2021 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[PaulNewman]

Otterbein has got to be one of the most underrated, under the radar unbeaten teams in a long time (other than teams in very weak conferences that run up strong records).

Maybe there is something to the coaching thing...Bianco at CWRU and now Denison, Wall at St Olaf, and Jason Griffiths at Otterbein, to name three.

Speaking of 33 year olds.....

Jason Griffiths enters his fifth season as head coach of the Otterbein men's soccer program in the fall of 2021.

Griffiths, 33, emerged from a pool of over 100 applicants and immediately resurrected the Cardinal program later that fall. He guided Otterbein to a 19-3 record, including a 17-match winning streak to go undefeated in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) to claim both the regular-season and tournament titles. It was the program's first OAC trophy since 2003.

Griffiths earned OAC Coach of the Year honors as a result of his stellar inaugural year at the helm, where the Cards won NCAA first and second-round matches on their home field before dropping a Sweet 16 contest in Chicago. The group finished ranked No. 11 in the national poll and saw senior defender Jaden Lunger attract third team All-American honors.

His Cardinals earned a home game in the 2018 OAC Tournament, and then bounced back nicely in the fall of 2019 with a run to the OAC Tournament Championship at top seed John Carroll. The nationally-ranked Blue Streaks held off Otterbein, 1-0, for the second time that season. The Cardinals ultimately received a league-best eight All-OAC selections.

Griffiths joined Otterbein after three-plus years as a Senior Director of Coaching at Classics Eagles Soccer Club in Columbus, where he managed 30 coaches and teams, implemented year-round training sessions for all age groups, coached "elite teams" at regional/national events and spearheaded travel, presentation and summer camp responsibilities. He also served as an assistant coach for Otterbein from 2013-15, specializing in training and recruiting.

A native of Bracknell, England, Griffiths was a two-time all-conference and all-region selection at the University of Kentucky before being chosen by the New England Revolution with the 48th pick in the 2010 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. He played one professional season before suffering a tough injury and retiring.

In addition to his experience at Classics Eagles, Griffiths briefly served as an assistant at Kentucky before moving to Ohio and beginning local stints with Locker Soccer Academy and Individual Fitness Solutions.

Griffiths holds a United States Soccer Federation National "B" License along with his NSCAA level two goalkeeping certification.

He and his wife, Tara, who served as a graduate assistant for the Otterbein women's program in 2009 and 2010, currently reside in Dublin with their young sons, Blake and Jaxson.

[SimpleCoach]

Otterbein look very organized in a 4-4-2 and a good team especially on its turf.

Especially after they scored, almost like a different team at that point.

[PaulNewman]

Prediction....Calvin, Oneonta, and Rochester all get Pool Cs especially if UR gets a result this weekend.  New Paltz is finished.  ONU is almost certainly finished.

I'd hate to be on a cmte trying to deciding the final ranking (and a bid) among 2-3 of the NEWMAC and Centennial teams.  The overall profiles are so close.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Rutgers-Newark as well.  And Wesleyan, Vassar, and GAC.  I think Denison probably falls just below those profiles if the lose Saturday, but they have picked up 2 ranked wins they didn't have 2 days ago.

[Hopkins92]

John Carroll plays with PURPOSE. I like this squad (hate the field, sorry/not sorry.)

[Hopkins92]

Um. Nice camera work JCU. Jeez.

Sorry. Capital with the opener, totally against the run of play. Camera had a weird moment and floated away from the play, so I'm not really sure what happened

[Hopkins92]

Blue Streaks is a weird mascot. Like.. Smurfs with diarrhea?

[PaulNewman]

Um. Nice camera work JCU. Jeez.

Sorry. Capital with the opener, totally against the run of play. Camera had a weird moment and floated away from the play, so I'm not really sure what happened

I wasn't watching then but at least the picture quality is very good...about the best I've seen for one of these football fields.

[PaulNewman]

The LEC is to the NJAC as the NESCAC is to the IVY.

[Mr.Right]

Babson at MIT for the NEWMAC Final on Saturday. PN is correct as WPI,MIT and Babson all have similar profiles. Coast Guard is finished even though they have a decent resume as well. I thought Babson looked more athletic and skilled v Springfield. Based on what I saw of MIT last night I would expect Babson to advance. WPI has the strongest profile IMO and they are a Last 4 In / First 4 out team.

There are a TON of Last 4 in / First 4 out teams across the country with similar profiles.

Midd
Wesleyan
WPI
Babson / MIT loser
Vassar
Oneonta
UR
Rowan
Hopkins
Swat
Calvin
Hope
GAC
M-H-B
Washington College----This is the turnaround story of the year IMO. Are they not usually in the Centennial basement?

[Hopkins92]

Washington has certainly struggled over the years, especially in the 2000s. They seemed to have turned some kind of corner the last 10 years, as they are not a team you can take lightly, usually finishing a few games above or below .500 for a number of years now.

But, yes, like Ursinus, Washington is having one of their better years in quite some time in the Centennial.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Washington has certainly struggled over the years, especially in the 2000s. They seemed to have turned some kind of corner the last 10 years, as they are not a team you can take lightly, usually finishing a few games above or below .500 for a number of years now.

But, yes, like Ursinus, Washington is having one of their better years in quite some time in the Centennial.

I've seen both teams this year ... Washington is pretty good, but ... I wasn't blown away by them. Ursinus was okay, but can't maintain their composure and their defense seemed suspect.

[Hopkins92]

Washington has certainly struggled over the years, especially in the 2000s. They seemed to have turned some kind of corner the last 10 years, as they are not a team you can take lightly, usually finishing a few games above or below .500 for a number of years now.

But, yes, like Ursinus, Washington is having one of their better years in quite some time in the Centennial.

I've seen both teams this year ... Washington is pretty good, but ... I wasn't blown away by them. Ursinus was okay, but can't maintain their composure and their defense seemed suspect.

And as I suspected... Current HC Dunshee has been there 9 seasons, which lines up almost exactly with when they turned into a more competitive unit.

[Hopkins92]

Headed to OT down in Fredericksburg in the C2C semis: Chris. Newport 1:1 UCSB

Second semi is UW-White(something) against hosts Mary Washington.

I know it's been brought up recently, but I hadn't really paid attention. Coast 2 Coast is a very "interesting" situation. And looking at the history and iterations of the league and teams involved, what a long strange trip it's been.

D3 cracks me up. The Captains vs. The Banana Slugs.

Captains take the win in the 97th minute with what I have to imagine was a garbage goal. The production is pretty ok, really good PbP but the camera angle and... Most importantly the camera tracking is subpar. Missed both CNU goals because the camera didn't pan over.

/first world probs.

[deiscanton]

Headed to OT down in Fredericksburg in the C2C semis: Chris. Newport 1:1 UCSB

Second semi is UW-White(something) against hosts Mary Washington.

I know it's been brought up recently, but I hadn't really paid attention. Coast 2 Coast is a very "interesting" situation. And looking at the history and iterations of the league and teams involved, what a long strange trip it's been.

D3 cracks me up. The Captains vs. The Banana Slugs.

Captains take the win in the 97th minute with what I have to imagine was a garbage goal. The production is pretty ok, really good PbP but the camera angle and... Most importantly the camera tracking is subpar. Missed both CNU goals because the camera didn't pan over.

/first world probs.

UW-Whitewater Warhawks vs Mary Washington Eagles, BTW.  You just asked why UW-Whitewater is ranked in Region VI in men's soccer, remember?   

Winner gets the CNU Captains tomorrow.

I am watching the second semifinal.  Warhawks still up 1-0 over the Eagles in the 36th minute.  UW-Whitewater scored the goal in the 4th minute-- Goal was scored by Jalen Holley, assist by Steven Wright.

2:43 PM Eastern update-- Mary Washington has scored the equalizer in the 41st minute to tie the match at 1 goal a piece.  The equalizer was scored by 5th year senior Jeremy Hokenson, assist by Kevin Sprince.

2 yellow cards have just been awarded in the 43rd minute-- one to each team.

[Hopkins92]

WW goal came off of a simple header on the near post on a corner.
MW goal also came off a corner, as the goalie parried to the back of the 6 yard box, MW player drilled a shot into the mixer and it was deflected far post.

This has been a scrappy game, but with a decent amount of quality on both sides.

The Wisky keeper has a pretty bad habit of dropping/knocking the ball to the turf on almost any shot with moderate pace. It's going to cost him.

We're deep into OT1... MaryWash clunked one off the crossbar, thought it was game over.

I know it's the nature of the beast, but these two teams have completely stopped playing soccer. Literally just lumping the ball upfield and praying. (6 mins left in OT2)

And, BALLGAME... Mary Washington to play CNU in Sat's C2C final. Nice lofted pass over the UWW backline and then slung home off a half-volley from about 8 yards out.

(Seemed like the just result.)