2016 D3 Season: NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

[Falconer]

Halftime in Lexington and the score is still 2-0, Messiah on top.  The game is closer than the score, but the Falcons are getting the better of the action.

Neither Thomas nor Plaza started (they have both been injured), but they both subbed in after about 30 minutes and they both look pretty good, especially Plaza, who can dominate his area of the field when he's on his game.  Plaza was partly responsible for shutting down Etown's top player in that game, but today he's not marking anyone so he's all over the field.

[Falconer]

Falcons dominating the Generals in the second half, padding their lead on yet another play involving Jacob Bender.  Mot of the 50-50 balls and the possession are now going Messiah's way.   Not nearly as even a game as the first half.  Could be a sign that the Generals are just gassed, even though Messiah subbed only minimally in the first half.

[Falconer]

This one is all but over.  Plaza creates a great look pretty far out and buries it.  About 7 minutes left, 4-0 Messiah.  After the offensive struggles recently against weaker teams, this has to be a very gratifying win for McCarty's boys.  They just took W&L out of the game since the second half whistle.  The final score will reflect the overall game, even though the first 25 minutes were close to even.

[jknezek]

Not a good look for W&L getting crushed at home. Oh well. On to Lynchburg and it's all about winning the ODAC. I didn't get to see the game, but the stats certainly back up what you are saying.

[Go2Goal]

Rowan with a big win away at Montclair! Down 0-2 early and battled back to win 4-3! It's a huge win and sets them up to run the table and finish 16-0-1. Rowan now has wins over Oneanta, Washington and Lee, Lycoming, Franklin and Marshall, Montclair. With 3 of the 5 wins away from home! In my opinion they have been the most impressive team in the country this year. I would say the NJAC is one of if not the toughest conferences in the country. The only blemish was a scoreless tie in a driving rainstorm where the stat line was 29-9 shots and 17-1 corners. Coach Baker and his staff have returned the once proud program to national prominence and are going to be a national contender moving forward as they only have 2 seniors on the roster!

[rudy]

Rowan with a big win away at Montclair! Down 0-2 early and battled back to win 4-3! It's a huge win and sets them up to run the table and finish 16-0-1. Rowan now has wins over Oneanta, Washington and Lee, Lycoming, Franklin and Marshall, Montclair. With 3 of the 5 wins away from home! In my opinion they have been the most impressive team in the country this year. I would say the NJAC is one of if not the toughest conferences in the country. The only blemish was a scoreless tie in a driving rainstorm where the stat line was 29-9 shots and 17-1 corners. Coach Baker and his staff have returned the once proud program to national prominence and are going to be a national contender moving forward as they only have 2 seniors on the roster!

Always tough to come back from 2-0 against a good team. Must have been exciting game. Looks like Chicago and Rowan will be battling for top ranking for regular season.

[firstplaceloser]

Rowan with a big win away at Montclair! Down 0-2 early and battled back to win 4-3! It's a huge win and sets them up to run the table and finish 16-0-1. Rowan now has wins over Oneanta, Washington and Lee, Lycoming, Franklin and Marshall, Montclair. With 3 of the 5 wins away from home! In my opinion they have been the most impressive team in the country this year. I would say the NJAC is one of if not the toughest conferences in the country. The only blemish was a scoreless tie in a driving rainstorm where the stat line was 29-9 shots and 17-1 corners. Coach Baker and his staff have returned the once proud program to national prominence and are going to be a national contender moving forward as they only have 2 seniors on the roster!

The reason Rowan returned is the change of coaching. say what you want about Gilmore but his time was up. there is no reason why any south jersey soccer player should choose schools like camden and stockton over rowan. nothing against them schools (i attended the one) but the rowan campus is far superior to any other NJaC school around this area.

[Shooter McGavin]

Shooter's Take as of 10/10...

1. Chicago (12-0-0)
2. Rowan (11-0-1)
3. Trinity (13-0-0)
4. Ohio Northern (12-0-2)
5. Amherst (9-1-1)
6. Mass-Boston (11-0-1)
7. Messiah (9-0-3)
8. Springfield (11-0-1)
9. St. Thomas (10-0-2)
10. Lynchburg (9-0-2)
11. F&M (9-1-3)
12. W&L (9-2-0)
13. St. Lawrence (9-2-0)
14. Rochester (7-1-2)
15. Middlebury (6-1-2)
16. Haverford (8-2-2)
17. Wash U (7-1-1)
18. Kenyon (9-2-0)
19. Calvin (10-2-0)
20. Gordon (9-1-1)
21. Capital (10-1-1)
22. Oberlin (10-1-1)
23. Newark (13-2-0)
24. Carnegie (9-1-1)
25. St. Joseph's-Maine (10-1-3)

[D3soccerwatcher]

Serious question and I'm not trying to be smart here...
Do you think a team that loses a game by a 4 goal margin (W&L) to a lower ranked team should remain in the top 15 in the country?  I would think perhaps not. A goal or maybe 2, but 4 goals?  Wondering about everyone's thoughts on that.

[dontshootthegoose]

Shooter's Take as of 10/10...

1. Chicago (12-0-0)
2. Rowan (11-0-1)
3. Trinity (13-0-0)
4. Ohio Northern (12-0-2)
5. Amherst (9-1-1)
6. Mass-Boston (11-0-1)
7. Messiah (9-0-3)
8. Springfield (11-0-1)
9. St. Thomas (10-0-2)
10. Lynchburg (9-0-2)
11. F&M (9-1-3)
12. W&L (9-2-0)
13. St. Lawrence (9-2-0)
14. Rochester (7-1-2)
15. Middlebury (6-1-2)
16. Haverford (8-2-2)
17. Wash U (7-1-1)
18. Kenyon (9-2-0)
19. Calvin (10-2-0)
20. Gordon (9-1-1)
21. Capital (10-1-1)
22. Oberlin (10-1-1)
23. Newark (13-2-0)
24. Carnegie (9-1-1)
25. St. Joseph's-Maine (10-1-3)

Not one North Region team, I don't disagree.

[Falconer]

Serious question and I'm not trying to be smart here...
Do you think a team that loses a game by a 4 goal margin (W&L) to a lower ranked team should remain in the top 15 in the country?  I would think perhaps not. A goal or maybe 2, but 4 goals?  Wondering about everyone's thoughts on that.

My thoughts are that (a) Messiah is a legitimate Elite Eight team that snuck up on many of us this year, owing to a slightly (not drastically) weaker early schedule and the fact that many probably didn't realize how young they were last year and how much maturation has taken place; and (b) W&L is considerably better than Lynchburg, based on what I saw from both teams vs Messiah.  Lynchburg parked the bus and showed no evidence of having top-10 talent, while W&L played the Falcons straight up and for 20 minutes played them about evenly. 

Obviously I could be wrong about both (a) and (b), but that's my answer to your question.  W&L plays Lynchburg this Wednesday, so we'll know very soon whether (b) is wrong. If I am right about (b), then I would keep W&L in or near the top 10.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

MAF Power Rankings

1. Chicago
2. Rowan
3. Trinity (Tx)
4. Ohio Northern
5. Amherst
6. Mass-Boston
7. Oneonta St
8. Messiah
9. F&M
10. Capital
11. W&L
12. Oberlin
13. Haverford
14. Calvin
15. Wash U
16. St. Thomas
17. Springfield
18. Lynchburg
19. Kenyon
20. St. Lawrence
21. CMU
22. Newark
23. Rochester
24. Gordon
25. Middlebury

[MinnesotaSoccer10]

Shooter's Take as of 10/10...

1. Chicago (12-0-0)
2. Rowan (11-0-1)
3. Trinity (13-0-0)
4. Ohio Northern (12-0-2)
5. Amherst (9-1-1)
6. Mass-Boston (11-0-1)
7. Messiah (9-0-3)
8. Springfield (11-0-1)
9. St. Thomas (10-0-2)
10. Lynchburg (9-0-2)
11. F&M (9-1-3)
12. W&L (9-2-0)
13. St. Lawrence (9-2-0)
14. Rochester (7-1-2)
15. Middlebury (6-1-2)
16. Haverford (8-2-2)
17. Wash U (7-1-1)
18. Kenyon (9-2-0)
19. Calvin (10-2-0)
20. Gordon (9-1-1)
21. Capital (10-1-1)
22. Oberlin (10-1-1)
23. Newark (13-2-0)
24. Carnegie (9-1-1)
25. St. Joseph's-Maine (10-1-3)

Not one North Region team, I don't disagree.

St. Thomas (MIAC) is in the North region. I don't disagree that the region is very weak this year though

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

http://d3soccer.com/top25/men/2016/week6

October 11, 2016
D3soccer.com Men's Top 25, Week 6
Through games of Sunday, October 9, 2016

#   School (1st Pl. Votes)   Record   Pts.   Prev.
1   Chicago (19)   12-0-0   991   1
2   Trinity (Texas) (3)   13-0-0   957   2
3   Rowan (1)   11-0-1   930   3
4   Ohio Northern   12-0-2   866   4
5   Amherst   9-1-1   816   8
6   Messiah   9-0-3   767   13
7   Franklin & Marshall   9-1-3   736   10
8   Mass-Boston   11-0-1   671   9
9   Kenyon   9-2-0   639   11
10   Washington & Lee   9-2-0   572   5
11   Calvin   10-2-0   553   6
12   Chris. Newport   11-2-0   545   16
13   Carnegie Mellon   9-1-1   532   17
14   Lynchburg   9-0-2   510   19
15   St. Lawrence   9-2-0   443   7
16   Oneonta State   10-2-1   415   21
17   St. Thomas   10-0-2   318   24
18   Haverford   8-2-2   306   12
19   Capital   10-1-1   303   25
20   Elizabethtown   8-2-1   296   22
21   Middlebury   6-1-2   238   14
22   Rochester   7-1-2   205   20
23   Washington U.   7-1-1   200   15
24   Springfield   11-0-1   174   —
25   Colorado College   9-2-1   139   23
Dropped out: No. 18 Macalester

Receiving Votes: Oberlin 64, Gordon 61, Redlands 57, Tufts 52, Macalester 42, Ohio Wesleyan 38, Cortland State 28, Lebanon Valley 21, Rutgers-Newark 14, Connecticut College 5, Maryville (Tenn.) 5, Kean 3, Dubuque 2

The D3soccer.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of coaches, Sports Information Directors and D3soccer.com staff, and is published weekly.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Serious question and I'm not trying to be smart here...
Do you think a team that loses a game by a 4 goal margin (W&L) to a lower ranked team should remain in the top 15 in the country?  I would think perhaps not. A goal or maybe 2, but 4 goals?  Wondering about everyone's thoughts on that.

My thoughts are that (a) Messiah is a legitimate Elite Eight team that snuck up on many of us this year, owing to a slightly (not drastically) weaker early schedule and the fact that many probably didn't realize how young they were last year and how much maturation has taken place; and (b) W&L is considerably better than Lynchburg, based on what I saw from both teams vs Messiah.  Lynchburg parked the bus and showed no evidence of having top-10 talent, while W&L played the Falcons straight up and for 20 minutes played them about evenly. 

Obviously I could be wrong about both (a) and (b), but that's my answer to your question.  W&L plays Lynchburg this Wednesday, so we'll know very soon whether (b) is wrong. If I am right about (b), then I would keep W&L in or near the top 10.

Score lines are tricky...  Stats can be one thing, but we can't see the tactics and how the game opened up once W&L went down 2-0.  At that point, I'm sure they were chasing the game and exposed.

Messiah outshot W&L 7-4 first half, scoring twice...
W&L makes 2nd half adjustments, can't connect in mid to final third, Messiah gets in behind W&L with ease... [assumption]
Messiah outshot W&L 13-2 second half, scoring twice.