2015 D3 Season: NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

[lastguyoffthebench]

Miseri schedule also not that great thus far...

Summit 1-4
Ursinus 1-4-1
LVC      1-5
Arcadia 3-3-1
York     2-4-1

Camden, Messiah, Dickinson, Eastern, Kings, Manhattanville remain.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Lyco @ Mt. Aloysius

https://www.boxcast.com/show/#/men-s-soccer-vs-lycoming

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Lycoming with a tough 2-0 win. Maybe underestimated Mount Aloysius a bit? Either way a road win and shut out is always a good thing if you are a coach. That makes it 7 wins in a row after losing their opener to Eastern in OT. Good response from a young group that doesn't have a Senior on the roster.

[PaulNewman]

NCAC, what do u think the deal is with everyone's early favorites Wheaton, Loras and trinity, especially Wheaton with their preseason superstar midfielders?

Nutmeg, I was thinking more about this and the whole respect issue while looking over Tufts' season last year.  Tufts seemed to be stumbling just like the teams you note above right before the NCAA tournament, in theory an even more important time of the year, as they had a draw and a loss heading into the tournament and were even at some risk of not making the tournament at all.  Looking at the last regional ranking suggests they were the very last team in the New England region to get a bid and therefore very much on the bubble.  They also had a stretch earlier in the season where they went 0-3-1 (albeit against strong teams).  6 total blemishes.  They definitely should have been ranked during the year, but I'm not so sure they got screwed to the degree that has been claimed.  Everything looks a lot different in hindsight after winning the national title, but in real time, at the time, no one other than the biggest diehards would have predicted them having a good chance of winning six straight games (mostly in very convincing fashion) in the NCAA tournament.

[PaulNewman]

Here was the last regional ranking in November.  Tufts was definitely the last team listed that got in, and note the kind of teams that were above them (Coast Guard, Babson).  If a John Carroll or another team like that doesn't get screwed (in their eyes), Tufts potentially doesn't get in.

NEW ENGLAND REGION (data sheet)
Rank    School    Division III Record    Overall Record
1    Brandeis    16-2-0    16-2-0
2    Wheaton (Mass.)    16-2-2    16-2-2
3    Coast Guard    13-1-3    13-1-3
4    Amherst    12-1-3    12-1-3
5    Babson    14-5-0    14-5-0
6    Tufts    10-2-4    10-2-4
7    WPI    13-4-0    13-4-0
8    Gordon    14-4-1    14-4-1
9    Middlebury    9-3-4    9-3-4
10    Wesleyan    8-5-3    8-5-3
11    Nichols    12-2-4    12-2-4

[PaulNewman]

Carnegie Mellon in OT with Westminster (PA).  Not good for Messiah or Kenyon.  I have a feeling the early excitement about CMU may turn out to be unfounded.  They do have a great player and a couple of other really good ones.


0-0 Final

CMU scores 7 goals against Messiah and Kenyon and can't get 1 at home against a Westminster team that had 4 shots (1 on goal) in 110 minutes.  Soccer can be a crazy game.

[Mr.Right]

That's how the big guns usually bow out of the NCAA's, a game such as that. It is amazing that Messiah escaped it for so long for the most part.

[PaulNewman]

Lastguy, looks like Camden spent the money for video on the baseball stadium!  Impressive.  Looks like a Triple A ballpark.

[Mr.Right]

I am shocked Camden cannot get another conference team and host a 4 team early September tournament. If they get one of the cellar dwellers at least you might give teams a nudge to come.

[PaulNewman]

http://whereru.rutgers.edu/gigapans/214/Campbells-Field

Well, I guess it's actually ABOVE Triple A....Also home to the Camden Riversharks

"The Atlantic League is the highest level of professional baseball other than the Major Leagues. Atlantic League players are all highly experienced professionals, "Major League Ready", having progressed through the developmental levels (Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A). Approximately 40% of Atlantic League players have Major League service time. Like MLB, Atlantic League clubs pay their players to win baseball games, not be apprentices as in the developmental levels."

[Mr.Right]

Is it just me or is all I can hear is crickets in these Messiah forums. Do not worry folks I have not seen York play a minute this season but I would bet that Messiah comes out like gangbusters tomorrow and York will not know what hit them. However, the bleaker point of view is if they don't you will have to start questioning leadership in the veterans and the coaching staff for its inability to get this team lit with a fire under their ass.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Riversharks games are okay.   Good seats for cheap, pitchers throw in the low 80s.

Camden didn't even have live stats tonight.   3-1 win over NJCU

4th at best 7th at worst for nscaa this week is my guess

[Nutmeg]

NCAC, what do u think the deal is with everyone's early favorites Wheaton, Loras and trinity, especially Wheaton with their preseason superstar midfielders?

Nutmeg, I was thinking more about this and the whole respect issue while looking over Tufts' season last year.  Tufts seemed to be stumbling just like the teams you note above right before the NCAA tournament, in theory an even more important time of the year, as they had a draw and a loss heading into the tournament and were even at some risk of not making the tournament at all.  Looking at the last regional ranking suggests they were the very last team in the New England region to get a bid and therefore very much on the bubble.  They also had a stretch earlier in the season where they went 0-3-1 (albeit against strong teams).  6 total blemishes.  They definitely should have been ranked during the year, but I'm not so sure they got screwed to the degree that has been claimed.  Everything looks a lot different in hindsight after winning the national title, but in real time, at the time, no one other than the biggest diehards would have predicted them having a good chance of winning six straight games (mostly in very convincing fashion) in the NCAA tournament.

Here's my take. I agree that they were a bubble team. But they should have been ranked...after all, they did have the best record going into the NESCAC tourney in the toughest conference, having not lost a conference game. I believe the strength of the conference was a big factor of them just getting into the ncaa tourney. The rest is history. Yes, some say it was miraculous but they needed to have the talent to achieve what they did....and they did have the talent as recognized by a few here.

As to the statements that they're not as good of a team now compared to last year, that is probably true but they may get there....but I ask is any team at this point as good as tufts was when they won the championship? Could any other team taken down the Messiah team of last year, and could any team of this year done so? Some real food for thought....

[PaulNewman]

Nutmeg, you are misunderstanding.  I think they are better than last year, at least right now, at this same point compared to last year.  I THINK THEY ARE THE #1 TEAM. And I said I thought they should have been ranked last year!  I just think , again IN HINDSIGHT, there is an overreaction to how badly they supposedly were treated.  You also seem to be discounting that being under the radar may have HELPED them win the national title.  If they had entered the NCAA tournament ranked top 3 in the country, do you think other teams might have viewed them a little differently, and prepared a little differently?  Would you have viewed them differently if they hadn't made the tournament or had lost in the 1st round to Dickinson?  And no, they were not the only team that could have beaten Messiah.  The Falcons would have been favorites against anyone, but other teams would have had a chance in a one game match.

In any case, I was responding further to your question about big teams stumbling early this year.  That was the point.  A few blemishes doesn't mean jack in terms of who will eventually win the tournament.  Tufts proved that.  And yes, they had superb talent, and they still do.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Did I see that Loras lost 5-2 tonight?!?!