Mid-Atlantic Region 2016

[CharmCityFC]

Some scores from around the region last night...

F&M 3-0 over Stevens
Camden 1-0 over Fords
Messiah escapes 2-1 over Alvernia in 2OT
Etown blanks Moravian 3-0
King's struggles continue as they lose 2-1 to Centenary
Hood blanks Stevenson 4-0
Hopkins downs Neumann 2-0
Lycoming cruises 5-1 over Albright
Cairn loses 7-0 to Cabrini
Misericordia road struggles continue as they lose 3-0 to Dickinson
Drew upsets Scranton 2-1 after trailing early
Catholic loses 2-0 to Goucher
Susquehanna beats Juniata 3-0
Ursinus downs Wilkes 2-0
Montclair stays alive with a 3-2 win over Manhattanville
Leb Val crushes Arcadia 4-0
FDU gets blanked vs Newark 3-0
Swat gets shut out 2-0 vs Kean


An interesting trend from last nights games was that there were 0 ties and the road teams combined for a 12-6-0 record.

Whats going on with Hood? Could they be a contender for MAC championship? 2-0 in conf and scoring lots of goals

I saw Hood earlier this year and was really impressed with their front 6, they can score in bunches. I think their next two games against Arcadia and LVC will give us a pretty good indication of whether or not they can be a contender. The offensive firepower appears to be there. 

[Shooter McGavin]

By the looks of their schedule they will have a weak SOS. The only solid teams they face are Rowan, Lycoming, and Messiah. The loss to Goucher will hurt and teams like Gallaudet, Moravian, St. Vincent, Rosemont, Immaculata, and Shenandoah will destroy the SOS. Last year Hood had an SOS of .476 and I would imagine it will be just slightly higher this season than last. If they are lucky they will hit the .500 mark.

As for being a contender I think the conference is more wide open than it has ever been before, but with that being said I would still bet my money on Messiah or Lycoming winning it all.

[Shooter McGavin]

Shooter's Take
1. Messiah
2. Fords
3. F&M
4. Etown
5. Scranton
6. Eastern
7. LVC
8. Misericordia
9. Hopkins
10. Lycoming
HM: Manhattanville, Hood, Drew, Arcadia, Gettysburg

Quoting my rankings from earlier in the week and already after 1 game last night there is some shuffling going on heading into the weekend. LastGuy, I would be interested in the SOS of some of these teams if you ever have the time or at least as we start to get closer to NCAA regional releases. You are great at calculating and clarifying those numbers and it's greatly appreciated

My new rankings as of 10/6 would be this...

1. Messiah (8-0-3)
2. F&M (8-1-3)
3. Fords (7-2-2)
4. Etown (7-2-1)
5. Lycoming (6-3-3)
6. Scranton (7-3-0)
7. Hopkins (8-2-2)
8. Eastern (8-2-1)
9. Leb Val (8-2-0)
10. Manhatt (8-4-0)

RV: Misericordia (6-4-1), Gettysburg (5-3-1), Drew (6-2-2)


Weekend Games

#13 Messiah @ #5 W&L
#10 F&M @ McDaniel
#12 Fords @ Dickinson
#22 Etown @ Catholic
Swat @ Gettysburg
Hopkins @ Ursinus
Alvernia @ Lyco
Scranton @ Susquehanna
Drew@ Juniata
Widener @ Leb Val
Del Val @ Eastern
Miseri @ Manhatt
Hood @ Arcadia


Weekend Predictions

Messiah ties W&L 1-1
F&M wins 3-1 easily over McDaniel
Fords draw Dickinson 2-2
Etown draws Catholic 1-1
Gettysburg upends Swat 2-1
Ursinus shocks JHU 1-0
Lyco survives Alvernia 2-1 OT
Scranton woes continue drawing 1-1
Drew handles Juniata 4-1
Leb Val keeps rolling 2-0
Eastern wins big 6-1
Manhatt wins at home 2-1 in OT
Hood draws Arcadia 2-2

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

MAF Weekend Pick's

Messiah wins 2-1
F&M wins 1-0
Fords win 2-0
Etown wins 4-1
Swat and Getty tie 2-2
JHU wins 3-2
Lyco wins 3-0
Scranton wins 1-0 in OT
Drew wins 2-0
Leb Val wins 1-0
Eastern wins 3-0
Misericordia ties Manhattanville 2-2
Arcadia wins 2-1 in 2OT

[Mr.Right]

I'm sorry but I think Haverford is in a bit of trouble here even at 4-0-0 in the conference after the 1-0 loss to RUC. I do not see many legit wins on their schedule. I think their conference is DOWN this year and maybe the Hopkins win will help in November but they cannot afford to have to many more blemishes to get a Pool C.

[rudy]

MAF Weekend Pick's

Messiah wins 2-1
F&M wins 1-0
Fords win 2-0
Etown wins 4-1
Swat and Getty tie 2-2
JHU wins 3-2
Lyco wins 3-0
Scranton wins 1-0 in OT
Drew wins 2-0
Leb Val wins 1-0
Eastern wins 3-0
Misericordia ties Manhattanville 2-2
Arcadia wins 2-1 in 2OT

Keeping an eye on hood the next couple games. If they keep putting up multiple goal games and wins they may be a conf playoff team. Let's see what they do with Arcadia

[NEPAFAN]

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/university-of-scranton-plans-14-million-athletics-campus-for-south-side-1.2099324


Scranton Soccer program to get a new stadium/field in time for next year. Their current field is not NCAA regulation size; thus unable to host NCAA tourney games ,etc. Thought you might be interested in viewing the animation in the link.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

I'm sorry but I think Haverford is in a bit of trouble here even at 4-0-0 in the conference after the 1-0 loss to RUC. I do not see many legit wins on their schedule. I think their conference is DOWN this year and maybe the Hopkins win will help in November but they cannot afford to have to many more blemishes to get a Pool C.

What is the SOS for the Fords? The SOS will be lower than last season due to conference teams struggling a bit more than usual like Dickinson for example, but with that being said they have a quality non-conference schedule. Brandeis and Stevens records may not be as strong as anticipated, but their opponents SOS portion will definitely help and both those teams will be above .500 by seasons end so that shouldn't hurt them too much. Camden is in the same boat with opponents SOS and they will have a better record than both Brandeis and Stevens. The games that hurt the Fords are Alvernia, Western NE, and Stockton. More specifically Alvernia's record because their opponents SOS is through the roof at the moment.

Mr. Right, do you see anyone in the region passing Haverford if they fail to win the AQ and or drop a game or two on the remiaining schedule?   

Both Etown and Scranton's SOS won't be nearly as good and they will have similar records and RvR. I would imagine seeding would come down to SOS if you compare those 3 teams and the Fords would have it in my book. The other teams that could jump them would be Messiah/Lycoming. I think that would be a better case to make than Etown/Scranton. Messiah most likely will have the record advantage but not the SOS or RvR. Lycoming will have a similar record or slightly worst than the Fords, similar RvR and a higher SOS. It would be tight in both instances.

[Shooter McGavin]

Keeping an eye on hood the next couple games. If they keep putting up multiple goal games and wins they may be a conf playoff team. Let's see what they do with Arcadia

Some very early thoughts...

Commonwealth Playoff Predictions
1. Messiah
2. Lycoming
3. Leb Val
4. Hood
5. Arcadia
------------------------
6. Alvernia
7. Stevenson
8. Widener
9. Albright

Freedom Playoff Predictions
1. Manhattanville
2. Eastern
3. Misericordia
4. DeSales
------------------------
5. Kings
6. Wilkes
7. FDU
8. Del Val

Landmark Playoff Predictions
1. Etown
2. Scranton
3. Drew
4. Susquehanna
--------------------------
5. Goucher
6. Catholic
7. Juniata
8. Moravian

Centennial Playoff Predictions
1. Haverford
2. F&M
3. Swat
4. Hopkins
5. Dickinson
-----------------------
6. Gettysburg
7. Washington
8. Muhlenberg
9. McDaniel
10. Ursinus

[rudy]

Messiah up 2-0 on W&L at half.  Field looks beat up from early rain I guess.  Messiah better possession. W&L had at least one dangerous chance.  A slip from a defender on the sloppy field could easily result in a goal.   POssible one of Messiah's goal off corner kick was from wet ball...keeper lost it trying to catch high ball and easy put in.

[rudy]

Lyco down 1-0 to Alvernia with 8 to go

[rudy]

Lyco down 1-0 to Alvernia with 8 to go

Alvernia wins it 1-0
Lyco will have to win the tournament to get a return to NCAA's this year

[Falconer]

Lyco down 1-0 to Alvernia with 8 to go

Alvernia wins it 1-0
Lyco will have to win the tournament to get a return to NCAA's this year

Given how tough Alvernia played Messiah, I was not shocked (though I was a bit surprised) by this result.  Alvernia IMO is much better than their dismal W/L record.  Anyway, to get a sense of the game I looked at the box score, and Lycoming clearly dominated: Shots 23(9) to 5(5), corners 8 to 1.  Alvernia scored on a set piece in the first half and their keeper apparently played very well, though obviously you can't tell how difficult any of his 9 saves were.  Tough loss for the Warriors.

However, another statistic jumped out at me: 3 cards for each team, including a second yellow on one of the Warriors 63 minutes in.  I wonder what that was about.  I remember some here talking about a high number of cards in a couple other Lycoming games, so I took a look at the team statistics.  According to the mobile version, Lycoming already has 24 yellows and 2 reds, including 4 team yellows, while their opponents have 19 yellows.  Both numbers seem unusually high, so I looked up the numbers for all the other teams in the MAC Commonwealth.  No other team is anywhere close.  I won't do a team-by-team comparison, but I have to wonder what this is about.  Having not seen Lycoming play this year, I can't even hazard a guess, except the obvious two possibilities: perhaps they are just overly physical, sometimes unwisely so, or perhaps they complain a lot (is there any other way to get 4 cards against the bench in just 13 games?).

If anyone watches them regularly, and can sort this out with more authority, I'm all ears. 

[rudy]

Lyco down 1-0 to Alvernia with 8 to go

Alvernia wins it 1-0
Lyco will have to win the tournament to get a return to NCAA's this year

Given how tough Alvernia played Messiah, I was not shocked (though I was a bit surprised) by this result.  Alvernia IMO is much better than their dismal W/L record.  Anyway, to get a sense of the game I looked at the box score, and Lycoming clearly dominated: Shots 23(9) to 5(5), corners 8 to 1.  Alvernia scored on a set piece in the first half and their keeper apparently played very well, though obviously you can't tell how difficult any of his 9 saves were.  Tough loss for the Warriors.

However, another statistic jumped out at me: 3 cards for each team, including a second yellow on one of the Warriors 63 minutes in.  I wonder what that was about.  I remember some here talking about a high number of cards in a couple other Lycoming games, so I took a look at the team statistics.  According to the mobile version, Lycoming already has 24 yellows and 2 reds, including 4 team yellows, while their opponents have 19 yellows.  Both numbers seem unusually high, so I looked up the numbers for all the other teams in the MAC Commonwealth.  No other team is anywhere close.  I won't do a team-by-team comparison, but I have to wonder what this is about.  Having not seen Lycoming play this year, I can't even hazard a guess, except the obvious two possibilities: perhaps they are just overly physical, sometimes unwisely so, or perhaps they complain a lot (is there any other way to get 4 cards against the bench in just 13 games?).

If anyone watches them regularly, and can sort this out with more authority, I'm all ears.

I believe they played a man down for 20+ minutes in game today. Not sure if straight red or 2 cards on a player. I wonder if they have played other games a man down

[Falconer]

Correct, Lyco played down a man for more than 20 minutes. A second yellow, not a straight red, so you have to wonder what he was thinking.