2022 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[Another Mom]

I believe Michael was serving his suspension for the red card he got last season.

[4231CenterBack]

Kutsanzira was serving his red card suspension from last year's final four match.

[blooter442]

Looks like Cortland has three more D1 transfers this year in the starting lineup.  5 total.

Nothing says D3 is (almost) as good as D1 more than a team full of D1 transfers playing for a D3....or something.

With the pro game continuing to slowly wean itself off of heavily relying on the college ranks I think this is becoming more true.  D1 soccer only has 9.5 scholarships as it is, so the majority of the D1 player pool are not on scholarship.  As it is an upper half D3 player is not that far away from a D1 walk on in terms of quality.

Apples and oranges, but I've long held that the gap between D3 and D1 soccer is smaller than D3 and D1 football. Many top D3 players likely had offers to go D1 but chose D3 for one or more of academics, playing time, better coach fit, etc. Put it this way, I would be far less surprised to see D3 players in the MLS than the NFL, although we also must be realistic about being a mid-tier global league in a country where the game is up-and-coming vs. the top league in the only country where the game is played with any kind of fervor (not counting the London Sillinannies).

If we're looking at last year's champions in the two levels of the two sports, I would give Conn. College a better chance of being competitive with Clemson than Mary Hardin-Baylor hanging with Georgia on a given day.

Some of that is likely due to soccer's random and low-scoring nature (NYT: the better team wins 50% of the time in soccer, 60% in baseball, and 66% in football/basketball), and CC might pick up a draw or even win the odd game, but the latter simply has more squad depth and athleticism and (I would assume) will win more times than not. Still, it would appear to be more of a contest than if M H-B showed up and played Georgia.

[Flying Weasel]

I believe Michael was serving his suspension for the red card he got last season.

Kutsanzira was serving his red card suspension from last year's final four match.

Ahh, that's right.  Forgot about that.  Thanks.

W&L had a lot more turnover since last season than Messiah, and you add to that Kutsanzira not being available (and the revenge factor), and it's not surprising that Messiah played significantly better on opening day.

[jknezek]

I believe Michael was serving his suspension for the red card he got last season.

Kutsanzira was serving his red card suspension from last year's final four match.

Ahh, that's right.  Forgot about that.  Thanks.

W&L had a lot more turnover since last season than Messiah, and you add to that Kutsanzira not being available (and the revenge factor), and it's not surprising that Messiah played significantly better on opening day.

Yeah. Not really the start the Generals were looking for. But it's a long season, and maybe getting monkey stomped at the beginning will provide some motivation.

[SimpleCoach]

Is there anywhere I can watch it?  Or does W&J not save recorded games??? Which seems to be the case.

SC.

[BigSoccerFan]

Messiah looked good yesterday

[Falconer]

Messiah looked good yesterday

Yes, they did. Based on a long history of slow starts to the season, in which very good teams (especially) tend to send the Falcons an early message, I didn't expect the game to be the breeze it frankly was. I thought it would be a one-goal game, either way, and was pretty anxious until the Falcons got a 3-goal lead.

Big factors played into this, of course. W & L played without several of their best players last fall, some of whom have graduated while others are no longer on the roster (Adrian Zimmerman, who was scorching hot in November) or had to sit this one out for an injury or a red card. At the same time, the Falcons' youngest starters were juniors (though they had their FR seasons wiped out to COVID) and several were 5-year players; and, their best player (Groothoff) was healthy enough last night to show why his absence for the whole tournament last year might have prevented the Falcons from another Final Four berth. And, his replacement for the tournament, Luke Brautigam, was also healthier than he was in the tournament, when he was obviously playing hurt. I know Groothoff had surgery in the off season, and I think Brautigam also did. Overall, the Falcons lost 3 starters from last year's game to graduation, one of whom (Trevor Goodling) was a third team AA and one of the best players in their system in his last two seasons. But, highly experienced players replaced all 3. Last year's team was exceptionally deep.

So--l doubt last night's results are indicative of very much, relative to W & L, but they do suggest that Messiah simply reloaded, as they used to do in the dynasty years.

[Another Mom]

Well, I hope the results were not indicative for W&L, but Messiah was clearly better on pretty much every front. It is true that some key players were not playing, but I think even with them Messiah would have won. W&L play again on Sunday; will be interesting to see what changes.

Also, W&L does not post game videos. You have to watch the livestream live, or miss it.

[SimpleCoach]

Well, I hope the results were not indicative for W&L, but Messiah was clearly better on pretty much every front. It is true that some key players were not playing, but I think even with them Messiah would have won. W&L play again on Sunday; will be interesting to see what changes.

Also, W&L does not post game videos. You have to watch the livestream live, or miss it.

@Another Mom.  I fully expect you to scold Washington & Lee for making my life much more difficult to manage.

Thanks Mom.

SC.

[4231CenterBack]

W&L does have quite a few home matches available on-demand from last year including the NCAA matches.

https://generalssports.com/sports/2019/10/14/washington-and-lee-all-access.aspx

[PaulNewman]

And for later today....

5:00 -- Eastern-Christopher Newport

6:00 -- Dubuque-Knox (any day you get to write the words 'Prairie Fire' it's a good day)

7:00 -- Denison-Springfield (OWU alum vs OWU alum...Springfield with Chayne Bruneau, ex-Kenyon defender...and atypical NCAC vs New England battle)

7:00 -- Redlands-Calvin (I'm getting W&L vs Messiah vibes here so look for possible blowout...hopefully not as on paper the game of the day)

7:00 -- CWRU-OWU (not sure what to expect from CWRU)

7:00 -- Convenant-Emory (0-0 draw to open up last season and no doubt Emory still smarting from quick NCAA tourney exit)

7:00 -- Hardin-Simmons-Hope (for Hope the beginning of post-Brandt era)

7:00 -- Loras-Capital


Very curious to see Denison @ Brandeis on Sunday...the Judges blew out Western New England yesterday and after a subpar 2021 Brandeis may be a squad being overlooked.  Will be very surprised if Denison can get a result but just the kind of game an emerging program wants to show well in.

[PaulNewman]

And where the heck is @Ommadawn??

He (or she) didn't post often, but when he did, he preferred Dos Equis...and consistently knocked posts out of the park while nary picking up a crumb of negative karma.

[PaulNewman]

Christopher Newport has one of the nicest D3 complexes in the country.  Field looks great. 

[Dark Knight]

There are a number of teams that would be great to get a preview on for those who know.  Calvin comes to mind...a typical Calvin team this year or down just a little? 

Calvin (ending up at #9 last year) had 4 seniors starters on the team last year, including the team leading scorer and central defender, both All-Americans. Senior starters accounted for 39% of goals scored.

Rumor has it that Calvin has a strong recruiting class, including 3 D1 transfers. Of course, it remains to be seen whether coach can form these players into a coherent team by August 30...

Kadin Shaban, who played at Michigan State last year, is on the roster, as is Colin Iverson, who was a starting defender at Carthage.  I believe those are the only 2 new players on the roster who transferred in.

Also # 8 Josh Williams, a transfer from Western Michigan University.

Crazy, scrappy, inelegant game so far against Redlands—lots of work to do. But four of Calvin's starters are new to the program as of a couple weeks ago, so it's not too surprising.