2015 Mid Atlantic Region

[Flying Weasel]

Not supposed too get much in the way of rain today it doesn't seem.  Quality of the field drainage to deal with last night's rain will be the key.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/pennsylvania/weather-radar

Looks like it's out of the Harrisburg region by 11am today. Etown historically has thicker grass so it might soak it up better than Messiah's grass would.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Regional Games Today:

Dickinson at McDaniel

F&M vs Ursinus

Hood at Moravian

York at Leb Val

Wilkes at Scranton

Misericordia at Juniata

Alvernia at Immaculata

Arcadia at Valley Forge

Haverford at Washington College

PSU-Harrisburg at Susquehanna

Messiah at Etown***

Hopkins at Gettysburg***

Kings at PSU-Altoona

Muhlenberg at Swat

***Notable MUST WATCH games***

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Massey Ratings-Top 10

4. F&M  9-0
14. Eastern  9-0-1
16. Messiah  5-2-1
19. Gettysburg  7-0-1
30. Lycoming  7-1-1
35. Etown  7-1-1
36. Haverford  5-3
56. Dickinson  5-2-1
57. Drew  8-1-1
82. Manhattanville  5-3-1

[lastguyoffthebench]

I find the Massey Ratings to be consistently on-point...

http://d3soccer.yuku.com/topic/1293/MARSHMALLOW-CUP-2010-Etown-at-Messiah-Saturday-Oct-30?page=1#.VgwO7skpDec

Just some of the stats put together by FWeasy...  always well done.

[lastguyoffthebench]

2010:  "Once the majority of the stands were cleared and the field was cleared they headed out with a roll of garbage bags and 2 leaf blowers and blew all the mallows into one big pile and then bagged them.  It took them about a half hour but with the 15-20 person crew they had it well under control."

[lastguyoffthebench]

MessiahProf:  6/15/11 

incoming class:  According to those in the know, this particular class does indeed have the potential to be the greatest single class we've ever had. I stress that this is not my opinion; I haven't seen any of these boys play yet. It's the assessment of someone who has followed Messiah for decades and someone with a deep knowledge of the game--not Coach McCarty, whose views I would not repeat here, but someone of comparable credibility.

We'll have to see what happens. There is no substitute for actually playing the games against real collegiate opponents. But, I'm certainly looking forward to it. There are some mighty big shoes to fill.

[Flying Weasel]

Kind of late to be asking, but is anyone else on here going to be at the Marshmallow Bowl?

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Kind of late to be asking, but is anyone else on here going to be at the Marshmallow Bowl?

FW,

Can you give us a quick summary of the action from last night? Wasn't able to watch. I tuned into the F&M game but then had some errands I had to run. A brief summary would be great! Thanks.

[igotthisfeeling]

What a game last night in the marshmallow bowl...and the goal to win it - unreal finish from top of the box upper 90 by Waso. This kid is the real deal. He gave fits to the Messiah defense all night. Although he is a freshman - I would still consider throwing his name in the mix of player of the year. He is a special player that doesn't come along very often.

To be fair it was the tale of 2 halves. First half - Etown had the upper hand and didn't put their chances away (had one cleared off the line off a corner kick) Messiah had a couple chances but nothing major. The goal for Etown was just great individual talent to spin the center back and then ping a left foot laser upper 90 from 20-25 out. Etown possessed the ball well in the first half which was good to see them put Messiah on their heels a bit. You did not see the Messiah backs making too many runs forward/overlap the wingers as they typically do, which showed they were concerned with Etown's speed up top.
Second half - Messiah put the pressure on and carried most of the possesion with Etown still getting a couple chances, but again didn't finish. Messiah had several great opportunities to score but they were just missing on the final pass or just missing on shots and were called off-side several times. The last 20 minutes it was all Messiah, but again didn't connect on those final balls that people are used to seeing Messiah connect. A lack of a target forward was very apparent last night for Messiah - it was extremely rare that Messiah played into their forwards feet - most of the time it was balls down the line into the channels with good runs and then looking to serve the ball in but unfortunately they did not get the runners in the box to get on the end of things.

Overall it was a great game to watch and great to see Etown come out on top after all these years!

One side note that really surprised me last night and maybe some Messiah fans can answer this - but I was extremely surprised at the lack of Messiah fans at the game (and if they were there, I am even more surprised at their lack of noise). The place was packed but did not see many Messiah fans and the few that were there left with 5 minutes left (not all of them). Is this a changing of times that the fans are not as supportive this year? I heard that at the Rowan game most of the crowd left after the 4th goal went in. I just expected a better Messiah supporters section last night.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Before Last Night's Games-Massey Ratings:
4. F&M  9-0
14. Eastern  9-0-1
16. Messiah  5-2-1
19. Gettysburg  7-0-1
30. Lycoming  7-1-1
35. Etown  7-1-1
36. Haverford  5-3
56. Dickinson  5-2-1
57. Drew  8-1-1
82. Manhattanville  5-3-1

After Last Night's Games-Massey Ratings:
4. F&M  10-0-0
14. Eastern  9-0-1
24. Etown  8-1-1
29. Haverford  6-3-0
30. Lycoming  7-1-1
31. Messiah  5-3-1
36. Gettysburg  7-1-1
52. Dickinson  6-2-1
56. Drew  8-1-1
67. John Hopkins  6-3-1

[Flying Weasel]

igtf's recap does the game justice, I think.  My attention was at times diverted from the game as I had my two pre-school children who were there more for the marshmallows than the game.  In short, I would have called the first half 50-50 in many ways, but with E-town being much more dangerous with their 50%, if that makes sense.  Second half tilted significantly towards Messiah, and from the 60th to 85th minute (roughly) the Falcons actually looked pretty good and an equalizer seemed certain to come.  A 1-1 tie would have been a fair result (heck, I'm not even sure E-town could have had too many complaints with a 2-1 loss given the second half), but alas Messiah did not find the back of the net despite banging on the door numerous times. 

Overall the crowd (for both sides) was late in arriving.  Stands fairly empty just 20 minutes to kick-off.  It is a weeknight game now and that will always make a difference in attendance versus Saturday games.  And it was cool, damp, and, as often is the case at E-town's field, windy, all coming on the heals of a rainy overnight and dreary day, so weather was not the most inviting.  My impression over the past several years is that the Messiah fans are not as rowdy and vocal as they may have been for a stretch of years (and that mostly comes down to the students as you're not expecting the parents, families, community, etc. to be providing the bulk of the atmosphere).  Messiah deservedly earned a reputation for travelling in numbers to aways games, especially in the tournament, but I don't think they ever were really known for being especially raucous.  Overall, I also was disappointed with the atmosphere of the game (not as tense or electric or antagonistic as "back in the day"), but I'm not a boisterous fan myself.

#2 Waso for E-town is a dynamic player with his speed and quickness.  He also has a pretty darn good shot from distance for a player of his size.  His goal was from outside the area and he had a solid rip from ever further out in the second half.  Messiah did better containing him in the second half, but that was partially (largely?) down to Messiah controlling possession more in the second half.  Messiah's back line does not have tremendous speed so they are going to be vulnerable at times for that reason alone.  And organizationally they are not working that well as a unit.  There is no Carter Robbins, JD Binger, Aaron Faro level player and leader at centerback (Kyne's a solid player, but simply not in their class) and that doesn't help things.  And all that is more critical and more evident when your midfield and attack are not maintaining possession and controlling games like the Falcons typically have been able to do over the past 15 years.  A drop-off was expected given the class that graduated, a class that was not only very talented (talent can usually be replaced and I think the incoming class brings a lot of it) and experienced (impossible to immediately replace that with new starters and freshmen), but they were also gamers.  Fight, determination, composure under pressure, clutch, etc.  It was a class full of gamers, clutch players--not just one or two, but four or five.  This year's squad, to my eyes, is lacking in that department at this point in time.  So you add that deficiency to subpar individual execution and an overall lack of cohesion (two things evident even in Messiah's wins this year) and the result is that Messiah isn't controlling games (at least not to the same lopsided degree as became normal) and is not as dangerous or effective in possession.  And that means opponents spend less time on their heels expending all their energy defensively and they see more of the ball (and further up the field and with more energy available) and they encounter a defense that is beatable and get encouraged and start believing while Messiah's players perhaps start feeling the weight of expectations which can lead to trying to do too much or playing nervous and making unforced errors, etc.  Goalkeeping and the target/center forward are other specific issues, but if everything else is clicking, goalkeeping becomes less crucial when you're conceding less possession, less shots, and less SOGs and Messiah has proven in the past that it can win and win titles without a natural and completely effective center forward.

Messiah is a good, but not great, team at the moment.  Talented.  Lacking experience and seemingly leadership and gamers.  Right now, they look like a lot of other teams out there.  The difference between them and most of those other teams, is (a) they have a coaching staff who have been there (as players and coaches) and know firsthand what they're reaching for, what a championship squad looks like, trains like, plays like, etc., (b) they probably have more and better talent to work with and thus greater potential to go from good to better to great, (c) with the team's history and accompanying expectations, which can be a double-edged sword as I alluded to, there's no chance of being satisfied with being good, with striving for anything less than a national title, and (d) the strong unity and botherhood of the team and the genuine belief that success on the field is of secondary importance, all grounded in a common Christain faith and commitment to sacrifice, service, and accountability, means much less chance (never want to say no chance) that team cancers (in-fighting, sefishness, etc.) will arise.

The Faclons are facing a growing challenge.  Time will tell how they do (or don't) rise to that challenge this season and beyond. Ohio Wesleyan won the 1998 title with 6 losses.  Bethany won the 1994 title with 5 losses and four ties. So, who knows what can yet happen this season.  The focus has to be the get better and improve in all areas game-by-game.  Then, a month from now, take care of business in the conference playoffs.  It's too early to have a solid feel for the at-large picture, but chances for an at-large berth have certainly shrunk and become increasingly unlikely.  Even winning out until a loss in the conference final could be too little for them as they'll be lacking wins vs. ranked teams with a mediocre SOS.  But the team has to take things a game at a time and work towards becoming a team that no one wants to face in November.  The growing pains of a re-building project have been worse then some (many) expected, but still too early to write this team off.

[Mr.Right]

EXCELLENT RECAP....Finally, a Messiah fan who allows himself to be able to criticize his own team. It has been my experience that Messiah fans in general on this board will not under any circumstance allow themselves to be critical of their beloved Falcons. It is this type of posting that attracts people to this site and also engages more people to join in and post. Thank you

[D3soccerwatcher]

EXCELLENT RECAP....Finally, a Messiah fan who allows himself to be able to criticize his own team. It has been my experience that Messiah fans in general on this board will not under any circumstance allow themselves to be critical of their beloved Falcons. It is this type of posting that attracts people to this site and also engages more people to join in and post. Thank you

To perhaps be fair to the Messiah faithful...10 National Championships in the past 15 years...there doesn't seem like there was much to be critical about.  This program is a dynasty...who's going to be critical of that?  But can't come down too hard on Falcon fans without also mentioning that NESCAC fans are very similar in their defense of their conference...rarely critical, especially when comparing to other conferences.  But a high level of pride in a team or conference is OK (especially when backed up with results)...that just makes all these rantings and ravings a bit more interesting and fun.

But that being said, I think FW's analysis seems to be, to borrow a phrase...pretty "fair and balanced".  It's been a different kind of season for the Falcons so far, and FW delivered some insightful analysis around the situation...regardless if I agree with all points.  And while pointing out areas he feels needs improvement he also gave plenty of room for the ship to get back on course come crunch time.  I wouldn't count Messiah out yet, just like I wouldn't count Tufts (or any of the other top NESCAC contenders) out yet either.   I too thought it was a good post worth reading. 

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Conference play starts for most of the teams in this region and some are continuing the start from last week. Here are some of the match-ups for the weekend slate along with some must see games that will have ***, **, or * next to it (based off level of importance and hype  ).

Stevenson at Arcadia
Albright at Lycoming*
Messiah at Hood**
Goucher at Alvernia
Eastern at Manhattanville***
FDU at Wilkes
Desales at Kings
Leb Val at Widener
Del Val at Misericordia
Catholic vs Merchant Marine*
Drew vs Susquehanna**
Moravian vs ETown
Swat at Ursinus
McDaniel at Wash. College
Hopkins at Dickinson***
Haverford at Gettysburg***
Cabrini at Centenary
G. Mercy at Marywood
Immaculata at Neumann
Summit vs Cairn
Keystone at Rosemont

Not a lot of big clashes just yet, but the Centennial offers some pivotal games for jockeying at the top of the CC.

I believe Eastern and Manhattanville is the game of the weekend to watch. After that I would say either Hopkins vs Dickinson or Haverford at Gettysburg. Also keep an eye on Messiah at Hood as they are off to an 8-3 start and their forward has 15 goals so far this year. Lycoming will be on everyone's radar after all the buzz with the struggles of Messiah. They host a struggling Albright team who all but ruined Lycoming's at-large bid dreams last year. This was the only other team they lost to besides Messiah(2x) all of last year. Out of the Landmark Conference I think Merchant Marine vs Catholic will be a must see. Also interested in Susquehanna vs Drew. Susquehanna has bounced back nicely after a horrendous season a year ago. Drew is a surprise in my book at 8-1-1 so it should be a good clash.

Glad that conference play is finally here! The real action starts now and I think people underestimate how tough conference games are no matter how strong or weak a conference may look. That's something to keep in consideration as these teams gear up to run the gauntlet.