Should do better, bounceback candidates, emerging programs, etc

[PaulNewman]

The "style" thread somehow got me to thinking about schools that I'm surprised haven't had more consistent success....which led to thinking about schools that had really down years (for them) last year and whether they might rebound in 2017.

In the first category...Colby and Bates immediately come to mind. I especially love Colby but for whatever reason(s) the soccer fortunes have not paralleled the school's meteoric rise up the USNWR rankings.

Allegheny is another.  Good school but with much more accessible admissions.  I guess the location might be a little iffy for some, but the Gators should be better.  Wooster should be better.  Denison is a very good school that used to be pretty good and has gone through a rough patch.

I think some of the ODACs tend to be underrated, and I always think a NC Wesleyan or Methodist should be better. 

As for recently strong schools that struggled last year...Salisbury, Hope, Wheaton (Ill), Brockport, Dickinson, MIT, Thomas More, RPI, Rutgers-Camden, GAC, Swat, Case, ECSU, York (PA), Skidmore, Wesleyan, RWU.

Programs possibly on the rise....Wabash, Oberlin.

[Ejay]

Two that come to mind for me are Muhlenberg and Lycoming.  The Mules are 9-18-5 the last two years but I thought they were usually near the top of their conference??  Lycoming isn't necessarily a regular hotbed of talent, but they had a great 2 year run in '14 & '15 (23-5-5) before falling back to 9-6-4 last year.

[PaulNewman]

Two that come to mind for me are Muhlenberg and Lycoming.  The Mules are 9-18-5 the last two years but I thought they were usually near the top of their conference??  Lycoming isn't necessarily a regular hotbed of talent, but they had a great 2 year run in '14 & '15 (23-5-5) before falling back to 9-6-4 last year.

Good catch.  Had Muhlenberg on my list and somehow missed that one.  Lycoming for me is more of a newcomer and on the fence in terms of emerging versus disappointing.

[1970s NESCAC Player]

Newmie, this will be an interesting year for Colby.  Seabrook inherited a solid group that made the NESCAC tournament his first year, but then the cupboard was bare and he brought in almost 20 freshmen, who now have considerable (albeit struggling) experience and will be juniors.  With some perennial NESCAC contenders rebuilding a bit, Colby will have a shot of returning to the conference playoffs.

[Ejay]

Lycoming for me is more of a newcomer and on the fence in terms of emerging versus disappointing.

I think Lycoming suffers from the cyclical nature common among average educational institutions.  Some years they'll get good talent, and other years, not so much.  But '16 was clearly a down year given their success in '14 and '15. 

[PaulNewman]

Newmie, this will be an interesting year for Colby.  Seabrook inherited a solid group that made the NESCAC tournament his first year, but then the cupboard was bare and he brought in almost 20 freshmen, who now have considerable (albeit struggling) experience and will be juniors.  With some perennial NESCAC contenders rebuilding a bit, Colby will have a shot of returning to the conference playoffs.

Interesting.  To be fair, it's not easy to make up ground being in the NESCAC but they at least should be able to take care of business outside of the conference.  It is such an attractive school.  Full disclosure...Colby was son's dream school and he got in regular admission.  He was on the way to the bookstore to buy the gear when coach said he could come to preseason but that he might not have enough lockers given commitment to the early admissions crew.  So, ironically given what you wrote above, he chose the school that ended up bringing in exactly 20 freshmen.  Could not have worked out any better but a lot of luck and hard work involved.  So, reflecting back on the other thread, it's sometimes the "you would never believe it" factors like number of lockers that can impact decisions as much or more so than style of play and such.  And as a result of such chance happenings, I am now a Kenyon to the death fanatic.

[OldNed]

Newmie, this will be an interesting year for Colby.  Seabrook inherited a solid group that made the NESCAC tournament his first year, but then the cupboard was bare and he brought in almost 20 freshmen, who now have considerable (albeit struggling) experience and will be juniors.  With some perennial NESCAC contenders rebuilding a bit, Colby will have a shot of returning to the conference playoffs.

Interesting.  To be fair, it's not easy to make up ground being in the NESCAC but they at least should be able to take care of business outside of the conference.  It is such an attractive school.  Full disclosure...Colby was son's dream school and he got in regular admission.  He was on the way to the bookstore to buy the gear when coach said he could come to preseason but that he might not have enough lockers given commitment to the early admissions crew.  So, ironically given what you wrote above, he chose the school that ended up bringing in exactly 20 freshmen.  Could not have worked out any better but a lot of luck and hard work involved.  So, reflecting back on the other thread, it's sometimes the "you would never believe it" factors like number of lockers that can impact decisions as much or more so than style of play and such.  And as a result of such chance happenings, I am now a Kenyon to the death fanatic.

If last year is any indication, Colby may have trouble with their out of conference games in 2017.  Their out of conference games are as follows:

Sept 5 - St. Joseph's of Maine - tough game, Colby lost to St. Joe's 1-0 in 2016 on a last second goal
Sept 12 - Thomas - (Colby beat Thomas 1-0 last year. Thomas has one of the better offensive players in New England, Adam LaBrie, who scored 17 goals as a soph last year)
Sept 20 - University of New England
Sept 26 - Gordon - tough game
Oct 3 - Husson - Colby lost to Husson 2-1 in 2016

On the other hand, if some of Colby's 20 freshman players from Seabrook's first year develop as one might expect, maybe they can turn things around.

[sokermom]

Two that come to mind for me are Muhlenberg and Lycoming.  The Mules are 9-18-5 the last two years but I thought they were usually near the top of their conference??  Lycoming isn't necessarily a regular hotbed of talent, but they had a great 2 year run in '14 & '15 (23-5-5) before falling back to 9-6-4 last year.

Lycoming recruited Jared Moses .  They were able to snatch him because he spurned D1 offers due to a lack of full ride scholarship offers.  Don' t know how much academic money he is getting at Lycoming but he is a great addition.  I think Josh Cruz another DMV area player also going there.  Both USSDA players.

[Ommadawn]

Lycoming recruited Jared Moses .  They were able to snatch him because he spurned D1 offers due to a lack of full ride scholarship offers.  Don' t know how much academic money he is getting at Lycoming but he is a great addition.

It will be interesting to see where on the field he plays for Lycoming.  In this video from a single game, he displays a lot of valuable assets against DA competition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62T7ItNd_Bk

[D3soccerwatcher]

In the category of "bounce back" team, I'm going to add Messiah.  '15 they missed the tournament. '16 they made it "only" to the Sweet 16. Look for Messiah to be back to being one of the last teams standing, if not the final team standing. They lost only one starter from last year's lineup (albeit the NPOY). With all those returners and transfer Danny Brandt in the midfield, backed by a very strong bench, I think Messiah will be back to making a very deep run in the tournament.

[Golden_Fan]

For the SUNYAC Brockport and Plattsburgh are looking to bounce back. Plattsburgh finished in 6th last year just making it into the conference playoffs and Brockport completely missed the playoffs and posted their first losing record in years

[Mr.Right]

This should be reserved for teams that were very good that have drifted into mediocrity or/also teams that should do better than they do. Colby had 1-2 dominant years in 1990-1992 where they had some very good players but other than that they were a .500 team or worse so I cannot include them.


Muhlenberg is a good choice as they had some good teams in the 90's.

Hopkins is another one from that league that has drifted into mediocrity. They had some good teams 10-15 years ago.

Williams has to be on the list as they have not even made the NCAA's since 2013 and they were very dominant for a long time.

Plattsburgh is a good one as they use to dominate the SUNYAC.

A couple of the NJAC's like Stockton / Rowan and TCNJ who had some great teams in the mid 90's. TCNJ had some legitimate D1 players between 1994-1996.

Methodist used to be nasty when they had a ton of foreigners.

Salem State used to have a line-up of 28 year olds that were physical and chippy as hell and with some skill. They had some good teams.

Plymouth State and Keene State used to have very solid programs and both have drifted off. Alot of this has to do with changing admissions priorities at these schools. Coaches used to grab 4-5 Swedish kids and bring them over but I do not think those schools have as much leeway as they used to.

UC San Diego was a legit D1 program playing D3 from the mid 80's to the 90's. Coached by the egomaniac Derek Armstrong.

[Clotpoll]

Muhlenberg made it to NCAA final 8 three years ago. Salem State continues to play a bunch of 30 year old men; they just aren't good. Hopkins has a bunch of 2nd year guys who are program changers and should get more time this year. Almost every NJAC team has some D1 talent, as a lot of kids who think they can transfer to Rutgers start off in a NJAC school. Williams is in deep trouble, imo.

[sokermom]

Muhlenberg made it to NCAA final 8 three years ago. Salem State continues to play a bunch of 30 year old men; they just aren't good. Hopkins has a bunch of 2nd year guys who are program changers and should get more time this year. Almost every NJAC team has some D1 talent, as a lot of kids who think they can transfer to Rutgers start off in a NJAC school. Williams is in deep trouble, imo.

My son did ID camp at Muhlenberg a year ago.  His 2016 recruits (4 of them I think) came into the camp with newbies.  They did not look that good.  I don't know how Muhlenberg did this past season.  Need to look it up.  Maybe Coach Topping got a good recruiting class for 2017. 

[Mr.Right]

Muhlenberg might have made it to the final 8 in 2014 but that squad was not the most impressive team especially compared to their 1995 Final 4 team which was pretty nasty.

I thought a lot of the kids that go to Rutgers and do not play transfer in to NJAC schools...who knew