2023 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[camosfan]

I want to say this about F&M, when I look at them, they are steady year after year, despite not getting the quality recruits that Montclair attracts, says a lot about the quality of the coaching.

[EnmoreCat]

Appreciate you sharing, Sierra.  I love learning about as many teams as humanly possible (limited by IQ for me sadly) and hearing tales that help you better understand what makes a program click. I am glad your son had a great experience and has found a great career starting point.  I don't think as a parent, you can ask for much more than that.  Plus, F&M sounds like they could be kindred spirits with Amherst.  Apologies, if I just over-reached...

[College Soccer Observer]

To F&M's credit, they are one of the best programs in the country at winning close games and grinding out wins.  The style of play and the bench antics has drawn a lot of negative attention/detractors (of which I am probably one) but the results are the results.

Let's dial back the F&M accolades. They've won 2 conference championships in 17 tries and are usually good for a 1st/2nd round exit in the NCAA's.  Their sideline antics are annoying and their attempts on the field to get into opponents heads is often classless. I've seen them multiple times and it's not a program I can respect.

All true and definitely valid criticism. I can agree with both.  Some might say that F&M is the Williams of the Centennial Conference but with less success.

This is from the perspective of a parent who's son played his last two years at F&M as a co-captain his junior year and sole captain last year. Starting with the F&M's sideline squad, I can definitely see how this can be seen as antics from the outside and probably by all objective metrics be considered disrespectful and irking.  For me, it did not strike me the same way, but coming from Maryland many lacrosse squads are similar.  Also, if you ever see a Univ. of Maryland soccer match, you will see students standing directly behind the opposition defense and engage.

As to the F&M team, they never sit on the sidelines and are actively engaged in watching the play while cheering. During HS and some college games, many teams and fans would call out my son as the keeper which my son actually loved.  One Cent. Conf. team fans actually did some research and used my wife's and daughter's names during matches in not a particularly pleasant manner. Probably fair game. As a note, many teams' benches do not sit during matches as well, but may not be as active. During many games, when my son made a play, his bench would taunt him by drawing out his last name over and over and over which we all thought was hilarious and so did he. Senior banquet they did it again. Things the bench would do as to cheers would be when a ball went out and it was F&M's they would all yell "That a way" and wave at that direction in unison.  Also on fouls on a F&M player, sometimes they would say "You can't do that" several times.  Ultimately, the bench was always involved and into the game. Maybe to an extreme and not fun for anybody not for F&M, but the team was a team.

To build on the team aspect, in the first three games of this season all but two field players and the backup keeper played in these. That's 27 players over these games and each game was a one goal win.  Two of the games they had to come back and score twice in at least the last 20 minutes. A lot of trust by the coaches and kids coming off the bench to deliver. FYI, by the 4th game all rostered players played.  Many coaches at most levels will not do this especially on high level teams which have big expectations each year. Most coaches down from my experience substantially tighten up their rotations Also note that many coaches have one or more reliable backs that never come off the field at any point. Not the case for F&M.
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As to success or lack of success, F&M has only had 2 Centennial Conf. tournament titles and over the last nine years gone to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 once while the remaining times lost in the second or first round - last three years in the second round and twice, including last year, lost in pks. Last year, F&M won the regular season Cent. Conf. title with a record of 7-0-2 and beat Hopkins for its only loss in regular time all season. (Some will say that goal was lucky, but Hopkins could not capitalize on some of their opportunities. Or some will say that F&M played crap soccer which I would not deny, but they were effective and stuck to their game plan).  It is what it is, which is soccer and how tough and exacting it can be.  However, how many teams would love to go to 9 straight NCAA tournaments? Kids come to programs to play and have success while having a good time. Objectively, the coaches provide those opportunities.

Another thing, people can't see from the outside is what actually goes on in programs. We as a family have had to experience a whole lot over my son's career. Long, long, long story, but he actually went through the recruitment process three times which was had a lot to do with the fact that we are a family with limited means and little tolerance for incurring crippling college debt. He ended one of the very few transfers to F&M.  He's been the only one over the last three years and he definitely had to earn his playing time. He had also pass very close scrutiny by the coaches and F&M network before he could come. Long discussions between him and the coaches. Before coming to F&M and when he was accepted, he was playing chess online with the head coach during Covid. Outside of F&M and maybe two other programs, he did not come back with any great feelings from many coaches and programs.  Not saying there aren't any others, but in the D1/D3 there are probably only a few in my opinion.

F&M for him and the other teammates the experience is pretty unique from what I can tell.  The teams doesn't stop at the end of the season or even at the end of their college career. They choose to live and study with each other. Son as a captain worked his teammates the other 9 months of the year helping them navigate the college experience and live up to the team standard.  The team is not only incredibly close, but it does not end at graduation. The alumni network willingly gives back to the program and not just financially.  Much more in ways of mentorship during the season (from what I can tell alumni are actively involved during season working with players and their player groups). Involved in internships as well as career counseling is big part of the F&M soccer experience. Senior year, the team had a career conference where young soccer alumni came back and discussed their journeys and met with them in small groups. Also, networking for jobs and connections post college play a role.

Overall and in my mind, it is what you would want your son to experience becoming a man and moving on into a successful future. They also had a lot of fun along the way. Son is now in Denver area working at Cigna's headquarters as an actuarial analysist in its Actuarial Executive Development Program. High level math sh*t that as a lowly lawyer concerning which I have very little knowledge. All I can ask.

Very well said.  D3 soccer is about fun, and rivalaries, and competition.  I know we all like to engage in banter and we have our  likes and dislikes.  I introduced @EnmoreCat to some of the Middlebury parents, and they discovered that not everything or everyone associated with Amherst was the devil incarnate.  I attended two NCAA games at F & M in 2021, where they lost at home to Middlebury.  Did I find their bench behavior annoying?  Yes, but not any worse than what I routinely see in NESCAC games.  By the way, my son loves the banter.  The more people chirp him, the better he likes it, and it seems to motivate him.  There are only 11 guys who can play at once.  Kudos to all players who are focused on the game and supporting their friends. 

At the end of the day, this is about getting a great education, forging lifelong bonds, and enjoying being part of a team.  Happy for those who find what they are looking for, regardless of what team they play for.

[PaulNewman]

^^^^^^Also well said, CSO.

[SierraFD3soccer]

"Very well said.  D3 soccer is about fun, and rivalaries, and competition.  I know we all like to engage in banter and we have our  likes and dislikes.  I introduced @EnmoreCat to some of the Middlebury parents, and they discovered that not everything or everyone associated with Amherst was the devil incarnate.  I attended two NCAA games at F & M in 2021, where they lost at home to Middlebury.  Did I find their bench behavior annoying?  Yes, but not any worse than what I routinely see in NESCAC games.  By the way, my son loves the banter.  The more people chirp him, the better he likes it, and it seems to motivate him.  There are only 11 guys who can play at once.  Kudos to all players who are focused on the game and supporting their friends.

At the end of the day, this is about getting a great education, forging lifelong bonds, and enjoying being part of a team.  Happy for those who find what they are looking for, regardless of what team they play for."

Thanks, FYI, one of my son's darkest days. Hahaha. Middlebury thumped them 2-0 that day and definitely deserved the win.  F&M could not meet the their physicality that day.  Had a narrow chance to tie (great PK save and then a very good opportunity they could not put on frame) Middlebury keeper was great. Wished you all could have gone all the way.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Appreciate you sharing, Sierra.  I love learning about as many teams as humanly possible (limited by IQ for me sadly) and hearing tales that help you better understand what makes a program click. I am glad your son had a great experience and has found a great career starting point.  I don't think as a parent, you can ask for much more than that.  Plus, F&M sounds like they could be kindred spirits with Amherst.  Apologies, if I just over-reached...

Absolutely no worries and thanks for your kind words. From my experience, boards often lack context and I was trying to fill in the picture for where my comments come from.   I have opinions, we all have opinions, and if I can't support them then where will I be?

[SierraFD3soccer]

I want to say this about F&M, when I look at them, they are steady year after year, despite not getting the quality recruits that Montclair attracts, says a lot about the quality of the coaching.

Absolutely, Coach Dan Wagner, Messiah 95, (and his wife), Donnie Spangler and Dan's brother Mark, part time and former long time Eastern Coll coach. 21 years at F&M. They work incredibly hard and all three could easy be coaching separately at other schools.

Also, and not the least of it, one of early SimpleCoach's interviewees (second most popular of his youtube coach interview - more views than subscribers right now) which obviously goes a whole, whole way.

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks for all that Sierra. For the record, digging up mom and sister names is over the line.

Also, the first time I encountered the F&M bench, I found it to be disrespectful and unsportsmanlike. Then I sat back and looked at it objectively and... It can be very funny and it's relatively harmless.

I played baseball at a pretty high level... It might be out of boredom, but nothing the F&M bench does comes within a country mile of the things I've heard (and said) from a baseball bench. That stuff is brutal and VERY personal.

You haven't heard "brutal and VERY personal" until you've attended a men's volleyball match. Baseball trash talk from the dugout comes from a place of macho cameraderie. But occasionally with men's volleyball, it seems to be coming from a place of being mentally unhinged. I like a lot of the men's volleyball players I've met, as the practitioners of that sport tend to be a very colorful bunch. But a certain percentage of them are a little too colorful, if you know what I mean. Occasionally, when I have to call a match in which the opposing team is waaaay out of line with the verbal abuse, and their coach isn't interested in reining them in, I start to wonder if being a male volleyball player ranks just below boyhood animal abuse in terms of being a leading indicator of serial-killer sociopathy.

[WUPHF]

At 3-0-1 and No. 24 in Massey, Rochester is outperforming my expectations, though I figured that would be good enough. 

Rochester tied the Rochester of Institute of Technology on a free kick late in the game.  The RIT keeper is going to be thinking about this one for a while.

https://x.com/UofRathletics/status/1701765687969227129?s=20

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks, WUPHF! This means that I'll have seen at least 44 seconds of soccer this season from the U of Paywall!

(In all fairness, that quick turnaround in showing the slow-mo replay of the goal was a sign of top-notch work by the Yellowjackets' production staff.)

[Hopkins92]

Weirdly, Massey has the Hopkins record wrong (2-2-2 when the actual is 3-1-2).

[SierraFD3soccer]

Weirdly, Massey has the Hopkins record wrong (2-2-2 when the actual is 3-1-2).

Yeah, saw that as well.  For some reason last night the box score in the stats had 2-1 for St. Marys for awhile.  I think they eventually got it correct. In the past when I've see mistakes like that, I've sent emails to Massey and he usually corrects it quickly.

[PaulNewman]

Weirdly, Massey has the Hopkins record wrong (2-2-2 when the actual is 3-1-2).

Also weirdly the NCAA scores site had St Mary's beating JHU 3-1 instead of reverse....I almost posted about what the heck was going on with Hopkins but decided I should check the school websites first.  These will some of the biggest things I'll miss from D3soccer.com.

[WUPHF]

Thanks, WUPHF! This means that I'll have seen at least 44 seconds of soccer this season from the U of Paywall!

(In all fairness, that quick turnaround in showing the slow-mo replay of the goal was a sign of top-notch work by the Yellowjackets' production staff.)

Oh my God, that is hilarious, sad, and true all at the same time.

In a week in which an SID made headline news with his resignation, I think the replays are a nice touch and worth the extra work if the communications team has the capacity to do so (e.g. student workers).

[paclassic89]

Whoever was doing live stats entered the teams incorrectly but they fixed it in the final XML upload to the NCAA.  Also, that's a nice little hint as to how Massey is scraping scores haha