Mid-Atlantic Region

[Shooter McGavin]

Going to post my way too early power rankings as the season approaches for the region. Not much to go from here except last season, history and gut feel.

1. Messiah (shocker)
2. Haverford
3. F&M
4. Lycoming
5. Stevens
6. Catholic
7. Hopkins
8. Dickinson
9. Leb Val
10. Etown/Drew
Outside looking in: Eastern/Gettysburg/Swat/Scranton

Shooter's Picks
1. Messiah
2. Hopkins
3. Stevens
4. Haverford
5. F&M
6. Lycoming
7. Dickinson
8. Eastern
9. Catholic
10. Drew
HM: LVC, Etown, Gettysburg

[Ejay]

7. Hopkins

I haven't looked at JHU's roster/schedule, etc, but curious what you know that would push them to 7th? That would be a disappointing season for the them.

I think Stevens is a team to watch closely. 

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

7. Hopkins

I haven't looked at JHU's roster/schedule, etc, but curious what you know that would push them to 7th? That would be a disappointing season for the them.

I think Stevens is a team to watch closely.

The gut feel part of my assessment  That conference is always competitive and a couple games in the wrong direction can mean a big drop in the overall region for them if others perform well. 7th in the region has them as finishing 3rd essentially in the Centennial which I don't think is out of the question. Might be a little steep but time will tell. Also agree on Stevens as they should be dangerous once again.

[Hopkins92]

Yeah, I don't really see Hopkins sliding down that far. They return 9 of 11 starters. Their biggest loss is probably Rosenberger who was their center back and QB'd a lot of that side to side stuff they like to do building out of the back.

Early(ish) match-up with Haverford is going to paint a picture. Agree CC is always a dog fight, but I think Hop brings back a number of their danger players (Younker, Martinez) and their style isn't overly reliant on one or two guys dominating or breaking down the other team. I have issues with Appleby's style, but it does guard against wild fluctuations in terms of results.

[FelixCloudy]

Interesting opening weekend in the Mid-Atlantic, with some early season surprises - anybody have thoughts?  I know it's way too early to be indicative of anything, but still there are some things of note.  Messiah drops their first two, but as others have noted:  tough teams, lots of freshman playing, NW will be hard to replace at first, and Ithaca will not be denied and is making damn sure they going to the dance this year.  The Falcons remaining schedule is not as tough, so not sure these first two losses mean anything - lot of games to win in front of them.

Also interesting is JHU splitting their first 2 games - an OT loss to MW yesterday.  But it seemed that Younker who is on the 2019 roster didn't play - do I have that right?  Saving him for conference play if he's still healing his injury?

F&M beat LVC in OT.  Would have thought a bit more scoring during run of play? First goal was headed from a free kick and second from a PK.  LVC also scored their goal on a free kick.  Anybody see this?  Four yellows and a red between the two teams?

Dickinson had two solid wins - and some major scoring.

Haverford's win against Cabrini isn't likely indicative of anything - but kudos to the coach that 25 or the 26 players on the roster got minutes - almost all double digits.   Nice to see that spirit of sharing with the entire team when the score allows it.

Anybody see any of the opening games and have thoughts to share?  And please note, I'm a newbie... so be kind!

[Shooter McGavin]

Messiah and Lycoming both start the campaigns 0-2 after road losses. Don't think anybody saw this coming but both teams look a little under the weather with the injury bug. I expect both to bounce back over the next few weeks but not the start either program was looking for. Caught bits and pieces of Messiah's first game. Hobart is strong and I believe Messiah will be okay once they find their groove and get healthy. As for Lycoming, from what I saw in their second game, they look lost defensively as they are trying to replace 3 all region players in the back. I anticipate them also finding their groove here soon but it doesn't get any easier for the Warriors as the season progresses. Dickinson looks dangerous as they continue to rack up the goals. Hopkins a little shaky to start as well but always tough to judge anything from the opening weekend of matches as so much can change as the season goes on.

Winners of opening weekend have to be Dickinson, Haverford, F&M, Moravian and Eastern

Losers of opening weekend are Messiah, Lycoming, LVC and Drew

[franklyspeaking]

Lycoming seems to have some issues on defense but this coach has a habit of fixing such problems.  It will be interesting to see if they play the same four in the back in their next match.

[Ejay]

I think TCNJ might have been overlooked a bit.  Although they were predicted to finish 9th in the NJAC, I believe they only lost 2 starters.  They picked up what should be two quality wins against Lycoming and Gettysburg.

[franklyspeaking]

TCNJ is underrated IMO, but they started off strong last year also and quickly fell off the cliff.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

What a start to the season already! Messiah and Lycoming the big shocks so far in the region but the Falcons got back to their winning ways with a 1-0 shutout yesterday. Lycoming gets a much needed week off and plays this weekend against Susquehanna. LVC still winless after a crazy game that saw the Dutchman down 3-0 with less than 15 minutes remaining before sparking a comeback for the ages. They somehow managed a tie from nothing and have to be thrilled with it nonetheless. Dickinson looks the team to beat so far as JHU, Gettysburg and F&M are all off to subpar starts as well. Eastern has also continued it's winning ways with a couple of road shutouts. Moravian flying under the radar after 3 shutout wins to start the year. Keep an eye on them and Scranton to shuffle some things up in the Landmark.

Here are my rankings headed into the weekend slate of games...

1. Dickinson
2. Fords
3. JHU
4. Stevens
5. Eastern
6. F&M
7. Messiah
8. Moravian
9. Scranton
10. Gettysburg
HM: LVC, Catholic, Swat, Lyco, Muhles, Drew 

[DucksFan02]

If Stevens can fix their defending (4 goals against in 2 games), and their offense heats up, could be a big weekend ahead with games vs Vassar and Springfield. Hats off to center back Jacob Curtis on the Ducks, who got OFFENSIVE POW for MAC Freedom for a 2 goal weekend. Will be trying to make it to NJ for at least one of their games this weekend.

[Ejay]

Speaking of Ducks - what happened to Kochman? He was a freshman last year and finished 3rd on the team in points.  I don't see his name on the roster this year.

[DucksFan02]

Believe he left for non soccer related reasons. Had moments on the field, definitely a loss for the ducks.

[Hopkins92]

Looks like Younker is back... Might speak to the positive results for the Hop this weekend.

5-2 over W&L is a head scratcher.

Edit: Circling back after looking at highlights and stats... Freshman to look out for his Axel Whamond out of Fairfield Prep in CT... Leads the team with 8 points off of 3 G, 1 A over the weekend. Younker not featured heavily in the box score, but had a nice assist on one of the 5 W&L goals.

[Domino1195]

Boxscore indicates Lycoming scored their 3rd and 4th goals 3 seconds apart. Anyone see this?