to 2.

[PaulNewman]

3 really good games going, all with very good video although not happy I had to pay $4.95 to get Camden-Newark.  Would hate to be the ref for that game but video is great and they are playing very good, aggressive soccer.

In the ODAC W&L just tied it up with Roanoke in first minute of 2nd half and VA Wesleyan and Lynchburg are underway in the 2nd half with Lynchburg leading 2-1.

The Prez conference had two double OT games, with Thomas More besting Geneva and Grove City slipping past Waynesburg.

Ref just gave Newark a PK on a handball call.  Camden not happy.

[pelinho5]

Hot weekend in the UAA coming up. Let's literally go!!! A lot of parity this year, per usual. Let's take a look at the matchups for the final weekend.

Carnegie vs. Emory: Emory should get a tournament bid, but will want to get 3 points against CMU to be sure. Emory, with arguably the number 1 ranked climate in the conference, may have some trouble in the North. Let's see if our southern brothers will be able to handle the tumultuous terror called the Pittsburgh precipitation.  Keep in mind that senior defender Noah Rosen won "Athlete of the Week", let's see if he can lead the eagles to another shutout.  Prediction: Emory 0-3 CMU.

Rochester vs. Case: Giving a slight edge to the cagey Rochester Yellow jackets. Case just hasn't been the same since the departure of the great Vinny Bell, famously described as a "runway jumper".  Prediction: Rochester emerges victorious in a golden goal slugfest with scrappy Case Western. UR 4-3 CWRU

NYU vs. Brandeis: The Judges still have a shot at a UAA championship, and will need to win in order to keep these dreams alive. NYU has just come off of a 0 point weekend and will look to try to finish the regular season on a high.  Prediction: The Judges will bounce back against slumping NYU. Brandeis 2-0 NYU

Wash U vs. Chicago: WUSTL is still at the bottom of the UAA after last weekend, but the Bears gave Brandeis a good game, and have nothing to lose against Chicago, who has a chance to win the UAA for the first time since 2009. Prediction: I like Codispoti and Chicago to continue their recent hot streak. Chicago 2-1 Wash U

[Mr.Right]

Good game Lynchburg beats Virginia Wesleyan in PK's. They deserved the win as they dominated in the OT. Virginia Wesleyan was not very prepared for the PK's as they missed all 3 shots. Lynchburg's goalie was impressive

[PaulNewman]

Roanoke crushed W&L.  Also watched Lynchburg win in PKs.  I think that ODAC soccer and the overall atmosphere are impressive. 

And here comes Rutgers-Camden.  Spotted Newark a PK and then Mike Ryan saves the day.  He is a lethal striker.  A wild scene in the last seconds with a policewoman trying to get people off the field.  Those are some tough, gritty kids on these teams.  I would hate to be a high seed playing Camden in one of the first 1 rounds.  They've now beaten Newark twice.

lastguy, any thoughts on what this does to Newark (who I thought looked really good until they went down 2-1) and for Camden?

[Mr.Right]

Camden needs to win it all and Newark is history based on he rankings. It is disappointing because those two teams deserve it and the NJAC deserves 3 teams. Those teams are historically gritty and why Nescac teams like to recruit in Jersey because of the toughness of the kids.

[KnightFalcon]

Agreed. I have tried to really get a feel for Oneonta's field. Their video stream is really bad. Does anyone have any specifics of Oneonta's field. Dimensions? How is the grass? etc....I think Oneonta will host to the final 4 if they win SUNYAC.

Yes - I saw Messiah play at Oneonta in 2013 and the field was excellent. The grass surface was in great shape. Not sure of the exact dimensions but it was plenty big. I'd say it is one of the better fields in D3 and would be a excellent location to host games. If you are familiar with the terrain in that part of New York, it is very hilly so one end of the field drops off by 50-60 feet. Plenty of parking and the fieldhouse is right next to the field which is convenient if you need to go get warm during halftime. The town is a typical small college town which is nice to visit as well. Long drive to get there - I flew into Albany and then drove about 90 minutes to the town, but all in all a good place to play and spend a couple of days.

[PaulNewman]

I'm not sure Mr.Right.  2nd place in the NJAC is still pretty good.  Gun to your head:  Newark or Babson or Middlebury or even RPI or Rochester?

And I think Camden presents the committee with a real dilemma.  Since the Haverford they have really rebounded with the only loss to Monclair and 2 wins over Newark.  If they lose to Montclair that is 8 losses, but they must be one of the strongest 8 loss teams in history.  And I wouldn't bet against them vs Montclair in the final.

[mjan]

Hot weekend in the UAA coming up. Let's literally go!!! A lot of parity this year, per usual. Let's take a look at the matchups for the final weekend.

Carnegie vs. Emory: Emory should get a tournament bid, but will want to get 3 points against CMU to be sure. Emory, with arguably the number 1 ranked climate in the conference, may have some trouble in the North. Let's see if our southern brothers will be able to handle the tumultuous terror called the Pittsburgh precipitation.  Keep in mind that senior defender Noah Rosen won "Athlete of the Week", let's see if he can lead the eagles to another shutout.  Prediction: Emory 0-3 CMU.

Rochester vs. Case: Giving a slight edge to the cagey Rochester Yellow jackets. Case just hasn't been the same since the departure of the great Vinny Bell, famously described as a "runway jumper".  Prediction: Rochester emerges victorious in a golden goal slugfest with scrappy Case Western. UR 4-3 CWRU

NYU vs. Brandeis: The Judges still have a shot at a UAA championship, and will need to win in order to keep these dreams alive. NYU has just come off of a 0 point weekend and will look to try to finish the regular season on a high.  Prediction: The Judges will bounce back against slumping NYU. Brandeis 2-0 NYU

Wash U vs. Chicago: WUSTL is still at the bottom of the UAA after last weekend, but the Bears gave Brandeis a good game, and have nothing to lose against Chicago, who has a chance to win the UAA for the first time since 2009. Prediction: I like Codispoti and Chicago to continue their recent hot streak. Chicago 2-1 Wash U

There haven't been this many goals in the entire UAA season. Can't see a UAA defense giving up that many goals, nor an offense scoring that many.

[Ommadawn]

I agree. The latter two results are plausible, but I see Rochester v Case going something more like 2-1 and CMU v Emory more along the lines of 1-0.

[KnightFalcon]

Alvernia gets another shot at Messiah after defeating Lebanon Valley 2-1 tonight. Game is Thursday night in Grantham

[lastguyoffthebench]

Regardless of win percentage, Camden may have bumped Newark out of the tournament here based on the two h2h losses.    Camden SOS, plus record vs regionally ranked teams, I feel like Newark could be on the outside looking in. 

Camden could have really benefited from VWU beating Lynchburg, but we will see...


When you play 9 regionally ranked opponents in a season out of 22 games, you must be doing something right.    After losing 6 (or 7) starters, Camden is well deserving of a bid, but I'm sure they're more focused on 4peating the NJAC.
   

[lastguyoffthebench]

Hot weekend in the UAA coming up. Let's literally go!!! A lot of parity this year, per usual. Let's take a look at the matchups for the final weekend.

Carnegie vs. Emory: Emory should get a tournament bid, but will want to get 3 points against CMU to be sure. Emory, with arguably the number 1 ranked climate in the conference, may have some trouble in the North. Let's see if our southern brothers will be able to handle the tumultuous terror called the Pittsburgh precipitation.  Keep in mind that senior defender Noah Rosen won "Athlete of the Week", let's see if he can lead the eagles to another shutout.  Prediction: Emory 0-3 CMU.

Rochester vs. Case: Giving a slight edge to the cagey Rochester Yellow jackets. Case just hasn't been the same since the departure of the great Vinny Bell, famously described as a "runway jumper".  Prediction: Rochester emerges victorious in a golden goal slugfest with scrappy Case Western. UR 4-3 CWRU

NYU vs. Brandeis: The Judges still have a shot at a UAA championship, and will need to win in order to keep these dreams alive. NYU has just come off of a 0 point weekend and will look to try to finish the regular season on a high.  Prediction: The Judges will bounce back against slumping NYU. Brandeis 2-0 NYU

Wash U vs. Chicago: WUSTL is still at the bottom of the UAA after last weekend, but the Bears gave Brandeis a good game, and have nothing to lose against Chicago, who has a chance to win the UAA for the first time since 2009. Prediction: I like Codispoti and Chicago to continue their recent hot streak. Chicago 2-1 Wash U

Brandeis, if they are a quality side... should beat NYU by 3+.

Chicago is okay with a draw for the AQ, so this should a brutal game with minimal shots...   I'll just call it that Chicago won't lose and snatch up that precious AQ.

Case might stay on the bus for this one, but I see a UR 2-1 win...

Emory on the road at CMU... I would say another 1-0 or 2-1 barn-burner.   CMU will be playing for that extra UAA bid (with Chicago and Brandeis both safe)  it's a dogfight for 3 teams to get 1 or 2 bids:  Emory, UR, CMU.   

[lastguyoffthebench]

On another note, Rutgers-Newark has an AMAZING live feed, but the highlights are just brutal...  it's way too one-sided, so if the other team scores please SHOW IT!   

And speaking of said highlights, tough PK call there with the handling of the ball....  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9wArpzzJ7k   around the 1:05 mark....     It's one of those, the ball played the hand, not the hand played the ball type situations.