UAA Soccer

[Kuiper]

Emory is ripping up Oglethorpe 3-0 halfway through the first half.  The second goal was the result of a GK holding the ball too long in possession trying to play it out of the back, but the third goal practically involved Emory just passing the ball around the 6 yard box.  Oglethorpe needs a timeout.

UPDATE:  Oglethorpe gets one back 5 minutes before halftime 3-1 Emory

UPDATE:  Oglethorpe gets a second goal in the 60th minute.  3-2 Emory.  This game is kind of crazy considering it was 3-0 midway through the half.  Major momentum shift.

FINAL:  WOW! Crazy ending.  Oglethorpe ties it up with 53 seconds to go on a scramble in the box.  3-3

[Travisty]

Let's see if I can't copy Kuiper...

NYU has posted its 2024 Roster

A few observations:

- 26 on the roster, compared with 28 last season

- 6 freshman and no transfers in 2024

- NYU returns a very experienced side with 10 seniors and 10 regular starters, including 4 year starters:  F Bryce Lexow (5 goals), and defenders Ben Trask and Joss Cohen. Trask was the team MVP in 2023 and Trask & Cohen were Honorable Mention All UAA

- A notable departure is 1st team All-UAA forward Arkan Tahsildaroglu, who led the team with 7 goals and 4 assists last season

[Freddyfud]

University of Chicago has posted its 2024 Roster

- Speaking of freshman, there are 10 on the roster, including the two GKs

Fun fact: freshman Eddie Wu is the younger brother of Daniel Wu who won a national championship at Georgetown in 2019 contributing both a goal in regulation and a PK in the shootout during the final vs. UVA.  The final was played in Cary, NC where the family resides.  The brothers are not only talented on the field but are highly respected for academic achievements.

Eddie is a fantastic player.  Look for him to do great things for the Maroons.

Eddie with another goal and an assist today in a 4-2 win over Aurora.  Validated on UC website since I don't trust NCAA.com anymore.

[kansas hokie]

UAA starting to take some shape...

Emory with two strong wins 5-2 over Wash U and 2-0 over Case Western looking the better team in both.

Wash U dominates Brandeis and Brandeis gets 88th minute winner to put Brandeis 2-0 and surprise tied top with Emory.

Chicago and Rochester has a close battle ending 0-0.

Lots of games that look even with shots both ways. Only the Emory games and Wash U/Brandeis seemed imbalanced statstically.

Next week...

Case vs. Rochester is intriguing...Case needs this one more, can't start 0-2-1 and feel good about your chances.

NYU / Wash U also interesting and should be close...both need a win.

Chicago still has to be the favorite over Brandeis.
Emory's early form has them favored over Carnegie Mellon as well.

Big question....will more than one UAA team make the NCAA this year? No one near the top 25 right now and almost guaranteed to beat each other up. Will it be a one bid / no host league in 2024?

[kansas hokie]

Becoming clear that UAA is a 1-bid league this year.

Emory (12 pts) hosts Chicago (9pts) this weekend with a chance to clinch the NCAA bid with a win against the visiting Maroons.

Brandeis (9 pts) and Rochester (7pts) are still alive. A Emory/Chicago tie opens up a 3-way tie possibility with Rochester.

Games left

Emory (12 pts) - home Chicago, home Rochester
Chicago (9 pts) - away Emory, home Wash U
Brandeis (9 pts) - away Case, home NYU
Rochester (7 pts) - home Wash U, away Emory

HTH results in case of 2-way tie

Chicago/Rochester tied; Emory won over Brandeis.
Chicago won over Brandeis; Brandeis won over Rochester

[Hopkins92]

Huh. Wow... Just checked Massey and, yeah, when was the last time the UAA was a one-bid conference??

[kansas hokie]

20 years ago actually...2004 it was just Carnegie Mellon (only 44 bids then). In those 20 years, only three times has it just been 2 bids. Every other year is 3-5 bids.

[deutschfan]

Two seasons after winning a national championship Chicago finishes sub .500.  Had a difficult schedule but in a soft UAA year, and with a number of players on their roster with rings, the year must be incredibly disappointing.

[Kuiper]

Two seasons after winning a national championship Chicago finishes sub .500.  Had a difficult schedule but in a soft UAA year, and with a number of players on their roster with rings, the year must be incredibly disappointing.

My guess from afar is that the lack of continuity among coaches over the last three years -- especially with Julianne Sitch's late arrival in Spring 2022 (too late to do a lot of her own recruiting) and her departure in Summer 2023 (too late for Philip Kroft to do a lot of his own recruiting) -- hasn't done them any favors.  I don't love coaches who need very specific players for their style of play, but it's hard to build a program, let alone establish or build upon culture, when coaches change so frequently.

[PaulNewman]

Can anyone explain it to me like I'm a 4th grader why NESCAC seems to have benefitted greatly from the parity in the conference and UAA has not?  Does the difference in non-conference winning % account for the variance?  And the overall quality of non-conference competition (where I would think UAA might edge NESCAC)?

[kansas hokie]

Paul,

this year, most all of the UAA did poorly out of conference, this caused the Strength of schedule for UAA to fall across the board and then the in-conference games didn't carry any significance nationally.

the opposite was true for NESCAC, all did well out of conference so then they all are beating each other and getting bonuses for quality wins.

UAA needs to be better in the first part of the season if they hope to go another 20 years with getting multiple bids (last time with one bid was 2004).

[eaglesoccerdad]

I don't think the NESCAC teams played a tough out of conference schedule but they did win the matches they did have

[PaulNewman]

Paul,

this year, most all of the UAA did poorly out of conference, this caused the Strength of schedule for UAA to fall across the board and then the in-conference games didn't carry any significance nationally.

the opposite was true for NESCAC, all did well out of conference so then they all are beating each other and getting bonuses for quality wins.

UAA needs to be better in the first part of the season if they hope to go another 20 years with getting multiple bids (last time with one bid was 2004).

I know this isn't the test but I wonder if most folks think Wesleyan and Hamilton are better than or at least equal to every single UAA.  Remember, if not for an AQ, UAA would have had zero.  Rochester, for example, finished just about where they always do...9-4-4 (3-2-2) with their usual well above average non-conference schedule.

[stlawus]

NESCAC simply benefits from geography more than the UAA. NESCAC teams can take the pick of the litter when it comes to scheduling good to ok teams in New England which has the highest concentration of division 3 teams.  Way more easier for them to schedule the top GNAC and NAC type teams that will finish the season with a decent win %.  They can more easily rack up the SOS benefit/win % without actually having to play a truly challenging team.  Not that they don't schedule tough matchups, they most assuredly do but they greatly benefit from the aforementioned dynamic more than the UAA does.

[kansas hokie]

The NPI dials also were set so that it doesn't matter at all if you win at home or win away. I know Emory's schedule the best so I'll use it as an example. Flew out west as usual, this time to Colorado College, played (now D2) UT-Dallas and won, then played CC at home in altitude the next day (dominated the match but still lost). The D2 win doesn't go into NPI and the loss is the same as losing at home. Back in the South, Emory had many more away matches than home matches. None of that travel helped the ranking at all. Unless the dials are changed, I am betting you will see teams that are in demand schedule a lot more home games.