2023 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[Maine Soccer Fan]

Amherst @ Williams

Just watched the last 20 minutes of the 1st half. When watching a team being outplayed by another team, I like to play a little game in my head. I count how many times the weaker team can complete 3+ consecutive passes. Williams managed to score a zero on that metric.

During that same period of time Amherst created one 1/2 chance.

My big decision over the next ten minutes is whether to watch the second half of mow my lawn...the lawn is looking pretty good right now.

[PaulNewman]

Brockport departs Oneonta with a 1-0 win...scoring in the 90th minute.

CWRU probably ended NYU's season, if it wasn't over already.  CWRU appears to be one of the best under the radar teams in the country.

[D-Three Fan]

ONU defeats Kenyon 2-1

[D-Three Fan]

Sorry ONU beat Mount Union 2-1.

[EnmoreCat]

Amherst @ Williams

Just watched the last 20 minutes of the 1st half. When watching a team being outplayed by another team, I like to play a little game in my head. I count how many times the weaker team can complete 3+ consecutive passes. Williams managed to score a zero on that metric.

During that same period of time Amherst created one 1/2 chance.

My big decision over the next ten minutes is whether to watch the second half of mow my lawn...the lawn is looking pretty good right now.

MSF - you missed two pretty good Amherst goals, but hope the lawn looks sharp   

[PaulNewman]

Welp, here's a warning to not rely on Massey for updated records after a day of results....Massey has Tufts, JCU, North Park, Widener, etc as all having draws yesterday...when all of those actually won.

Quick note on Wheaton (MA) holding Bowdoin to a draw last night.  Wheaton has a strong history, not equal to the other Wheaton, but similar in that both the MA and Ill versions have dipped since 2014...landing since then with .500 records or perhaps slightly above .500.  The schools have absolutely no affiliation beyond the names but they've tracked similarly which is maybe interesting.

Wheaton (MA) made back to back to NCAA appearances in 2013 and 2014.  In 2013, Wheaton got smoked by SLU on "SandyMac" 8-0 in a debacle of a match for the Lyons.  In 2014, the first of Tufts' four titles, Wheaton actually hosted the first weekend as Tufts barely made the field.  The Jumbos beat Dickinson in the 1st round and then dispatched Wheaton in the 2nd round 2-0.  Tufts of course beat Wheaton (Ill) in the national final....an oddity I think I've mentioned before where Tufts knocked off both Wheatons in the same tournament.

[WUPHF]

Welp, here's a warning to not rely on Massey for updated records after a day of results....Massey has Tufts, JCU, North Park, Widener, etc as all having draws yesterday...when all of those actually won.

Massey is usually pretty reliable, but yeah...

I checked on a few of those games on the NCAA.com scoreboard and there are no scores listed and so his software may convert the null fields to a 0-0 tie.

[PaulNewman]

Yeah, don't rely on Massey for record updates....and if you see a draw definitely do a cross-check.  In addition to those above, also wrong on Redlands, Oxy, Muhlenberg, and no doubt a number of others.

[Bucket]

I can imagine how proud you feel after your son's shout out.  FWIW 30 years ago while on breaks from my own "studies" I spent many nights with dear friends at W&L (at least from what I can recall.)  Soccer was NOT part of my experience, but I did see Dave Mathews perform live in their fraternity house before I (or anyone else) knew who they were.  Very fond memories and a great group of friends. It really is an exceptional school.

Good luck to you and your son this year.

One of two W&L grads on this board I think.  Preceded Dave Matthews by a year or two I think when he and his band was centered in Charlottesville. May have overlapped, but always a good time at any party.  Might have been my fraternity, but with 17 fraternities in my day (only 1200 students and went coed while I was there) may have not been. Virtually everyone joined one.  Played soccer sparsely under the previous coach to the current which was a pretty inconsequential team then and until the day this coach retired was still. W&L until this coach was not even close to being known as a soccer school.  All the current coach working hard and getting great results. I don't think W&L maybe made the NCAAs once if not at all.

As to why I am not rah-rah W&L has less than to do with the current coach, but with W&L and its crazy, crazy cost. Almost criminal in my opinion. Many of the guys who graduated in my time have the same issue, and, like me, would have had their kids go to W&L. Son was recruited and got in early decision, but we couldn't afford (two other younger kids had to go to college as well). It did not make any sense for our family. One of the issues not often discussed on the boards. FYI, when I was at W&L it was fairly affordable for a liberal arts college. Long story.   

I'm class of 2000, so I missed Dave Matthews by a few years but I did, for a time, have the infamous bootleg of him playing at Zollman's Pavilion off campus at a W&L event, maybe sometime in 1993?

Anyway, when I was there the soccer team was decent, always toward the top of the ODAC. Coach Piranian was there for almost 40 years and went 313-242-56 according to W&L's website. He won the ODAC in '86, '89, and '00, reaching the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAAs in '00.

As for the cost, yes, it's ridiculous. And what makes it more ridiculous is it is not out of line with most of the top Liberal Arts schools in the country. It was a "value" school when I was there, expensive, but not near as expensive as its peers. I turned away from a bunch of Centennial Schools since they were much more expensive at the time. Now they all carry a ridiculous sticker. However, the sticker is kind of a joke, as almost no one pays it. W&L's sticker is around 80K a year including room and board. The actual average cost, after scholarships and grants, is about 27K per year.

The whole "industry" is rife with this kind of lunacy. Don't get me wrong, 27k per year is still expensive, but out of state to go to UVA is going to cost 21K after scholarships and grants, so it's not like state schools are a lot better.

Anyway, discussion for a different spot. I'll just say we've been spoiled the last decade with W&L soccer teams. This team doesn't seem to have the same talent, or at least the same ability to win games. Down years happen almost everywhere. I think it will be ODAC tournament champs or no post season for the Generals for the first time since 2014 (not counting COVID).

That Zollman bootleg was from my senior year!

Another W&L alum here—and a townie, to boot. My dad taught in the journalism department for 30+ years. (jknezek, I believe we have corresponded before.)

I didn't play soccer, but my closest friends did; the best man in my wedding (and I in his) held the school assists record until recently. And to this day, I'm on a text string with these guys (7 of us), where soccer chatter is predominant. It helps that one of us is now the editor in chief for the Men in Blazers media network.

And I will always be a big fan of Rolf Piranian; he started the youth soccer program in lex when I was a kid, even bringing Pele to town when I was 7 or 8. And I coached his son Michael (always referred to be Rolf as The Boy) one year, when he was in middle school.

Fond memories.

[Bucket]

Staying with W&L and jam band themes, one of the '93 friends I met at W&L went on tour with Phish as their photographer after graduating.  He has many of their photo credits like these https://www.flickr.com/photos/36045457@N08/3336624319/in/photostream/

Very talented artist and runs a creative company in NYC.  Haven't seen or talked to him in awhile but if I do I'll remind him to contribute to that endowment 

OK enough Memory Lane for me, back to soccer...

Taylor Crothers! He was in my class. Great guy and a very talented photographer.

[GenerallyInterested]

When I was at W&L I loved chicken finger day in the cafeteria, and loved when the leaves started to change in the fall.....

For goodness sake -can we get back to soccer? 

[SKUD]

Some very interesting games today in the Southwest:

Trinity TX (6-0-2) @ TX Lutheran (10-0)
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tlu/index.htm
 
Colorado Col (6-2-1) @ St Thomas TX (7-0-1) underway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L307VPlGhJU&ab_channel=CooperSportsNetwork

Yes I know this is South not Southwest but good game
Wash&Lee leads Averett 1-0 at half
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yws32B3Kd8&ab_channel=averettucougars

[Ejay]

Welp, here's a warning to not rely on Massey for updated records after a day of results....Massey has Tufts, JCU, North Park, Widener, etc as all having draws yesterday...when all of those actually won.

Quick note on Wheaton (MA) holding Bowdoin to a draw last night.  Wheaton has a strong history, not equal to the other Wheaton, but similar in that both the MA and Ill versions have dipped since 2014...landing since then with .500 records or perhaps slightly above .500.  The schools have absolutely no affiliation beyond the names but they've tracked similarly which is maybe interesting.

Wheaton (MA) made back to back to NCAA appearances in 2013 and 2014.  In 2013, Wheaton got smoked by SLU on "SandyMac" 8-0 in a debacle of a match for the Lyons.  In 2014, the first of Tufts' four titles, Wheaton actually hosted the first weekend as Tufts barely made the field.  The Jumbos beat Dickinson in the 1st round and then dispatched Wheaton in the 2nd round 2-0.  Tufts of course beat Wheaton (Ill) in the national final....an oddity I think I've mentioned before where Tufts knocked off both Wheatons in the same tournament.

I witnessed in person what had to be one of Wheaton (MA) most gut-wrenching losses ever in the 2003 National Semifinal.

They were playing Drew who was coming into the game with a record of 22-1-1 and on an NCAA record-breaking streak of 17 consecutive shutouts. In fact, they had only given up 3 goals all season at that point.  Drew picked up a red card in the 77th minute of a 0-0 game.  Wheaton scores in the 88th. Drew is now down a man and have just given up their first goal in the 17 games. Game over right? All Wheaton has to do run out two minutes and they're on to the National Championship.  With 60 seconds remaining Drew ties it up and then proceeds to win 4-2 in PK's. I can't imagine how painful a loss that had to be for Wheaton. On the flipside, it has to be one of the greatest wins ever for Drew considering the circumstances.

[Kuiper]

Some very interesting games today in the Southwest:

Trinity TX (6-0-2) @ TX Lutheran (10-0)
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tlu/index.htm
 
Colorado Col (6-2-1) @ St Thomas TX (7-0-1) underway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L307VPlGhJU&ab_channel=CooperSportsNetwork

Yes I know this is South not Southwest but good game
Wash&Lee leads Averett 1-0 at half
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yws32B3Kd8&ab_channel=averettucougars

Here's my preview of the first two games (from the Go WEST thread):

Sunday 10/1

Colorado College @ St. Thomas

Colorado College is coming off impressive victories over UC Santa Cruz and Christopher Newport, but this game isn't being played at altitude in Colorado Springs, but at St. Thomas, where they just beat Hardin-Simmons 5-0.

Trinity (TX) @ Texas Lutheran

A huge game in the SCAC with national implications.  Two unbeaten teams.  Texas Lutheran hasn't won convincingly very often.  It usually does just enough, as it did this past weekend with a 1-0 victory against McMurry.  I'm not sure I see how Texas Lutheran can generate much offense against Trinity, but their field (which isn't the greatest as far as grass fields go) could slow down Trinity just enough to keep the game close.

[Kuiper]

At the Half:

St. Thomas 0 - Colorado College 0

Colorado College has a good defensive game plan, choking off Taty Aleman in the middle with two guys playing very physically and roughing him up if possible, while the other backs jump the passing lanes.  You need to do more one touch passing and quick movement to beat that style and to use Aleman more as a decoy.  St. Thomas was playing too slowly and conservatively to do that, but started to speed things up toward the end.  Daniel Castro had one play with maybe 10+ minutes to go in the half where he got the ball top of the box and and took a quick shot on the turn that that the Colorado College GK had to push over the bar.  If it had been to either side of the goal it would have been 1-0.  We'll see if CC can keep up the pressure in the second half.  They've had a few forays into the box, but mostly through big looping balls that actually neutralize CC's height advantage and allow UST's GK to come out and catch or disrupt in traffic despite his smaller stature.  The commentator also mentioned that CC had a wind advantage in the first half.  Not sure how big a deal that was since there's no physical manifestations of the wind in the stadium (which, for those interested, is a rugby stadium that is home of the Major League Rugby Houston SaberCats), but Texas winds can be no joke at times.

FINAL

Colorado College 1 - St. Thomas 0

Huge win for Colorado College, which proves its victory over Christopher Newport was no fluke and wins away from home against St. Thomas.  This was probably the first game where the absence of Ayomide Salako from last year was probably felt acutely.  He would have been the big target body who could have absorbed the CC physical play and distributed the ball in spots where Aleman and Castro had the freedom to use their technical ability.  Colorado College 1st year player Dylan Rich gets the game winning goal in the 72nd minute.

We should see Colorado College in the rankings this week after winning 4 games in a row following its loss to UT Dallas.