Mid-Atlantic Region

[Hopkins92]

Here's a fun page:

https://odaconline.com/documents/2023/8/17//odac_ncaa_records_msoc.pdf?id=2472

Highlights:

* - Of the 13 teams in the ODAC, 6 teams have made the NCAAs. Two of those have only made one appearance (EMU in 98 and Randolph College in '11).

* - Since 2016, the ODAC has sent 2 teams to the tourney 4 times (missing in 2018 and throwing out 2020), which means every year but one.

* - Prior to that, since 1976(!) they had only sent 2 teams 6 times. (So... 6 times in 40 years)

There, Sierra, hypotheses confirmed. :-)

[Hopkins92]

Also of note, not having taken a deep dive on W&L recently. What an incredible run of success lately.

* Prior to 2015, W&L only made the tournament 1 time. Starting in 2015 they haven't missed the dance once. That's remarkable.

* Also interesting (to me) in looking at this, Virginia Wesleyan was a true power... from 1990 -2009 they made the dance 16 times. They got another bid in 2013. But run over 19 years is pretty astounding.

* And just to round things out, what stands out about Lynchburg is just the steadiness of the program over the history of the league. The only decade they didn't make an appearance was in the 90s, dating back to the mid-70s.

[Another Mom]

Also of note, not having taken a deep dive on W&L recently. What an incredible run of success lately.

* Prior to 2015, W&L only made the tournament 1 time. Starting in 2015 they haven't missed the dance once. That's remarkable.

100% due to Coach Singleton, and also Coach Freeman, who has been assistant there for 9-10 years.

[jknezek]

Also of note, not having taken a deep dive on W&L recently. What an incredible run of success lately.

* Prior to 2015, W&L only made the tournament 1 time. Starting in 2015 they haven't missed the dance once. That's remarkable.

* Also interesting (to me) in looking at this, Virginia Wesleyan was a true power... from 1990 -2009 they made the dance 16 times. They got another bid in 2013. But run over 19 years is pretty astounding.

* And just to round things out, what stands out about Lynchburg is just the steadiness of the program over the history of the league. The only decade they didn't make an appearance was in the 90s, dating back to the mid-70s.

Coach Singleton definitely came in with a different mindset, and probably a different mandate from the school, than Coach Piranian who had been at W&L since the 70s. The 90s were a big turning point for W&L athletics. A lot of money was spent refurbishing and building new facilities, starting with the indoor tennis center, and that carried through for about a 25 year period until the new natatorium (swimming center) was built and the Duchossois athletic center (basketball, volleyball, wrestling, etc) was finished. The soccer fields were done about midway through the process if I remember right.

As those pre 90s coaches retired, the mindset changed. For a lot of W&L teams, in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, it was enough to be ok. Just be above average in the ODAC and have good students. That started to change in the mid to late 90s as sports became more of a selling and recruiting point as opposed to an extra offering for students, and the coaches that started coming in were much more competitive, either by nature or by department expectation. As the older coaches left, W&L teams starting being more than "just ODAC competitive", winning a lot more conference titles and going deeper into the playoffs.

It hasn't been a complete success. Some programs that struggled to be ODAC competitive took that first step, men's basketball is a good example. That was a program that struggled from the 80s to the mid 00s, I think my freshman year they won 2 games, but is now at least usually respectable in a very tough ODAC. But the sports teams that were already ODAC competitive are now much more nationally competitive.

Men's soccer was just one of the last programs for the old school coach to retire, so it stayed in that ODAC competitive tier where it had been much of Coach Piranian's career, until Coach Singleton came and took the next step.

[paclassic89]

Current RPI Top Ten

Region IV

1.  Montclair State .6369
2.  LVC .6222
3.  Stockton .6125
4.  Kean .6035
5.  Stevens .5934
6.  Rowan .5789
7.  Rutgers-Camden .5634
8.  FDU-Florham .5508
9.  PSU-Harrisburg .5493
10.PSU-Abington .5429

Region V

1.   Messiah .7111
2.   F&M .6681
3.   Widener .6219
4.   Johns Hopkins .6176
5.   Muhlenberg .6137
6.   Dickinson .6022
7.   Lycoming .5866
8.   Catholic .5858
9.   Drew .5735
10. Alvernia .5717

[SierraFD3soccer]

If you all what to want to watch a very, very good game, check out the F&M Hop game.  1-0 Hop in the 7th min.  Meyer No. 9 goal.

In the 24th min or so. Stupid foul by Hop. Free kick by F&M and for some reason Hop did not set up its line at the 18, but rather right in front of the goal. Kick into the box, easy header by Oscar Horowitz. 1-1 Koliebe's 5th assist (has 8 goals this season).

F&M has been raiding Hops back line all game. Putting max pressure. Hop just trying to pass it out off danger like it has for years.  Slip up by Hop, Kaliebe one on one with keeper, passes to Horowitz and pass into the back of the net. 2-1 Horowitz's 16th goal and Koliebe's 6th assist.

Probably going to a few more goals on both sides.

Lots of soccer left. https://www.centennialconference.tv/godiplomats/

Sorry Hop. Tough day so far, still a lot of soccer yet.  Koa Kaliebe picks the pocket again of the Hop back at the top of the 18 while they were trying to clear by passing it out. Oscar finishes again. Hat trick by Horowitz (second one this year) and hat trick assists for Kaliebe. Horowitz is now tied with F&M's season goal leader with 18 now. 

So Koa now has 8 goals with 7 assists.  I think there was a discussion before where that could be tough to have both. Yes, Oscar scored off two of those assists, but he did that easily.  Koa had to do the really hard work getting the ball from the back and then to Oscar in place he could score easily.  Also Kaliebe is probably one of the quickest player in Cent. Conf.

3-1 at half.  May have been the toughest half for Hop in a long time.

May not mean much, but F&M has gone down a goal in 6 games this year. In 5 of those games (still another half against JHU), they have gone 4-1-1 (Wins Stevens, LVC, PSU Harrisburg, & McDaniel, 1-0 lose to Kean (11 SOG) and 1-1 against Haverford). In the last two years, they have not even come close to that.

[SierraFD3soccer]

W&L grinded it out with a late goal against Randolph!! Definitely keeping an at large bid alive should they not win ODACs!

Lynchburg (probably will never call it Univ of Lynchburg) had a rough night at home losing 1-0.  VWU goal late in the game was what D3 soccer is all about. Check out this clip if you get a chance. Pretty incredible goal and celebration.  https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxI59KfkcT6MI8HIiItOt7HYpsjG4mRNVj?si=TysVYtxiYO0OgNcg

[Another Mom]

W&L played terribly.  No urgency. Some injured players didn't help. But hope you are right about the at large bid.

[SierraFD3soccer]

W&L played terribly.  No urgency. Some injured players didn't help. But hope you are right about the at large bid.

My best guess, W&L will have to win out to be ranked high enough regionally along with making to finals of the ODAC to get a bid.  CNU and Lynchburg are probably going to ranked ahead of them regionally when the NCAA comes out with its regional rankings which I think will be this week or next.  Lynchburg loss, though good for W&L's ODAC standing, may not mean as much when W&L beats Lynchburg. W&L may have not recovered enough from it first three games, but at least they can make their own luck.

[BlueJay95]

Current RPI Top Ten

Region IV

1.  Montclair State .6369
2.  LVC .6222
3.  Stockton .6125
4.  Kean .6035
5.  Stevens .5934
6.  Rowan .5789
7.  Rutgers-Camden .5634
8.  FDU-Florham .5508
9.  PSU-Harrisburg .5493
10.PSU-Abington .5429

Region V

1.   Messiah .7111
2.   F&M .6681
3.   Widener .6219
4.   Johns Hopkins .6176
5.   Muhlenberg .6137
6.   Dickinson .6022
7.   Lycoming .5866
8.   Catholic .5858
9.   Drew .5735
10. Alvernia .5717

@paclassics89 - where are these posted?

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Mid-Atlantic Recap

F&M bests Hopkins 4-3 in a Centennial battle. Both teams are skilled but F&M look much improved from some of the matches I tuned into early on.

Muhles survive Ursinus 1-0 and continue to put the pressure on WC, F&M and JHU. Still not sold on the Muhles as their best result is a tie vs JHU.

WC dismantles Gettysburg and stays unbeaten. We will find out how good they really are over the course of the next 3 games vs F&M, Muhles & JHU.

Dickinson drops another and the CC playoffs are looking more and more unlikely for the Red Devils.

Lycoming and Catholic tie 1-1 in a battle atop the Landmark. The Warriors looked the better side for most of the game.

Scranton comes from behind to down Juniata. Juniata was stingy defensively but the Royals were too much to handle.

Drew continue to impress dropping 6 goals on Goucher. Enjoyable to watch for the attacking minded fans.

Etown keeps pace in the Landmark with an easy 3-0 victory over Wilkes.

Stevens, LVC and Misericordia all win to keep pace in the Freedom.

Messiah, Alvernia and Widener all continue their winning ways in the Commonwealth. 

PSU-Abington is a team to watch in the United East as they have some nice results in non-conference and lead the pack.

St. Marys (Md), PSU-Harrisburg and Lancaster Bible all are close behind.

[Hopkins92]

Current RPI Top Ten

Region IV

1.  Montclair State .6369
2.  LVC .6222
3.  Stockton .6125
4.  Kean .6035
5.  Stevens .5934
6.  Rowan .5789
7.  Rutgers-Camden .5634
8.  FDU-Florham .5508
9.  PSU-Harrisburg .5493
10.PSU-Abington .5429

Region V

1.   Messiah .7111
2.   F&M .6681
3.   Widener .6219
4.   Johns Hopkins .6176
5.   Muhlenberg .6137
6.   Dickinson .6022
7.   Lycoming .5866
8.   Catholic .5858
9.   Drew .5735
10. Alvernia .5717

@paclassics89 - where are these posted?

These are from his spreadsheet. He's our resident Massey.

[jknezek]

W&L played terribly.  No urgency. Some injured players didn't help. But hope you are right about the at large bid.

On the list of things W&L could not afford... Better than a loss but I suspect they are real close to win out or stay home territory now...

[SierraFD3soccer]

W&L played terribly.  No urgency. Some injured players didn't help. But hope you are right about the at large bid.

On the list of things W&L could not afford... Better than a loss but I suspect they are real close to win out or stay home territory now...

Definitely, fortunately they have their fate in their own hands to a certain extent with CNU and Lynchburg still and both should be regionally ranked ahead of them.

[Ejay]

Two upcoming milestones to keep an eye on in the Landmark Conference....
1. Lenny Armuth at Drew is sitting on 396 wins, just 4 short of 400.
2. Elizabethtown sitting on 898 program wins, just 2 short of 900.

Possibility exists they could face each other in the playoffs with both milestones on the line.