2022 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[PaulNewman]

Greetings all - allow me to introduce myself. Joe O'Reilly. I played soccer/rode the bench for Kenyon College during the halcyon Jack Detchon years in the 1990s when we were runner-up national champions. Since then, I've been watching, following, and scouting soccer players. I have been shadowing this community for years and would love to start sharing some thoughts.

Hello Joe.  What a treat to have you pop in especially if you've been following along most of the past decade or so.  Please share whatever thoughts you have.  Some of these threads are obviously more for current stuff and would love to hear your impressions about the D3 soccer scene in 2022.  From my pov, please post whenever and wherever you like, but I'm also gonna start a new thread to invite you and alums from other schools to share past experiences.

[Ejay]

Saturday

11:00 – Manhattanville @ Drew – Manhattanville isn't in Manhattan (or NYC), which is confusing and time constraints do not permit doing the research about the name.  However, the 14th caller with the correct answer will snag a Valiants jersey.  Manhattanville visits Drew with a 2-1-1 record, noteworthy for a draw with Stevens (the only Stevens blemish) and win over RPI.  Valiants GK, Luis Granados, is a mountain of a man at 6'6, 225 lbs, and a few days ago kept Amherst off the board for 50 minutes.  Drew merely has marched to 6-0 with best wins over New Paltz St and TCNJ.  The Rangers are 6-0 for the first time since 2011.  I'm expecting the Valiants to hand Drew its first loss of 2022.

Drew wins 2-1 with goals by Tyson (6) on an unmarked header from the 6, and Kiernan (5) who chipped the GK from distance after he came out too high, misplayed the ball, and couldn't get back in time.  This is a good win.  They opened the season against some pathetic teams (St. Elizabeth, really??) and haven't really played anyone - maybe New Paltz being the exception.  With Kean, Goucher and DeSales next up, Drew has a realistic chance of being 10-0 heading into their October battle with Catholic. The winner of that game most likely gets the #1 Landmark seed.

[PaulNewman]

 Weekend Snapshot (cont-)

First, let me say my ambition yesterday to comment on so many games for today's action far exceeded my fitness level.  I started cramping by the 55th minute but tried to gut it out.  I need to settle on maybe five games a day to comment on but the downside there is that could often mean highlighting many of the same teams over and over.  But I realized this morning when my family did an intervention that something has to give.  They told me I dozed off around 10:30 last night with a scoreless draw between East Texas Baptist University and Centenary (LA) streaming on my laptop next to me.  To be fair, though, without checking on that game I would have never seen (for the first time in 11-12 years) a broadcast with a little box in the top left hand corner that ran live stats play by play.  That feature really did not obstruct the view...unlike the PIP of the scoreboard for John Carroll productions.

Sunday

1:00 -- Texas-Dallas @ Christopher Newport – These big trip, two game weekends don't always pan out as planned.  Often the idea is to have a "probable win" match followed or preceded by a "big test, OK if we draw or lose" match.  When the visitors already have lost the "probable win" game (see Emory below) that can really put a damper on the weekend and may change the dynamic for the other game.  A long way of saying the TX-Dallas Comets lost a hard fought contest with Virginia Wesleyan 3-2 and now have to deal with CNU on the Captains' beautiful home pitch.  The good news is that the Comets can salvage their weekend by beating the Captains who are known to drop games like this here and there.  We know the Comets are capable because they topped Trinity (TX) a week ago.  If the Comets prevail they'll have a likely regionally ranked win in their pocket while the loss to the Marlins likely won't register down the road in regional rankings considerations.  Today's match should be a free-wheeling, end to end affair.

2:00 -- Tufts @ Williams – Very hard to handicap without knowing the result of Tufts @ Amherst later today.  Williams may benefit either way but should be rooting for a Tufts win so that the Jumbos roll into Williamstown satiated, ebullient, and primed for a letdown.  A wounded Tufts after a rare two game loss streak with its Jumbo snout all out of sorts would be a handful.  I'm surprised Williams alums haven't revolted...gotta be killing them for the Ephs to be almost an afterthought in NESCAC these days.  Williams made the Final Four in 2013 in Russo's next to last season and the Ephs have had only one NCAA appearance since then...in 2018 after finishing 6th in the NESCAC and being summarily dismissed in the 1st round by Elizabethtown.  Meanwhile, the Ephs have watched three other NESCAC programs win a slew of national titles.

3:00 -- Emory @ W&L – Emory returned 21 players from last year's NCAA squad, but I guess a handful of their top players are gone.  I would have pegged the Eagles as a national contender along the lines of a Hopkins, but back to back losses to Sewanee and Hampden-Sydney are baffling even if it's a rebuild season.  I wanna say Emory is wounded and thus W&L should be on upset alert, but wounded is different than being on life-support and I just don't see the Generals easing up at all as W&L continues to get its mojo back.

3:00 -- DePauw @ Centre – These two used to have some really good Great Lakes battles before Centre was re-districted to the South Atlantic (now know as Region VI).  Centre has not always dominated the SAA but did just two seasons ago enjoy a surprise run to the Final Four after Kenyon and then Montclair spit the bit in Gambier.  DePauw was challenging OWU and then Kenyon and OWU for NCAC supremacy for about the first half-decade of the 2010s but in the last few years the talent level and results have dipped.  Brad Hauter, DePauw grad from 1987 and former standout GK for the Tigers, has led the program since 2008, and recently announced this is his last season.  His counterpart for Centre, Jeb Burch, also was a GK and 1994 Centre grad who has now been the head ball coach since 2002.

5:30 -- Pac Lutheran @ Willamette – The Lutes should be 6-0 heading to Willamette for the first of two matches between these foes in the NWC round-robin structure.  Willamette has home field on Sunday but on paper will have exhausted more energy competing with Puget Sound today. 

[PaulNewman]

Saturday

11:00 – Manhattanville @ Drew – Manhattanville isn't in Manhattan (or NYC), which is confusing and time constraints do not permit doing the research about the name.  However, the 14th caller with the correct answer will snag a Valiants jersey.  Manhattanville visits Drew with a 2-1-1 record, noteworthy for a draw with Stevens (the only Stevens blemish) and win over RPI.  Valiants GK, Luis Granados, is a mountain of a man at 6'6, 225 lbs, and a few days ago kept Amherst off the board for 50 minutes.  Drew merely has marched to 6-0 with best wins over New Paltz St and TCNJ.  The Rangers are 6-0 for the first time since 2011.  I'm expecting the Valiants to hand Drew its first loss of 2022.

Drew wins 2-1 with goals by Tyson (6) on an unmarked header from the 6, and Kiernan (5) who chipped the GK from distance after he came out too high, misplayed the ball, and couldn't get back in time.  This is a good win.  They opened the season against some pathetic teams (St. Elizabeth, really??) and haven't really played anyone - maybe New Paltz being the exception.  With Kean, Goucher and DeSales next up, Drew has a realistic chance of being 10-0 heading into their October battle with Catholic. The winner of that game most likely gets the #1 Landmark seed.

I also missed on the Franciscan vs Mt Union game, as the Barons came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the Purple Raiders.  I somehow also screwed up Wesleyan @ Brandeis which actually is Brandeis @ Wesleyan which could tip that game in the Cardinals' favor.  Anyway, I also think that is a good win for Drew.  A win over Kean also would be good.

[PaulNewman]

I hate when I have to rip up my fan poll ballot and start over.  Wow, what a day...and it's not over.

Midd loses at home to Hamilton.  Then Conn loses at home at Bowdoin.  Then Amherst loses at home to Tufts (ironically the most predictable outcome of those three). 

Hobart shuts out Rochester.  Trinity (TX) falls to Colorado Coll.  Ohio Northern gets a good win at Hanover.

Two results that caught my eye....Wesleyan blanking Brandeis 3-0, and Babson clobbering Wheaton (MA) on the road.

Montclair gets by Vassar.  Cortland held to a draw by Plattsburgh.  Drew tops Manhattanville.  Williams crushes Bates.  New Paltz and Skidmore share the points.

And UW-Eau Claire is gonna get a big win over Carthage...3-1 with a minute left.

[PaulNewman]

There is no arguing with the success of the Amherst program.  But seriously, I'm surprised really good soccer players want to play there because they play so little soccer.  That was really painful to watch but in addition watching a game where you want both teams to lose is tough.

Where is Cubeddu?  And is he related to the Wesleyan Cubeddu?

Ten Cate has got to be one of the most histrionic in D3.  And complains constantly.

[SimpleCoach]

There is no arguing with the success of the Amherst program.  But seriously, I'm surprised really good soccer players want to play there because they play so little soccer.  That was really painful to watch ...

Im sorry.  Can't read your post.  My eyes are still bleeding.

SC.

[camosfan]

Huge win for Jombos, first at Amherst since 2002, in a regular season game! When you come out of a fight like this you are prepared for just about any opponent.

[PaulNewman]

Brutal loss for Luther.  Chicago scores with just over a minute left to win 2-1.  Still, very impressed that Luther looked like they were playing Chicago straight up and played real soccer.  If anything, the last 10 minutes the Norse tried to play around too muhc in their own third and almost got burned....and couldn't see the Chicago goal because camera didn't move but ironically towards the end the Maroons were resorting to kick and run and I think they scored off a long ball from about 10 yards in their own half to a kid who scored but not sure exactly how.  I don't think I saw Wada...injured?

Yeah, doesn't look like Wada played at all.  And only 21 minutes off the bench for Yetishevsky. 

[Flying Weasel]

....and couldn't see the Chicago goal because camera didn't move

Of all the times for the cameraman to lose the ball.  Was following the cross and halfway there stopped. 

I just tuned in for the final few minutes.  Was surprised to see the stats very even between the two teams.

[PaulNewman]

....and couldn't see the Chicago goal because camera didn't move

Of all the times for the cameraman to lose the ball.  Was following the cross and halfway there stopped. 

I just tuned in for the final few minutes.  Was surprised to see the stats very even between the two teams.

Yes, I watched probably the last 20 minutes and based on that Luther deserved at least a draw.  As SC noted in his thread Luther had a point blank opportunity late before the Chicago GW.  Also seemed like there was audio commentary but even on full volume I couldn't make it out.

[Hopkins92]

Just checked into the Swat-Hop game... Man, I'm old. When we played them up there, the field was like.. this weird patch of land in the middle of campus, I think? Definitely not that glorious athletic array I'm seeing. Not even close.

[PaulNewman]

I did not have OWU 0-4-2 and UW-Eau Claire 8-0 on my preseason bingo card.

In fairness, OWU's losses are to Loras, Calvin, Ohio Northern, and John Carroll.

[Gregory Sager]

Tonight I called one of the most amazing games I've ever seen.

I know that, given how poorly Knox has fared this season, most people would look at North Park's 2-1 victory over the Prairie Fire tonight and think, "Wow, bad result for NPU." They might even think that perhaps the Vikings aren't all that, after all.

But you'd think otherwise if you saw the game, because even the box score and the PBP don't really tell the story.

Coming in, it was NPU coach Kris Grahn's plan to: a) mix and match his players, using some in different positions and with some different combinations, so several of the starters came off of the bench; and b) use his #2 GK Sebastianas Uribe in the net to get him some work -- heck, to get his feet wet, period, since he's only a freshman and he'd never been in a college varsity game before. It was a logical game plan that would make something useful out of what promised to be a total slaughter of a bad opponent. Little did Kris know that there would be a problem with a center ref who had some sort of serious attitude disorder.

So, even though the Vikings scored three and a half minutes in when the Knox GK panicked and took out North Park striker Isak Flo's legs on a loose ball in the box, leading to a William de Carro PK goal, they nevertheless looked out of sync as a unit for most of the first half. But then, just as they were starting to turn it up a notch, one of the Vikings got carded for a high foot in which a Knox player got clipped by it. Thirty seconds later, when he saw that the Knox trainers were still attending to the player who'd received a piece of that high foot, the center ref walked back to the offending Viking and held up another yellow card.

OK, so that's a little nuts to go back and change your card call like that, but it is what it is. So North Park goes down a man at 38:30. Kris Grahn does adjust his formation by moving Angel Barriga back to make it a four-back config rather than a three-back, and Toby Lunde goes back to midfield and leaves Flo alone up top for the Vikings. But other than that, the Vikings are still playing 120 yards of soccer, and they get to the half up 1-0.

The second half starts, and the Vikings keep playing aggressively. They even get called for a couple more offsides (overeagerness being a bit of problem for them this evening). It pays off almost immediately, as Flo gets the ball after Love Brandt had neatly pickpocketed a Knox midfielder, goes around two Knox defenders and then the Knox GK with some nifty dekes and bursts of speed, and then finishes off the highlight-reel play to notch a shortie, his third goal of the season. So ... 2-0, Vikes. That should be more than adequate insurance, even in a man-down situation, against a clearly outclassed opponent, right?

Well, then it got weird.

Another Viking gets whistled for a hard tackle at 54:24 ... and out comes the red. It was a perfectly ordinary hard tackle. There was no potential goal-scoring situation anywhere in sight. Nobody got hurt, or even feigned getting hurt. Nobody used naughty words, be they in English, Swedish, or any other language. So now North Park is down two players, with 35:36 still left to play in the contest.

Now, I'd never seen a college men's soccer game in which a team had to play nine against the other team's eleven. Maybe for someone such as Simple Coach who's seen a million more college soccer games than I have, this is old hat, but it's a first for me. I've seen double-shorthanded situations in hockey plenty of times, but it always lasts for less than two minutes, and you can guard the confined space around a hockey goal pretty easily with a tight triangle in front of the goalie. You can't do that in soccer, with its much bigger playing surface and larger goal, and, again, we're talking about having to do this for well over half an hour of playing time. But I figured that, at the very least, Kris Grahn would park the bus, or park however many pieces of bus he had left.

He didn't. He viewed it as a learning opportunity for his team, so he put them in a 4-3-1 and had them keep playing their game. And it worked. The Vikings actually controlled possession better down two men than they had before. It was an amazing display of technical soccer, not just in terms of elusive footwork but in terms of passing and anticipation as well. Even more amazing is that: a) Kris Grahn never subbed out his backup goalkeeper; and b) in the second half he never used perhaps the most technically accomplished player on the roster, midfielder Frans Dao, who just stood on the sidelines and watched along with everybody else. I had a hard time reaching for superlatives to describe what the Vikings were doing. At one point I started counting consecutive successful passes out loud, and they got to fourteen before Knox got the ball back. Fourteen passes strung together, using eight field players against ten, and the first twelve of those passes were executed without a Knox player even touching the ball. Just to up the ante, that entire sequence was conducted within twenty yards of the near touchline, so the Vikings were really only able to go in three directions rather than four.

It was absolutely jaw-dropping. I can only compare it to the Harlem Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals, or to one of those softball games back in the day involving the legendary barnstorming team "the King and His Court," in which said team would include only a pitcher, catcher, shortstop, and first baseman, and would still whip the other team soundly. A lot of this is on Knox, of course. Their skill level isn't all that high to begin with, and they made things worse by playing frustrated -- a frustrated team squanders energy needlessly and repeatedly does the wrong things. They made bad decisions, and they didn't execute properly in the few situations they had in which they had the ball with a chance to press their tremendous advantage. Still, two extra men ought to be enough to overcome those difficulties. But it wasn't.

I kept saying on the air (as if I'd ever seen any two-men-down games before) that the one thing the Vikings had to worry about most was giving up a corner kick; I reasoned that the one place where Knox would best be able to exploit their advantage in numbers would be if they stuffed the six with too many players for the Vikings to mark on a corner. The Vikings did elude one 9 x 11 Knox corner in the 61st minute, but, finally, in the 87th minute on another corner kick, a Knox player headed the initial ball only to have it blocked, the ball fell at the feet of an unmarked Prairie Fireman, and he kicked it past Uribe to make it 2-1. In the scramble of the last couple of minutes, Knox got a couple of genuinely golden opportunities with close-in free kicks, but rather than do the smart thing by exploiting their numerical superiority on either wing, they thoughtlessly kicked it straight both times, once right into NPU's three-man wall and once ten feet over the wall's heads.

When the final horn sounded, the entire Vikings roster rushed out onto the field, cups and water and Gatorade flying everywhere, as if they'd just won the conference championship. You could sense that they knew they'd been a part of something pretty weird and pretty magical. I walked out of the press box with a different sense of respect for them.

[Ejay]

Interesting night Greg. I'm reminded of two things:

Regarding the double red: In my sophomore year, we had a game abandoned in the second half because our opponent received so many red cards they no longer had the required minimum number of players required to continue! It got ugly and the police were called to help escort the team from the bench to the bus.

Regarding 9v11: In my favorite soccer book, which I've pitched here a few times, The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong By Chris Anderson, David Sally, there's this passage on page 213...
'Take Arrigo Sacchi. Though not a top-level player himself, Sacchi was the mastermind behind the rise of AC Milan, making them the finest side in the world in the late 1980s. In 2004, the Italian was appointed as technical director of Real Madrid.

I convinced Gullit and Van Basten by telling them that five organised players would beat ten disorganised ones,' Saachi explained. 'And I proved it to them. I took five players: Giovanni Galli in goal, Tassotti, Maldini, Costacurta and Baresi. They had ten players:  Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Virdis, Evani, Ancelotti, Colombo, Donadoni, Lantignotti and Mannari. They had fifteen minutes to score against my five  players, the only rule was that if we won possession or they lost the ball, they had to start over from ten metres inside their own half. I did this all the time and  they never scored. Not once.'