2014 D3 Season: National Perspective

[D3soccerwatcher]

THE two best tams will be playing for the title tomorrow imo.

These boyz deserve the crown whoever wins.

Great Tournament.

These are two very good teams at what they do and they have advanced through the tournament, and deserve to be crowned tournament champions.  But I'm not sure I would declare them the two very best soccer teams in the land.

Tufts is playing very well and they beat Messiah which no one has done in quite some time. Messiah, imho is still up there as the best team, but whoever wins tomorrow has to be considered the best. Who do u think are the best?

Is Rutgers-Camden one of the best teams in the country or did they just happen to make a single run at a single point in time?  When Tufts and Wheaton start putting multiple recent stars on their crest then I think we can start talking about them as "best". Until then I have to go with Messiah's 10 recent stars on their crest.

Rutgers-Camden was a top 10 team the last 3 years.  They won't be dropping off anytime soon.   After losing 7 starters they competed vs a tough schedule and were probably one of last two teams out.   Would have performed better than Salisbury or North Park...

I think you already defeated your own argument.  RC has already fallen off.  8 losses this year.  Did not win their conference.  Did not make the national tournament.  Now if they come back strong next year I think that can give credence to an argument that says 2014 was an aberration. Time will tell.

[D3soccerwatcher]

Massey has Wheaton(#1) vs Tufts (#4) as basically a neutral field toss-up.  Would love to see Wheaton give coach Guiliano a National Championship to remember before he moves on.

Best of luck to both teams; forecast looks chilly but dry;  hoping to see a well-played match not decided by conditions, officiating and please no shootout!

Coach Giuliano from Wheaton is certainly the sentimental favorite.  Very nice man and a very good soccer coach.  I wish him the best.  It would be awesome for him to leave college coaching with a National Championship.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Wheaton 2-1 is my guess here...

[D3soccerwatcher]

Wheaton is falling apart.  Looks like their entire game plan is to get a head ball to Golz. And Tufts is ready for it. Can't imagine Wheaton can score three to win with only a half remaining. But we will see.

[Flying Weasel]

Tufts is too good a team, especially defensively to give up the kind of goals Wheaton gave up.  Gotta make Tufts earn their lead more than that.  Not saying Tufts isn't playing well--they are--but this game should still really be 0-0.  Wheaton seems to have done better against Tufts in the middle of the field than anyone  else, but they didn't have the answer closer to goal.

[KnightFalcon]

Agree FW - that first goal was tough to give up. GK might have been a bit screened but he had a clear shot at catching it. Tough PK to give up too but give Tufts credit for making him try to defend.

[PaulNewman]

Tufts seems to be getting better every game.  I don't think anyone could have imagined they were going to be this good.  And their confidence level is sky high.  How did they not score 3-4 goals in every game this year?  They have offensive weapons in waves. As one of the few who questioned Shapiro's moves early in the season, I have to say he now looks like a genius.  Dare I say I could see them beating Messiah again at this point.

[PaulNewman]

One of the only questions left is will Kramer or Hoppenot do something really stupid.

[Saint of Old]

Gentlemen, we are watching the best team in D3 soccer grab their crown!

[KnightFalcon]

Tufts seems to be getting better every game.  I don't think anyone could have imagined they were going to be this good.  And their confidence level is sky high.  How did they not score 3-4 goals in every game this year?  They have offensive weapons in waves. As one of the few who questioned Shapiro's moves early in the season, I have to say he now looks like a genius.  Dare I say I could see them beating Messiah again at this point.

I think Messiah would take that game in an instant.

[PaulNewman]

Hollingsworth might be the best D3 player in the country.

[FalconFan]

Wow!  We have a game!  Buckle up for the 30 minutes of this game

[dontshootthegoose]

Gentlemen, we are watching the best team in D3 soccer grab their crown!

Don't talk too soon!

[KnightFalcon]

Stop the coronation and wake Tufts back up ... they've got 30 minutes to play yet

[Saint of Old]

I never specified a team