Mr.Rights Thoughts

[Mr.Right]

2014 Tufts differs from the past few years because of 10 reasons.

1. The seniors stepped up to the plate and ALL busted their ass when they were on the field.
2. No injuries
3. Jayson Kayne has REALLY improved.
4. Bench had more depth than usual. Majumder, Schiable, etc
5. Finishing chances when they needed to
6. Defending as a unit
7. Connor Brown on the flank gave Tufts two very dangerous weapons wide
8. Patel and Zinner were better defensively than wingbacks last couple years.
9. Luck
10. Confidence

Greenwood was always a good GK. Williams and Kramer were always a formidable duo. Skill was always there with Santos, Hoppenot, Nakamura etc but sometimes the toughness was not in midfield. The benching of Nakamura might have helped this but man he was skilled.

[Mr.Right]

That all being said Tufts loses four key guys in Williams, Kramer, Hoppenot and Santos. Not to mention two decent guys off the bench in Miele and Volpe. Volpe was heavily recruited by Brandeis and Williams but chose Tufts to be close to his family. He never really panned out to be the player some thought he would be. He was a legit striker in the preps. Anyway, replacing two central defenders will prove to be very difficult. Majumder could replace Hoppenot. Santos is irreplacable. Kayne, Greenwood, Pinheiro, Halliday,Brown,Patel,Zinner are coming back but some are going to need to step up even more. I really do not know who will fill the CB roles.

[Nutmeg]

That all being said Tufts loses four key guys in Williams, Kramer, Hoppenot and Santos. Not to mention two decent guys off the bench in Miele and Volpe. Volpe was heavily recruited by Brandeis and Williams but chose Tufts to be close to his family. He never really panned out to be the player some thought he would be. He was a legit striker in the preps. Anyway, replacing two central defenders will prove to be very difficult. Majumder could replace Hoppenot. Santos is irreplacable. Kayne, Greenwood, Pinheiro, Halliday,Brown,Patel,Zinner are coming back but some are going to need to step up even more. I really do not know who will fill the CB roles.

Yep, pretty good analysis...Kayne started the last 3 years and has improved each year. Last year, he and several others had some injuries and most were healthy this year. I don't know the status on Kramer. I think he was hurt for a year and may be able to play if he doesn't graduate. Someone at Tufts may know more.

[Brother Flounder]

I have to also agree with Mr. Right's analysis except that I would put Confidence ahead of Luck......and we all know its better to be lucky than good.....

[Mr.Right]

Shapiro and Yale would be a good fit. His star will never be brighter. I wonder if the Ivys would pay much more than NESCAC. I'm guessing yes.

Actually the Ivies do not pay that much more than say Williams, Amherst (they went way down in pay when Goodings left however Serpone has made hundreds of thousands with his Peak Performance camps) Bowdoin, Midd etc..

[Mr.Right]

You are correct that Kramer does have another year of eligibility but he would of had to fill out proper papers by now to be able to use that extra year. I have no information on if he has done this.

[Mr.Right]

Lycoming would have a record similar to Bates and Hamilton in Nescac. Let us not forget that this is Hamilton's 4th year in Nescac and they have failed to qualify for the 8 team playoffs 3 of 4 years. The year they did qualify they were the #8 seed and got smoked by Amherst in the quarters. In the Liberty League they had the same admission standards and would win LL titles here and there and qualify for NCAA tournaments. Saying all that I really believe the travel issues are very real and take about 1.5 wins away from them each year. The travel issue also benefits them to with road teams players legs crunched in a bus for 4 to 5 hours.

[Mr.Right]

I am sorry you cannot compare 2014 OWU with 2013 Williams, 2012 Ohio Northern or even 2011 MSU.

Williams- They got smoked by Messiah but two of the goals were bad GK errors and 18 to 18 they played quite well but Messiah of 2013 was a machine. In the first 10 minutes Williams' Muralles had two very good chances to give Williams the lead but he could not finish. I did not see ONE legitimate chance by OWU and just guessing I would say MAYBE they had 2 SOG and they just did not look good even 18 to 18. The 2013 Final Four was maybe the three best teams in the Final 4 I have seen in sometime in D3. RUC, Messiah and Loras were much better than Williams but stick the 2014 OWu team in there and they might have lost 6-0 to any of those teams.

Ohio Northern- First of all they won a semi-final game so they should not even be in this discussion. They had a great striker Bascom(brother a current star for Brandnt at Navy) who played very well against Williams and Ohio Northern had some good team speed and were excellent going forward. In the final against Messiah they were beaten badly but the game was a bit closer than the scoreline as Ohio Northern gave up 3 Very SOFT goals. 2 or 3-1 would of been a fair scoreline.

[All NESCAC]

You are correct that Kramer does have another year of eligibility but he would of had to fill out proper papers by now to be able to use that extra year. I have no information on if he has done this.

Question:  Why would any athlete (or student) spend an additional year (5th) at a NESCAC....to play a sport.....at a cost of $60K?  Makes zero sen$e.  If the cost is $0/scholarship, then OK put off the real world take some classes and play one final season, but when there are no scholarships and you've already have your BA Degree?

[Brother Flounder]

You are correct that Kramer does have another year of eligibility but he would of had to fill out proper papers by now to be able to use that extra year. I have no information on if he has done this.

Question:  Why would any athlete (or student) spend an additional year (5th) at a NESCAC....to play a sport.....at a cost of $60K?  Makes zero sen$e.  If the cost is $0/scholarship, then OK put off the real world take some classes and play one final season, but when there are no scholarships and you've already have your BA Degree?

What if you are short some credits of graduating...ie....less tuition?

[Mr.Right]

It is not 60k it would be only a semester $$. Some kids like to play and want that added year to do it. Usually parents of these kids have $$$ and really want to enjoy watching their kid play another year so they would support him. Some kids do want to enter the real world but usually athletes tend to lean toward the former

[Midwest Soccer]

How can 2011 MSU not be in that discussion? They did not remotely belong in the final 4 and were dismissed as promptly, if not in worse fashion, then 2014 OWU.

2008 Loras also got smashed by arguably the weakest Messiah championship team (but most entertaining run to watch from my perspective) and Amherst got smashed 4-1 by Stevens. Those teams belong in the same conversation.

I'm in complete agreement that 2014 OWU was beaten handily and Tufts gets all the credit for that.

2012 ONU in the final can be put in that same category though, they lost 5-1. Whether they were soft goals or not, they were given up and are on the scoreboard for eternity. 1st goal Tufts scored on OWU was a blatant hand ball that wasn't called before the ball went in...and the scoreline will always read 3-0 and no one will argue that because it wasn't called. So just because a team let in a soft goal doesn't mean they should be dismissed from giving it up, they let it in so it counts.

And 2014 OWU would not have lost 6-0 to any of those teams, that's a crazy statement. If Williams only got spanked 4-0, OWU wouldn't have been any worse. Williams was as lifeless in that game as OWU was vs Tufts.

[Mr.Right]

I guess. It really is pointless to argue who sucked the most. For whatever reasons (injuries, stage fright, etc) they all under performed

[Midwest Soccer]

That's a very valid point. It really is taking a lot away from teams who went through a lot to get there. Whether you get spanked or not in the final 4, you had to go through some ugly games and grind out impressive wins to get there.

2003 Trinity going 24-0 has to in conversation for best team ever with a title

[Saint of Old]

The point is, if you even make it to the final 4 you are in good standing because you are able to see how close you came
This makes the hungry teams even hungrier!!!

In '99 many would say that the Richard Stockton boyz were the weakest of the final 4 teams.
They got spanked 4-0 by Wheaton but even after the game they boldly said "We are winning this next year".

It took them 2 years to do it, but the fact is they understood that it is just a couple wins to eternity and went for it.

Programs like OWU already know this as does Oneonta (before this season), but for hungry squads knowing how easy it is makes a big difference.

This is why we all have to watch out for Tufts the next couple seasons, with the knowledge they now have... They will be dangerous.
Tufts now gets that "Whatever man has done, man can do".

Winning big games is something a team has to learn to do, and understanding that you are close to the top makes it easier to climb the mountain.

This is why I think Loras is likely to break through sooner than later...