2022 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[camosfan]

OJ Simpson was a track star at USC,represented US, think he was part of a World record  4 by 100 team.

[PaulNewman]

A question about dual (or more) D3 athletes apparently is going to lead us back to Jim Thorpe.

There have been a slew of sprinter-wide receiver guys over the years...none more notable than "Bullet" Bob Hayes.  And local Massachusetts product Pat Connaughton, currently a key role player for the Milwaukee Bucks, also was a major league quality pitcher.

When I was 8 I was a member of the Dallas Cowboys fan club and had a signed 8x10 glossy of Bob Hayes (#22). I was a little too young in Spring of 1966 to be crushed by UK's historic national championship loss to Texas Western....so my first truly inconsolable fan moment that is still vivid more than 50 years later was the 1967 Ice Bowl game where Bart Starr ran behind Jerry Kramer's block to score with 13 seconds left to put Green Bay ahead of Dallas 21-17.  Earlier in that game (and maybe just before Green Bay's famous final drive) I think Dan Reeves threw a halfback option pass to Hayes for a touchdown to put the Cowboys ahead.  Whoever said you remember the losses more than the wins is absolutely correct.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park has a three-sport student-athlete at the moment, senior Esther Miller. She is currently about to transition from her fall sport, women's golf, to her winter sport, women's basketball, where she will likely be a starting forward for the second year in a row. Last year she had the eighth-highest season steals total in NPU women's basketball history. In the spring she'll be on the women's track & field team, where last year she ran the 200m and 400m and competed in the long jump, triple jump, and heptathlon. She earned All-Region honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association and competed in the Drake Relays in the heptathlon. She holds a hepathlon point total that's the second-best all-time for NPU, a 400m time that's third-best ever for NPU, and a triple jump that's the third-longest in NPU women's t&f history. There's a pretty wide range of skill sets required for that particular collection of sports. Oh, and she was also named a Jack Swartz Academic All-Conference recipient by the CCIW for carrying a GPA above 3.50 as a physics major.

It's the varying skills set stuff that interests me where multi-sport athletes are concerned. If you're a soccer player, are you also playing a sport where superior hand-eye coordination is a necessity? To me, that's the logical thing to look for in terms of an expansive skills set for a multi-sport athlete who includes soccer in his or her menu.

[Hopkins92]

The greatest three sport athlete I ever encountered was Curtis Pride. He is currently the head baseball coach at Gallaudet, following over a decade-long career in MLB. He went to a nearby high school and once hit a homerun over my head (I was CF) that was a classic "don't even move" it was hit so hard and far. He went on to play baseball and basketball at D1 William & Mary.

The reason I bring up on this board and in this context is the fact he was a national team pool level talent at soccer. He led Kennedy H.S. to a state title and was probably the fastest guy I've ever seen in person on a soccer field. It's actually rather maddening that when you look him up, the soccer aspect of his athletic prowess is completely forgotten/ignored.

(I was at the state championship game as a spectator and the goal he scored was Maradona'esque cheeky. He was on a slight breakaway and the ball bounced up on him, he subtlety used his hand to tamp the ball back down (in full stride, and so the ref couldn't quite see it) before slotting it past the keeper. Not many ppl actually even realized what he'd done... You had to really be paying attention.)

Oh, and if it wasn't clear (as it probably shouldn't be assumed) by his Gallaudet affiliation, Curtis was deaf.   

[Gregory Sager]

I remember Curtis Pride. Just looked him up on baseball-reference.com ... boy, for a journeyman corner outfielder who bounced around from team to team and never became an everyday player, he sure managed to hang around in the Show for an awfully long time, far longer than is typical for a player who fits his profile. I respect that.

[Hopkins92]

I remember Curtis Pride. Just looked him up on baseball-reference.com ... boy, for a journeyman corner outfielder who bounced around from team to team and never became an everyday player, he sure managed to hang around in the Show for an awfully long time, far longer than is typical for a player who fits his profile. I respect that.

Here's a cool article on his soccer prowess: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/may/06/curtis-pride-the-deaf-usa-soccer-prodigy-who-turned-to-pro-baseball

[Ejay]

I remember Curtis Pride. Just looked him up on baseball-reference.com ... boy, for a journeyman corner outfielder who bounced around from team to team and never became an everyday player, he sure managed to hang around in the Show for an awfully long time, far longer than is typical for a player who fits his profile. I respect that.

Here's a cool article on his soccer prowess: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/may/06/curtis-pride-the-deaf-usa-soccer-prodigy-who-turned-to-pro-baseball

Wow! Thanks for sharing. Great read.

[PaulNewman]

Saturday

12:00 – Hamilton @ Bowdoin – (The pollsters apparently didn't notice that the Continentals had back to back draws at home to NESCAC bottom dwellers Bates and Colby, even if the latter are the best 9th and 10th place teams in NESCAC history.  Bowdoin is perhaps the most difficult NESCAC to try and slot into a predicted NESCAC table year-to-year.  I don't have a good feel for the Polar Bears either, but they've got to be good...draws with Midd and Amherst and a win over Conn Coll.  Hamilton does have some serious talent but they're young.  I think Bowdoin finds a way here.  The challenges continue for both as Bowdoin closes with Colby, Wesleyan, and @Tufts, while Hamilton has @Williams, Amherst, and @ Oneonta St.)

1:00 – Brockport @ New Paltz St – (Brockport just suffered their first blemish – a draw with Geneseo – in the rough and tumble SUNYAC.  We'll probably let that slide IF the Golden Eagles can beat New Paltz, but if they lose Brockport might have trouble stopping the bleeding as Cortland looms.  Meanwhile, this is also a big one for the Hawks who have surprised only to disappoint, but they're still very much in the mix for a top 4 SUNYAC finish.)

2:00 – Vassar @ SLU – (Advantage to SLU here.  After a five hour drive to Potsdam and a spirited battle with Clarkson the Brewers have to deal with the Saints at 2:00 the very next day.  That's a brutal bus ride home if you come home with 0 points and I assume they'd be pretty happy with 4 points or at worst 3.  I was surprised to see one of the SLU faithful praise the Vassar pitch as I thought Sandy Mac was the best field in the LL and in the convo nationally.  Excitement can barely be contained in Canton as Saints fans wonder if there is a chance for a special season.  Saints fans dream big which also means they can fall hard.  They are critical but always hopeful.  A win against Vassar would give SLU a little turbocharge as they get closer to post-season play.)

2:00 – Conn Coll @ Colby – (Has Conn Coll finally righted the ship?  The win over Babson was impressive.  That said, even a very good team sailing straight can have a difficult time in Waterville.  Who would have thought the Camels would be fighting to steer clear of Bates and Colby for the 8th spot in NESCAC? Colby deserves better than their current tied for 9th status and in almost any other conference the Mules might be on the doorstep of a NCAA bid.  With a win Colby can take a one point lead over Conn although Conn has an extra game in hand.  Nevertheless, a loss here or maybe even a draw could put Conn in harm's way as they next go on the road to Amherst before closing with Bates and Wesleyan. Colby closes at Bowdoin and home vs Bates.)

2:30 – Tufts @ Bates – (I expect the Jumbos to take a very professional approach for this trip to Lewiston.  Get a straightforward 2-0 or 3-1 victory and then feast on some Maine-Farmington on Sunday before prepping for the massive season-ending two match homestand against Middlebury and Bowdoin.  The Bobcats should have some juice coming off the dramatic 4-4 tie with Wesleyan, but I just don't see Bates knocking off Tufts at this stage of the campaign.)

3:00 – Williams @ Wesleyan – (No breaking news here, but Wesleyan is in trouble.  After being the most highly rated NESCAC just a couple of weeks ago the Cardinals are in potential danger of dropping out of the NESCAC playoff picture entirely on heels of an 0-3-2 stretch.  After Williams, Wesleyan has a not-so-important tilt at home with Springfield but then goes on the road for Bowdoin and Conn Coll.  Williams at 4-1-6 isn't much better off as the Ephs end at home vs Hamilton and away for Trinity and Middlebury.  Sounds redundant and almost boring at this point, but obviously a massive game for both teams.)

4:30 – St Olaf @ GAC – (Don't look now but St Olaf is in 1st place in the MIAC.  No doubt the Oles would like the Carleton match back, but their overall trend-line seems positive.  And it's possible that the Gusties are trending down following two draws (the last one barely) in their last three fixtures.  St Olaf's hopes for a Pool C may hinge on this result and the next one against UW-Platteville.  The same might be said for GAC who gets Luther on Sunday.  The Oles and Gusties will be favored to meet again in the MIAC tourney final.)

5:00 – Ohio Northern @ John Carroll – (Battle for the top spot in the OAC as these old rivals face off at Don Shula Stadium.  Beyond the OAC, both hope to remain viable if a Pool C bid is needed.  These are good teams, but imo the Blue Streaks are one of the best unranked teams in the country and probably are the second best (or even first) in Region VII.  John Carroll does not want a slump at this juncture and with @Otterbein on tap the Blue Streaks must stay sharp.  Same goes for the Polar Bears who could play themselves out of Pool C contention with a couple of late season losses and/or an early exit in the OAC tourney.)

5:30 – Whitman @ Willamette – (Willamette gets the two Whits – Whitman and Whitworth –back-to-back.  I thought the Bearcats at 7-0-0 in the NWC were closing in on the title and an AQ but they've only completed the first round of the round-robin and now have to play all seven teams again.  Whitman has been consistently inconsistent but the men from Walla Walla did get an away win at 2nd place Pac Lutheran.)

6:00 – Christopher Newport @ St Mary's – (I'm forever confusing St Mary's (MD) with Mary Washington and Wash Coll.  The Seahawks have a shot at their best record in Coach Alun Oliver's 12 year tenure.  Oliver hails from Ponty-Pool, Wales and also is a 2004 graduate of St Mary's where he excelled as a player earning two All-Region selections and continues to hold the program record for assists in a career.  St Mary's to their credit is stepping outside the conference to entertain CNU followed by a road game at Mary Washington.  A split would likely suit the Seahawks just fine.  CNU should be wary.  After an emotional trio of games against Messiah, Virginia coast rival VWU, and W&L, the Captains are vulnerable to a letdown.  Let's place an UPSET ALERT on this one.)

7:00 – Gettysburg @ Wash Coll – (Washington College is 3-4-5 and can you believe they are tied with Gettysburg at 2-1-2 in the Centennial? Gettysburg needs a win in the worst way.  Seems like just yesterday that the Bullets were keeping pace with Hopkins and F&M but after going 1-2-1 in their last four they are now solidly in the middle of the pack.  No shame losing to Hopkins and Mary Washington and earning a draw with F&M, but at some point if you're a contender and not a pretender you've got to be on the winning side of some of these tougher games.  I'm not quite ready to put Gettysburg in Wesleyan territory (comparatively) but a loss here and the Bullets are officially in deep trouble.)

[Hopkins92]

Great call on the CNU-St.M's game... those C2C teams are always slipping through the Mid-Atlantic cracks when I do a regional scan... That's a good match-up and travelling to St. Mary's is a bit of trek. It's Senior Day and if the weather is nice, they can pull a decent crowd...

BTW, Simple Coach, my BIL went there... It's a beautiful campus and definitely worthy of a Field of Dreams segment, if no other reason than stopping by (relatively) nearby Solomons Island and a trip to the Tiki Bar.

[oacalum]

FYI the game time for the ONU-JCU game has been changed to 7 in the last couple days.

[Coach Jeff]

FYI the game time for the ONU-JCU game has been changed to 7 in the last couple days.

Thanks for the information

[PaulNewman]

Just a brutal loss for Emory...2-2...get red card late which I couldn't tell if that was deserved or not...just under a minute Emory defender drags down a NYU player just outside box...Emory keeper makes fantastic save but ball parried out about 18 yards to his right and NYU danger man one times a perfect strike that keeper had no chance on.  NYU 3, Emory 2.

Will be interesting to see if SC and Hopkins think he should have caught the free kick that was headed bottom left corner and very well struck.

[Coach Jeff]

Just a brutal loss for Emory...2-2...get red card late which I couldn't tell if that was deserved or not...just under a minute Emory defender drags down a NYU player just outside box...Emory keeper makes fantastic save but ball parried out about 18 yards to his right and NYU danger man one times a perfect strike that keeper had no chance on.  NYU 3, Emory 2.

Will be interesting to see if SC and Hopkins think he should have caught the free kick that was headed bottom left corner and very well struck.

Just commented on NYU's season and how they seem not to be playing up to this years expectation and then they pull it out on a great rebound goal with 55 seconds to go.  The direct kick was hit perfectly as well.  I am not sure the keeper could have held it.

[Kuiper]

Just a brutal loss for Emory...2-2...get red card late which I couldn't tell if that was deserved or not...just under a minute Emory defender drags down a NYU player just outside box...Emory keeper makes fantastic save but ball parried out about 18 yards to his right and NYU danger man one times a perfect strike that keeper had no chance on.  NYU 3, Emory 2.

Will be interesting to see if SC and Hopkins think he should have caught the free kick that was headed bottom left corner and very well struck.

I'm not SC or Hopkins, but I sometimes caucus with them on GK issues and I think this was a ball that could have been caught.  It's sometimes hard to tell the ball's pace from a video and the rebound does go pretty far, which is sometimes an indication of pace, but the NYU player had to put some bend on it, which often slows things down a bit, and it looked like it floated over and was exactly the height you would want a ball if you were trying to catch it in the air.  Plus, the GK was set exactly where he needed to be and didn't even have to move a foot to get there.  My sense was that the GK was going for the block from the outset as if it was a PK shootout where rebounds don't matter and never intended to catch it, which is probably his biggest mistake if you could call it a mistake.  I get why he didn't think catch, because he surely doesn't want to get it wrong and fumble it into the goal at the last second, but if you don't train over and over to go for the catch instinctively, you end up giving up a lot of rebounds on balls you could have caught in retrospect.  There is a way that he could have parried the ball more safely that involves stopping it with his right arm and pushing it down the end line with his left where it was out of trouble, but that's actually technically more difficult than just trying to catch the ball.

I should add that "should have been caught" is a closer question than "could have" only because if he knows his hands aren't the best or that he has never really trained in a way that focuses on catching everything, then the parry may have been the safer play for him, even though it was ultimately not safe.

[SimpleCoach]

Just a brutal loss for Emory...2-2...get red card late which I couldn't tell if that was deserved or not...just under a minute Emory defender drags down a NYU player just outside box...Emory keeper makes fantastic save but ball parried out about 18 yards to his right and NYU danger man one times a perfect strike that keeper had no chance on.  NYU 3, Emory 2.

Will be interesting to see if SC and Hopkins think he should have caught the free kick that was headed bottom left corner and very well struck.

I'm not SC or Hopkins, but I sometimes caucus with them on GK issues and I think this was a ball that could have been caught.  It's sometimes hard to tell the ball's pace from a video and the rebound does go pretty far, which is sometimes an indication of pace, but the NYU player had to put some bend on it, which often slows things down a bit, and it looked like it floated over and was exactly the height you would want a ball if you were trying to catch it in the air.  Plus, the GK was set exactly where he needed to be and didn't even have to move a foot to get there.  My sense was that the GK was going for the block from the outset as if it was a PK shootout where rebounds don't matter and never intended to catch it, which is probably his biggest mistake if you could call it a mistake.  I get why he didn't think catch, because he surely doesn't want to get it wrong and fumble it into the goal at the last second, but if you don't train over and over to go for the catch instinctively, you end up giving up a lot of rebounds on balls you could have caught in retrospect.  There is a way that he could have parried the ball more safely that involves stopping it with his right arm and pushing it down the end line with his left where it was out of trouble, but that's actually technically more difficult than just trying to catch the ball.

Ok. I watched the free kick.... so my observations.  He is like 6 foot ginormous so a ball at mid height to the side is totally saveable.  Second, he wasn't fooled on the shot.  He wasn't caught going to dark side behind the wall.  His feet were set and to me, he had eyes on the ball.  The. Whole. Way.  It wasn't even that great of a strike.... unless keeping it on frame is a great strike these days.  Third, I thought he only got one hand on it, but no, he had both hands on the ball.  And it looks like he was collapsing toward the ball, not really going into an extension for the ball.... he is like 6 foot ginormous...  Fourth, that wasn't a parry, that was just him blocking the shot.... hence the angle of the rebound he gave up.  Fifth, and the crux of the issue, if he went back to his bench and didn't get an earful for not catching the damn rock, then seriously, you get the keeper you deserve.  This is the perfect example of what I mean about kids being taught to block/parry/punch balls away instead of practice day in and day out, the art of catching ... and it is an art since not a lot of keepers do it much anymore ... and when they are tired of practicing catching, put them under pressure to catch the ball.  And if they drop the ball, bury it past them.  And then tell them if they caught the ball, you wouldn't have tried to take his head off with a shot.

Instead he blocks, and you even heard the announcer say something to the effect that it was a great save/or block on the shot.  My jaw dropped and actually my reaction was the goalkeeper caused the entire play to develop when if he would have stopped and either caught it or actually parry it away, Emory would have walked away with a 2-2 draw.

I am sweating from watching that play and typing this.  I am proud that I didn't drop any F bombs as I would have had he been one of my Keepers.....

SC.