D3 soccer in Landmark conference

Ejay · September 25, 2017, 10:10:29 AM

Paraphrasing from E-Town website...
Drew featured five different goal scorers in handing E-Town their largest margin of defeat since a five-goal loss to Wheaton (Ill.) in 1997. The Blue Jays were 13-0-3 in their previous 16 league games going back to the 2014 finale, but Drew brought that streak to an abrupt halt. Elizabethtown now has three days to get ready for Wednesday's showdown with rival and 10th-ranked Messiah on Herr Field.

If E-Town loses they go to 5-4 and will need to win the conference to have any hope at all of getting a bid. Even with a win vs. Messiah, I think they still need to win the conference, so this Drew loss is painful.

Shooter McGavin · September 25, 2017, 10:47:58 AM

Quote from: EB2319 on September 25, 2017, 10:10:29 AM
Paraphrasing from E-Town website...
Drew featured five different goal scorers in handing E-Town their largest margin of defeat since a five-goal loss to Wheaton (Ill.) in 1997. The Blue Jays were 13-0-3 in their previous 16 league games going back to the 2014 finale, but Drew brought that streak to an abrupt halt. Elizabethtown now has three days to get ready for Wednesday's showdown with rival and 10th-ranked Messiah on Herr Field.

If E-Town loses they go to 5-4 and will need to win the conference to have any hope at all of getting a bid. Even with a win vs. Messiah, I think they still need to win the conference, so this Drew loss is painful.

I agree. If they lose to Messiah this week they are AQ or bust at the rate of the other teams. 4 losses in 9 games with Scranton, Moravian, and Catholic all left will be difficult not to pick up another blemish. And with the rate of the other teams around the region, 4 or 5 blemishes is looking like too many for a realistic shot at an at-large bid. Not to mention that if they do lose to Messiah they would probably be in the 1-3-0 or 2-3-0 RvR range depending on what F&M does and how the Scranton game goes. Not going to be good enough to jump others that will have similar or better RvR and most likely higher SOS and higher win %.

NEPAFAN · September 26, 2017, 07:31:34 PM

Should we crown Drew now or later? They keep rolling...

Ejay · September 26, 2017, 08:29:39 PM

I wouldn't consider NYU a tough opponent. Sure, they were undefeated but they haven't played anyone. What still concerns me about Drew is a suspect defense, this time giving up 1 goal on only 2 SOG. Three big Landmark games coming up before a huge showdown with Haverford.

NEPAFAN · October 04, 2017, 09:30:15 AM

Scranton vs Drew
Moravian vs E-town

Tonight..

Falconer · October 04, 2017, 11:47:46 AM

It's been a long time since Etown has gone through a bad spell like this, starting with the demoralizing 6-0 loss to Drew, the OT 2-1 loss to Messiah, and the recent 2-0 loss to Scranton. I didn't see this coming. The Jays looked awfully good against Messiah, and I am not yet convinced that they won't play that well again before the season is over. But, if they don't rise to that level right away, their season clearly will be over before the conference playoffs.

I think we can regard the score of the Drew game as a fluke. Consider this sequence: an own goal off a corner kick, followed by a PK near the end of the half, followed by a third goal six minutes into the second half. That would take the air out of almost any team at any level. Obviously Drew had a lot to do with that, but if Etown packed their bags with almost 40 minutes left it can't be the only time it's happened to a very good team. If they can right the ship, they might get a chance to play that hand again--but, they'd better be ready.

Based on what I saw when they played the Falcons, and based on the box scores of other recent games, my diagnosis is as follows. Gilbert Waso, whom I've described multiple times as the most dangerous player in the region (an opinion I am not retracting here), needs serious help from his teammates. Messiah just never game him any space to operate. He still missed a header goal by inches, and he's still getting off shots against other opponents, but I imagine he's operating under a lot of pressure so the looks aren't quite as good as he's accustomed to getting. In the Messiah game, Etown scored when someone else got a nice header off a FK while Waso was closely marked. Until that type of thing happens with more regularity, IMO Etown won't survive to get another shot at Drew.

Shooter McGavin · October 06, 2017, 08:10:09 AM

What a mess this conference is

Ejay · October 07, 2017, 05:59:33 PM

Not surprisingly, Drew absolutely spanked Juniata. Score was 3-0, but shots were 39-3. Really hard to take away anything from this game. Next game for Drew is Tuesday at home vs. Haverford. That game should tell us something.

franklyspeaking · October 09, 2017, 10:08:51 AM

This Drew vs Haverford match could be a good watch. Looks like Drew is leaps and bounds the best in the Landmark.

Shooter McGavin · October 09, 2017, 10:35:27 AM

Quote from: franklyspeaking on October 09, 2017, 10:08:51 AM
This Drew vs Haverford match could be a good watch. Looks like Drew is leaps and bounds the best in the Landmark.

This is almost a must win for both teams. Drew has to have the mindset of winning the AQ but if that somehow wouldn't happen then this is a must win for them. As for Haverford they need another result vs a ranked team, preferably a win, if they want any shot at an at-large bid. This is a crucial game for both sides.

Flying Weasel · October 12, 2017, 01:07:19 PM

Quote from: Falconer on October 04, 2017, 11:47:46 AM
It's been a long time since Etown has gone through a bad spell like this,

Not sure what you mean by long time. It was just back in 2014 that E-town went 7-5-3, losing five or more games in a season for the fourth straight season and seventh of nine. While it is shaping up to be a below average season for the Blue jays, it's actually not that far off their norm over the past 12 years. 2015 is looking more like an aberration rather than a grand return to a place among the nation's top programs.

E-town struggled to defeat PSU-Berks last night. I noticed Gilberto Waso did not play. Looking further, I see he did not start the previous two games, though he did play. Also missing vs. PSU-Berks were starting defender Gochnauer (out since playing in the Messiah loss), starting forward JD Haaf (out since playing in the Scranton loss), and starting midfielder Burke. Anyone know what the story is. A rash of injuries?

franklyspeaking · October 19, 2017, 07:47:14 AM

Speaking of must wins, Etown MUST win Saturday to continue their season. Etown started the season off strong but the results lately have been interesting to say the least. Maybe injuries have taken their toll and depth is not the strong point this year.

sokermom · October 19, 2017, 10:06:36 AM

Quote from: franklyspeaking on October 19, 2017, 07:47:14 AM
Speaking of must wins, Etown MUST win Saturday to continue their season. Etown started the season off strong but the results lately have been interesting to say the least. Maybe injuries have taken their toll and depth is not the strong point this year.

I watched the game vs. Goucher. Wasso played well. He was all over the field. His goal was an easy goal though for him. Goucher defenders got stretched when another Etown player made an overlapping run and Wasso had one defender on him whom he could shake and put one in the goal from 30 yrds out. Good goal and only goal but Goucher actually contained them well to keep the score 1-0. Goucher going through injuries to some top players early season and they are just coming back into play and form and struggling a bit. Need to bounce back vs. Scranton.

Ejay · October 19, 2017, 10:32:22 AM

So here's a question.... what kind of post-season award does Waso earn this year? He's a two-time All-American, yet there are other forwards in the conference who are having much better individual seasons and their teams are much more successful. For example, let's look at Drew. Cserhart is 17/5 right now and one of the top forwards in the country. Imoh (last year's Landmark ROY and a Regional All-American), is 9/6 right now. Waso is 8/2 and E-Town is in danger of not even making the conference tournament.

sokermom · October 19, 2017, 02:46:40 PM

Quote from: EB2319 on October 19, 2017, 10:32:22 AM
So here's a question.... what kind of post-season award does Waso earn this year? He's a two-time All-American, yet there are other forwards in the conference who are having much better individual seasons and their teams are much more successful. For example, let's look at Drew. Cserhart is 17/5 right now and one of the top forwards in the country. Imoh (last year's Landmark ROY and a Regional All-American), is 9/6 right now. Waso is 8/2 and E-Town is in danger of not even making the conference tournament.

Maybe he won't get any awards. He was one of the two players who looked good. He was shifting left to right and box to box in search of plays and opportunities. There is another skinny blonde player on Etown who also looked good. Other than that nothing to brag about. Goucher was hoping to get a result or take it to OT but Wasso got a lucky chance and buried it.