2015 D3 Season: NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

[Nutmeg]

Not quite Louisville.....

http://pbasailfish.com/profile.asp?playerID=1239

Geez, maybe should have stayed at Messiah and makes one wonder why he left Messiah.

I can honestly say, and with no negativity intended, that 5 minutes ago is the very first time I have ever heard of Palm Beach Atlantic University.

If u looked at all of the D1 soccer teams, there are several you or I probably never heard of.....I wonder what the quality of soccer is like at those relatively unknown institutions....

I don't think there is a D1 I've never heard of.  This school is D2.

What about university of Missouri at Kansas City.. Or university of Southern Indiana?  You know about their programs? If so, you r one well read cookie! Lol

[Corazon]

D2s are full of schools you've never heard of. They can offer scholarships, many can get academically borderline kids in, and many tend to recruit lots of foreign students, so the teams can be quite good.

[PaulNewman]

Nutmeg, I know nothing about their soccer programs, but I have heard of those schools.  Probably seen them all in the ESPN crawl or something. 

[lastguyoffthebench]

I will be starting a website database that will be up and running in a few weeks.    Free peer to peer jersey, T-shirt, jacket and sweatshirt trading; new, used, retro (youth club, college teams, professional club, international).  Sign up and list the jerseys you have and search for the ones you want.  Just pay shipping and I will provide the labels.

Stay tuned for updates and spread the word.

KitSwitch.com

[D3soccerwatcher]

Not quite Louisville.....

http://pbasailfish.com/profile.asp?playerID=1239

And Mr Right, earlier this year, couldn't contain himself from quickly telling everyone that this player was leaving Messiah to go to Louisville, obviously well before the true facts were known.  We all need to be very careful not to throw these young players under the bus before we really know the truth, only because we want to try to act like we know more than everyone else.  That's simply not fair to the very kids who make up the D3 soccer game that we love to follow.

[Mr.Right]

I never said he was going to Louisville, someone else did. I said he had requested his papers to transfer in the middle of their season in 2014. Also, I am Mr.Right and I am always right but I do not try to "act" like I know more than everyone. I was simply throwing that info out there because to me that is one of the more bizarre decisions / news of the 2014 season. Since you and a couple other loyal Messiah supporters make up a good % of the posters on here, I was hoping someone could fill us in on what had happened. Also, where in the rules does it say I MUST be fair to the kids. I praise when they deserve praise and I criticize when they deserve criticism. I generally hope that all posters would do that because it makes for great discussion.

[4231CenterBack]

He actually did go to Louisville. He was there for a few weeks and then left. I'll let the Messiah insiders fill in the details as they see fit.

[D3soccerwatcher]

He actually did go to Louisville. He was there for a few weeks and then left. I'll let the Messiah insiders fill in the details as they see fit.

Is this actually true?  He was never listed on their Spring roster.

[D3soccerwatcher]

I never said he was going to Louisville, someone else did. I said he had requested his papers to transfer in the middle of their season in 2014. Also, I am Mr.Right and I am always right but I do not try to "act" like I know more than everyone. I was simply throwing that info out there because to me that is one of the more bizarre decisions / news of the 2014 season. Since you and a couple other loyal Messiah supporters make up a good % of the posters on here, I was hoping someone could fill us in on what had happened. Also, where in the rules does it say I MUST be fair to the kids. I praise when they deserve praise and I criticize when they deserve criticism. I generally hope that all posters would do that because it makes for great discussion.

4231CenterBack
Re: 2014 D3 Season: National Perspective
« Reply #2207 on: December 26, 2014, 04:05:21 pm »
Quote
Danny Brandt to Louisville

Mr.Right
Re: 2014 D3 Season: National Perspective
« Reply #2208 on: December 26, 2014, 04:12:32 pm »
Quote
Told Ya

Mr Right  --  Back is December you claimed you told us this was happening.  Now you claim you never said it.  Which statement is the truth?

[D3soccerwatcher]

. . . Wheaton.  They can recruit from anywhere in the country and even the rest of the world.  They are historically one of the best two or three programs in division three soccer.  They aspire to, and believe they should be where Messiah is. If they don't go deep into the tournament every year, the alumni especially, consider it a failure. . . .

. . . Not sure I'd place them in the top three D3 programs historically.  Sure over the past 15 seasons they have made it to the Final 4 twice.  In 2006, losing soundly to Messiah 3-0. and of course we all saw what happened last season when they hit the Tufts buzzsaw.  In those same past 15 seasons, Messiah has been to the championship final 10 times and has won every one of those games (10X National Champions).  . . .

D3soccerwatcher, I think it would be very hard not to have Wheaton (Ill.) in the top 3 all-time.  Only Ohio Wesleyan can match/top Wheaton's consistency across all 41 years of Division III's existence.  Take a look at their resume below.

I think Messiah, Ohio Wesleyan, and Wheaton (Ill.) are the best bets for the top 3.  Messiah makes the cut on shear dominace over the last 15 years combined with their pair of Final Fours runs in the 80's despite only joining D-III eight years after its inception.  Ohio Wesleyan and Wheaton (Ill.) have been Top 25 programs practically the entire history of Division III and the leaders in NCAA tournament appearances.  UNC-Greensboro was dominant for a seven-year period (1981-1988) but left D-III at that point meaning they have not been a D-III member for well over half of its history.  UC San Diego has a stronger case because they hung around a bit longer before moving to D-II, being a top program for about 15 years (1983-1999) before their departure, but other programs that have remained in D-III have now matched their success numerically.  Williams would probably have a strong case for the top 3 if not for the NESCAC's ban on post-season play up until 1993.  And if this discussion was being held 10 or more years ago, Rowan would be in the top 3, but their drastic decline in the new mellenuim has seen them fall well behind Wheaton and Ohio Wesleyan. 

Those are the contenders, and to me it's clear Wheaton is in the top 3.  An NCAA D-III Finalist in four different decades; two titles; top 3 in all-time D-III tournament appearances, wins, Sweet 16's, and Elite 8's; two of the five longest D-III unbeaten streaks coming in different decades; and an .750 overall winning pct. across 41 years.



WHEATON (ILL.) MEN'S SOCCER - DIVISION III ERA (1974 - 2014)

Overall Record: 632-188-68 (.750)

NCAA Appearances: 35 - second only to Ohio Wesleyan's 37 years participating; third best is 24 appearances (eleven less than Wheaton) by Messiah, Rowan, and Elizabethtown.

NCAA Wins: 48 - third most behind Messiah (74) and Ohio Wesleyan (61); ahead of Williams (36) and Trinity-TX (36).

NCAA Winning Percentage: .604 over 82 tournament games played

NCAA Sweet 16's: 23 (spread across 39 years) - second most behind Ohio Wesleyan (28) and one ahead of Messiah (22).

NCAA Elite 8's: 13 (spread across 39 years) - third most after Messiah (17) and Ohio Wesleyan (16); ahead of Williams (11).

NCAA Final Fours: 6 - only three schools have more: Messiah (14), Ohio Wesleyan (10), and Rowan (7).

NCAA Finalist: 5 times in four different decades spanning 31 years - only Messiah (10) has been to the title game more; Rowan's and Ohio Wesleyan's four title game appearances spanned 22 years.

Championships: 2 - only four schools have more: one is Messiah (10), UNC-Greensboro (5) and UC-San Diego (3) left D-III a long time ago, and Babson (3) won all of their titles by 1980.

Unbeaten Streaks: 66 games (1996-98), longest all-time in men's collegiate soccer; and 39 games (1984-85), fifth longest in men's D-III history.

Many of Wheaton's "records" are 20+ years old.  And many of these "records" are heavily aided by Wheaton being in NCAA D3 longer then most other programs.

But just to look at overall records since being in the NCAA...
Wheaton: 632-188-68 (.71 wining percentage) (first year of NCAA eligibility 1974)
Messiah: 623-94-36 (.83 winning percentage) (first year of NCAA eligibility 1981)

And NCAA wins...
Wheaton: 48 (since 1974)
Messiah:  74 (since 1981)

And NCAA appearances in the past five years...
Wheaton: 3 years
Messiah: 5 years

National Championships:
Wheaton: 2 (since 1974)
Messiah: 10 (since 1981)

I like Wheaton a lot, and I think they are a very good team.  And I frequently get to see them play live.  IMO they should be ranked #1 in the nation in the pre-season poll (given their returning talent).

I know they want to be in the conversation right there with Messiah, line item by line item.  But they simply are not there yet.  Particularly when you look at the past two decades. 

Maybe they are in the top 3 overall...but it looks like a big gap between #1 and #3.

[4231CenterBack]

He actually did go to Louisville. He was there for a few weeks and then left. I'll let the Messiah insiders fill in the details as they see fit.

Is this actually true?  He was never listed on their Spring roster.

Yes, from a mutual friend 

[Puerco Espin]

Does anyone happen to know if D3Soccer will be doing preseason rankings this year? I see that NSCAA is set to release their DIII Preseason Rankings on August 7.

[Flying Weasel]

I see that NSCAA is set to release their DIII Preseason Rankings on August 7.

I'm guessing they'll bear a striking resemblence to their Final 2014 poll--standard operating procedure for the NSCAA!

[lastguyoffthebench]

http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/4163

This should be the hyperlink for the rankings in a few days...

[PaulNewman]

Apologies in advance.  Couldn't help myself...

http://athletics.kenyon.edu/news/2015/8/5/GEN_0805153121.aspx

BTW, there was a comment last year about the small size of the Kenyon pitch.  Is 120 by 75 considered small?