Mid-Atlantic Region

[Hopkins Walk-On]

I attended the Hopkins-Haverford game yesterday. Hopkins had the edge in skill and speed; they dominated possession but were only able to convert it into a single goal. They were lucky to escape with the win. Haverford had two golden chances - one in each half. In the first half, the Fords banged one off the post and the Haverford forward put the rebound twenty feet over the goal from six yards away. In the second half, Hopkins gave up a free kick from 25 yards out on a stupid foul. Haverford's header off the kick beat the goalie but one of the Hopkins defenders saved it off the line.

Hopkins has still only allowed a single goal this season.

[Hopkins92]

Another Sat. night match had this one relegated to the laptop. Nice, scrappy Hop-Fords match from what I could glean.

Walk-On... Were the Jays able to open them up at all? Seemed like a typical game with lots of possessin between the 18s, but not a lot of threats. Accurate?

[Hopkins Walk-On]

Hopkins had a few chances but their inclination is always to make another pass. Even the goal they scored came on what I thought was one pass too many. It was beautiful but they walked it into the goal when a decent shot from the passer would have done the same thing. There were a couple of occasions after the goal where that one pass too many came back to bite them.

Hopkins is also terrible on corner kicks. They had 10 to Haverford's 1 but few were even close to threatening. With the skill on that team, it seems like they should do better with corners. They have very little height though.

[Hopkins92]

Midweek Games of Note (Region V)

• Most of the games on Tuesday and Wednesday are conference tilts. The exception to the rule is my Spicy Sleeper Special, with Drew travelling to DeSales for a classic trap game. After starting off the season 0-2-1, DeSales are now 5-2-1 and looking to play spoiler against an 8-0-1 Rangers squad. Further complicating this match, and putting in true "trap game" territory is the fact that Landmark Conf. foe Catholic looms on the weekend horizon.


• In the Centennial, we're going to find more out about this year's Ursinus, when McDaniel continues to be tested when they visit Homewood on Wednesday. I already mentioned their spotty opponents, but after tying the Dips... We shall see. 


• It's the Battle of Amish country  supremacy when Dickinson visits Gettysburg, and the Dips welcome the Muhles in slightly lower octane Amish Squabble.


• In the MAC, the Falcons take on 4-1-4(!) Lycoming. That's just a weird record with some head scratching results for Lyco.


• And only because Carnegie Mellon is getting a lot of heat on this board, the match-up with 6-3 Juniata in Steel Town is somewhat intriguing. Just glancing at Juniata, they've been thumped by Muhlenberg, Swat and Moravian. CMU is 7-0-1 with their most notable W coming against John Carroll. A solid performance would help them (at least as far as folks in the National Perspective thread are concerned.

Not meant to be a comprehensive cover for the Region, just some games that jumped out to me.

[NEPAFAN]

Drew drawing with Goucher on Saturday was noteworthy.

Goucher travels to the Electric City on Saturday.

[Hopkins92]

So, Drew handles business against DeSales yesterday. And, yeah Nepa, I was looking at Goucher...  They may actually be... good this year? They are 4-1-3 with no real notable results... Until you see that draw on the weekend.

That said, Catholic just got taken down by Eastern, so... Gonna be a big game for both squads (but a bit more for the Cards) on Saturday in Jersey.

MAC and Centennial clashes are this afternoon/evening.

[Hopkins92]

I raised an issue about McDaniel, at least in my mind: Is this the best start in program history? Well, I don't have time/inclination to go that far back (back to when they were Western MD... no thanks!). So a quick look at the last 10 years:

2012 was... not great.
In 2013, the squad raced out to a 6-1-3 record before hitting a buzzsaw that landed them at 7-7-3 sputtering end.
2014 saw a kind of similar thing, with a 6-3 mark eventually landing at 8-8-1. (Basically, once CC shots are fired, McDaniel struggles.)
2015-16 - yikes
2017 - A 7-2-1 start leading to one of their best years with a 10-3-1 record and nice ECAC tourney first round win.
2018 - 6-7-3 final record... Similarly "decent" start that gets kind of smushed from the midpoint of the season on.
2019 - Ah... Probably better than 2017, ripping off 9(!!) wins to start an 11-6-1 season with an ECAC bid.
2020 - Covid, whatever.
2021 - Post-vid hangover? I dunno, but 4-11-1 is less than ideal.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=

So, really, a couple of things:

1) My historical bias is showing when I look at W.MD/McDaniel. They pretty much have a decent run for a couple of years, then kind of fall off a cliff and climb back up. There isn't an Ursinus* run where they just aren't good for a number of years in a row.

2) That said, whatever was happening last year seems to have been scrubbed clean with a good start this year. But a very clear pattern emerges when you look at the last 10 years. Even in "good" years, once conference play starts they really hit a wall.

* - Just as a reminder, going back to 2012, Ursinus' best season was a .500 mark put up in 2015 or 2016. Other than that, it was a string of very forgettable seasons (to say the least, including a winless season) until last year with 10-6-1. As mentioned, 2022 isn't going very well.

[Flying Weasel]

I raised an issue about McDaniel, at least in my mind: Is this the best start in program history? Well, I don't have time/inclination to go that far back (back to when they were Western MD... no thanks!).

Well, since I knew W.Maryland/McDaniel had a really good run under Coach Plevyak in the early 2000's, my curiosity made me look it up.  Their best season was 2005 when they went 14-4-3 and won the Centennial regular season (and #1 seed) with a 6-1-2 mark, but then lost in the conference semifinal 1-0 in 2OT to the #5 seed Gettysburg.  They had to settle for the ECAC's and have still never made it to the NCAA's.  But back to your question about best start to a season, that year they lost their third and fourth games (the latter a 7-1 pasting by Messiah) in starting 6-2-1.  So not quite as good as this year.  Probably their next best season was 2001 (their last as Western Maryland) when they started 5-0-0 before dropping a pair to open Centennial play followed by two conference wins for a 7-2-0 overall record four weeks into the season.  Earned the #2 seed with a 6-3-0 conference mark and reached the conference final where #4 seed Gettysburg ended their hopes of reaching the NCAAs given how few at-large berths there were at that time.  At 14-5-0 they had to settle for the ECAC's.  They made the Centennial playoffs as the #3, #2, and #1 seed from 2003 thru 2005.  And they were having an OK season in 2006 before faltering down the stretch in what would be Plevyak's final season as their coach. They stood at 8-4-0 with three 1-0 losses to Messiah away (in 2OT), Johns Hopkins, and Muhlenberg away (goal with 5 seconds left), but then lost 4 of 5, that last loss being a 5-0 drubbing courtesy of Gettysburg. They finished .500 (9-9-0) and it would be another 10 years before they would finish a season with a winning record. And they still haven't made it back to the Centennial playoffs.

[Hopkins92]

Nice, FW... And that's kind of what I meant by my historical bias. When we played them, they were kind of a non-factor on the sked. And I assume it took until the coach you reference for them to pull out of that cycle.

I wasn't really paying much attention to D3 soccer in the aughts, so I completely missed this portion of their history. Thanks for the catch-up!

[Hopkins Walk-On]

And the trend Hopkins92 highlighted continues. Hopkins 1, McDaniel 0. McDaniel started 6-0-0 and is now 0-2-1 in CC play.

Meanwhile, in Charm City, Hopkins has scored 10 goals in 9 games but only surrendered one. Every game is close.

[Hopkins92]

I had called Lyco's resume into question heading into tonight, and...

Messiah travels to Williamsport and puts the lumber on with a 5-0 win. Answers a few questions for both squads. Wowsers.

[Hopkins92]

And the trend Hopkins92 highlighted continues. Hopkins 1, McDaniel 0. McDaniel started 6-0-0 and is now 0-2-1 in CC play.

Meanwhile, in Charm City, Hopkins has scored 10 goals in 9 games but only surrendered one. Every game is close.

I was able to watch a good chunk of the first half and spot-checked the second. Very dominant performance for Hop, but the last 5-10 minutes were a total scramble where the Night Terrors could've easily bundled one in the net at least 3 times I saw, especially off of lofted set pieces.

As you say, they've only given up one goal. Treinan and the transfer goalie from Penn State, Morgret. will be in the running for a lot of accolades if they continue getting results. Treinan is just playing at a higher level, both in tracking back and snuffing things out on D, but also QB'ing the offense. The Whamond brothers are also causing the opposing D a lot of issues. Nice combo passing.

But, yeah, 14 shots but only 5 on frame. (McD had 3 shots, one on frame.)

[Hopkins92]

Midweek Games of Note (Region V)

• Most of the games on Tuesday and Wednesday are conference tilts. The exception to the rule is my Spicy Sleeper Special, with Drew travelling to DeSales for a classic trap game. After starting off the season 0-2-1, DeSales are now 5-2-1 and looking to play spoiler against an 8-0-1 Rangers squad. Further complicating this match, and putting in true "trap game" territory is the fact that Landmark Conf. foe Catholic looms on the weekend horizon.


• In the Centennial, we're going to find more out about this year's Ursinus, when McDaniel continues to be tested when they visit Homewood on Wednesday. I already mentioned their spotty opponents, but after tying the Dips... We shall see. 


• It's the Battle of Amish country  supremacy when Dickinson visits Gettysburg, and the Dips welcome the Muhles in slightly lower octane Amish Squabble.


• In the MAC, the Falcons take on 4-1-4(!) Lycoming. That's just a weird record with some head scratching results for Lyco.


• And only because Carnegie Mellon is getting a lot of heat on this board, the match-up with 6-3 Juniata in Steel Town is somewhat intriguing. Just glancing at Juniata, they've been thumped by Muhlenberg, Swat and Moravian. CMU is 7-0-1 with their most notable W coming against John Carroll. A solid performance would help them (at least as far as folks in the National Perspective thread are concerned.

Not meant to be a comprehensive cover for the Region, just some games that jumped out to me.

Already covered the thumping put on Lyco by the Falcons and the continuing good fortune (and quality play, to be fair) for Hop. Still find McD an interesting squad, but wasn't all that impressed with their approach to Hopkins. I'd lay way off those guys and play a high backline. Take away all the space in midfield and frustrate. Too many teams play into their system by doing some fake pressing up top and dropping waaaay too far in the back, giving them ample room to connect short passes and spring the medium ball into channels. Too easy. Sorry, I digress.

In Amish country, I don't want to say Gettysburg's entire offense revolves around long throw-ins, but... My spot-checking of the game saw at least 6 of these in the first half, which eventually led to the first goal. Dickinson has a pair of strikers that caused a lot of problems, but ultimately the surround squad just isn't there. 2nd half started with a cloudburst, and about 15 minutes in the Red Devil keeper totally bundled a long set piece ball and a Bullet pounced and it's 2-0. Game ended 3-1, but I saw what I needed.

Over in Lancaster, F&M with a typical, solid 2-1 win over the Muhles. Game was 2-0 after goals in each half, with M scoring pretty late to make it a little nervy. I didn't let the video run too long while spot-checking, but I don't know of the Dips are going to break down better competition with this approach. Switching the point of attack with long diagonal balls is kind of low percentage against teams with better organization.

In Steel Town, the Tartans thumped visiting Juniata 5-2.  Video feed is wonky, so I can't really give read out on how this went down, but... 5-2 doesn't leave a lot to the imagination.

On to the weekend!

[Ejay]

I'm sure Hop will put together a great analysis, but I was poking around Region IV & V schedules, so thought I'd share this weekend's games (EJay's GOTW in bold):

Centennial Matchups:
Washington v Ursinus   
Swarthmore v McDaniel
Haverford v Muhlenberg
Dickinson v Franklin and Marshall
Johns Hopkins v Gettysburg

Landmark Conference
Goucher v Sranton
Juniata v Elizabethtown
Susquehanna v Moravian
Catholic v Drew

MAC-Commonwealth
Widener v York (Pa.)
Eastern v Stevenson
Alvernia v Hood      
Lebanon Valley v Albright
Messiah v. Christopher Newport

MAC-Freedom
Valley Forge v FDU-Florham
King's v Stevens
Delaware Valley v Lycoming
DeSales v Wilkes
Arcadia v Misericordia

NJAC
RU-C v New Jersey City   
TCNJ v William Paterson   
Ramapo v Montclair
Stockton v Kean   
Rowan v RU-N

[Hopkins92]

Nice eJay!!

I'm trying to expand my bandwidth up to R4, but struggle at times. This is a great landscape. Look forward to anyone else's thoughts on key matchups!