2021 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[PaulNewman]

OK, let's do this...thankful for a very long-awaited new season of exhilaration and agony.

[PaulNewman]

Not sure Massey works especially this early in the season for picking top matches, and perhaps no system would be effective now two years removed from a full, real season.

My picks to check out for Weds thru Sunday (9/1/21-9/5/21)

Weds

Rowan vs Hopkins
Cortland vs Rochester
JCU vs Kenyon
Rutgers-Newark vs Stevens

Sleepers -- Carleton vs Whitworth, Loras vs St. Norbert, Redlands vs Chapman, Kzoo vs Chicago, GAC vs Wartburg, Marietta vs CWRU, Denison vs Mt. Union, Greensboro vs Roanoke

Friday

OWU vs Hope
W&L vs Emory

Sleepers -- Ohio Northern vs Calvin, Chicago vs Wabash, Occidental vs Trinity (TX), St Joe's vs Endicott

Saturday

OWU vs Calvin
Hobart vs Brandeis
Stevens vs Cortland
RPI vs Oneonta
Haverford vs Lycoming
NYU vs Rutgers-Camden


Sleepers -- Roanoke vs Salisbury, Oglethorpe vs W&L, GAC vs Colorado Coll, Luther vs Macalester, ECSU vs F&M, Rose Hulman vs Wash U, Mt Union vs CMU, NC Wesleyan vs Hopkins

Sunday

Rochester vs JCU
Gettysburg vs Christopher Newport
Babson vs Swarthmore
St Mary's vs Roanoke

Sleepers -- Lynchburg vs Greensboro, NC Wesleyan vs Mary Washington, Kenyon vs Transy, Emory vs Oglethorpe, St Norbert vs Carthage, NYU vs Stockton, Stevens vs Ithaca

[Flying Weasel]

FYI: Today's Rowan vs. Hopkins and Rutgers-Newark vs. Stevens games have been cancelled due to the rain from remnants of Hurricane Ida.  After missing a year, how disappointing to have dozens of season openers cancelled.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

FYI: Today's Rowan vs. Hopkins and Rutgers-Newark vs. Stevens games have been cancelled due to the rain from remnants of Hurricane Ida.  After missing a year, how disappointing to have dozens of season openers cancelled.

Many games on the east coast have been cancelled or postponed from what I can see. Do we have any games this evening elsewhere that are worth a watch? West Coast matches? Mid-West matches?

[Ejay]

I think Montclair State is poised for a big year.  They return 10 starters and had a very good recruiting class including HS All-American Amer Lukovic who was originally committed to D1 Rutgers, and Donovan Davis a D1 transfer from Elon, They won their first game today 6-1, but it was against a weak Centenary team so take it with a grain of salt.

[oacalum]

I've been following this site since my college career a few years ago and have always followed soccer pretty extensively so I figured I'd get involved a little bit.

I traveled to Kenyon last night to watch their matchup vs JCU. Not too many offensive chances on either end other than the goals and was pretty much a game about defense. I except both teams to have pretty successful years based on the level of play of the game I saw last night.

[PaulNewman]

Video seemed clearer than usual but further away and no sound/play-by-play so impressions may be unreliable.

Biggest takeaway is that this was a very good win for JCU and could be quite valuable later in the season.  Very business-like, mature performance for very experienced squad with 17 seniors (10 4th years and 7 5th years). Once JCU withstood the initial wave of Kenyon pressure unscathed and then scored kind of against the run of play, JCU looked more in control while Kenyon looked increasingly frustrated and frenetic.  Familiar scenario for Kenyon...exert intense energy and pressure early only to find themselves down 1-0 and then chasing the game against a Sweet 16, Elite 8 very strong, balanced type of opponent. Plus JCU has Turrittin, likely one of the top 5-10 players in D3.  If JCU is ever gonna make a Final Four this could be the year.  Super schedule too with Rochester, CMU, CWRU, OWU and Chicago all to come.

Disappointing loss for Kenyon.  No shame in losing to an excellent, experienced side like JCU, but definitely a reality check.  Lords did not look composed, perhaps partly due to playing a large number of frosh and sophs major minutes.  A good team should just rope-a-dope against Kenyon's early energy, wait for frustration and fatigue, and then exploit pretty straightforward opportunities on the counter.  That's basically what happened, with JCU aided by Kenyon also coughing up the ball in bad spots with very avoidable unforced errors.  Kenyon was missing their own All-American and 5th year CB, Hosmer-Quint, and they will sorely miss him if he is out for extended time.  Don't know the backstory, but Kenyon's other truly superb defender from 2019, Chayne Bruneau, is no longer there and apparently transferred to Springfield College much closer to his CT home.  Major loss as he was phenomenal as a freshmen.

Bottom line....Perfect start for JCU with a statement win right out of the gate on the road.  Kenyon is going to take longer that I expected to settle into a lineup and substitution pattern, especially if the plan is for at least a handful of underclassmen to enjoy significant roles.  Should evolve into a formidable team but perhaps with a lower ceiling than anticipated.

[NokeAlum15]

Roanoke 1 Gboro 0

Caught the 2nd half of this one.  Seemed pretty evenly matched in terms or possession, I'd have to give the edge to Noke (I swear, no bias) in terms of offensive chances.  They were much more dangerous in the final 3rd.

Noke is pretty upper classmen heavy this year and added a few international players.  Admittedly, I pulled up the roster for the first time this morning, so I'll be able to give better player analysis going forward.

Tough match for Noke this weekend in Maryland vs Salisbury.

[fishercats]

Watched a bit of the Chicago-Kalamazoo game. Commentary and broadcast was good, but sometimes the camera operators try to zoom in too close to the play, and the viewer can't see what is happening on the field.

Chicago had the edge statistically and probably deserved the win. But Kalamazoo seem like it may continue its run of 1 goal type games with their solid defense. https://hornets.kzoo.edu/sports/msoc/2021-22/releases/20210901wj59kg.

The one goal was scored on a quirky pass back to the keeper. There was a 50:50 ball near midfield that the Kzoo player kicked in the direction of the keeper. The ball looped over a central defender and bounced to the keeper who played it off his chest and the ball hit the keepers arm, all within the box. The referee called it a pass back and awarded an indirect kick just inside the box. Chicago scored with a shot around the wall.

As a ref, I am not sure I would have called it a pass back. If the keeper had just come out with confidence and grabbed the ball, it probably would have been ok. However, the keeper played it like he thought it was a pass back, and that response probably influenced the referees decision. Oh well.

[Falconer]

Messiah and Mary Hardin-Baylor scoreless at the half. Both teams are playing hard with intelligence, but a lot of rust is being shaken out. MHB leads 7-5 in SOG, while the Falcons have all 4 corners and have made heavy use of their bench. The best athlete might be on MHB, but I think this one will come down to who makes fewer errors. Neither keeper has been severely tested. The best shot (from MHB) was a rocket just over the bar from maybe 35 yards out. The highlight so far is a sighting of the F&M coach saying hello to his alma mater: they play MHB next, I hear.

[Falconer]

Heading for OT in Grantham, nil-nil. Messiah with the advantage most of the second half, which could have ended 1-1 or 2-1, as both teams dodged bullets. Missing tonight for the Falcons are the dangerous Kokolios and the speedy Daniels: probably both would have started. A very experienced team nonetheless. The SO (but in essence FR) defender Morlote is impressive on both ends.

[Falconer]

Falcons win in 2 OT, 1-0, on a textbook header by DMF Reid Ruarke on a corner. When the highlights are posted, be sure to see this one. Glad to see that Ruarke scored it. He badly injured an ankle in the 2019 tournament, missing the final game where his savvy would certainly have helped. This must be gratifying to him, especially since I didn't see him in the starting lineup (perhaps I was just sitting too far away).

MH-B is gutsy and good. They played Messiah straight up and could have won it with a little luck. It's typical for the Falcons to start the season a little sluggish, without COVID in the mix. Tonight was exactly the barn burner they needed to get going. More tough opponents are coming soon.

[Ejay]

The SO (but in essence FR) defender Morlote is impressive on both ends.

Seen/played against Morlote a few times in club/HS.  Was a great CM. Is he playing outside back still - I think that's where he played in the few games last year? If so, that move reminds me of Shay Quintin.

[Falconer]

The SO (but in essence FR) defender Morlote is impressive on both ends.

Seen/played against Morlote a few times in club/HS.  Was a great CM. Is he playing outside back still - I think that's where he played in the few games last year? If so, that move reminds me of Shay Quintin.

Yes, he's playing right outside back. Interesting comparison to Quintin. Physically of course there is no comparison—Quintin a smaller man, perhaps faster and probably quicker. Quintin could have played almost anywhere. IMO, Quintin was one of the 3 best players on the 2019 team (his last season), and the single best player on the field in the NCAA regional games in 2017 that sent Messiah to the final four. He individually negated Rochester's efforts to use his side of the field. Their fans pretty much said so at halftime (I talked with several), and they were correct. A lot of guys from around the nation who've quite properly drawn attention here, including a few AAs from his years, were not IMO better players than Quintin.

[Ron Boerger]

Outside the national conversation so far, but Trinity (TX) improved to 4-0 with a 1-0 victory against UT-Dallas this afternoon despite playing a man down the last 70'.  They've found themselves a gem in Michael Meese, a first-year transfer from William & Mary whose game-winner in the 51st minute today was his fourth goal in as many games to go with a pair of assists.  Have no idea how he ended up at Trinity - started 5 of 6 games W&M played in the spring season and averaged nearly 70 minutes a game, both parents W&M grads, Virginia Gatorade PoTY his senior year of high school (2020).