2017 Season - National Perspective

[Part_Bart]

St. Lawrence @ Oneonta St tomorrow...is this a must win for SLU?? Or at least a must to to get a result?

Oneonta also has much to do.  The SUNYAC will be very good at the top: Cortland looked quite impressive this past weekend beating Brandeis, and then being able to beat a very very well organized Eastern Connecticut (who kept 10 behind the ball until after they went down).

[Mr.Right]

St. Lawrence @ Oneonta St tomorrow...is this a must win for SLU?? Or at least a must to to get a result?

I would say they need at least a draw because a loss will force them to win the LL unless they string about 9-10 wins in a row

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

St. Lawrence @ Oneonta St tomorrow...is this a must win for SLU?? Or at least a must to to get a result?

I would say they need at least a draw because a loss will force them to win the LL unless they string about 9-10 wins in a row

I echo what Mr. Right says. A loss puts them in a win conference or bust situation but a draw still keeps them alive for the time being.

[Go2Goal]

Doherty played against Albright. He is not out for the year.

[PaulNewman]

For those of with little do there is an interesting slate of games this afternoon and tonight, with maybe the best being Carnegie Mellon at Redlands in the nightcap at 9:00 pm EST.

Wheaton (Ill) at Puget Sound is another interesting intersectional tilt, and other notables include DePauw at Wash U, Calvin at CWRU, St Thomas vs Capital (at OWU), and the already mentioned SLU at Oneonta.  Sleeper options include Kzoo at Ohio Northern and UW-W at Augsburg.

BTW, I currently have Calvin pegged at the #1 team in the country, followed closely by Chicago.  I have Messiah in that mix as well but we can't just ignore the Haverford loss.  Tufts is in the process of re-creating itself but I expect them to again be a prominent concern come tourney-time.  The board here seems a little unsettled on what to do with Rowan, but that's another team sure to be knocking around the top 5 most of the season.  Who will be this year's surprise elite team?  W&L?  Bowdoin (as some in NESCACville seem to be predicting)? Lynchburg? Lycoming?

[Ejay]

Who will be this year's surprise elite team?  W&L?  Bowdoin (as some in NESCACville seem to be predicting)? Lynchburg? Lycoming?

I liked what I saw from W&L vs. CNU, and I thought G'burg looked dangerous. Still early, but both are definitely on my radar.

[PaulNewman]

Random, gratuitous prediction....St Thomas leaves Delaware, OH with two L's this weekend.

STU has a huge roster but I can't tell if they have a huge number of returnees.  A quick glance suggested maybe not.  Newbies should be aware that the preseason ranking is based entirely on last year's finish and should not be interpreted as any kind of prediction of how any particular team will fare in 2017.  STU also has the burden of showing that last year's magical run was not a "one and done" kind of deal.  Not sure of the last time they made the tournament before last year.

Addendum:  The website references last postseason win of any type (conference or NCAA) prior to 2015 occurring in 1991 with a win over Macalester.  The D3soccer data on participants last year indicates last NCAA appearance before last year was 1995 with 6 total appearances all-time.  Last year's run was truly remarkable.  It's difficult to remember just how much of a favorite Chicago was to advance out of that quadrant with probably Redlands as the next favorite.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Random, gratuitous prediction....St Thomas leaves Delaware, OH with two L's this weekend.

STU has a huge roster but I can't tell if they have a huge number of returnees.  A quick glance suggested maybe not.  Newbies should be aware that the preseason ranking is based entirely on last year's finish and should not be interpreted as any kind of prediction of how any particular team will fare in 2017.  STU also has the burden of showing that last year's magical run was not a "one and done" kind of deal.  Not sure of the last time they made the tournament before last year.

Addendum:  The website references last postseason win of any type (conference or NCAA) prior to 2015 occurring in 1991 with a win over Macalester.  The D3soccer data on participants last year indicates last NCAA appearance before last year was 1995 with 6 total appearances all-time.  Last year's run was truly remarkable.  It's difficult to remember just how much of a favorite Chicago was to advance out of that quadrant with probably Redlands as the next favorite.

"Re: Should do better, bounceback candidates, emerging programs, etc
« Reply #55 on: July 12, 2017, 09:37:24 am »
Haven't read everything in this thread but has St. Thomas been mentioned as a potential candidate for emerging programs? Went from 9-8-2 in 2014 to 12-7-1 and losing in the conference final in 2015 to 20-2-3 in 2016 and the Final 4. According to their website and schedule release, St. Thomas graduated six seniors but is expected return over 60% of their goal scoring and their top goalie. I think they can be considered an emerging team at this point."

See above from my post earlier this summer. Looks like they lost half the starters but return a majority of the scoring power and top GK. Capital and OWU will be good tests for them.

[PaulNewman]

Calvin is so incredibly efficient.  CWRU was leading in shots but Calvin up 3-0.

Capital takes STU 2-0.  Cap GK made some great saves.  STU fought valiantly , and maybe a little overly aggressively, last 25 minutes. 

Chicago crushes St Norbert 7-1 although shots comparison doesn't reflect that scoreline.

Kenyon only musters a 1-0 win over Spalding.  24-4 on shots but only 6 on goal.  Anemic offense a concern, as is apparent movement of arguably best CB in D3 being moved further up the field each game.  That suggests they need him up front, which isn't great although he will surely help.  Imagine Calvin moving Vegter to attacking mid.  Kenyon defense will remain solid, but still....

OWU pounds Millikin 4-1 with a typical OWU offensive output of 32 to 8 in shots.

[4samuy]

 speaking of efficient,  Chicago took 18 shots against a pretty good St Norbert side, 12 on goal and scored on 7. Lopez with a hat trick. The three headed monster of Lopez,Koh and Adeyoson scored 5 of the seven.  Interesting note,  Chicago sat their entire  starting backline IMHO due to the fact that they have a back to back at #22 Carthage tomorrow night and a couple of minor injuries.  Chicago has played its first three games outside of the Central region, Whitworth (west), Knox and St Norbert(north). I like that and with the UAA schedule that will add, I believe 3 0r 4 more regions.  It will be interesting to see how the backline is set up tomorrow.

[PaulNewman]

Puget Sound prevails over Wheaton (Ill) in late action, with Wheaton scoring in 89th minute for 2-1 final outcome.

Wash U up 3-0 on DePauw.

The UAA may have one of its better years.  CMU is looking very good.

[Mr.Right]

Just glancing at teams schedules....Who will end up having the toughest schedule this year? The best SOS ?

I would have to say CWU's schedule is extremely challenging on paper and if the pieces fall into place they might end up with a .645-.650 SOS.

at DePauw
v Calvin
v John Carroll
at Ohio Wesleyan
v Lycoming
at Kenyon
v Brandeis
v Oberlin
at Wash U
at Chicago
v North Park
v Rochester
v Emory
v Carnegie Mellon

There is absolutely no let up..Is Marietta any good? They have them also.

I see 2 cupcakes:

Mount Union
Brooklyn

and 1 average team:

NYU


With that schedule almost all their wins will be v Ranked. They could finish with 6 and maybe 7 losses and make the NCAA's...Will be interesting come November and when the first Regional Rankings come out.

The only possible issue i see is that they only have 5 Away games in that mix of teams. They might need to get 2 wins away from home from that mix.

[Domino1195]

OWU is hosting the tournament but the Capital games are being played at Cap. And yes, Niswonger's saves were ridiculous last night - St. T probably would have had 3-4 goals on any other night. Soccer is a cruel mistress - in Cap's loss to St. Mary's the St. M keeper made three outstanding saves (I shook his hand after the match).

One of the St. T twins commented how frustrating it was to play against the formation Cap used. Said he gets it and gave the Cap team credit for their execution. Very classy group of lads.

But ST. T will need some time to replace those defenders - I'm sure they're frustrated with the goals conceded.

Calvin is so incredibly efficient.  CWRU was leading in shots but Calvin up 3-0.

Capital takes STU 2-0.  Cap GK made some great saves.  STU fought valiantly , and maybe a little overly aggressively, last 25 minutes. 

Chicago crushes St Norbert 7-1 although shots comparison doesn't reflect that scoreline.

Kenyon only musters a 1-0 win over Spalding.  24-4 on shots but only 6 on goal.  Anemic offense a concern, as is apparent movement of arguably best CB in D3 being moved further up the field each game.  That suggests they need him up front, which isn't great although he will surely help.  Imagine Calvin moving Vegter to attacking mid.  Kenyon defense will remain solid, but still....

OWU pounds Millikin 4-1 with a typical OWU offensive output of 32 to 8 in shots.

[PaulNewman]

Are there no D3s in the state of Florida? Never thought of that before but can't think of one. Any theories on how or why that is in a state that big with so many schools?

[jknezek]

Are there no D3s in the state of Florida? Never thought of that before but can't think of one. Any theories on how or why that is in a state that big with so many schools?

You need enough to make a full conference all at once. There aren't that many smaller schools and all the secondary state schools believe in big time football. The state is huge North to South. You just can't have a team midway down the state in a conference with tears in GA or AL, it's just too far.