2018 Season - National Perspective

[PaulNewman]

Ummmm.....I'll take a wild swing....NESCAC....Tufts...

[calvin_grad]

Calvin up 4-0 over Hope with 20 minutes to play. 

5-0 final.  Shots 27-10 in favor of Calvin.  Calvin abused the outside backs from Hope all night.

[blooter442]

The Maine man (L.) Groothoff with the winner for Messiah against Stevenson in OT. West comes in and gets the shot off, rebound falls and instead of shooting on sight he took a touch because he had time before slotting home. Great composure, still hard to believe he's a freshman.

[Mr.Right]

The Maine man (L.) Groothoff with the winner for Messiah against Stevenson in OT. West comes in and gets the shot off, rebound falls and instead of shooting on sight he took a touch because he had time before slotting home. Great composure, still hard to believe he's a freshman.

IIRC...Wasn't Stevenson the team that took Messiah to OT and worked very hard in 2016 at their place and then Messiah Won it late in OT...One of these Falcon fans will remind me

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Unless the schedule changed big time... Stevenson didn't play at Messiah in 2016. They alternate home and away every year. They would have been at Stevenson that season.

I also looked it up... Mustangs were 3-13-3 that season and lost 2-0 to Messiah at Stevenson.

I know Stevenson played Messiah hard a few years back... there was a 0-0 game at Stevenson in 2014. Otherwise Stevenson hasn't been closer than 2 goals in any match-up with the Falcons since joining the MACC.

[Flying Weasel]

Yeah, Dave's got it.  2014 at Stevenson was the OT game that finished 0-0 of all years as that was the senior Falcon class of Payne, Jack Thompson, Ramirez, Robbins, Kovach, etc.  Outshot the Mustangs 26-4, but could only manage 4 SOG similar to tonight when they led in shots 23-6 but only placed 4 on frame. 

[NESCAC43]

I'd be interested to hear what readers think the best conference has been over the past 5 years or past 10 years.    The same with the best program over the past 5 or 10 years.  I have my thoughts and will weigh in later but wifey is calling!!!

NESCAC and it's not even a debate. The only possible alternative is the UAA but their lack of tournament accolades up until 2 years ago makes that argument very hard to accept. I would say Tufts/Messiah for best program.

[NESCAC43]

As another point, NCAC is very top heavy and OWU/Kenyon have both had incredible past 5-10 years so I felt like both the conference and teams deserved honorable mention.

[NESCAC43]

I also keep thinking about the recent Calvin teams and 2010-present Trinitity teams. So many incredible programs have been established. Great to see it makes my choice that much harder to make.

[paclassic89]

I'd be interested to hear what readers think the best conference has been over the past 5 years or past 10 years.    The same with the best program over the past 5 or 10 years.  I have my thoughts and will weigh in later but wifey is calling!!!

NESCAC probably the best conference.  Messiah has been by far the best program.  I'm not sure that's even debatable

[lastguyoffthebench]

Last 5 years
Tufts/Messiah Draw as they both have 2 national titles going back to 2013.
Runner-up - Calvin

Last 10 years
Messiah
Calvin

Best conference(s) last 5 years
NESCAC
UAA
Centennial/SUNYAC/NJAC

Best conference this year
UAA
NESCAC

[blooter442]

At first I was just inclined to respond to BF's question with a meme (any ambiguity on his preferences should be erased by the pending trademark on "Giant Slayer Goal") but I'll bite.

Last 5 years:
NESCAC
Messiah (#1)
Tufts (#1A)

I will probably catch a lot of flak for denoting Tufts 1A, but I think I've given the Jumbos enough praise on these boards over the years, so pipe down.

Last 10 years:
NESCAC
Messiah

This year (conference): If we were asking this question last year (even considering Brandeis' 2016 Final 4 appearance) I'd be hesitant to give it to the UAA, since 1. Tufts won the title the year before (3rd in a row for NESCAC) and 2. the UAA had one Final 4 appearance in 10 years at that time. However, after last year, where the UAA had two Final 4 teams and two Elite 8 teams, while the NESCAC had one Elite 8, one Sweet 16, and three 1st Round teams, I think the argument for the UAA is more credible. Still, I think the UAA has to win a title to convince some of the NESCAC folks (insert point here about Brandeis, a UAA side, winning the 1976 title, well before the UAA was established), but, based on the last 12 months and the great start that UAA teams have made this year, I'm willing to say that it appears to be the best conference this year.

As an aside, Messiah has more than twice the number of titles as all NESCAC teams combined. I don't view this as a slight to the NESCAC, but rather it speaks to the dynasty the Falcons have put together over the last 20 years. Absolutely incredible.

[PaulNewman]

At first I was just inclined to respond to BF's question with a meme (any ambiguity on his preferences should be erased by the pending trademark on "Giant Slayer Goal") but I'll bite.

Last 5 years:
NESCAC
Messiah (#1)
Tufts (#1A)

I will probably catch a lot of flak for denoting Tufts 1A, but I think I've given the Jumbos enough praise on these boards over the years, so pipe down.

Last 10 years:
NESCAC
Messiah

This year (conference): If we were asking this question last year (even considering Brandeis' 2016 Final 4 appearance) I'd be hesitant to give it to the UAA, since 1. Tufts won the title the year before (3rd in a row for NESCAC) and 2. the UAA had one Final 4 appearance in 10 years at that time. However, after last year, where the UAA had two Final 4 teams and two Elite 8 teams, while the NESCAC had one Elite 8, one Sweet 16, and three 1st Round teams, I think the argument for the UAA is more credible. Still, I think the UAA has to win a title to convince some of the NESCAC folks (insert point here about Brandeis, a UAA side, winning the 1976 title, well before the UAA was established), but, based on the last 12 months and the great start that UAA teams have made this year, I'm willing to say that it appears to be the best conference this year.

As an aside, Messiah has more than twice the number of titles as all NESCAC teams combined. I don't view this as a slight to the NESCAC, but rather it speaks to the dynasty the Falcons have put together over the last 20 years. Absolutely incredible.

LOL.  Surely the next category in the line of questions was going to be "Best Goal of Last Decade."

I too have lauded Tufts....nothing really to argue about, and I've within the past couple of weeks labeled Tufts as arguably the top program or co-equal with Messiah currently.  Hopefully we get a Messiah vs Tufts Elite 8 or Final Four game this year.  Would be compelling.

Last 10 years....Messiah in a landslide.  I might give Tufts the nod for last 5, especially if that excludes Messiah 2013.  Again, would be great to see them face off as a tiebreaker this year.

Calvin is right there, for both 5 and 10 years.  2-3 years ago, an argument could have been made for OWU.  Amherst is in the mix, as is Trinity (TX).

And what about Loras?  Calvin seems to have taken Loras' spot as #2 or #3.  And Wheaton (Ill) was right there too until plummeting in terms of high level national success.

I'd give a nod to Brandeis (a very strong run capped off by consecutive Final Four appearances)....and also honorable mention to a few schools who have had strong runs but have yet to fully break through....F&M, Kenyon, maybe Haverford.  Chicago has emerged and did break through to a Final Four.  The NJAC (maybe Montclair) hasn't has one consistent team but generally has had at least one serious threat every year (Camden, Montclair, Rowan, Newark have all had their turns).

As for conferences, my vote is NESCAC and UAA clearly the top two, followed by NJAC and SUNYAC and then Centennial.  And UAA #1 this year for sure, dependent only on how the current middle of the pack NESCAC teams finish this season.

[WUPHF]

This may have been posted elsewhere, but if not, this game-winning Widener goal is worth watching: https://twitter.com/WidenerSports/status/1047864141921374209

[rangerfan]

This may have been posted elsewhere, but if not, this game-winning Widener goal is worth watching: https://twitter.com/WidenerSports/status/1047864141921374209

Even if it was posted elsewhere, it's worth another look. Nice hit!