2023 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[SierraFD3soccer]

EnmoreCat...I absolutely loved Vilas...one of my heros, probably a bit because I'm also a lefty...but mainly loved his game and demeanor...a nice break from Borg's schizoidal style, McEnroe's antics (speaking of antics), the dour Lendl, and the buttoned up Stan Smith.  Of course Arthur Ashe was my first tennis hero and a few years ahead of the others.  Vitas was good but I can't put him at that very top level...maybe a small notch above a Roscoe Tanner.

You disappointed me on ppd...but yes, post-partum depression is no joke and one of the leading causes of infanticide among women and often accompanied by psychosis.

Rocket Rod Laver was my favorite and still pretty much. Total class. Definitely loved Vilas who was always competitive.

[PaulNewman]

Hope has had the ball maybe 2 minutes of the first 25...and leads 1-0 over Chicago completely against run of play.  Announcers a bit too active for me but good...and before the goal said Hope will probably get 4 chances on the counter all game and hopefully would score on one.  They did but I imagine it's gonna take more than one.

Disappointed to see that apparently no video for games in Richmond...so that messes up my Sunday feature game of MW-Emory.  Of course now we have a couple of monster NESCAC games Sunday.  Emory bests Catholic 3-1.  I had been curious to see if Hampden-Sydney could do anything with MW.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Hope has had the ball maybe 2 minutes of the first 25...and leads 1-0 over Chicago completely against run of play.  Announcers a bit too active for me but good...and before the goal said Hope will probably get 4 chances on the counter all game and hopefully would score on one.  They did but I imagine it's gonna take more than one.

Disappointed to see that apparently no video for games in Richmond...so that messes up my Sunday feature game of MW-Emory.  Of course now we have a couple of monster NESCAC games Sunday.  Emory bests Catholic 3-1.  I had been curious to see if Hampden-Sydney could do anything with MW.

Sign of the Apocalypse - UMW has a Esports varsity team.

[PaulNewman]

Shots are 24 to 2...but Hope still up 1-0 in 55th min.

Wow...Hope takes it.  Chicago led shots 34-5, but credit Hope who looked like they knew exactly what they were doing the whole time.  I didn't watch enough of Hope vs OWU to know how Hope played that one but they did get a draw there too.  Won't be a problem for Chicago but huge for Hope who now have a win and a draw with two teams who will be regionally ranked in November. 

Good example of how a #1 seed can lose a 1st or 2nd round game even when dominant.

[northman]

Don't forget that McEnroe, despite his antics, was a lefty and also a very talented player.  And who, among Americans, can leave out Andre Agassi (despite his mullet) and Pete Sampras (despite his somewhat boring demeanor relative to the aforementioned big personalities)...

[PaulNewman]

Don't forget that McEnroe, despite his antics, was a lefty and also a very talented player.  And who, among Americans, can leave out Andre Agassi (despite his mullet) and Pete Sampras (despite his somewhat boring demeanor relative to the aforementioned big personalities)...

Yeah, I never liked McEnroe (or Connors).  That said, some of the McEnroe-Borg and a couple of the McEnroe-Lendl matches were fantastic...definitely an incredible player who won the NCAA title as a frosh at Stanford over a guy I knew named John Sadri from NC State in a classic that you can still watch online.  A few years later I got to see Sadri play Borg at the US Open.  Loved Sampras...Agassi not so much...and both were really part of the next generation.

[PaulNewman]

Chicago loses for the first time since 2021....now Messiah has the longest streak going...if the Falcons didn't already.

Meanwhile, North Park and Wartburg have combined for a grad total of 3 shots for the whole 1st half.  0-0 at the half.

Ohio Northern up 1-0 on North Central at the half....would be much needed and valuable win for the Polar Bears if they can get it.

Denison seemed to dispatch Centre with relative ease.

[PaulNewman]

Chicago loses for the first time since 2021....now Messiah has the longest streak going...if the Falcons didn't already.

Meanwhile, North Park and Wartburg have combined for a grad total of 3 shots for the whole 1st half.  0-0 at the half.

Ohio Northern up 1-0 on North Central at the half....would be much needed and valuable win for the Polar Bears if they can get it.

Denison seemed to dispatch Centre with relative ease.

And they could not...tough stretch here for ONU as the big Kenyon victory is feeling like a distant memory.  And North Park tomorrow night...who tied Wartburg in a well played game for the most part...North Park almost unraveled with fouling and complaints about foul calls but rallied late to put some good, sustained pressure on Wartburg who definitely had their spells of possession and some excellent chances, including in the last 25 seconds.

[Gregory Sager]

Wartburg is very solid. Underestimate the Knights at your own peril.

I'm happy with the way the Vikings played, for the most part. Between having to account for a lot of injury attrition, a red-card suspension being served by one of NPU's most important players, and the prospect of playing an angry and highly motivated Ohio Northern team tomorrow night, North Park head coach Kris Grahn really had to manage minutes and extend his rotation. Four freshmen and four sophomores started for the Vikings, with three more frosh coming off of the bench (two of whom made their college debuts, including a CB who played 65 minutes). Aside from some dumb fouls late in the contest, the kiddie brigade more than held their own for NPU.

Nevertheless, right now North Central looks like the team to beat in the CCIW. The Cardinals tagged ONU for three goals in less than four minutes in the second half of tonight's game at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, and the goal that the Polar Bears scored in the first half was the only shot on goal they had all night. NCC is clearly firing on all cylinders.

[PaulNewman]

Look, I know the University of Chicago is a pretty mediocre school with limited resources, but still, as national champs and a leading contender again, you would think the SID would eventually get around to recaps.  Still no recap from the Tuesday North Park match and none for last night's bizarre loss to Hope.  Btw, along with the 34 to 5 shot count, the Hope recap says Chicago held possession for 70% of the match.  I'll eat a hat if anything less than 85%.  Chicago would literally (and to be fair Hope seemed intentionally compliant) have the ball in the Hope half for 7-8 minutes at a time, Hope would finally get it and counter for 30-40 secs, and then right back to another 7-8 stretch for the Maroons.

As a high frequency user/poster of D3soccer.com and the boards, I'm still adjusting to the lay of the land (or lack thereof).  Maybe I'm the last to figure this out, but I've been relatively pleased to see that on the NCAA D3 site you can get a schedule with times, often with a live score, and if the latter is there you can click on the game and go right to live stats.  No links for video but once you know a game is active and can see a still inviting scoreline it's not too hard to go find the video.

[Gregory Sager]

Call me lazy, but I really miss d3soccer.com's live scoreboard that included links to the livestreams of games in progress.

[PaulNewman]

What looks tasty on today's menu?

1:00

WPI-Babson...Babson absolutely needs a win here.  The Beavers have Conn, Amherst, trap game with Emerson, and Tufts.

Muhlenberg- Hopkins...I think Hopkins makes a much needed statement.

PS-Harrisburg-NYU...The Violets must win this one...or check into rehab...and the latter would be smart regardless.

New Paltz-Skidmore...Not knowing what to say about this one says a lot.

1:30

Middlebury-Hamilton...The Continentals have faltered under the weight of elevated expectations.  Not Midd's problem.

2:00

CMS-Chapman...Kuiper time.

Macalester-GAC...A key in-conference battle and opportunity for Macalester to vault towards some real attention.  GAC is flirting with an exit from the main stage.

Hanover-Wilmington...Both have had brutal opening schedules and the Quakers are 0-5 after near-breakout campaign in 2022.

3:00

Wash College-Dickinson...One of you make us care.

F&M-Haverford...How will the Diplomats respond to having shade thrown their way on the D3 boards?

3:45

Luther-Dominican...Luther limps into Chicago at 0-2-3 while Dominican continues to prep for trying to edge out MSOE for a NCAA AQ.  Crystal ball says...Norse 2 Stars 2.

5:00

Rose Hulman-Hope...Not a gimme for Hope after nipping Chicago.  After parking the bus for 90 minutes last night what will be the strategy today?

Calvin-Mt Union...Big jump up in class for the Purple Raiders.  Pretty sure the Purple Raiders aren't undefeated after this evening.

6:00

Vassar-Montclair St...The Brewers have another chance to validate some preseason hype.  Unfortunately, I think Montclair turns up for this one.

7:00

NC Wesleyan-Christopher Newport...Tempted to pick an upset (or at least a draw here).  The Bishops tied Hopkins and RPI but then lost to Guilford.  The Captains are almost always good to very good but not the most trustworthy.  Could win 6-0 or lose 2-1.

John Carroll-OWU...The teams and the dynamics involved set up nicely to make this tilt perhaps the best of the season thus far.  JCU has staked claim to being the new region leader but Martin got the memo, chuckled, and banked the wadded up ball of paper into the trash.  If you can only watch one game as a neutral today this is the one.  Usually pretty good video and I would expect 800-1200 at Roy Rike tonight.

St John Fisher-RIT...Upset alert. 

8:00

Ohio Northern-North Park...What in the world was ONU thinking?  3 games in 4 nights?  Against OWU, North Central, and North Park...all on the road?  Both teams should have an edge after last night's results, and I would put the over/under on cards at 8.

8:30

Wheaton (Ill)-Loras...I am on the bandwagon for a Loras resurgence.  Proud Wheaton seems to have never fully recovered from losing their coach after the 2014 national title game loss to Tufts.  Wheaton vs Loras used to be must-watch.  Check them out at the historic Rock Bowl in Dubuque.

[PaulNewman]

Call me lazy, but I really miss d3soccer.com's live scoreboard that included links to the livestreams of games in progress.

Agreed.  Just trying to make the best out of a bad situation.  It was the backbone/infrastructive stuff that I miss the most and that was no doubt not appreciated enough...the scoreboard, the schedule, the one-click to get national winning percentages where it would be easy to catch a hot team you've overlooked, easy access to past brackets, regional lists of teams, etc, etc.

I'm a little surprised there's been no statement about the status of the site, and apparently there has been little to no movement in terms of a transfer or sale or whatever.  Would be a shame to let all that rich data grow mold.

[Midwest Fan]

Messiah down 1-0 to Salisbury off a nice free kick... the first goal conceded by them this year. The Sea Gulls aren't backing down one bit.

[SierraFD3soccer]

3:00

Wash College-Dickinson...One of you make us care.

F&M-Haverford...How will the Diplomats respond to having shade thrown their way on the D3 boards?

3:45

Luther-Dominican...Luther limps into Chicago at 0-2-3 while Dominican continues to prep for trying to edge out MSOE for a NCAA AQ.  Crystal ball says...Norse 2 Stars 2.

5:00

Rose Hulman-Hope...Not a gimme for Hope after nipping Chicago.  After parking the bus for 90 minutes last night what will be the strategy today?

Calvin-Mt Union...Big jump up in class for the Purple Raiders.  Pretty sure the Purple Raiders aren't undefeated after this evening.

6:00

Vassar-Montclair St...The Brewers have another chance to validate some preseason hype.  Unfortunately, I think Montclair turns up for this one.

7:00

NC Wesleyan-Christopher Newport...Tempted to pick an upset (or at least a draw here).  The Bishops tied Hopkins and RPI but then lost to Guilford.  The Captains are almost always good to very good but not the most trustworthy.  Could win 6-0 or lose 2-1.

John Carroll-OWU...The teams and the dynamics involved set up nicely to make this tilt perhaps the best of the season thus far.  JCU has staked claim to being the new region leader but Martin got the memo, chuckled, and banked the wadded up ball of paper into the trash.  If you can only watch one game as a neutral today this is the one.  Usually pretty good video and I would expect 800-1200 at Roy Rike tonight.

St John Fisher-RIT...Upset alert. 

8:00

Ohio Northern-North Park...What in the world was ONU thinking?  3 games in 4 nights?  Against OWU, North Central, and North Park...all on the road?  Both teams should have an edge after last night's results, and I would put the over/under on cards at 8.

8:30

Wheaton (Ill)-Loras...I am on the bandwagon for a Loras resurgence.  Proud Wheaton seems to have never fully recovered from losing their coach after the 2014 national title game loss to Tufts.  Wheaton vs Loras used to be must-watch.  Check them out at the historic Rock Bowl in Dubuque.

As the resident F&M apologist and explainer, IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT, GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN.  They'll do fine on the meadow. (or at least I hope so). Hahaha.