2022 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[Another Mom]

Live stream is not running, unfortunately,  for the W&L game.

[Another Mom]

Well, with 10 minutes left in the game, the score is 6-1 Washington and Lee.  Still no livestream, but from the stats it seems like the team is returning to last year's form.

[Another Mom]

Final score 7 -2

[PaulNewman]

Week 1 National Roundup (by region)

Region I

The NESCAC heavyweights are just getting underway today.  St Joseph's (ME), a "mid-major" media darling over the past half-decade, outshot Southern Maine 20-1 and led corners 13-1 and yet still managed to suffer a 1-0 defeat.  Adding insult to injury, St. Joe's scored the goal for Southern Maine.  Western Connecticut has raced out to a 3-0 record, taking down Vassar, Nichols, and Eastern Naz in succession.  Norwich is 1-0-1 after getting a draw and a win versus close neighbors Endicott and Gordon.  UMass-Boston has been all over the proverbial map, with a tie versus Salve Regina, a win over RPI, followed by a loss to Skidmore.

Region II

MIT failed its initial exam, dropping matches to Gordon and Endicott back-to-back to start 0-2.  Tufts on tap tonight is probably not the algorithm the Engineers were looking for.  Babson has made some noise, loud enough to bring a heyday old-timer out of his "long-time, first-time" shell.  At 2-0 with a good win over Rutgers-Newark the Beavers need all the momentum they can get as the schedule awaiting could turn into a horror flick.  Coast Guard and Salem St are 2-0 as well.  The aforementioned Endicott stands at 1-0-1 after the draw with Norwich and the MIT victory.  Brandeis is on the hunt to recapture recent glory and a 1-0-1 beginning seems promising, spanking Western New England 4-0 and earning a scoreless result with emergent Denison.

Region III

Almost every year some of us predict that Rochester will not get a NCAA bid but they always do.  The Yellow Jackets smacked the much ballyhooed Cortland St 3-1 before handling visiting Mt Union.  Rochester, along with Calvin and Messiah, is one of my teams of the week.  Speaking of Cortland, Swarthmore paid the price for Cortland's setback, getting run off their own pitch 4-0.  The Red Dragons sit at 2-1 after also smoking Widener.  It's too early to say much about Oneonta with only a win over Alfred on the ledger.  Excitement is brewing in Canton, NY near the Canadian border as very proud SLU tries to muscle its way back on to the main stage.  A 1-0-1 record out of the gate is just enough to keep hope alive.  Buffalo St also is 1-0-1, including a draw with SLU, as is the very artistic Skidmore following a tie with WPI and win over UMass-Boston.  Vassar and Ithaca have limped to 1-1 and 0-1-1 records.  RPI had what seemed like a promising away draw with Montclair St only to falter at home with a loss to UMass-Boston.  Hyped RIT settled for a pair of draws...to Brockport St and Marietta.

Region IV

And now the highly acclaimed miniseries that is Region IV.  The Kean Cougars, defending NJAC tourney champs, are on fire, skewering Centenary and Brooklyn.  Kean is not to be overlooked as they search for the time machine to take them back to national title glory days.  Just a handful of tickets still available for the 9/7 date with F&M.  Misericordia also is 2-0 after dispatching Susquehanna and Ramapo.  Watch out for Manhattanville, Skyline fave, who drew with Stevens before an obligatory thrashing of Medgar Evers.  Stockton is 2-1 after sandwiching wins over Ursinus and Ithaca with a loss to Roanoke.  The big story in Region IV is the seemingly disinterested effort by D1-laden Montclair St ...a tie with RPI, slim win over Oswego St, and a draw with Catholic.  Chief Montclair rival, Rowan, has been active, losing a tight one at Hopkins and gaining a win and draw in San Antonio versus Southwestern and Trinity.  The Trinity game may have been the game of the season thus far, a thrilling affair that concluded 3-3.  Other notables are NYU, Stevens, and Lycoming at 1-0-1, and Rutgers-Newark at 1-1.  Eastern slipped to 0-2.

Region V

Messiah is still King.  Get into the water (or rather air) with the Falcons at your own risk.  The Lynchburg match big picture is meaningless.  The victory over W&L was not meaningless...and it was comprehensive.  Check back in a couple of months when Messiah is something like 17-0-1 heading into the NCAA tourney and the biggest worry will be whether the men or women get to play at Shoemaker.  Hopkins got a major win at home versus a very good Rowan team but then settled for a tie with pesky Lycoming.  Perennial front-runner F&M beat Leb Valley but spit the bit against Stevens in a shellacking.  Drew is 3-0 with the best win against New Paltz St.  Gettysburg and York are out to 2-0 starts, and Catholic is 1-0-1 after the draw with Montclair.  Swarthmore clamored for attention with two early wins before hosting a ticked off Cortland, recoiling to 2-1.  Elizabethtown rebounded from a loss to York with two victories over so-so opponents.  As for last year's new star, Washington College, nothing much to report other than a less than impressive tie with downtrodden Salisbury.

[PaulNewman]

Week 1 (continued)

Region VI

Spoiler alert.  The story here is gonna be W&L, Christopher Newport, and maybe Emory.  Lynchburg should have a good season and provide important competition to W&L for at least a couple of games, but I don't see the Hornets being more than a round of 32 or maybe Sweet 16 squad.  In hindsight, we should have known the Messiah match for W&L was a bit of a set-up...keeping the Falcons from last year's Final Four and then they see one another on opening day.  The Generals likely still had a hangover at Maryville but feasted today against another inferior opponent.  All eyes will be on the CNU game in October.  Mary Washington could be in the mix and opened up 2-0 (before dropping a close one to Hopkins today).  Virginia Wesleyan has trotted to a 2-0 campaign, Covenant is 1-0-1 after a draw with Emory and win over Oglethorpe.  Roanoke also is 1-0-1.  Centre is a paltry 0-2 while Salisbury slumped to 0-2-1.

Region VII

I covered this one elsewhere. 

Region VIII

Four words....Calvin, Chicago, North Park.  All three major national title contenders.  We'll see about Wash U as we move along.  And we'll keep tabs on North Central and Carthage.
Kalamazoo has had a rough go thus far but often is a sleeper, and then there are Hope and Wheaton (Ill).

Region IX

I'm still expecting a lot from St Olaf despite dropping an away match to Wartburg.  Speaking of Wartburg, the Knights are 1-0-1 after a draw with always solid GAC and the win over St. Olaf.  D3 is better when at least one or two of the Iowa teams are good.  Loras doesn't quite look like the Loras of the late 2000s and early 2010s, but 2-0 is 2-0 and the win over OWU could be prominent at tourney selection time.  GAC is 2-0-1, as are Dubuque and Luther.  The Johnnies of St John's are 1-0-1 after a successful trip out West with a tie versus Cal Lutheran and win over UC Santa Cruz.

Region X

I like this Trinity (TX) team...a lot...although I hope they don't rely on winning shootouts every time they have a strong opponent.  The Rowan game was my first time playing close attention to Meese...he looks like a Special Ops Navy Seal.  Redlands left Michigan with probably a little less than they deserved at 0-1-1.  They led Calvin three times and allowed Hope to level with under 30 secs left.  The experience should still do the Bulldogs good.  I'm expecting another Texas outfit to distinguish itself...like St Thomas (TX), Concordia (TX), and/or Texas-Dallas.  And on the West Coast hopefully C-M-S can get their feet under them, and look out for Pac Lutheran, Cal Lutheran, Willamette, and Puget Sound.  Colorado College has disappointed at 0-2-1.

[Gregory Sager]

Nice update, PN!

[PaulNewman]

Nice update, PN!

Thank you, my friend.

[PaulNewman]

I watched about 25 minutes of the 1st half of North Park @ St. Norbert.  Actually was very impressed with St. Norbert and how they moved the ball around.  For the stretch I watched they were playing mostly in NPU's final third, got good chance after good chance, and should have scored a couple. When they couldn't get one in the net I said to myself "they're gonna end up losing this one 4-0."  Which they did.  My main point here, though, is that I was super impressed with NPU soph GK, Alfred Sward.  Listed at 5'10 St Norbert just could not get anything past him.  Very athletic with outstanding anticipation.

I was reminded of Calvin GK star circa 2015, Niko Giantsopoulos.  Speaking of guys who could have played played some D1....

https://canpl.ca/article/an-experience-ill-never-forget-yorks-niko-giantsopoulos-reflects-on-whirlwind-weekend

https://calvin.prestosports.com/sports/msoc/2021-22/releases/20220521fsu2o0

[Gregory Sager]

I watched about 25 minutes of the 1st half of North Park @ St. Norbert.  Actually was very impressed with St. Norbert and how they moved the ball around.  For the stretch I watched they were playing mostly in NPU's final third, got good chance after good chance, and should have scored a couple. When they couldn't get one in the net I said to myself "they're gonna end up losing this one 4-0."  Which they did.  My main point here, though, is that I was super impressed with NPU soph GK, Alfred Sward.  Listed at 5'10 St Norbert just could not get anything past him.  Very athletic with outstanding anticipation.

Alfie has definitely improved from last season. Nothing like a full season in the net to sharpen the iron of a freshman GK, especially against the schedule that North Park played up to and including the Elite Eight contest at Chicago. But he's apparently worked just as hard in the off-season to maintain his upward trajectory.

You missed some pretty goals after you turned off the game in De Pere last night. NPU woke up from its slumber in the second half, and the Vikings kept the ball at their feet for nearly the entire 45 minutes, with three of the four goals the result of sustained pressure in which the ball barely got back at all to North Park's defensive half of the pitch for several minutes prior to the goal. (The fourth was set up by a terrific goal kick from Alfie Swärd.)

St. Norbert is not spectacular, but it's a team of smart grinder types. The Green Knights forged a tie with Luther last week, and they are picked to finish second in the NACC behind perennial stalwart Dominican. I see the Green Knights ending the regular season about 12-6-1 or so, which means last night should prove to be a useful win for NPU for strength of schedule purposes.

[PaulNewman]

Does anyone have any intel on why Averett would be playing Davidson today?  Might make a little more sense as a preseason scrimmage or exhibition.  And while certainly very drivable it's not like they are really close to one another.

[Kuiper]

Does anyone have any intel on why Averett would be playing Davidson today?  Might make a little more sense as a preseason scrimmage or exhibition.  And while certainly very drivable it's not like they are really close to one another.

Maybe Davidson wanted to add an "easier" team to its schedule and Averett had open dates because of the conference transition?  Davidson is using the game as its Senior Night.

[PaulNewman]

Does anyone have any intel on why Averett would be playing Davidson today?  Might make a little more sense as a preseason scrimmage or exhibition.  And while certainly very drivable it's not like they are really close to one another.

Maybe Davidson wanted to add an "easier" team to its schedule and Averett had open dates because of the conference transition?  Davidson is using the game as its Senior Night.

I guess.  I'm not sure what beating Averett 10-0 does for Davidson...unless just an opportunity to play everyone who usually doesn't play.  Still, there would be better choices.  W&L for instance would be far more interesting on multiple levels.

[PaulNewman]

And you can watch Averett @ Davidson on ESPN+!!!!

[PaulNewman]

Massive weekend of D3 soccer starting tonight.

St Olaf @ North Park is the main attraction tonight, followed by Carthage @ Messiah.  Also got my eye on OWU with Hope tonight and Calvin tomorrow night.  Out West I'm curious about Concordia (TX) @ Texas Lutheran, Cal Lutheran @ Pac Lutheran, and C-M-S @ Willamette.

Tomorrow of course brings us the huge two NESCAC battles, but also a slew of other great ones...the aforementioned Calvin @ OWU, Cortland @ Hopkins, Montclair @ Redlands, SLU @ Oneonta.  Some other really outstanding and potentially key games include New Paltz @ NYU, Otterbein @ CWRU, Mary Wash @ Emory, CMU @ JCU, F&M @ Etown, RPI @ Plattsburgh, Vassar @ Stevens, Rowan @ Skidmore (and Rowan really needs a win as their schedule gauntlet continues), Wheaton (Ill) @ Dominican, Babson @ Brandeis, Colby @ Wesleyan, Lycoming @ Haverford, Norwich @ St Joe's, WPI @ Endicott, North Central @ Rose Hulman, Bowdoin @ Bates, Whitman @ Rutgers-Camden, Whitworth @ Covenant, KZoo @ Wilmington, and Gettysburg @ Catholic.

And then Sunday yields St Olaf @ Chicago, Emory @ Hopkins, Williams @ Babson, Rowan @ Lycoming, Trinity (TX) @ Texas-Dallas, Kenyon @ Centre, Skidmore @ Haverford, Mary Wash @ Cortland, Rutgers-Newark @ St Mary's, Loras @ GAC, Macalester @ Luther, St John's @ UWW, Whitworth @ Oglethorpe, Hobart @ Oneonta, C-M-S @ Pac Lutheran.

[Kuiper]

Massive weekend of D3 soccer starting tonight.

St Olaf @ North Park is the main attraction tonight, followed by Carthage @ Messiah.  Also got my eye on OWU with Hope tonight and Calvin tomorrow night.  Out West I'm curious about Concordia (TX) @ Texas Lutheran, Cal Lutheran @ Pac Lutheran, and C-M-S @ Willamette.

Tomorrow of course brings us the huge two NESCAC battles, but also a slew of other great ones...the aforementioned Calvin @ OWU, Cortland @ Hopkins, Montclair @ Redlands, SLU @ Oneonta.  Some other really outstanding and potentially key games include New Paltz @ NYU, Otterbein @ CWRU, Mary Wash @ Emory, CMU @ JCU, F&M @ Etown, RPI @ Plattsburgh, Vassar @ Stevens, Rowan @ Skidmore (and Rowan really needs a win as their schedule gauntlet continues), Wheaton (Ill) @ Dominican, Babson @ Brandeis, Colby @ Wesleyan, Lycoming @ Haverford, Norwich @ St Joe's, WPI @ Endicott, North Central @ Rose Hulman, Bowdoin @ Bates, Whitman @ Rutgers-Camden, Whitworth @ Covenant, KZoo @ Wilmington, and Gettysburg @ Catholic.

And then Sunday yields St Olaf @ Chicago, Emory @ Hopkins, Williams @ Babson, Rowan @ Lycoming, Trinity (TX) @ Texas-Dallas, Kenyon @ Centre, Skidmore @ Haverford, Mary Wash @ Cortland, Rutgers-Newark @ St Mary's, Loras @ GAC, Macalester @ Luther, St John's @ UWW, Whitworth @ Oglethorpe, Hobart @ Oneonta, C-M-S @ Pac Lutheran.

Speaking of Montclair State, they only beat La Verne 1-0 last night.  La Verne was 3-13-1 last year and 1-11 in conference.  It's 0-3-1 thus far this year and has only scored 1 goal in 4 games.  Maybe Montclair State was still suffering from jet lag, but they're going to really have to step things up against Redlands, which will be eager to get things back on track after a Michigan trip where they lost 4-3 to Calvin and tied Hope 1-1.