Game of the week for D3 men's soccer

[Maine Soccer Fan]

Thanks to Mid-Atlantic fan for suggesting we watch North Park v North Central.  A very good match with two very disciplined teams.  Both played quality soccer and worked hard from the starting whistle.  The goal of the match was the 27 yard direct kick by North Park's Christian Vaaland.  He could not have struck it any better.  A 2-2 draw was a fitting end to this game.  Great game!  Hopefully we will get to see the rematch in the CCIW Conference playoffs.

That was indeed a very entertaining game with a good broadcaster and commentary to boot. I was impressed with NCU.

[maineman]

Did anyone mention the Conn College v Babson tonight at 7 pm?

Very interesting game, big one for CT College. However, if I remember correctly, the camera position makes CT College games hard on the eyes.

I'll say!! It is not worth watching the game!

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks to Mid-Atlantic fan for suggesting we watch North Park v North Central.  A very good match with two very disciplined teams.  Both played quality soccer and worked hard from the starting whistle.  The goal of the match was the 27 yard direct kick by North Park's Christian Vaaland.  He could not have struck it any better.  A 2-2 draw was a fitting end to this game.  Great game!  Hopefully we will get to see the rematch in the CCIW Conference playoffs.

That was indeed a very entertaining game with a good broadcaster and commentary to boot. I was impressed with NCU.

NCC, you mean. North Central College (NCC) is the CCIW school in Illinois; North Central University (NCU) is the UMAC school in Minnesota.

[Coach Jeff]

Thanks to Mid-Atlantic fan for suggesting we watch North Park v North Central.  A very good match with two very disciplined teams.  Both played quality soccer and worked hard from the starting whistle.  The goal of the match was the 27 yard direct kick by North Park's Christian Vaaland.  He could not have struck it any better.  A 2-2 draw was a fitting end to this game.  Great game!  Hopefully we will get to see the rematch in the CCIW Conference playoffs.

That was indeed a very entertaining game with a good broadcaster and commentary to boot. I was impressed with NCU.

I was also impressed with NCC.  North Park possession did not bother them and they stuck to their game plan.  Will be interesting to see what the Polls say this week.

[Maine Soccer Fan]

Thanks to Mid-Atlantic fan for suggesting we watch North Park v North Central.  A very good match with two very disciplined teams.  Both played quality soccer and worked hard from the starting whistle.  The goal of the match was the 27 yard direct kick by North Park's Christian Vaaland.  He could not have struck it any better.  A 2-2 draw was a fitting end to this game.  Great game!  Hopefully we will get to see the rematch in the CCIW Conference playoffs.

That was indeed a very entertaining game with a good broadcaster and commentary to boot. I was impressed with NCU.

I was also impressed with NCU.  North Park possession did not bother them and they stuck to their game plan.  Will be interesting to see what the Polls say this week.

See above. The school to which you're referring is NCC, not NCU (which is a completely different D3 school located in the Land of 10,000 Lakes).

This distinction might be deserving of a thread unto itself.

[Gregory Sager]

Not really. Duplicate school names in D3 are pretty commonplace. You just have to know which initials you're using (e.g., NCC vs. NCU), or else refer to the school by state -- for example, Wheaton (IL) vs. Wheaton (MA), Westminster (PA) vs. Westminster (MO), Concordia (IL) vs. Concordia (WI), Trinity (CT) vs. Trinity (TX), and so on.

[Maine Soccer Fan]

Not really. Duplicate school names in D3 are pretty commonplace. You just have to know which initials you're using (e.g., NCC vs. NCU), or else refer to the school by state -- for example, Wheaton (IL) vs. Wheaton (MA), Westminster (PA) vs. Westminster (MO), Concordia (IL) vs. Concordia (WI), Trinity (CT) vs. Trinity (TX), and so on.

Your forgot the Northwesterns!!! Both of which are in the...midwest. Yup, definitely worthy of a separate thread!

[Gregory Sager]

Only one of them is D3. If you post "Northwestern" on d3boards.com in a thread having to do with Region IX, there's no mistaking it for the Big Ten's Northwestern.

Again, as long as you're distinguishing between two schools in D3 by using abbreviations or state identifiers, it's not really an issue. In fact, it really only comes into play if you're talking about two schools within the same league that have identical names (the two Concordias in the NACC is the only example of that in D3), two identically-monikered schools that are good at the same sport (as the two Wheatons were in men's soccer for quite awhile), or two schools that have competitive overlap.

You can frequently pick up context from geography; on a board that deals with New England schools, you can easily get away with referring to the NESCAC school as "Trinity" without anyone confusing it with the Texas school of the same name. But Minnesota-based D3 schools and Illinois-based D3 schools play each other fairly frequently, so it's helpful to know the difference between North Central College in suburban Chicagoland and North Central University in the Twin Cities.

[OldNed]

Not sure if any of the same name schools can beat the St. Joseph's in number, since there are 4 of them at the D3 level, and even more peculiar 2 of them are in the SKY conference and 2 more in the GNAC.

St. Joseph (Conn.)   West Hartford, CT   
St. Joseph's (Bklyn.)   Brooklyn, NY   
St. Joseph's (L.I.)   Patchogue, NY   
St. Joseph's (Maine)   Standish, ME   

[Maine Soccer Fan]

To return to the game of the week topic, NCC was a quiet surprise to me. They were dynamic in attack and with some better decision-making in the final third could have scored a couple more goals. Guys settled for 25 yard shots when they should have passed. North Park looked to have individual skill on the ball but weren't progressive enough in the attack, lots of negative balls, sometimes forgetting that possession isn't the point but rather scoring is the aim. Dangerous on set pieces though.

[Coach Jeff]

To return to the game of the week topic, NCC was a quiet surprise to me. They were dynamic in attack and with some better decision-making in the final third could have scored a couple more goals. Guys settled for 25 yard shots when they should have passed. North Park looked to have individual skill on the ball but weren't progressive enough in the attack, lots of negative balls, sometimes forgetting that possession isn't the point but rather scoring is the aim. Dangerous on set pieces though.

Totally agree with Mainesoccerfan.  NCC played much better as a team and stuck to their game.  I was glad I was able to watch this match and I also agree the announcers with knowledgeable and did their research on both teams.

[Gregory Sager]

Not sure if any of the same name schools can beat the St. Joseph's in number, since there are 4 of them at the D3 level, and even more peculiar 2 of them are in the SKY conference and 2 more in the GNAC.

St. Joseph (Conn.)   West Hartford, CT   
St. Joseph's (Bklyn.)   Brooklyn, NY   
St. Joseph's (L.I.)   Patchogue, NY   
St. Joseph's (Maine)   Standish, ME

Yep. Thanks for posting that. This quartet is a great example of the need to distinguish, not just because there's four of them (although the one in the Nutmeg State doesn't have a possessive in its name) but because of their close proximity. It's also the only private-school situation in D3 that comes to mind in which two branches of the same school are in the same league, within the same state, so initials don't work; as is the case with the WIAC and the D3 Penn State branch campuses you have to distinguish the two St. Joseph's University campuses in New York by location.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU has had a habit of falling in love with possession for possession's sake too often this season. I think that the Vikings have been a bit too concerned with wearing down their opponents in the back and the midfield by making them chase and switch, and they've been too willing to make pass after pass in the forward third patiently trying to attain the perfect shot when often the best course of action is to take a good shot and then swarm the goal waiting for spillage or a favorable defensive deflection.

When the Vikings have been at their offensive best (in the downpour at Ohio Northern or in the contests against St. Olaf and Wash U) they've been both creative and direct. But too often they've turned into mere keepaway artists. That attitude of excessive deliberation can bite a team when it takes on a better opponent.

[camosfan]

I think there is more than one "Centenary" ?

[Gregory Sager]

Yes. There's Centenary University in Hackettstown, NJ, which plays in the CSAC; and Centenary College of Louisiana, located in Shreveport, which plays in the SCAC.

There's also Washington University of St. Louis (UAA) and Washington College, located in Maryland (Centennial); and then there's Wesleyan College, a women's college in Macon, GA that plays in the newly-minted College Conference of the South, and Wesleyan University, the NESCAC school in Middletown, CT.