NESCAC 2015

Started by Giggs, August 30, 2015, 01:13:12 PM

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amh63

Interesting puzzle.....Amherst host Springfield this evening at 7PM.  Soccer games are normally played on grass...at Amherst.  Appears that the night game will be on one of the lighted turf fields.  Team does not practice on turf, etc.  Do not expect portable lights to be moved to the normal women's field.   Who knows?  Game to be online in any case :).

Ocean 1

Quote from: nescac1 on September 15, 2015, 12:20:38 AM
Weird things happen in soccer, sometimes.  Williams' men's teams have been both the beneficiary (beating a superior Amherst team who just bombarded the goal the entire game in the 2012 elite eight, but the most talented Eph team EVER -- even more talented than the title squad -- lost to a far inferior Worcester State team in a first-round NCAA game about a decade back) of soccer weirdness.  The Castleton game was just one of those games ... the Eph defenders had two early random miscues, both of which led to Castleton goals -- Castleton maybe threatened once or twice more the entire game, whereas Williams had about a zillion near-miss chances, none of which resulted in a goal until very late.  Williams could easily have scored 7-8 goals in this one by all accounts, on the ridiculous FORTY FIVE shot attempts they had. 

I note that the Ephs had their back-up (frosh) goalie in for this game (again, expecting an easy win I imagine), but I don't think either goal was fairly attributable to her.  Rather, the Ephs need to come out with focus and sharpness vs. EVERY team they play, in particular the young Eph defenders.  I think this will be a learning experience for the defenders, a wake-up call to play with more precision on every single play, vs. every single opponent.  I am less worried about the Eph offense -- early in the season, it often takes a bit of time for the finishing to click, but even so, Williams has managed 8 goals in three games, and won all three, which is certainly respectable.  We know the Ephs have two nationally-elite finishers in Thomas and Kirsche plus a host of other very capable offensive players, including a few frosh who are already playing big minutes.  I think as the team finds its offensive rhythm (remember, they've only been practicing for a few weeks) they will turn a much higher percentage of golden opportunities into goals.  It's the defense that is far more inexperienced (only one returning full-time starter in the back) and where the Ephs will need to focus on improving in the coming weeks. 

In the end, Williams is one of only two teams in NESCAC with a spotless record, so while the team has plenty of work to do, they received the best kind of early wake-up call: one that didn't hurt them in the standings.  Still, as others have noted, squeaking out a win over Castleton is not something they should be patting themselves on the back about, and I think the coach's post-game comments reflected the appropriate degree of frustration with her team's overall effort.  I would not want to be the next team to play them.

Terrific perspective nescac 1...couldn't agree more!

I'd also add that to start the 2nd half and nursing a lead of 2-1, Castleton elected to play a bunker defense with 11 players protecting their goal. It wasn't until OT that they went on the offensive. So it took a bit of navigating before Williams could tie the game let alone win it.

I'ts early times yet but the Ephs learning curve while still winning should bode well as they get into the meat of the schedule.

remsleep

On an entirely different subject....where is the Colby Coach Jennifer Holsten....I have not seen anything about her absence/departure ....what is going on there?

nescac1

As I said, I would not want to be the next team to play Williams ... 8-0 (ouch) over Colby led by four goals from Thomas, who has been absolutely lighting it up this season. I think the last game got the Ephs attention, and then some. 

Giggs

Colby seems like a mess.  Does anyone have any observations?

Becks

Colby managed to get a tie against Conn on Sunday, but were outshot 40-16 and out SOGd 27-8. So, good result for Colby (and bad result for Conn), considering how lopsided the stats were.

BTW, love the stats line for the game on the NESCAC website: Penalty corners: Conn 5, Colby 3. Perhaps their problem is that they think they are playing field hockey?

All NESCAC

Quote from: Becks on September 21, 2015, 01:43:28 AM
Colby managed to get a tie against Conn on Sunday, but were outshot 40-16 and out SOGd 27-8. So, good result for Colby (and bad result for Conn), considering how lopsided the stats were.

BTW, love the stats line for the game on the NESCAC website: Penalty corners: Conn 5, Colby 3. Perhaps their problem is that they think they are playing field hockey?

What's happening with the Conn team....ties with Tufts and Colby...really?  Sophomore slumps?  Can understand the Middlebury game, but not Tufts and Colby.

Jump4Joy

Growing pains? Sometimes learning looks messy. Up the zone of proximal development, then back, then up again.

Becks

Quote
What's happening with the Conn team....ties with Tufts and Colby...really?  Sophomore slumps?  Can understand the Middlebury game, but not Tufts and Colby.
Long term I think the rankings of NESCAC sports teams generally correspond with the rankings by academic prestige. No surprise that Williams and Amherst generally rank near the top in most of the sports. Although the lower prestige 'CACs ought to be able to compete by picking up less academically qualified athletes, that doesn't seem to happen too much, so the more prestigious 'CACs are able to scoop up better athletes than the lower-prestige 'CACs. Based on academic prestige, I would expect Conn's athletic teams to generally finish in the bottom third of the 'CAC. Perhaps Conn just caught lightning in a bottle last year. If their new coach is really that good that he can out-recruit and out-coach the more prestigious schools, he will probably end up jumping to a bigger soccer program (eg D1) after a few years.

amh63

Becks...a most interesting viewpoint!  The points seem to line up.  However, several comments on the topic.  To support your view of the CAC...the Conn MBB program had a great run awhile back.  The head coach took his act to Brown, where he was less successful.  On the other hand, the MBB at Conn has never returned to its glory days.
There is also another factor to consider in the Nescac.  A football poster refers to the conference....." Where you pay to play".....therefore there is a financial factor as well as the academic one.  It so happens that the most heavily endowned schools trend to be the most successful ones in general in sports.  Amherst and Williams lead the CAC with the biggest Endownments AND have the  most generous financial aid support, IMO. Both look for the most talented students around the world.  At Amherst, they have a no- loan policy.  It really becomes a recruiting advantage, IMO.

Becks

Quote from: amh63 on September 28, 2015, 01:37:31 PM
Becks...a most interesting viewpoint!  The points seem to line up.  However, several comments on the topic.  To support your view of the CAC...the Conn MBB program had a great run awhile back.  The head coach took his act to Brown, where he was less successful.  On the other hand, the MBB at Conn has never returned to its glory days.
There is also another factor to consider in the Nescac.  A football poster refers to the conference....." Where you pay to play".....therefore there is a financial factor as well as the academic one.  It so happens that the most heavily endowned schools trend to be the most successful ones in general in sports.  Amherst and Williams lead the CAC with the biggest Endownments AND have the  most generous financial aid support, IMO. Both look for the most talented students around the world.  At Amherst, they have a no- loan policy.  It really becomes a recruiting advantage, IMO.
I agree that financial aid could well play a role. Since the better endowed schools (no snickering!) who give out better aid packages are also the more prestigious schools, it would be nearly impossible to separate the factors.

Giggs

Quote from: amh63 on September 28, 2015, 01:37:31 PM
Becks...a most interesting viewpoint!  The points seem to line up.  However, several comments on the topic.  To support your view of the CAC...the Conn MBB program had a great run awhile back.  The head coach took his act to Brown, where he was less successful.  On the other hand, the MBB at Conn has never returned to its glory days.
<<snip>>

Assuming that you are talking about Glen Miller.  He actually did turn around the Brown program and was successful there. He left Brown for Penn where he where he did not have a good stretch. I believe he is currently on the staff at UConn. 

Ocean 1

Any guesses as to who the 5th, 6th and 7th seeds will be in the NESCAC tournament?

Who will be finalists?

Who will win?

nescac1

Quiet here for awhile ... Williams has surprisingly been winning more with defense than offense; in light of what they lost on D and who they returned on offense, I thought they would score a bit more than they have, but it seems like they've had a bit of trouble converting golden opportunities in some games.  But the D and GK position haven't missed a beat (only one goal allowed in the past NINE games) despite big losses to graduation.  Cause for concern: Audrey Thomas has not played the past few games, and there has been no commentary by Williams on (presumably) some sort of injury.  Hopefully whatever it is isn't too serious, as Williams is not the same without half of its dynamic duo and a deep tourney run likely depends on having both Kirshe and Thomas at full strength, as they have combined for 20/32 goals and 11/26 team assists on the year. 

nescac1

The good news for the Ephs is that Thomas was back, coming in off the bench today.  The bad news is that Midd got a (based on stats, well-deserved) 2-0 surprise victory, with both goals coming in the last ten minutes of the game.  Williams has really been playing with fire for awhile and the Ephs' offense has surprisingly continued to struggle since the 8 goal explosion vs. Colby.  With so many skilled playmakers and finishers, hard to understand why they've had so much trouble putting the ball in the net ... they should still get the top seed in the NESCAC playoffs but will need to amp up the offense if they hope to meet their lofty expectations for this season.