2023 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[TNAggie]

REMAINING UNDEFEATED TEAMS AS OF OCT 12:
Messiah 12-0-1
Middlebury 8-0-3
CT College 8-0-3
Wisconsin-Platteville 9-0-4
Washington College 8-0-5
Kean 9-0-4
Gordon 6-0-5
J&W NC 9-0-2
Manchester 8-0-5

[jdfranklin23]

REMAINING UNDEFEATED TEAMS AS OF OCT 12:
Messiah 12-0-1
Middlebury 8-0-3
CT College 8-0-3
Wisconsin-Platteville 9-0-4
Washington College 8-0-5
Kean 9-0-4
Gordon 6-0-5
J&W NC 9-0-2
Manchester 8-0-5

Wow! I'm assuming the OT rules change has had a big impact on this.

Just curious, what the reaction has been to the OT rule change? Do we like it? Not like it?
What have you seen the overall impact to be? Is it achieving what the NCAA was aiming for?

I don't really have a dog in the fight.  I miss the drama of the Golden Goal; but, understand the reason for the change

[northman]

As a former college athlete, and as a parent of two former college athletes...I wholeheartedly endorse the elimination of OT in regular season games.  Many of these teams play up to 3 games a week during some stretches...including back-to-back weekend games.  The addition of up to 20 additional playing minutes puts that much more stress and strain on tired bodies...particularly for teams with thin rosters who overplay their starters.

[College Soccer Observer]

From the Middlebury standpoint, the rule has not had a big impact.  Over the last 4 seasons (2019, 2021, 2022, current), Middlebury is a combined 2W, 2L, and 17T in games that were tied after 90 minutes.  In 2019, they went won 1, lost 1, and tied 8 that went to OT.  In 2021, they were 1-0-3 in games that went to OT.  So that is a grand total of 2-2-14 in games where overtime was played.  Not sure if Midd is an outlier, but when 14/18 games stay tied in OT, not sure what the point of 20 more minutes taking a toll on the body really is.

[GenerallyInterested]

As a former college athlete, and as a parent of two former college athletes...I wholeheartedly endorse the elimination of OT in regular season games.  Many of these teams play up to 3 games a week during some stretches...including back-to-back weekend games.  The addition of up to 20 additional playing minutes puts that much more stress and strain on tired bodies...particularly for teams with thin rosters who overplay their starters.

I honestly ago back and forth. Absolutely support the argument to not over play these players.....however, all these ties affect a better assessment of teams, and Id love to find a way to solve for this......I also think it impacts readiness for post season play when OT is utilized. Not sure if there is a perfect answer, but all these ties leave me wanting.....

[stlawus]

I find the arguments about player workload to be unpersuasive when you are allowed unlimited substitutions.  No OT works in a Premier League type system when you play almost 40 games.  Most college teams play 16 regular season games. It is resulting in the selection committee relying only on SOS which is taking away from the equitable philosophy of division 3.

[Hopkins92]

Agree that the substitution rules make the OT issue kind of silly. We've had many conversations on this board about a) the rapid and comprehensive growth of the talent pool and b) the growing size of rosters in the D3 universe.

Those two issues combined have me agreeing with stlawus wholeheartedly.

[maineman]

As a former college athlete, and as a parent of two former college athletes...I wholeheartedly endorse the elimination of OT in regular season games.  Many of these teams play up to 3 games a week during some stretches...including back-to-back weekend games.  The addition of up to 20 additional playing minutes puts that much more stress and strain on tired bodies...particularly for teams with thin rosters who overplay their starters.

I honestly ago back and forth. Absolutely support the argument to not over play these players.....however, all these ties affect a better assessment of teams, and Id love to find a way to solve for this......I also think it impacts readiness for post season play when OT is utilized. Not sure if there is a perfect answer, but all these ties leave me wanting.....

Does anybody know the OT rules that will be used in the postseason?  Is it 2 10 minute sessions with a golden goal followed by a shootout?

[jknezek]

Completely agree that the substitution rules make arguments about OT a bit silly. And for the argument that it affects "thin" teams, good, it should affect thin teams more. Deep teams are better teams. We want to know who the better team is. That's the whole point of the season.

I've consistently said I don't like getting rid of overtime and I stand by it. From 2015 until 2021, not counting the COVID season, W&L consistently had 2 ties per year. Last year there were 4, this year already there are 3.

To be fair, I'm on record as not like the substitution rule either. And I'd happily agree to do away with overtime if they limited subs in some significant manner. As I've been told repeatedly that's against the D3 philosophy because you want more players involved, then it should also be against the D3 philosophy to do away with overtime as that would allow more playing time for more players.

[Ejay]

b) the growing size of rosters in the D3 universe.

I recently found my team photo from early 90's. Our roster was 26, which included 3 keepers - barely enough for an 11v11 scrimmage in training.  My son's roster is something like 36 and ironically they play fewer kids in a game than we did, and my JR year we only had one OT game.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Totally agree as to thin teams. Coaches have adapted by playing many more players earlier in the season in case of injuries later in the season especially since they play such compact schedules. Strong teams recruit and can point to kids getting playing time.  Kid may not start, but knows that. If they work hard in practice, they'll be an option off of the bench. If they do well in the time they are in, they'll get more time most likely.  If a player ahead gets hurt, he'll maybe start or get even more time.

As to ties. F&M had 5 ties last year which is the highest in program history. Twice they had 4 ties in a season. In 2021, one tie, the other games - 3 wins in OT v one loss in OT. 3-1-1. They would have had 5 ties under 2022 rules. In 2019, one tie and three wins in OT. 3-0-1. 4 ties under 2022 rules.

Just let them play!  I know the players love it. Did they actually do some sort of study to support no OT?  If not, they seem to have made a lot of conclusions without considering all the variables. Also, I know that D1 runs the show and D1 coaches tend to not substitute much at all.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Agree that the substitution rules make the OT issue kind of silly. We've had many conversations on this board about a) the rapid and comprehensive growth of the talent pool and b) the growing size of rosters in the D3 universe.

Those two issues combined have me agreeing with stlawus wholeheartedly.

Ditto

[maineman]

Totally agree as to thin teams. Coaches have adapted by playing many more players earlier in the season in case of injuries later in the season especially since they play such compact schedules. Strong teams recruit and can point to kids getting playing time.  Kid may not start, but knows that. If they work hard in practice, they'll be an option off of the bench. If they do well in the time they are in, they'll get more time most likely.  If a player ahead gets hurt, he'll maybe start or get even more time.

As to ties. F&M had 5 ties last year which is the highest in program history. Twice they had 4 ties in a season. In 2021, one tie, the other games - 3 wins in OT v one loss in OT. 3-1-1. They would have had 5 ties under 2022 rules. In 2019, one tie and three wins in OT. 3-0-1. 4 ties under 2022 rules.

Just let them play!  I know the players love it. Did they actually do some sort of study to support no OT?  If not, they seem to have made a lot of conclusions without considering all the variables. Also, I know that D1 runs the show and D1 coaches tend to not substitute much at all.

Someone told me it was referee driven in that they didn't want to do the extra 20 minutes without extra compensation.

[stlawus]

Referees might be a part of it but it's largely driven by coaches, predominantly division I coaches, that think college soccer should follow the professional model. This is even more ridiculous since college soccer is not producing the amount of pros that it used to and is not relied upon for the national team player pool anymore.

[BTXCru18]

As a former college athlete, and as a parent of two former college athletes...I wholeheartedly endorse the elimination of OT in regular season games.  Many of these teams play up to 3 games a week during some stretches...including back-to-back weekend games.  The addition of up to 20 additional playing minutes puts that much more stress and strain on tired bodies...particularly for teams with thin rosters who overplay their starters.

I honestly ago back and forth. Absolutely support the argument to not over play these players.....however, all these ties affect a better assessment of teams, and Id love to find a way to solve for this......I also think it impacts readiness for post season play when OT is utilized. Not sure if there is a perfect answer, but all these ties leave me wanting.....

Does anybody know the OT rules that will be used in the postseason?  Is it 2 10 minute sessions with a golden goal followed by a shootout?

In knockout games, it will be two 10-minute OT periods, without golden goal, then a shootout if still tied.