2022 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[Hopkins Walk-On]

I tried to watch the Emory game, but the weather was just making it a mess.  Have to ask, how is it that Hopkins has drainage issues on that field?  That was the last thing I was expecting to see.

SC.

I was surprised at the state of the field too. It has improved substantially in the millennia since I played so I thought it wouldn't be a problem. There are no drainage grates bordering the field though so the water was pooling on the sidelines. It also was raining like crazy before the game and during the first half. It slacked off in the second half and the field conditions improved. I didn't stick around for the second game (Cortland v. Mary Washington) but saw some of the stream and it seemed like the field had dried out some.

[Hopkins92]

I tried to watch the Emory game, but the weather was just making it a mess.  Have to ask, how is it that Hopkins has drainage issues on that field?  That was the last thing I was expecting to see.

SC.

I was surprised at the state of the field too. It has improved substantially in the millennia since I played so I thought it wouldn't be a problem. There are no drainage grates bordering the field though so the water was pooling on the sidelines. It also was raining like crazy before the game and during the first half. It slacked off in the second half and the field conditions improved. I didn't stick around for the second game (Cortland v. Mary Washington) but saw some of the stream and it seemed like the field had dried out some.

Yeah, having 2 D1 sports play on that field, not to mention a VERY good football program (my how times have changed)... They've put a lot of money into that field. I think it really comes down to something like 2 inches of rain falling over a relatively short period of time.

[PaulNewman]

Best Midweek Matchups (Tues and Weds)

Today/Tonight

4:00 -- Norwich @ Midd (sneaky trap game rescheduled to tomorrow night with venue change from Midd to Norwich...and which despite becoming an away match under the lights should benefit Midd by the Panthers getting an extra day to recover from Amherst match...but this is the kind of game that has tripped Midd up in some past years)

7:00 -- Stevens @ NYU (Stevens looks to continue an impressive start while NYU tries find some footing)

7:00 -- Denison @ Capital (Capital is a tough place to play and Denison will have to be on their game to get a win)

7:00 -- Rochester @ RIT (the Flower City derby...UR looks to pile on RIT's deflating high expectations)

7:00 -- Scranton @ Misericordia (Scranton heads down I-81 before a northwesterly turn up PA Rte 309 for total of 26.6 miles to Dallas, PA)

7:30 -- Tufts @ Wesleyan (very intriguing tilt under the light on turf with Wesleyan fired up to put a dent in the NESCAC Big Four while the Jumbos are fed up with hearing so much about Conn, Amherst, and Midd)

8:00 -- Texas Lutheran @ Concordia (TX) (These two Texas programs fighting for respect just played like a week ago with Concordia winning 1-0)

8:00 -- UW-Superior @ UW-Eau Claire (Probably not a very good game but time to the Blugolds of Eau Claire on the proverbial radar after skipping to a 5-0 record early....I didn't even know Eau Claire had a D3 program)


Tomorrow (Weds)


4:00 -- Vassar @ New Paltz St (another Liberty vs SUNYAC face-off with both seeking to gain more Region III cred)

5:00 -- Hope @ Chicago

6:00 -- Wash U @ North Park (Big game for Wash U but after limited game action as two out of four scheduled games postponed the Bears could struggle against in-form North Park...and what the heck is going on with the Wash U website still showing 2021 schedule with no 2022?)

7:00 -- Lebanon Valley @ Gettysburg

7:00 -- SLU @ Potsdam St (the Saints need to string some Ws together)

7:00 -- St Mary's @ York (PA)

7:00 -- Manhattanville @ Amherst (the Valiants strong start may run into a "mammoth" hiccup)

7:00 -- Rowan @ Cortland St (two national faves with uneven starts but have played two of the toughest schedules to date and should not be underestimated...big game for both)

7:00 -- Moravian @ Montclair St (upset alert?)

7:00 -- Hanover @ Otterbein (significant Great Lakes battle and could end up being a ranked win for the victor)

7:00 -- PS-Harrisburg @ F&M (PS-Harrisburg is the Appalachian St of D3 soccer while F&M needs to exude some quality)

7:30 -- Rose Hulman @ DePauw (another Great Lakes clash where RHIT has played strong foes and DePauw has not)

7:30 -- Dickinson @ Messiah (this could get ugly but great opportunity for the Red Devils)

7:30 -- John Carroll @ CWRU (cross-town derby with both hungry for a timely win)

7:30 -- Kenyon @ Wilmington (Wilmington hopes to regain last year's form while the Owls seek another victory over an OAC outfit)

7:30 -- OWU @ Ohio Northern (Dr. Martin has got to be beside himself as he really likes his squad but the Battling Bishops are sitting at 0-2-2 and suddenly ONU looks like a must-win type of game)

8:30 -- Luther @ UWW

10:00 -- C-M-S @ Redlands (two Region X heavyweights who have played very tough schedules and wins so far scarce...C-M-S in particular is hanging by a thread)

[stlawus]

These are seriously awesome write ups PaulNewman. 

[Gregory Sager]

8:00 -- UW-Superior @ UW-Eau Claire (Probably not a very good game but time to the Blugolds of Eau Claire on the proverbial radar after skipping to a 5-0 record early....I didn't even know Eau Claire had a D3 program)

They didn't, until a year ago. UWEC has come pretty far for a program that's only one year old.

[PaulNewman]

8:00 -- UW-Superior @ UW-Eau Claire (Probably not a very good game but time to the Blugolds of Eau Claire on the proverbial radar after skipping to a 5-0 record early....I didn't even know Eau Claire had a D3 program)

They didn't, until a year ago. UWEC has come pretty far for a program that's only one year old.

Are they NCAA tourney eligible?

Speaking of which, I was thinking about all the UW schools and guessing you'd be about the only person here who could break it down.  Which ones have D3 programs that are tournament eligible and which don't....Platteville, Eau Claire, Superior, Whitewater, etc.

[Gregory Sager]

8:00 -- UW-Superior @ UW-Eau Claire (Probably not a very good game but time to the Blugolds of Eau Claire on the proverbial radar after skipping to a 5-0 record early....I didn't even know Eau Claire had a D3 program)

They didn't, until a year ago. UWEC has come pretty far for a program that's only one year old.

Are they NCAA tourney eligible?

I don't see why they wouldn't be. UWEC has been a D3 member for decades. If a school is a full member of D3, it can add a sport and immediately be eligible for the postseason in that sport. As an independent, the Blugolds would be eligible for a Pool B bid, as well as a (far less likely) Pool C bid.

Speaking of which, I was thinking about all the UW schools and guessing you'd be about the only person here who could break it down.  Which ones have D3 programs that are tournament eligible and which don't....Platteville, Eau Claire, Superior, Whitewater, etc.

They're all eligible -- UWEC as an indie under Pool B, UWW and UW-Platteville as C2C Conference members under Pool A, and UW-Superior as a UMAC member under Pool A. (UW-Superior won the UMAC's Pool A berth last season, in fact, falling in the first round to Wash U at North Park.) And all are eligible for Pool C berths as well.

The tragedy here is that UW-Oshkosh no longer has a men's soccer program. The Titans were a real force in this sport for quite a while; from 1991 to the axing of the program by the UWO administration in 2015 the Titans made the tourney 14 times, finishing with an all-time tournament record of 19-12-3. The Titans made it to the Final Four in 1994, 2000, 2003, and 2010. They bowed out in the semis each time (in 1994 via PKs).

[WUPHF]

(UW-Superior won the UMAC's Pool A berth last season, in fact, falling in the first round to Wash U at North Park.) And all are eligible for Pool C berths as well.

As a note, we have a big national perspective game today with Washington University playing again at North Park with an early 5:00 pm start time.

https://boxcast.tv/channel/dmfutowrtlmndztdlxrk

[Falconer]

If you want to see why Falcon fans are really excited this year, come watch the game with Dickinson (who have legitimate scorers) that started 25 minutes ago. Already the Falcons have three really brilliant goals and just missed a fourth (on a terrific free kick off the post by defender Lent-Koop). As I said on another thread recently, Messiah has great team speed and many serious scoring options this year, more than in any recent season. The quality of their goals so far this year is off the charts. Come watch and see for yourselves.

[WUPHF]

Correction: not a national perspective game at North Park.

[Gregory Sager]

Wash U returned most of its players from what was a really good 2021 team. But the Bears lost Sergio Rivas and Nolan Wolf, two of their three best creators up top, from that team, and it shows. Joe Clarke just doesn't seem to have replaced their firepower ... although it may be too early to make a definitive statement about that, as this was only the third game of the year for the Bears.

By contrast, North Park has replaced 150-career-points-scorer grad student Peder Olsen (who ran out of eligibility) and All-CCIW first team freshman forward Jesse Anamoo (12-5-29 last season; he transferred to D1 Santa Clara, where he tallied his first goal of the season last Friday) in terms of offensive firepower. They've done so by committee; tonight it was freshman wing Love Brandt's turn to come off of the bench and chair the committee meeting, as he tallied a brace of goals and assisted on the other in a 3-0 Vikings victory. NPU now has tallied 17 goals in its first five games, so the Vikings' offense seems to have adjusted to the changing of the guard from 2021.

[WUPHF]

Wash U returned most of its players from what was a really good 2021 team. But the Bears lost Sergio Rivas and Nolan Wolf, two of their three best creators up top, from that team, and it shows. Joe Clarke just doesn't seem to have replaced their firepower ... although it may be too early to make a definitive statement about that, as this was only the third game of the year for the Bears.

The Bears lost 5-6 guys that featured heavily in to the rotation including Yanase in the midfield as well as Shaw and Smith in the back.  The team is very young overall so I expect them to improve over the course of the season.  But they were completely outclassed tonight.

[PaulNewman]

The birds have spoken (Falconer and bluejay)....Messiah and Chicago are headed towards a titanic, all-time classic national final.

The Messiah plea/plug was next, next level stuff.

In all seriousness, at the moment -- and notwithstanding that it is early to know where to place the NESCAC four horsemen -- Messiah, Chicago, and North Park have separated themselves from the rest of the top tier pack.

Another group -- Calvin (the least of this group but still the Knights have tied Aurora and nipped Millikin 2-1), Kenyon, W&L, Montclair, Christopher Newport, Cortland, etc -- has looked rather pedestrian at least compared to very lofty expectations....BUT...do not count them out.

There's the "minding our own business but we're good group," like Rochester, Pac Lutheran, Stevens, etc.

There's the surprise group (at least so far)....Dickinson, Drew, MSOE, Western CT, UW-Eau Claire, Clarkson, CMU, McDaniel, Hamilton, Baldwin Wallace, etc -- and among this group some will fall off and others may continue to surprise.

Then there's the "what in the heck is going on" group with Wash U, OWU, St Olaf, Wash Coll, Rowan, Trinity (TX), John Carroll, MIT, NYU, C-M-S, Redlands, etc....but don't be surprised if a handful in this cadre find a way to make the NCAA tourney and could be dangerous.

Addendum:  Add Hopkins to the "minding our own business but we're good group."

[D3_Slack]

This might seem a bit "off topic" but I'm wondering what the impact of the new OT rule will have on the season.  And - from my lens I tend to agree with the poster who mentioned Chicago and Messiah as two titans...and all others in a different class.  Maybe Amherst, maybe Conn being in the upper echelon but it seems like there's a lot more parity this year and fewer dominant teams.  Really seems completely wide open through first 2-weeks of the season.

[camosfan]

Agree there is a lot more parity than say last 3 years, don't think one will win this year without  two or three  defeats, that said I will add teams coming out of NESCAC will be well prepared.