Mid-Atlantic Region 2016

[rudy]

TCNJ 5 Dickinson 1

That is the first shocker of the earlier season.

I am sure coach Redding is not happy and will get the Red Devils going against Hobart.

Wow that's a tough loss. Maybe game just got away from them but 5-1 sounds like a reason for concern.

[rudy]

As Rudy said, "Messiah maintained possession probably 2/3 of the game.   Messiah keeper had a few saves but most shots were straight at him. Didn't make any mistakes really."

This is significant, if you consider how the Falcons started last year, giving up more goals in a few games than they typically yield in a whole season. They needed to get better in the back, quickly, and there are reasons to think that they did. Ditto for possession, the engine that has always driven their offense.

Other points of note: the Falcons started one senior, their best all-around player, defender Jacob Bender (who nearly scored on a header).  Five sophomore starters, one freshman starter, and four juniors including Colby Thomas, who appears finally to be healthy after injuries and a bout with major illness kept him subpar last season when they needed him so badly. He has a knack for putting balls on frame, usually hard, while also being able to go through people or to beat them into space. If he has the kind of season he's capable of having when healthy, he will score frequently this year. It's fitting that he got the first goal of the season yesterday.

Four seniors came off the bench, including David Figueroa.  I'd heard he decided not to return this year, but so much for that piece of information.  One of the seniors, Will Cochrane, is really in his third year owing to a medical redshirt, so maybe the top returning scorer will still have one more after this.  All told, this solid win against a team with good talent and coaching is something to be happy about, especially in light of the awful start last fall.

Agree on Colby Thomas. I'm new to watching this team but I really like his "nose for the net".  He is relentless near the goal and gets rocket shots off in a split second.  Of course I think Nick, will, Kirby, Samuel, and David will score and assist on lots of goals this year. Only danger yesterday I think was giving up free kicks in dangerous areas. Other than that the defense was solid as it was in preseason. I think a couple other freshman will have an impact before the year is through.

[rudy]

As Rudy said, "Messiah maintained possession probably 2/3 of the game.   Messiah keeper had a few saves but most shots were straight at him. Didn't make any mistakes really."

This is significant, if you consider how the Falcons started last year, giving up more goals in a few games than they typically yield in a whole season. They needed to get better in the back, quickly, and there are reasons to think that they did. Ditto for possession, the engine that has always driven their offense.

Other points of note: the Falcons started one senior, their best all-around player, defender Jacob Bender (who nearly scored on a header).  Five sophomore starters, one freshman starter, and four juniors including Colby Thomas, who appears finally to be healthy after injuries and a bout with major illness kept him subpar last season when they needed him so badly. He has a knack for putting balls on frame, usually hard, while also being able to go through people or to beat them into space. If he has the kind of season he's capable of having when healthy, he will score frequently this year. It's fitting that he got the first goal of the season yesterday.

Four seniors came off the bench, including David Figueroa.  I'd heard he decided not to return this year, but so much for that piece of information.  One of the seniors, Will Cochrane, is really in his third year owing to a medical redshirt, so maybe the top returning scorer will still have one more after this.  All told, this solid win against a team with good talent and coaching is something to be happy about, especially in light of the awful start last fall.

Agree on Colby Thomas. I'm new to watching this team but I really like his "nose for the net".  He is relentless near the goal and gets rocket shots off in a split second.  Of course I think Nick, will, Kirby, Samuel, and David will score and assist on lots of goals this year. Only danger yesterday I think was giving up free kicks in dangerous areas. Other than that the defense was solid as it was in preseason. I think a couple other freshman will have an impact before the year is through.

Robbie Johnson also.

[PaulNewman]

Etown with opening weekend statement. And Haverford offering a rude welcome to the season to WNEC.

[Falconer]

Lynchburg not only parked the bus, they never got off.  I missed the first 20 minutes, but in the whole rest of the game I saw them take just one single shot, while the Falcons hit the crossbar (Jake Bender), watched Colby Thomas create something from nothing, to no avail (when his tremendous pass across the front of the goal wasn't finished off), and otherwise controlled the ball for maybe 80% of the time.  Lynchburg outshot their opponent yesterday, something like 11-0, then got outshot today something like 15-1 (I missed the first part remember) and got the result they probably wanted.

Falcons looked pretty good, actually.  I really like the freshman starter who somehow sneaked out of New England--he's good enough to play for anybody, so how did the NESCAC schools let him get away?  A very shifty player with smarts.  He's a keeper.

This one felt like a scrimmage, the way Lynchburg approached it--just take the field, kick it around a little and go home.

[Falconer]

It ended scoreless.  Sorry for the omission.

[rudy]

Lynchburg not only parked the bus, they never got off.  I missed the first 20 minutes, but in the whole rest of the game I saw them take just one single shot, while the Falcons hit the crossbar (Jake Bender), watched Colby Thomas create something from nothing, to no avail (when his tremendous pass across the front of the goal wasn't finished off), and otherwise controlled the ball for maybe 80% of the time.  Lynchburg outshot their opponent yesterday, something like 11-0, then got outshot today something like 15-1 (I missed the first part remember) and got the result they probably wanted.

Falcons looked pretty good, actually.  I really like the freshman starter who somehow sneaked out of New England--he's good enough to play for anybody, so how did the NESCAC schools let him get away?  A very shifty player with smarts.  He's a keeper.

This one felt like a scrimmage, the way Lynchburg approached it--just take the field, kick it around a little and go home.

Yea that was a tough tie. Not sure I've ever seen a team so dominated survive with a tie! Messiah certainly deserved the win. I watched online. I think Messiah will have to figure out how to score off set pieces on corners and free kicks because they had plenty of those and did not really get any good shots on net from any of them. That's one way to score when a team parks the bus . Not sure the answer but I'm sure the coaches will figure it out.  The freshman starter had offers from a few patriot league teams at d1 and many new England D3 but chose Messiah. Right fit.

[backyarddawg]

Big games in the mid Atlantic today.

Brandeis hosting Haverford
F&M hosting Lycoming
York hosting Alvernia
Hopkins hosting Merchant Marines
Scranton hosting Cabrini
Kings hosting Gettysburg

[rudy]

Brandeis and haverford will be interesting game for sure.

[D3soccerwatcher]

Lycoming loses again today.  This time 2-1 to F&M.

[rudy]

Lycoming loses again today.  This time 2-1 to F&M.

Watched some of this online. F&m plated well. Lycoming started season with 2 tough games.  Not trying to pad schedule with easy early games that's for sure.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Lycoming loses again today.  This time 2-1 to F&M.

Watched some of this online. F&m plated well. Lycoming started season with 2 tough games.  Not trying to pad schedule with easy early games that's for sure.

I did not catch the game unfortunately...was away for the holiday...but from a friend that watched I heard that it was pretty even throughout. F&M with a slight edge in the first half and Lycoming had the edge in the second half. 2 quick goals killed them obviously. Now from watching the Rowan game on Thursday I believe I commented on how poor the officials were both ways, and although my colleague said they were better this game, it still was a poor showing for the officiating crew. Hopefully these officials have early game jitters just as the players do, but if it's costing some teams some games that could hurt in the long run.

As rudy said earlier in this thread, Lycoming has a difficult schedule right out of the gate. I do not think they are in trouble yet, but if they drop 1 of their next 2 then we might be seeing panic mode. From what I saw vs Rowan they were a very good side and the game could have gone either way. And from what I have heard about the F&M game it was the same way. I think you will see Lycoming in the hunt at the end of the season if they can clean a few areas up.

As for my sleeper pick in Gettysburg, they are 1-1 with 2 tough games coming up vs York and Messiah...we will see how they do.

[NEPAFAN]

Lycoming loses again today.  This time 2-1 to F&M.

Watched some of this online. F&m plated well. Lycoming started season with 2 tough games.  Not trying to pad schedule with easy early games that's for sure.

I did not catch the game unfortunately...was away for the holiday...but from a friend that watched I heard that it was pretty even throughout. F&M with a slight edge in the first half and Lycoming had the edge in the second half. 2 quick goals killed them obviously. Now from watching the Rowan game on Thursday I believe I commented on how poor the officials were both ways, and although my colleague said they were better this game, it still was a poor showing for the officiating crew. Hopefully these officials have early game jitters just as the players do, but if it's costing some teams some games that could hurt in the long run.

As rudy said earlier in this thread, Lycoming has a difficult schedule right out of the gate. I do not think they are in trouble yet, but if they drop 1 of their next 2 then we might be seeing panic mode. From what I saw vs Rowan they were a very good side and the game could have gone either way. And from what I have heard about the F&M game it was the same way. I think you will see Lycoming in the hunt at the end of the season if they can clean a few areas up.

As for my sleeper pick in Gettysburg, they are 1-1 with 2 tough games coming up vs York and Messiah...we will see how they do.

Gettysburg lost to Scranton on an own goal. Scranton beat Cabrini 4-0; who beat kings on a rebound off a penalty shot in OT. Cabrini and G-burg were up for the Scranton Kings opening tournament.

[Mr.Right]

Lycoming loses again today.  This time 2-1 to F&M.

What would Messiah's record be if they had opened against those 2 teams? We will never know because Messiah has 3-4 legit games on its entire schedule. York, ETOWN, Lycoming and Gettysburg. I was giving McCarty credit in his tenure up to this point because compared to Brandt he would come up with a challenging schedule. This year's non-conference schedule is extremely WEAK. Now Lycoming has REALLY challenged itself but now is already 0-2-0 against ranked so they need to beat a couple of these ranked teams they play in the future. Let's remember the committee loves to see a ton of games against ranked opponents even if you are say 3-5-1 against them. 2-6-0 prob will not get it done but atleast they TRIED

[lastguyoffthebench]

In terms of NSCAA... Predictions
1. F&M. 6th
2. E-town 11th
3. Messiah 20th
4. Scranton RV
5. Haverford
6. Eastern
7. Catholic
8. Miseri
9. Gettysburg
10. JHU