Game of the week for D3 men's soccer

[hiyasoccer]

Watched the stream and basically agree with Maine Soccer Fan. Big result for Bowdoin who will look to finish in the top 2 in the NESCAC. Middlebury is the best team in the league right now but I haven't watched them much. I think likely the top 2-3 in NESCAC this year won't be title favorites like Amherst and Tufts in years past but will be in the next group of very good teams who can beat anyone but don't have the top gear of the best teams. Right now that looks like Midd, likely Bowdoin, and possibly 1 more.

[PaulNewman]

If one buys the thesis that Chicago and Messiah are the only two superior teams, then being in the next group is pretty good company.

If I actually imagine brackets and teams they might play in 1st rd, 2nd rd, and Sweet 16 I can go five deep in the NESCAC without getting to a matchup any less than 50/50 (essentially anyone not named Messiah or Chicago) and most I would put at 65/35, 60/40, etc.

Just to take Bowdoin or Tufts as examples, who other than the top two (only one of whom would be in a NESCAC bracket) would they play that you would feel confident about beating them or even fairly confident?  Then same with Midd, Amherst, Conn...

[Coach Jeff]

Looking at the up coming week what game should we all be put on our schedules to watch.  I had a hard time picking one to watch but I did however pick a team to watch Western Connecticut.  They have 3 conference games left for a possible undefeated season.  Saturday October 22 they play Mass-Boston, A game against Pratt on Wednesday, October 26 and finish up the regular season with Southern Maine on Saturday, October 29.  I have enjoyed following the wolves this season.  They play a nice game.  Good Luck wolves.  What games do you all suggest?

[Kuiper]

Looking at the up coming week what game should we all be put on our schedules to watch.  I had a hard time picking one to watch but I did however pick a team to watch Western Connecticut.  They have 3 conference games left for a possible undefeated season.  Saturday October 22 they play Mass-Boston, A game against Pratt on Wednesday, October 26 and finish up the regular season with Southern Maine on Saturday, October 29.  I have enjoyed following the wolves this season.  They play a nice game.  Good Luck wolves.  What games do you all suggest?

If you're looking for a game in the West to check out tomorrow, you might tune into Trinity (TX) at St. Thomas (TX) 5 pm CDT.  Trinity has been surging of late, winning 6 games in a row to take a comfortable lead in the SCAC.  Other than the win against Southwestern, however, Trinity has mostly been feasting on weaker competition.  St. Thomas, therefore, is probably their first real test in awhile and a chance to establish that they are back on track and primed for a postseason run.  St. Thomas is a distant third in the SCAC right now, but if they win against Trinity, they could win out and end the season 12-1-3, which should put them in decent spot for an NCAA tournament spot even if they don't get the automatic qualifier. 

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Couple games that jump out this weekend:
Misericordia @ Stevens--Stevens looking to stay undefeated and lock up the 1 seed in the MAC Freedom, Misericordia looking to bounce back after their first conference loss
Hopkins @ Muhles--Hopkins looking to stay unbeaten, Muhles with the home field advantage (if you can call it a field)
Kalamazoo @ Calvin--Calvin looking to bounce back after their first loss since Chicago and first blemish in the last 7 games, I wouldn't want to be Kalamazoo
Midd @ Tufts, Amherst @ Hamilton, Wesleyan @ Bowdoin--great battles in the NESCAC this weekend

Others:
CNU @ Mary Wash
Mass-Boston @ W. Conn
Cortland @ Brockport
Alvernia @ Rochester
SLU @ Skidmore
TX-Lutheran @ Southwestern

[Ejay]

Couple games that jump out this weekend:
Misericordia @ Stevens--Stevens looking to stay undefeated and lock up the 1 seed in the MAC Freedom, Misericordia looking to bounce back after their first conference loss
Hopkins @ Muhles--Hopkins looking to stay unbeaten, Muhles with the home field advantage (if you can call it a field)
Kalamazoo @ Calvin--Calvin looking to bounce back after their first loss since Chicago and first blemish in the last 7 games, I wouldn't want to be Kalamazoo
Midd @ Tufts, Amherst @ Hamilton, Wesleyan @ Bowdoin--great battles in the NESCAC this weekend

Others:
CNU @ Mary Wash
Mass-Boston @ W. Conn
Cortland @ Brockport
Alvernia @ Rochester
SLU @ Skidmore
TX-Lutheran @ Southwestern

The Alvernia/Rochester game was on my radar as very intriguing.  Alvernia is 9-2-5 with only 1 quality win vs. a Montclair team that was all over them but gave up a PK. They're not a very good team but somehow find a way not to lose. Rochester, as we know, finds a way to sneak into the tournament every year. Surely a loss would dash those hopes once and for all?

Side note: Alvernia is probably the benefactor of the no OT rule.  My guess is their 9-2-5 record could easily be a 9-7 record.

[Coach Jeff]

Couple games that jump out this weekend:
Misericordia @ Stevens--Stevens looking to stay undefeated and lock up the 1 seed in the MAC Freedom, Misericordia looking to bounce back after their first conference loss
Hopkins @ Muhles--Hopkins looking to stay unbeaten, Muhles with the home field advantage (if you can call it a field)
Kalamazoo @ Calvin--Calvin looking to bounce back after their first loss since Chicago and first blemish in the last 7 games, I wouldn't want to be Kalamazoo
Midd @ Tufts, Amherst @ Hamilton, Wesleyan @ Bowdoin--great battles in the NESCAC this weekend

Others:
CNU @ Mary Wash
Mass-Boston @ W. Conn
Cortland @ Brockport
Alvernia @ Rochester
SLU @ Skidmore
TX-Lutheran @ Southwestern

Wow what a great statement about the Muhles field.  It is an embarrassment to Muhlenberg.  I think the MULE pasture down the road would be better and safer to play on.  I am surprised that the NCAA officials allow them to use a field in that poor of condition.

[Gregory Sager]

Wow what a great statement about the Muhles field.  It is an embarrassment to Muhlenberg.  I think the MULE pasture down the road would be better and safer to play on.  I am surprised that the NCAA officials allow them to use a field in that poor of condition.

You'd be surprised at how little the NCAA cares. As long as you've got legal dimensions, you're golden.

You'd probably also be surprised at the beastly condition of a lot of grass pitches in D3. At least some of the coaches of grass-field programs are circumspect enough to move games to another locale if their playing surface becomes too compromised, a la Calvin moving D3 tourney games from the quagmire known as Zuidema Field to the home pitch of nearby Grand Rapids Christian H.S. two or three years ago.

[Coach Jeff]

Wow what a great statement about the Muhles field.  It is an embarrassment to Muhlenberg.  I think the MULE pasture down the road would be better and safer to play on.  I am surprised that the NCAA officials allow them to use a field in that poor of condition.

You'd be surprised at how little the NCAA cares. As long as you've got legal dimensions, you're golden.

You'd probably also be surprised at the beastly condition of a lot of grass pitches in D3. At least some of the coaches of grass-field programs are circumspect enough to move games to another locale if their playing surface becomes too compromised, a la Calvin moving D3 tourney games from the quagmire known as Zuidema Field to the home pitch of nearby Grand Rapids Christian H.S. two or three years ago.

Not surprised at all by the conditions of Grass fields.  When Coaching at a D3 college after a huge rainstorm, a frat brat thought it would be a great idea to drive his truck in circles around our game field.  When we arrived at the field the next morning for pregame, we were very surprised at the mess.  So our awesome ground keeper staff took soil that they had collected from the state cleaning out the ditches along the roads to fill in the ruts.  When we returned in the afternoon for the game we found loose dirt and you can image what else.  Yes you got it broken glass, plastic and other litter.  The Officials deemed the field unplayable and we had to move it to out practice area which was not a great surface to say the least.  The NCAA seems very concerned about our players health with the elimination of overtime don't you think field conditions should also be a major concern as well 

[Hopkins92]

Grass fields in the midwest, northeast and good chunks of the mid-atlantic come November are an absolute farce. When weather consistently dips below 50, grass simply stops growing and isn't repairable.

Pretty basic stuff, really.

[Coach Jeff]

Grass fields in the midwest, northeast and good chunks of the mid-atlantic come November are an absolute farce. When weather consistently dips below 50, grass simply stops growing and isn't repairable.

Pretty basic stuff, really.

I can think of 2 fields in central PA that all quality surfaces.  Shoemaker field in Mechanicsburg, PA is really good all year long and Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa. Well they do have ground crews that actually care about doing a good job.  I have noticed on numerous occasions at both fields the players and coaches will go around and replace the torn up sod on the field.  Following the game day the ground crew is hard at working keeping the surfaces in top shape.  They also do not practice on it or allow other events to take place on the game fields.

[4samuy]

And this does beg the question in d3 soccer,  and will say I'm usually on top of the odd and even year thing, but since the COVID year I've lost track.  Who gets tournament hosting priorities the first weekend this year, men or women?  Although some teams may have to play on these fields in November, since this is the men's boards, I hope it doesn't come to that.

[Gregory Sager]

The NCAA seems very concerned about our players health with the elimination of overtime don't you think field conditions should also be a major concern as well

That's a valid point. The answer is administrative; no bureaucrat from Indianapolis is going to come out to examine every playing surface, which means that the responsibility would devolve upon the five members of each regional committee -- whom I'm sure would unanimously insist that, as coaches, ADs, and assistant ADs, they each have more than enough on their plates that would preclude them from touring eight to ten soccer pitches across a widely-dispersed geographic area every October in order to inspect field conditions.

That's why the NCAA usually leaves these sorts of things up to conferences to administer, rather than Indy itself. If Muhlenberg's pitch is so awful that it's a genuine health hazard, the best place to raise that issue would be the Centennial Conference office.

[Hopkins92]

That's the funny thing to some of us old-heads, and I mentioned it earlier this week. The fields we are complaining about (deservedly so) would've been considered pristine to some of that played on the pockmarked disasters that littered D3 back in the 80s and early 90s.

Funny thing (to me), is that we played at Muhlenberg in a playoff game (lost by a goal) on their field and I remember thinking I loved the atmosphere and my recollection is that the field was pretty darn nice.

[paclassic89]

There's also an increased risk of non-contact lower extremity injuries when playing on artificial turf