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Messages - Stryker

#31
Women's soccer / Re: USC D3 2021 Women's Awards
January 24, 2022, 12:24:10 PM
Riley deserved it each of those years. A talented offensive player.
#32
Women's soccer / Re: D-3 Women 2021
November 22, 2021, 11:06:02 AM
I watched the William Smith matches against both Misericordia and TCNJ. The match with Misericordia shows what happens when you have a deep bench. William Smith consistently has a strong second half since there is little drop off in ability when they sub players. It wears down the other teams. Misericordia contolled the game with a 3-1 lead until about 17 minutes into the 2d half. Julia Keogh of William Smith scored her 22nd goal of the season to close the gap and I thought "here they go again!" But Misericordia responded with a goal to go up 4-2 about a minute later and I thought "maybe not this time". But the shot differential in the second half was 16 to 3 in William Smith's favor. I give Msericordia credit in that they didn't tighten up when William Smith closed it to 4-3 with 24 minutes to go and you felt they would hold on. When William Smith made te miracle goal with 11 seconds left in the game, you just knew they would win it in OT. An exciting offensive match. A pity for Misericordia.

The matchup between William Smith and TCNJ was  a battle between 2 of the best teams in the nation. They were nearly in in both shots and corner shots throughout the match. Unlike Misericordia, once they got the 1-0 lead, they were able to keep the ball in their offensive zone for much of the second half, escpecially in the last five minutes. A good example of the phrase " A good offense is the best defense." Still when William Smith hit their last second shot from deep, it was right on frame and for a moment we thought "there they go again with another miracle." But the TCNJ goalie brought the ball in and the horn sounded for the TCNJ victory.

These games highlight how unfair the brackets were this year. Few teams in the other brackets faced off against such strong opponents. to have Messiah, Scanton, Misericordia, William Smith and TCNJ is the same bracket is ridiculous.  Both of these games will probably be better than any of the matches in the semifinal. It's a shame that these strong teams has to face each other in  Elite * and quartrfinal matchups rather than in the Final 4.
#33
Women's soccer / Re: D-3 Women 2021
October 20, 2021, 06:19:47 PM
As the Liberty League regular season nears its end, I decided to take a moment to look at the current leaders in the race for Offensive Performer, Defensive Performer and Rookie of the Year.

OFFENSIVE PERFORMER OF YEAR

As I predicted at the beginning of the season, the Offensive Performer race has come down to Julia Keogh (William Smith) and Christine Cataldo-Smith (RIT).

Keogh is the current favorite as she is leading the League in most offensive categories: Goals (14), Shots (64), Shots on Goal (38) and Points (33). She is second in Game Winning Goals (3) and fifth in Assists (5). Her game has significantly improved when you consider that at this point in 2019, Keogh only had 1 goal. She has been a consistent threat, getting at least 1 point in 10 of their 14 games this year. However, she has been getting a lot of offensive support from Sheila McQuillan (7G,7A), Seneca Blakely-Armitage (6G), Sarah Gray (6G,1A) and Amanda Adams (5G,4A).

Cataldo-Smith is leading the League in Game Winning Goals (4) and is in the top ten in every offensive category for the League. # 2 in Goals (9), #2 in Points (23), #4 in Assists (5), #7 in Shots on Goal (20) and #10 in Shots (36). She is on the same scoring pace as she was in 2019 when she won Rookie of the Year with 13 Goals and 4 Assists. Her stats are impressive when you consider that in 2019, she was supported by Abby Saia (9G, 6A) and Mia White (5G, 10A). This year, however, Cataldo-Smith is the main focus of opposing defenses since there are only 2 players on RIT that have scored more than 2 goals (Erin Allor and Gwen Williams with 3 goals each). RIT has played one less game than William Smith at this stage so she has a chance to close the gap somewhat in their 3 last games against Bard, Ithaca and Union.

DEFENSIVE PERFORMER OF YEAR

Defensive Performer is always a difficult category since it can be difficult to gauge the performance of defensive players other than the goalies.

As for goalies, the top two are Darcie Jones (RIT) and Amanda Kessler (William Smith). Jones has played 9 games and is leading the League having surrendered 2 Goals in 670 minutes with a Goal Against Average of 0.269, 23 Saves, a Saves % of 0.920 and 4 shutouts. Kessler has played 12 games and surrendered 4 goals in 887 minutes with a Goal Against Average of 0.406, 28 Saves, a Saves % of 0.875 and 6 shutouts.

As for the field players, the William Smith defense has only given up 5 goals with a Goals % of 0.36 and a Goals Against Average of 0.352. The RIT defense has given up 9 goals with a Goals % of 0.69 and a Goals Against Average of 0.648. While a number of defenders from William Smith could be considered, Ireland Krawczyk and Ava Brazie each won a Player of the Week award for defense. As for RIT, the leading candidate would be Morgan Monteith who leads the defense with 1266 minutes.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

The leading candidate is Claire Reader of Ithaca. This rookie goalie has started all 13 games and has surrendered 10 Goals with a 0.815 GAA, 44 Saves, a Save % of 0.83 and 5 shutouts. On the offensive side, there is Sam Friedman of Union who has played 14 games with 3 goals, 1 assist and 11 Shots on goal. Another player is Emma Schock of RIT who has played 11 games with 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 8 Shots on Goal as well as Allsion Heft of Ithaca who has played 13 games with 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 4 shots on goal. If an offensive player is chosen, the race will go down to the wire.
#34
Women's soccer / Re: D-3 Women 2021
October 19, 2021, 10:53:23 AM
MASSEY RANKINGS OF LIBERTY LEAGUE as of 10/19/21                       

Team          Record   +/-   Rat            Pwr         Off         Def     HFA   SoS       SSF    EW    EL

Wm. Smith         12-1-1    +4   6(5.12)      2 (3.31)  3(3.64)     9(1.42)   0.34   62(.17) 51(.27)  1.54   0.46
RIT                     8-2-3     +8   38(3.87)    35(1.53)  45(2.26)  29(1.02)  0.32   46(.33) 55(.24)  1.92   1.08       
Vassar             8-4-1     +7   45(3.66)    46(1.21)  43(2.28)  61(.69)    0.28   39(.45) 24(.62)  1.30   1.70        
Ithaca            10-3        -9   47(3.58)    48(1.15)  60(2.13)  50(.77)    0.27   98(-.22) 76(.05) 1.21   1.79 Skidmore            7-4-1      +6   65(3.30)    67(.78)    74(2.00)  73(.53)    0.29   72(.06)  92(-0.16)2.12 .88     
RPI                    4-4-4      -11   95(2.95)    83(.53)    83(1.89)  93(.39)    0.28   69(.09)  60(.19)  1.25 1.75
Union                 5-7-2      -18   104(2.90)  104(.25)  62(2.11)   171(-.12) 0.31   26(.59)  28(.58)  1.15 1.85   
St Lawrence        5-5-2     -20   110(2.83)  117(.15)  138(1.44)  80(.46)   0.27   81(-.05) 89(-.14) 1.85 2.15
Clarkson            4-6-2      -11   136(2.54)  146(-.28) 148(1.38)  140(.09) 0.28   84(-.09) 79(.01)  1.57 3.43        
Bard                    1-10       +13   307(.53)    311(-2.67) 285(.57)  325(-1.50) 0.28   56(.22)  74(.06)   0.68 2.32           
#35
Women's soccer / Re: D-3 Women 2021
October 18, 2021, 05:30:17 PM
Middle Atlantic Conference season update: Misericordia (12-1 overall, #10 USC, Massey overall rank 3) leads the Freedom Division while Messiah (10-2-1, #12 USC, Massey overall rank 14) leads the Commonwealth Division. The conference play in the Freedom Division is stronger overall than the Commonwealth Division.

Besides Misericordia, the Freedom Division has FDU-Florham (11-4-1, NR/NV USC, #153 Massey overall rank) and Stevens (5-5-3, NR/NV USC, #51 Massey overall rank). FDU will get a chance to show whether they are for real with games against Misericordia on 10/23 and against Stevens on 10/26. Stevens had a bad start to the season but seems to have turned it around in last 7 games, going 4-0-2 (including a 0-0 tie to #7 Trinity-TX) in the 6 games preceding their recent 2-1 loss to Misericordia. Stevens plays undefeated Western Connecticut on 10/20 and FDU on 10/26. Misericordia ends their season with 4 division games against Lycoming (9-4-1), FDU(11-4-1) and Desales (10-3) before ending the season against Kings College (3-6-1). It will be an interesting to watch the final 2 weeks of Freedom Division play.

In the Commonwealth Division, Messiah looks to ease into the playoffs with non-challenging games against 3 division opponents (Stevenson, Widener and Hood) and a non-conference game against Salisbury (5-7-2).

Misericordia and Messiah are locks for the NCAA playoffs. With its lower Massey ranking, FDU needs to defeat both Misericordia and Stevens to put themselves into consideration for the NCAA playoffs. With their slow start, Stevens has a more uphill battle, needing to secure wins against Western Connecticut and FDU to even be in consideration.
#36
Women's soccer / Re: D-3 Women 2021
September 28, 2021, 02:54:52 PM
NATIONAL - POLL 3 - SEPTEMBER 28, 2021
Rank   School   Prev   W-L-T
1   The College of New Jersey   1   7-0-0
2   Johns Hopkins University   2   5-0-1
3   Washington University (Mo.)   3   8-0-1
4   Christopher Newport University   4   7-0-0
5   Massachusetts Institute of Technology   6   9-0-1
6   Misericordia University   12   8-0-0
7   William Smith College   7   6-1-1
8   Trinity University (Texas)   7   6-0-1
9   University Of Chicago   9   8-0-1
10   McDaniel College   16   8-0-0
11   Case Western Reserve University   10   8-0-0
12   Wesleyan University   14   5-0-0
13   Tufts University   11   4-1-0
14   Loras College   17   8-0-1
15   Messiah College   5   4-2-1
16   Centre College   15   9-1-2
17   Carnegie Mellon University   20   7-1-0
18   Wartburg College   13   7-1-1
19   Dickinson College   21   7-0-0
20   Pacific Lutheran University   19   8-0-0
21   Amherst College   18   5-1-0
22   Brandeis University   RV   4-1-2
23   St. Lawrence University   23   4-1-2
24   Hamilton College   NR   4-0-2
25   Pomona-Pitzer Colleges   25   6-0-1
Records shown are through games of Sept. 26, 2021

Also receiving votes: University Of Scranton, University of Lynchburg, Western Connecticut State University, Calvin University, Middlebury College, Hanover College, Emory University
#37
Women's soccer / Re: D-3 Women 2021
September 21, 2021, 10:08:02 AM
I have connections to the Liberty League and follow teams in the Middle Atlantic Conference. So I don't pretend to follow all the conferences and love the feedback that this forum provides to get a feel on teams from other conferences.

As for Liberty League, William Smith (currently #8 and 13 consecutive League champ) seems to be having difficulty getting their offense to mesh. They do have 144 shots overall in their first 6 games but only 24 of those total shots came against teams with good defenses (Messiah and SUNY Geneseo). They move the ball well but seem to have difficulty finishing against the better defenses. The William Smith defense seems on pace with 2019, having given up 18 SOG in 6 games compared to 15 SOG in 6 games in 2019.   

WS plays RIT tomorrow which should go a long way to determining whether WS repeats as league champ. RIT is 4-1 with a win over #23 Geneseo and their only loss being a 2-1 loss against Lynchburg. RIT controlled the Lynchburg game and gave up few dangerous shots but gave up a game-tying goal from distance with 36 seconds left in 2d half and had a miscue by a freshman defender with 48 seconds left in 2OT that led to the final goal. The RIT defense has a lot of returning upperclassmen and has only given up 21 SOG through 5 games. The RIT offense runs mainly through their junior forward Cataldo-Smith (7 goals) but several other forwards have begun to find the back of the net in the last 2 games. The link for the live stream is :      https://ritathletics.com/watch/?Live=183&type=Live

The Middle Atlantic Conference, Freedom Division is lead by DeSales and #13 Misericordia who both have 6-0 records. Desales wins are against lesser competition while Misericordia notched a win over then #5 Carnegie Mellon. Misericordia goes up against Messiah (which leads the MAC, Commonwealth Division) on  Saturday so we should get an idea as to their strength.
#38
Women's soccer / Re: D-3 Women 2021
September 21, 2021, 08:55:07 AM
Quote from: Ron Boerger on September 20, 2021, 05:16:09 PM
How many of those schools didn't have any kind of a spring season?   But even those that did - 5-10 games in the Spring don't give you the kind of preparation that you get from a full season followed by spring practice.  You also have many schools that lost the equivalent of two senior classes since 2019 with little chance to integrate two years of newcomers. 

Better stated than what I said but that was my point. A counterpoint however is that these new teams were able to adjust to those challenges to start well so there is no certainty that the old guard will get their act together in time to have a strong season. Of course, the poll could be misleading so early in the season since many teams schedule easy wins to start and then increase the difficulty as weeks progress. Other teams schedule early challenging games to test their mettle (like #2 William Smith did when playing # 1 Messiah in the second game of their season). So the first poll shuffling may be nothing more than some teams with 4-0 wins against cream puffs getting early recognition because the old guard teams took some early losses against strong teams. It may very well balance out as the season goes on. Time will tell.
#39
Women's soccer / D-3 Women 2021
September 20, 2021, 04:49:51 PM
Before getting into actual game discussion later, I figured I'd start with a big picture comment on the 2021 season.

At the beginning of pre-season, I was concerned that the season would again be disrupted by Covid. Fortunately, the decision of a number of colleges and then later the NCAA to mandate Covid vaccination for all athletes seems to have eliminated any disruption to the season schedule. You do not hear of Covid outbreaks among athletes or cancellations of college games due to Covid. At least I haven't.

That does not mean that Covid did not have an impact on the season. It is clear to me that many teams have not gotten back to normal. A number of teams that traditionally are dominant are struggling a bit out of the gate. 8 teams (Wheaton, Williams, Stevens, Ohio Northern, Cal Lutheran, Clarence, Geneseo and Swarthmore)  that started in the United Soccer Coaches pre-season poll have struggled and no longer in the top 25 after 2 weeks of play. Even William Smith (which started as #2) has struggled with some games. 

Some of that may be attributable to players having difficulty getting back into game shape and dealing with a higher rate of injury than usual after a year off due to Covid. There is a difference between being in game shape and the fitness you get when limited to only practices. 

Another reason may be that teams are essentially incorporating two years of recruits into their system at the same time. Sure, last year recruits got to spend time to learn their coach's system and got to practice with their teammates but there is no substitute to actual game experience to develop a team.

What is clear after 2 weeks is that you could likely see a lot of different college names on the top 25 list at the end of the season. That may not be a bad thing.   
   
#40
Women's soccer / Re: Coaching changes for 2021
May 14, 2021, 02:47:04 PM
Vassar coach has just announced that she is leaving the school and that a nationwide search for new coach will commence.
#41
Men's soccer / Re: New England Soccer Discussion
May 10, 2021, 01:28:10 PM

[/quote]

Yeah, I was wondering which conference they would join. I'd think that the NEWMAC would make the most sense, even though it primarily consists of MA schools.
[/quote]

It would seem to me that NESCAC might be a better fit for Hartford with some local CT rivalries such as Trinity, Wesleyan and Connecticut College. Currently 11 schools in the conference so adding Hartford would even out the divisions in some of the sports.
#42
Women's soccer / Re: Spring "Season"
March 21, 2021, 08:35:38 AM
It has been interesting to watch how different leagues address the Spring season for women's soccer in this Covid era.

The Empire 8 Conference has elected to have a full slate of league games this Spring, plus a Conference Championship tournament. The 2021 Empire 8 Spring Women's Soccer season got underway on March 14. 
Fans can watch the action all season long, free of charge on Empire 8 TV.

The 2021 Empire 8 Conference Women's Soccer Spring Tournament will feature the conference's top six teams from regular season play. First round action will feature the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 6 seed and No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed on Tuesday, April 13. The top seed will host the winner of the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in one semifinal and the No. 2 seed will host the winner of the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds in the second semifinal on Thursday, April 15. The two semifinal winners will meet on Saturday, April 17 in the E8 Championship.

In contrast, the Liberty League will not have any formal League games this Spring but is leaving it to the individual conference members to decide the amount of scrimmages that they wish to schedule. RIT has decided to allow a maximum of 3 Spring scrimmages with only one scrimmage allowed on the RIT campus during the Spring.
#43
Men's soccer / Re: Covid Impacts on Upcoming Season
September 25, 2020, 03:17:29 PM
Guess RIT may be an exception then.  RIT's dashboard is here.     https://www.rit.edu/ready/dashboard
10 student cases and 2 staff cases since opening on August 19. Great statistics for a student population of approximately 19,000 students, about 16,000 undergraduate and 3000 graduate.
#44
My daughter  has been back at her school since August 10 and already the head coach is in quarantine with her family for possible exposure outside of the University and the Assistant Coach has been diagnosed with Covid. One player came down 2 days ago with fever and other symptoms; Covid test came back negative and they are hoping that it is not a false negative. That player is quarantining until a second test result returns. All of this with limited interaction between the team. Can't imagine how disruptive the season would have been if they had gone ahead with the season.
#45
Men's soccer / Re: Covid Impacts on Upcoming Season
August 22, 2020, 01:26:15 PM
My daughter  has been back at her school since August 10 and already the head coach is in quarantine with her family for possible exposure outside of the University and the Assistant Coach has been diagnosed with Covid. One player came down 2 days ago with fever and other symptoms; Covid test came back negative and they are hoping that it is not a false negative. That player is quarantining until a second test result returns. All of this with limited interaction between the team. Can't imagine how disruptive the season would have been if they had gone ahead with the season.