2022 Season Game Notes

[Kuiper]

Connecticut @ Amherst
10.19.2022
-  And on that same play, Keeper comes out on the cross from the free kick... drops it and Conn puts it in the back of the net for the goal. 
-  Amherst 1, Conn 1.
-  This gives me an aneurism seeing this.  He is 6 foot ginormous and can't hold on to the ball, which tells me he didn't have good control of it EVEN if he was knocked, which I am wondering if he was since they really didn't protest or go nuts on it.  This to me is elementary.  It's a decision he made to catch it.  So he should have caught it.  If he decided the traffic was too much so he decided to punch the ball, then punch it to the moon.  He either made the right decision, but failed to execute.  Or made the wrong decision, and cost the team the goal.  Either way it's all on him.   Give me a smart, athletic 6 foot keeper over one who is 6 foot ginormous but can't catch, or doesn't have a mind for the game.
-  So, tweaked by this I am done watching.

Sounds like I didn't need to reference a "Simple Coach-like reaction" in my reference to this play on the NESCAC thread (quoted below).  Simple Coach gave us the real thing!

"That Conn College goal was a classic illustration of why height does not mean a GK is good with balls in the air.  Not sure why the Amherst GK couldn't hold onto the ball.  My guess is @Hopkins92 will have a Simple Coach-like reaction to that one being why his prediction of a Mammoth win didn't come true"

I've always thought that if someone uses your name as a verb, you've made it.  This is close enough for me!

To make matters worse, I may do some analysis on the type of keeper errors and how many teams get scored on as a result.  I have no time for it, but I feel pushed to having to do this to let my mind find some peace....

SC.

I feel that because a few of us tend to be GK-centric in our comments, we may be veering too much in the direction of those parents in the youth games that blame everything on the goalkeepers and ignore the mistakes their own kids make.  For example, I've seen multiple games in the past week (Emory v. NYU and Tufts v. Conn College) where a GK made a mistake on a free kick that led to a last minute goal.  We tend to focus on the GK mistake in part because it's so obvious and in part because the commentators and/or press releases ignore the GK's actions or even praise it (the Emory PR recap even called it "a great diving save to block the free kick").  Giving up a free kick at the top of the box in both games, however, was the original sin (something I think Simple Coach mentioned in at least one of his game reviews).

On those plays, we could rightly point out that the defenders evidenced the same deficiencies in skills and/or poor decisionmaking that plagues goalkeepers.  I know both fouls weren't committed by players in the 6 (defensive midfielder) position, but that's one area where few players know how to play that correctly to avoid fouling by getting a hip in front of the attacker and edging them off the ball or to circle behind the center back if they are beaten and the CB has to come up and cover for the ball.  Moreover, far too many defensive midfielders lack the ball skill and decision making to circulate the ball out of trouble while still being positive and not just going laterally or backward.  Observers talk about long kicks, but lots of breakaways are the result of bad passes and poor traps giving the ball to the other team in dangerous positions, which is why some coaches want their defenders booting the ball starting in the youth game.  Because of the pressure to not concede, some players have never developed the ball skills necessary for the position and are essentially just hustlers and rugby players.  In fact, Amherst's style is in part to take advantage of the inability of teams to play out of pressure.  When a team is actually skilled (and Conn College is one of the more individually skilled teams), then the Amherst players tend to foul as Plan B. 

I just saw an example of this GK v. defender mistake situation in the Pomona-Pitzer v. Chapman game yesterday.  Pomona-Pitzer is a possession-based team.  Not as skilled as Conn College in most positions, but they definitely are structured to play that way.  They also play their GK high and use a high line to try to get some offensive push and allow their GK who is quite small (maybe 5'8.5" or 5'9" even though he is listed as 5'10") to help recirculate the ball like an extra field player since he's good with his feet.  Chapman, like Amherst, presses high, so this game was a little bit like a west coast version, at least stylistically, of Conn College/Amherst.  A few minutes into the game, following a throw-in on the left side, a Pomona-Pitzer player got into trouble around midfield and passed it back weakly to a teammate (it may have taken a deflection).  The teammate, who I think was playing the 6, tried to shift his hips to receive it on the inside and pass it centrally, but the decision to let it cross his body to his right foot allowed the pressing striker to take the ball off him.  The Chapman player took one touch outside, and passed it ahead to a Chapman teammate who took one or two touches, realized the GK was far off his line, and one-timed it from 25 yards out into the goal for a 1-0 lead.  At first, I was blaming the GK because he should have been backpedaling (or sprinting) and shading to the side where the ball was before the shot was taken to at least give himself a chance.  In reality, though, the back pass was ill-advised, the 6 failed to shield the ball first and recognize the danger, the center backs had sagged back, but they were just in space and that only allowed the Chapman striker to push forward for the pass while remaining onside and uncovered.  The GK involvement was last and while he seemed to fall asleep a little in his positioning, he hardly committed the worst mistake of the group.

[thesoccerguy17]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

[SimpleCoach]

No doubt, @Kuiper.  Believe it or not, I try hard NOT to blame the keeper in certain situations.  And in a game like yesterday, I could equally say that #23 should have buried the ball in the first half to make to 2-0.  The Keeper errors though, right or wrong as you know, are the most unforgiveable because it potentially leads into having the pick the ball out of the net.

SC.

[Gregory Sager]

The Firebirds seemed to try and get all ten field players behind the ball and give both teams half field before they started to challenge them.  Are they coached to play that way or are they hoping not to lose by too many goals.  Must try to go to goal.  NCAA are encouraging ties but I think this is a mistake to play that way.

Well, it certainly worked last night. I've watched the Firebirds multiple times this season, and it's apparent that they're finally getting used to their new coach Paul Leese's system. Carthage is a very, very different animal now than it was during the Steve Domin era. This is far from the most talented Carthage team I've ever seen, but it's the most organized and disciplined. The Firebirds will be dangerous in the CCIW tourney.

It does appear that a DRAW is a good result this year LOL.

It is when you're the 2022 edition of Carthage and your opponent is North Park.

When you're North Park? No, not so much.

IMO, wouldn't take much to be more disciplined than the last couple years of Domin teams, lol. Can't say I was impressed with his comportment over the years. They were even late for their game at UChicago last year.

Domin was a fantastic recruiter, but I've never been sold on his abilities in the other phases of coaching.

His legacy lives on in his recruits in some ways, however. Even after the departure of his surly, provocative self, Carthage and North Park still go at it hammer and tongs. Last night was by far the chippiest contest, with the most shoving, entanglements, and back-and-forth yapping, that I've seen all year (compounded by a referee who was more interested in being the center of attention than in lowering the temperature on the field). There's a pretty stark contrast in terms of NPU's two long-standing rivalries: North Park vs. Wheaton is typically all about good soccer, while North Park vs. Carthage always seems to be teetering on the edge of becoming a street brawl. The Vikings have usually been good about maintaining their composure against Elmhurst, the other CCIW program with a reputation for excessive physicality, but against the Firebirds all bets are off -- probably because Carthage has typically been able to back up its pugnacity with genuine soccer skill.

[SimpleCoach]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

In my own poll I've had Messiah at #1 since week 1 for the very same reasons you have outlined in other games I watched.

SC.

[SierraFD3soccer]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

In my own poll I've had Messiah at #1 since week 1 for the very same reasons you have outlined in other games I watched.

SC.

Maybe so, but Hood has been smacked around by much lesser teams this year.  In the last 5 or 6 they have not won more than 2 conference games.

[SimpleCoach]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

In my own poll I've had Messiah at #1 since week 1 for the very same reasons you have outlined in other games I watched.

SC.

Maybe so, but Hood has been smacked around by much lesser teams this year.  In the last 5 or 6 they have not won more than 2 conference games.

I wasn't talking about Hood.  What they did to W&L and Christopher Newport, probably the two best teams they have faced, was pretty impressive.

SC.

[Coach Jeff]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

Let's take a look at Hood over the year.  They are currently 3-10-2 and only scoring 10 goals so far and giving up 38 (9 last night).  To be honest it looked like Messiah was playing a good High School team.  They gave up 4 goals off of uncontested headers and 13 corners.  I looked at their 3 wins Neuman, EMU, and Marymount have a combined record of 15-21-7 creating a win % of 35.  I am not ready to crown them D3 champs yet.  This win is a win but not a crowning moment.  They are supposed to win these games.

[MessageBoardMessi]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

Let's take a look at Hood over the year.  They are currently 3-10-2 and only scoring 10 goals so far and giving up 38 (9 last night).  To be honest it looked like Messiah was playing a good High School team.  They gave up 4 goals off of uncontested headers and 13 corners.  I looked at their 3 wins Neuman, EMU, and Marymount have a combined record of 15-21-7 creating a win % of 35.  I am not ready to crown them D3 champs yet.  This win is a win but not a crowning moment.  They are supposed to win these games.

Maybe. But it was extremely impressive. Hood effectively played a 1-9-1 formation last night and packed the 18, and Messiah didn't waiver in their approach. They move and possess the ball better than any team I have watched (especially in tight spaces). While I am not into crowning anyone ahead of a single elimination tourney that can easily create upsets - messiahs ability to move the ball and score is uncanny. And while I guess you have to call them "second team" - any other D3 team would be thrilled to start and play every member of that bench for the entire 90 minutes.  They will be fun to watch this postseason - and while they have to earn it - I do think they are #1 for many reasons.

[thesoccerguy17]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

Let's take a look at Hood over the year.  They are currently 3-10-2 and only scoring 10 goals so far and giving up 38 (9 last night).  To be honest it looked like Messiah was playing a good High School team.  They gave up 4 goals off of uncontested headers and 13 corners.  I looked at their 3 wins Neuman, EMU, and Marymount have a combined record of 15-21-7 creating a win % of 35.  I am not ready to crown them D3 champs yet.  This win is a win but not a crowning moment.  They are supposed to win these games.

I don't disagree, I don't think any crowing should happen until after the final's been played Was just making some commentary on how I've ranked teams in my head thus far in the season and last nights game was enough for me to say they were just that dominant in a game to flip from #2 - #1. Messiah, Chicago, and Kenyon could all arguably be #1 though.

[thesoccerguy17]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

Let's take a look at Hood over the year.  They are currently 3-10-2 and only scoring 10 goals so far and giving up 38 (9 last night).  To be honest it looked like Messiah was playing a good High School team.  They gave up 4 goals off of uncontested headers and 13 corners.  I looked at their 3 wins Neuman, EMU, and Marymount have a combined record of 15-21-7 creating a win % of 35.  I am not ready to crown them D3 champs yet.  This win is a win but not a crowning moment.  They are supposed to win these games.

Maybe. But it was extremely impressive. Hood effectively played a 1-9-1 formation last night and packed the 18, and Messiah didn't waiver in their approach. They move and possess the ball better than any team I have watched (especially in tight spaces). While I am not into crowning anyone ahead of a single elimination tourney that can easily create upsets - messiahs ability to move the ball and score is uncanny. And while I guess you have to call them "second team" - any other D3 team would be thrilled to start and play every member of that bench for the entire 90 minutes.  They will be fun to watch this postseason - and while they have to earn it - I do think they are #1 for many reasons.

I definitely use second team loosely. The guys coming off the bench this year have scored close to if not more goals than the first team. It should really be the starting 22 not starting 11.

[MessageBoardMessi]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

Let's take a look at Hood over the year.  They are currently 3-10-2 and only scoring 10 goals so far and giving up 38 (9 last night).  To be honest it looked like Messiah was playing a good High School team.  They gave up 4 goals off of uncontested headers and 13 corners.  I looked at their 3 wins Neuman, EMU, and Marymount have a combined record of 15-21-7 creating a win % of 35.  I am not ready to crown them D3 champs yet.  This win is a win but not a crowning moment.  They are supposed to win these games.

Maybe. But it was extremely impressive. Hood effectively played a 1-9-1 formation last night and packed the 18, and Messiah didn't waiver in their approach. They move and possess the ball better than any team I have watched (especially in tight spaces). While I am not into crowning anyone ahead of a single elimination tourney that can easily create upsets - messiahs ability to move the ball and score is uncanny. And while I guess you have to call them "second team" - any other D3 team would be thrilled to start and play every member of that bench for the entire 90 minutes.  They will be fun to watch this postseason - and while they have to earn it - I do think they are #1 for many reasons.

I definitely use second team loosely. The guys coming off the bench this year have scored close to if not more goals than the first team. It should really be the starting 22 not starting 11.

I will take it to another level  - Id call them the starting 27.......The entire squad is first team quality.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Connecticut @ Amherst
10.19.2022
I feel that because a few of us tend to be GK-centric in our comments, we may be veering too much in the direction of those parents in the youth games that blame everything on the goalkeepers and ignore the mistakes their own kids make.  For example, I've seen multiple games in the past week (Emory v. NYU and Tufts v. Conn College) where a GK made a mistake on a free kick that led to a last minute goal.  We tend to focus on the GK mistake in part because it's so obvious and in part because the commentators and/or press releases ignore the GK's actions or even praise it (the Emory PR recap even called it "a great diving save to block the free kick").  Giving up a free kick at the top of the box in both games, however, was the original sin (something I think Simple Coach mentioned in at least one of his game reviews).

Well said. Great examples. Thank you. A lot often has to go into the misplays, stupid fouls that end up being goals. Dangerous free kicks can lead to opportunities.  Another good example was the JHU-Dickinson game last night.  Stupid, stupid foul by Dickinson (not a very good practioner of the dark arts) followed by really really bad marking on the free kick which in turn subjected the keeper to a nightmare scenario. See https://www.centennialconference.tv/?B=396550 at the 1.44 mark for the events leading up to and the goal itself.

[Coach Jeff]

From a national perspective, up until last night, I saw Chicago at #1 with a perfect 14-0 record and Messiah at a close #2 because of the 1 tie early in the season and a weaker overall SOS but last night's game Messiah vs Hood blew me away. I have no choice but to put Messiah at #1 now. They were up 9-0 with 20 minutes to play and just passed in circles to avoid making it 10+ and at least half of the goals were from the second team. In a game where the starters play the majority of the game and no goal restrictions I can only wonder if they would have scored 20. (I have to assume the coaching staff told them not to score anymore the way they were playing at the end). It was one of the most dominant D3 games I have ever seen in my life across the board. Here is the link to the stats sheet in case anyone doesn't believe it https://gomessiah.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/hood-college/boxscore/10385

Let's take a look at Hood over the year.  They are currently 3-10-2 and only scoring 10 goals so far and giving up 38 (9 last night).  To be honest it looked like Messiah was playing a good High School team.  They gave up 4 goals off of uncontested headers and 13 corners.  I looked at their 3 wins Neuman, EMU, and Marymount have a combined record of 15-21-7 creating a win % of 35.  I am not ready to crown them D3 champs yet.  This win is a win but not a crowning moment.  They are supposed to win these games.

Maybe. But it was extremely impressive. Hood effectively played a 1-9-1 formation last night and packed the 18, and Messiah didn't waiver in their approach. They move and possess the ball better than any team I have watched (especially in tight spaces). While I am not into crowning anyone ahead of a single elimination tourney that can easily create upsets - messiahs ability to move the ball and score is uncanny. And while I guess you have to call them "second team" - any other D3 team would be thrilled to start and play every member of that bench for the entire 90 minutes.  They will be fun to watch this postseason - and while they have to earn it - I do think they are #1 for many reasons.

I definitely use second team loosely. The guys coming off the bench this year have scored close to if not more goals than the first team. It should really be the starting 22 not starting 11.

I will take it to another level  - Id call them the starting 27.......The entire squad is first team quality.

MessageBoardMessi I read your post about Messiah's Second team scored almost the same as the starting 11.  I found that interesting so I went to Messiah's webpage and looked it up because I new that McDonald (starter) had 16 goals on his own.  The first 11 have 41 goals leaving only 23 for the other players.  I thought your stats were a little off.  I do agree that the team as a whole is very deep and anyone can score.  They are fun to watch.

[paclassic89]

The scary thing about this Messiah team is they're also not graduating many players after this season.  I'm sure one of the Messiah fans/parents with better info can chime in but they're graduating Groothoff, Brautigam, and Swartz and then who else?  I'm assuming the seniors listed on the roster will be taking their additional eligibility year from Covid.