Mid-Atlantic Region 2016

[Shooter McGavin]

We saw the Messiah schedule drop off in 2015 when they lost Payne, Thompson, Brandt, and Ramirez.     

Messiah looked strong vs Noke.   In a seemingly down year, I think Messiah will return to dominance.    There are only 2 teams that could reach the Elite 8 in my opinion...  Messiah and Haverford.   I will have to watch Lycoming more this season, but going on a softer schedule last year and a close game vs Amherst is not indicative of a sure thing to a deeper run in 2016.

They still have a tough 7 game stretch and will seemingly have to win the MACC.   Starting out 3-4-2 would put a ton of pressure on Lyco... with Miseri and THEN at Oneonta St late in the season when the Red Dragons should be in strong form.   

at Susqu today...   Crusaders will probably just absorb pressure and try to escape with a DRAW. 
at Eastern
at Haverford
gimme vs Juniata
vs Scranton
vs Frostburg St  (Frostburg could cause some problems and should not be overlooked); similar shot count vs Alvernia last year; both were 9 - 7
vs CWRU

WIN OR BUST for the WARRIORS after dropping the first two games...

Sorry last guy but Messiah will not return to dominance this year and by no means will they have a shot to make the Elite 8. Messiah will be lucky to get a bid this year if they don't win the MACC.

With 10 National Championships in the last 16 years, and 5 National Championships in the last 8 years I don't think you can ever count Messiah out. This team exudes excellence which breeds winning. Sure last year may have been a bit of a "down" season for them but they seem to always rebound. I fully expect that they will rebound again.

They still aren't the same quality or team that they have "bread" in the past...wait and see

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Lycoming vs Rowan
Yellow Card to the team in 56th min after Rowan goal?

Lycoming vs F&M
Red Card to a bench player in the 60th min after the F&M goal?
Yellow Card to the team in the 75th min?

I only watched the first game and as I mentioned the officiating crew ruined the game for both teams. 2 PKs (1 each) that should never be called PKs, then 2 no call PKs for Lycoming that should have been called. A complete nightmare so it is understandable that some disagreement would have occurred in the Rowan match. I am not saying it is okay, but it is at least understandable because many coaches would have reacted the same way.

As for F&M I only got feedback from a colleague as mentioned in previous posts. Not sure what the "team" cards were for without watching but from your post it looks to be after one of the goals. Something that many teams need to work on is dissent towards officials. Amherst was similar in many games last season and I remember many posts about Serpone and other coaches that lose their cool. But it seems the most overly energetic coaches also have produced some of the best teams.

Let's all hope it's first game rust for officials and teams and it gets cleaned up as the year goes along. 


In other news, F&M with a tie vs York after statistically dominating the Spartans. Just one of those days for the Diplomats. Still a very strong start to the season for them.

And for Messiah, they will be better than last season and make the NCAA tournament one way or another...but they aren't the Messiah that has won 10/16. I see them right now as an early exit (1st or 2nd round).

Some notable games this afternoon around the region:

Catholic @ Mary Washington
Muhlenberg @ Scranton
Frostburg State @ Johns Hopkins
Lycoming @ Susquehanna
Alvernia @ Rutgers-Camden

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

How I would rank them after the first couple games...

Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings:


1. F&M
2. Scranton
3. Etown
4. Haverford
5. Eastern
6. Messiah
7. Catholic
8. Manhattanville

[Go2Goal]

I heard from a spectator at the rowan game that the Lycoming bench and players were going crazy from the opening tap. Players and coaches cursing not a lot of discipline.
Hopefully they get that under control.

[rudy]

How I would rank them after the first couple games...

Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings:


1. F&M
2. Scranton
3. Etown
4. Haverford
5. Eastern
6. Messiah
7. Catholic
8. Manhattanville

F&M and Messiah play 2 common opponents this weekend so it will be interesting to see the results. Oglethorpe and Oswego

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Results from the notables last night:

Catholic @ Mary Washington    MW wins nail biter 2-1 in OT
Muhlenberg @ Scranton           Scranton wins 2-0 convincingly       
Frostburg State @ JHU             JHU dominates FSU with 2-0 win
Lycoming @ Susquehanna       Lycoming thumps SU with 4-0 road win
Alvernia @ Rutgers-Camden    Camden wins 1-0 in 2OT

Alvernia now 0-3 with losses to F&M, York, and Camden...still have Haverford, Eastern, Stockton, Cabrini, and Etown left all in a row...not to mention Messiah and Lycoming in conference 

[Shooter McGavin]

1. F&M
2. Haverford
3. Scranton
4. Etown
5. Eastern
6. Messiah
7. Hopkins
8. Lycoming

This is what I would go with.

[rudy]

Results from the notables last night:

Catholic @ Mary Washington    MW wins nail biter 2-1 in OT
Muhlenberg @ Scranton           Scranton wins 2-0 convincingly       
Frostburg State @ JHU             JHU dominates FSU with 2-0 win
Lycoming @ Susquehanna       Lycoming thumps SU with 4-0 road win
Alvernia @ Rutgers-Camden    Camden wins 1-0 in 2OT

Alvernia now 0-3 with losses to F&M, York, and Camden...still have Haverford, Eastern, Stockton, Cabrini, and Etown left all in a row...not to mention Messiah and Lycoming in conference 

Tonight result:
Messiah 5  Ogelthorpe 1

Sort of expected but nonetheless Oglethorpe only lost by 1 goal the last 2 games so note sure how competitive they would be.  Things will not get better for them against F&M tomorrow.

[rudy]

Results from the notables last night:

Catholic @ Mary Washington    MW wins nail biter 2-1 in OT
Muhlenberg @ Scranton           Scranton wins 2-0 convincingly       
Frostburg State @ JHU             JHU dominates FSU with 2-0 win
Lycoming @ Susquehanna       Lycoming thumps SU with 4-0 road win
Alvernia @ Rutgers-Camden    Camden wins 1-0 in 2OT

Alvernia now 0-3 with losses to F&M, York, and Camden...still have Haverford, Eastern, Stockton, Cabrini, and Etown left all in a row...not to mention Messiah and Lycoming in conference 

Tonight result:
Messiah 5  Ogelthorpe 1

Sort of expected but nonetheless Oglethorpe only lost by 1 goal the last 2 games so note sure how competitive they would be.  Things will not get better for them against F&M tomorrow.

F&M 2  Oswego 0

[rudy]

Results from the notables last night:

Catholic @ Mary Washington    MW wins nail biter 2-1 in OT
Muhlenberg @ Scranton           Scranton wins 2-0 convincingly       
Frostburg State @ JHU             JHU dominates FSU with 2-0 win
Lycoming @ Susquehanna       Lycoming thumps SU with 4-0 road win
Alvernia @ Rutgers-Camden    Camden wins 1-0 in 2OT

Alvernia now 0-3 with losses to F&M, York, and Camden...still have Haverford, Eastern, Stockton, Cabrini, and Etown left all in a row...not to mention Messiah and Lycoming in conference 

Tonight result:
Messiah 5  Ogelthorpe 1

Sort of expected but nonetheless Oglethorpe only lost by 1 goal the last 2 games so note sure how competitive they would be.  Things will not get better for them against F&M tomorrow.

What to make of f&m tie 0-0 with Oglethorpe? Messiah handled them easily

[Falconer]

Falcons playing beautifully tonight vs Oswego, 3-0 late in the game.  Colby Thomas a highlight goal early in the second half.  Oswego appeared to get a goal on a corner kick, but they were offside.  Otherwise they have battled without really threatening.  Despite the fact that their schedule so far has not been as strong as it was last fall (as many have noted), they are simply playing a great deal better.  They gave up 4 goals each to Rowan and CMU last year, looking simply terrible in the back and good up front; this year they look very good on both ends.  Those problems have been addressed.

[rudy]

Falcons playing beautifully tonight vs Oswego, 3-0 late in the game.  Colby Thomas a highlight goal early in the second half.  Oswego appeared to get a goal on a corner kick, but they were offside.  Otherwise they have battled without really threatening.  Despite the fact that their schedule so far has not been as strong as it was last fall (as many have noted), they are simply playing a great deal better.  They gave up 4 goals each to Rowan and CMU last year, looking simply terrible in the back and good up front; this year they look very good on both ends.  Those problems have been addressed.

Most notable from the stats are how few shots are allowed compared to shots taken. Teams are getting very few opportunities to get shots ...much less quality shots on goal. We'll see if they can keep that up against teams like Lycoming, etown, Gettysburg, w&l.

[rudy]

Falcons playing beautifully tonight vs Oswego, 3-0 late in the game.  Colby Thomas a highlight goal early in the second half.  Oswego appeared to get a goal on a corner kick, but they were offside.  Otherwise they have battled without really threatening.  Despite the fact that their schedule so far has not been as strong as it was last fall (as many have noted), they are simply playing a great deal better.  They gave up 4 goals each to Rowan and CMU last year, looking simply terrible in the back and good up front; this year they look very good on both ends.  Those problems have been addressed.

Most notable from the stats are how few shots are allowed compared to shots taken. Teams are getting very few opportunities to get shots ...much less quality shots on goal. We'll see if they can keep that up against teams like Lycoming, etown, Gettysburg, w&l.

Also should point out that freshman mica fritz started in midfield last night due to injuries and played well. Another freshman Brit Haseltine scored his first goal late in the game.

[Falconer]

This morning there is a nice highlight clip on the Falcon home page: http://www.gomessiah.com/index.aspx?path=msoc&tab=soccer

If you haven't seen them play this fall I recommend it, b/c it shows two things that are different from last fall.  (1) Both highlights (one from each of the past two games) feature Colby Thomas, the junior who hasn't really gotten his moment in the Sun until now.  His first year he played behind that great senior class and got major time only when Danny Brandt went down for a month with a leg injury (it was my view when he subbed for Danny that he was actually even better than Danny and as good as any of the seniors).  His second year the was injured himself and then he had a bout with mono, so we didn't really see him fully healthy.  (2) Notice that the player who receives Colby's great pass on the first highlight, Jacob Bender, is a defender--even though this is not a set play, and Bender receives the ball right in front of the goal.  Last year when things got bad the Falcons started bringing Jacob closer to the front (while still playing a defender position).  This year that seems to be standard operating procedure.  Jacob is IMO the best all-around player on the team, and one of the greatest Falcon players ever--I have him as a stater on my all-time team, though obviously opinions will differ on that type of judgement.  Certainly he belongs in that conversation. 

So, watching that highlight gives others two of the reasons I am convinced that the Falcons are in fact a tournament-quality team again (whether or not they actually get there, given that the rest of the schedule includes teams like Lycoming, W&L, and Etown, all of whom are also tournament-level teams).  Compared with the great teams of 2-4 years ago, last year's team was 2-3 steps down defensively and 1-2 steps down offensively.  This year they are no more than 1 step down defensively (with Jacob the only senior there) and likewise on offense.  If this very young team matures well over the next two months, no one will look forward to playing them come November.  The talent is there.  It's just a matter of time and chemistry.

[rudy]

This morning there is a nice highlight clip on the Falcon home page: http://www.gomessiah.com/index.aspx?path=msoc&tab=soccer

If you haven't seen them play this fall I recommend it, b/c it shows two things that are different from last fall.  (1) Both highlights (one from each of the past two games) feature Colby Thomas, the junior who hasn't really gotten his moment in the Sun until now.  His first year he played behind that great senior class and got major time only when Danny Brandt went down for a month with a leg injury (it was my view when he subbed for Danny that he was actually even better than Danny and as good as any of the seniors).  His second year the was injured himself and then he had a bout with mono, so we didn't really see him fully healthy.  (2) Notice that the player who receives Colby's great pass on the first highlight, Jacob Bender, is a defender--even though this is not a set play, and Bender receives the ball right in front of the goal.  Last year when things got bad the Falcons started bringing Jacob closer to the front (while still playing a defender position).  This year that seems to be standard operating procedure.  Jacob is IMO the best all-around player on the team, and one of the greatest Falcon players ever--I have him as a stater on my all-time team, though obviously opinions will differ on that type of judgement.  Certainly he belongs in that conversation. 

So, watching that highlight gives others two of the reasons I am convinced that the Falcons are in fact a tournament-quality team again (whether or not they actually get there, given that the rest of the schedule includes teams like Lycoming, W&L, and Etown, all of whom are also tournament-level teams).  Compared with the great teams of 2-4 years ago, last year's team was 2-3 steps down defensively and 1-2 steps down offensively.  This year they are no more than 1 step down defensively (with Jacob the only senior there) and likewise on offense.  If this very young team matures well over the next two months, no one will look forward to playing them come November.  The talent is there.  It's just a matter of time and chemistry.

Jacob is midfielder..his brother Josh is right back. Again, agree with Colby. Hope he stays healthy this season! They already look like chemistry is improving each game.