NESCAC

Started by LaPaz, September 11, 2011, 05:54:52 PM

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Mr.Right

1-1 Final.....After the final whistle blows Murphy did not look interested in shaking hands with Serpone/Shea....Stream dropped off so maybe they shook afterwards but after a 90 minute game of Serpone's histrionics it can annoy some opposing coaches...

PaulNewman

Quote from: OldNed on October 09, 2018, 06:22:33 PM
So this is the first time I've watched Conn College and I caught most of both overtimes.  Am I missing something here?  They didn't look all that impressive to me.  Were the 2 OT periods an anomaly as far as how they usually play?  I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks.

Agreed based on that game.  Will have to tune in to Tufts game, but now I really will be surprised if they get a result with Tufts.

BendIt007

Conn game disappointing and not their best, especially with Camels losing a key player for the Tufts game. 

Related ---  I can't imagine what it would be like with BOTH teams doing the Flip-Throw ins. Taking an extra 20 seconds for the player to jog across the field and set up for each throw in on both sides would drive me crazy and completely disrupt any flow of the game. 

Mr.Right

I do not see how anyone can make a judgement of a team based on 1 game or even 2 10 minute overtimes. I think you need to give a team 2-3 games before you can make any serious analysis on them. Conn is not the most technical team and no they are not playing the beautiful game but am not sure what you  were expecting to see. Amherst can make ANY team(yes even Messiah) look bad. Amherst dictates its style onto every opponent and it just mucks the game up completely. Add a narrow grass field and a poor stream angle and that is what you get. Had Conn been playing Anna Maria on turf you would probably be saying the complete opposite. Conn is a very solid Nescac outfit for a couple reasons. They are extremely organized, they bust their ass(every player) for a full 90, they have one of the best GK's in D3 and they have been injury free for the most part with a very workmanlike starting 11. Conn is not as deep as Tufts and are not quite as talented but with a solid spine and superb GK'ing they will be in any game they play against anyone in the country. They were missing 2 key strikers yesterday MT Tshuma a talented Frosh from Taft and Ben Highton. The loss of Manoogian is MASSIVE as that was a WEAK 2nd Yellow in OT and that will hurt v Tufts BUT they can bring in Miranda and he is a solid player. He is not as good as Manoogian and it will kill Conn's depth against Tufts but Conn was going to have to only go 2-3 players deep against Tufts anyway. It will not be the prettiest game on Saturday but it will be a battle. It will only be Tufts 2nd game on grass all year and Tufts looks nothing like they do on turf when playing on grass. Conn like all Nescac teams struggle to score goals but the past 2 years they have shown they are a very hard team to beat. Last year at Tufts it was a Half field scrimmage as Conn had maybe 2 SOG but I expect a different game in New London on Saturday with a ton on the line. The winner will win the Nescac Regular Season title and host the Nescac Championship. Manoogian is a competitve kid and he will be the most disappointed of anyone that he can not play in one of the biggest games of his career.

jumpshot

According to an excellent source, Serpone advanced in interviewing for at least one new job for which an offer reportedly was not forthcoming.

Mr.Right

Quote from: jumpshot on October 10, 2018, 09:45:30 AM
According to an excellent source, Serpone advanced in interviewing for at least one new job for which an offer reportedly was not forthcoming.

I have heard rumors in the past about him wanting to get out of Coaching. I think he applied to be Deerfield Academy AD if I am not mistaken a couple years ago so you are probably correct. I think he has kids now and his wife is UMASS Womens Lax Coach so not sure if they can move...Who knows...You would think by watching him he would love to Coach but apparently he would rather be an administrator.

rudy

#6396
Quote from: Mr.Right on October 10, 2018, 09:41:14 AM
Amherst can make ANY team(yes even Messiah) look bad. Amherst dictates its style onto every opponent and it just mucks the game up completely. Add a narrow grass field and a poor stream angle and that is what you get.

I have to agree with this. I watched about a half of Amherst vs Williams on small field and it looked like a bad high school game. Just ugly. Flip throw on every throw in as many have commented on already.  Very little possession. Just really bad. I've watched Tufts a number of times and to me they are far superior to Amherst.   The camera angle point also does make it look even worse. 

Edit:  I don't think on a better field that Amherst can impose ugly style onto other top teams for a full 90 minutes. But at home it would be really difficult to play pretty soccer for any team.

OldNed

Quote from: Mr.Right on October 10, 2018, 09:41:14 AM
I do not see how anyone can make a judgement of a team based on 1 game or even 2 10 minute overtimes. I think you need to give a team 2-3 games before you can make any serious analysis on them. Conn is not the most technical team and no they are not playing the beautiful game but am not sure what you  were expecting to see. Amherst can make ANY team(yes even Messiah) look bad. Amherst dictates its style onto every opponent and it just mucks the game up completely. Add a narrow grass field and a poor stream angle and that is what you get. Had Conn been playing Anna Maria on turf you would probably be saying the complete opposite. Conn is a very solid Nescac outfit for a couple reasons. They are extremely organized, they bust their ass(every player) for a full 90, they have one of the best GK's in D3 and they have been injury free for the most part with a very workmanlike starting 11. Conn is not as deep as Tufts and are not quite as talented but with a solid spine and superb GK'ing they will be in any game they play against anyone in the country. They were missing 2 key strikers yesterday MT Tshuma a talented Frosh from Taft and Ben Highton. The loss of Manoogian is MASSIVE as that was a WEAK 2nd Yellow in OT and that will hurt v Tufts BUT they can bring in Miranda and he is a solid player. He is not as good as Manoogian and it will kill Conn's depth against Tufts but Conn was going to have to only go 2-3 players deep against Tufts anyway. It will not be the prettiest game on Saturday but it will be a battle. It will only be Tufts 2nd game on grass all year and Tufts looks nothing like they do on turf when playing on grass. Conn like all Nescac teams struggle to score goals but the past 2 years they have shown they are a very hard team to beat. Last year at Tufts it was a Half field scrimmage as Conn had maybe 2 SOG but I expect a different game in New London on Saturday with a ton on the line. The winner will win the Nescac Regular Season title and host the Nescac Championship. Manoogian is a competitve kid and he will be the most disappointed of anyone that he can not play in one of the biggest games of his career.

Fair points, Mr. Right.  What was I expecting? I know how Tufts plays, so I guess I was expecting a little bit more of that kind of play, but as you say playing Amherst doesn't allow a team to play their own game very much.  I really did want to hear what everyone had to say about this and my point wasn't to bash Conn College, so I think I will try to watch a couple of their other games if I can. 

PaulNewman

Totally agree that stream quality, angle and turf vs grass make big difference.  That said, I find games played on football fields pretty unwatchable. 

I keep getting in trouble with my words.  Maybe head and shoulders was too strong but I will maintain that Tufts as a program has gained separation from the rest of the league.  I do love the Conn GK....and I'm sure they have some other talent but I also expect them to look small out there compared to Tufts.

letsGOswans!

Have been taking a backseat this season in fear of saying something that could taint the Camel's run. Props to Murphy for having Conn at the top of the table with a realistic shot at winning the league for the first time ever. It seems that the Camel's are building on their success from last year (making the NCAA tournament). It does seem that the rest of the league is down this year. Surely no one would fancy this Tufts team to beat the Tufts teams from the last few years? I watched the Conn vs. Amherst game and no one can say Amherst is close to the same Amherst as previous years. They miss leaders like Wirz, Noon, Pascual-Leone, and threats like Orozco and Martin. They just seemed to lack the same aggression, attitude, meanstreak... Williams is a skeleton of their former self, although the standards set by those Williams teams in the earlier part of this decade were pretty high. Midd  is obviously missing the contributions of Glaser and Conrad. Bowdoin seems to play the same as always. Murphy sure does make his system work though. Funny how "more talented" Conn teams boasting POYs like Hawkey and Devlin couldn't match the current success of this far younger team.


Let's go Camels! This Saturday's game is massive. What a shame that Manoogian is going to miss this one due to such a soft call. This weekends game is a toss up and will go to whoever makes less mistakes

Mr.Right

Quote from: letsGOswans! on October 10, 2018, 07:54:47 PM
Have been taking a backseat this season in fear of saying something that could taint the Camel's run. Props to Murphy for having Conn at the top of the table with a realistic shot at winning the league for the first time ever. It seems that the Camel's are building on their success from last year (making the NCAA tournament). It does seem that the rest of the league is down this year. Surely no one would fancy this Tufts team to beat the Tufts teams from the last few years? I watched the Conn vs. Amherst game and no one can say Amherst is close to the same Amherst as previous years. They miss leaders like Wirz, Noon, Pascual-Leone, and threats like Orozco and Martin. They just seemed to lack the same aggression, attitude, meanstreak... Williams is a skeleton of their former self, although the standards set by those Williams teams in the earlier part of this decade were pretty high. Midd  is obviously missing the contributions of Glaser and Conrad. Bowdoin seems to play the same as always. Murphy sure does make his system work though. Funny how "more talented" Conn teams boasting POYs like Hawkey and Devlin couldn't match the current success of this far younger team.


Let's go Camels! This Saturday's game is massive. What a shame that Manoogian is going to miss this one due to such a soft call. This weekends game is a toss up and will go to whoever makes less mistakes



I do not agree with much of this post as it is almost like you came swooping in after watching 1 game and farted out a bunch of gobbledygook.  Nescac is not down this year. I do agree with your assessment of Amherst as they are definitely down and do seem to lack their usual mental toughness and killer instinct. Williams has been down since 2013 so nothing different there as they have been brought back to the pack. So we have a couple of former powers that are off but we have maybe 4 teams that have improved every year. No longer are games v Colby, Bates, Hamilton considered easy games.

While Tufts does not have the individual talent they did in 2014 they are still very good and the best team in the league. They are more disciplined now than they were in Shapiro's early years and are loaded with depth that they did not have back then. They just do not have a stud that stands out like they once did mainly because IMO their style and tactics. Gone are the days of scoring 7 Goals in the NCAA Semi's and Final and now we have a disciplined, compact, Bobby Clark/ Georgetown/ Dartmouth tedious but effective style of play. They are incredibly fit, have a great work ethic, defend as a team, can go 16 players deep and not drop off, incredibly athletic and just breathe confidence. I obviously cannot argue the results BUT I feel sometimes I am watching a team that is on a tight leash. If Shapiro would let this outfit just come out and play and go at teams and use their skill and all out attack sending numbers forward all game I think we would all have a much different opinion of this bunch. They would be capable of beating some Nescac teams handily while scoring tons of Goals, playing true futbol and be entertaining to watch. They have enough talent that I would guess they would probably have the same record they do now. Would they have loss or two? Maybe...but after going 328 minutes of scoreless NCAA Soccer in 2017(had they advanced over Brandeis in PK's that # could of gone up to 400) why not go out swinging. I feel like this whole "more afraid to lose than going out to win" is not only frustrating for a fan but if I was a player I would be pissed knowing we have such a talented team and we are not opening it up. Yes I realize that the point is to win championships not to entertain BUT you can do both...Instead we get 1-0 half field scrimmages...OPEN THE GAME UP....you have the talent to do it...It is actually much easier to coach what Tufts is doing now compared to say what Pep does at Man City....So we are stuck with the most talented team in the league playing with the motto that Tufts wants to Win but puts way to much emphasis on not wanting to lose.

Back to the Swan---Middlebury does not miss Conrad and Glaser...they shouldn't miss Conrad to much as he is sitting on the bench as an assistant. Conrad and Glaser WON NOTHING...Never got into the NCAA's and they had NCAA talent especially with Sydor in net. I will not go into detail on why I think they failed to Win but the year after they graduated Midd got right back into the NCAA's. This Midd team this year is very dangerous and I actually think they have one of their better teams in years. They play well at Home and their starting 11 can match any other Nescac 11. BTW I have also noticed the GK Hyer has looked more confident in net the past few weeks and maybe he is beyond getting his feet wet and feels comfortable back there. Maybe he has been putting in the work at practice with the GK Coach but he does look improved compared to their first game at Conn. They will need him back there if they want to make a run...I must say had Soph striker Brandon Reid worked on his game this offseason they would be that much better. For a Jamaican his touch needs work and it just looks like he really did not work on his technique at all. He only has 1 Goal in 10 Starts with 7 SOG..That is awful stuff for a starting striker who probably plays about 60-65 minutes a game.

As for your Conn argument I do not agree. This is the best team they have had in years. You are correct that past Conn teams have had studs like Hawkey and Devlin but they did not have much support and more importantly did not play like a team. 2012/2013/2014 Conn had some MONSTER back lines and some big boys in the spine like Colin Patch and Zach Punt but had awful GK'ing...My point is this is Conn's best team because they are solid at basically every position in the starting lineup with about 3-4 guys off the bench that are legit. THEY ARE A TEAM..They play like a team and for whatever reason have bought into what Murphy is preaching. Marcucci is the key as Conn has never had anything close to the GK'ing that he brings. Dieng coming back also was huge and I could go on and on which I have posted in the past.

truenorth

The observations about Tufts are probably accurate to an extent.  They have without question been the most successful NESCAC team in the NCAA tournament over the past half dozen years or so, and they probably currently have the deepest top 18 among the NESCAC teams.  That said, in my opinion they are not light years ahead of the rest of the NESCACs as your comments might imply...  One of the beauties of the NESCAC is that it is so competitive teams 1-11, and has been for the 15 years or so that I've been spectating.  It's not always beautiful "futbol" as some of our posters like to lament, but the primary objective is to win, and the academic and athletic caliber of the student athletes makes for a fun spectacle...

PaulNewman

Quote from: truenorth on October 11, 2018, 09:04:54 PM
The observations about Tufts are probably accurate to an extent.  They have without question been the most successful NESCAC team in the NCAA tournament over the past half dozen years or so, and they probably currently have the deepest top 18 among the NESCAC teams.  That said, in my opinion they are not light years ahead of the rest of the NESCACs as your comments might imply...  One of the beauties of the NESCAC is that it is so competitive teams 1-11, and has been for the 15 years or so that I've been spectating.  It's not always beautiful "futbol" as some of our posters like to lament, but the primary objective is to win, and the academic and athletic caliber of the student athletes makes for a fun spectacle...

Interesting because Mr.Right got on me for saying Tufts is "head and shoulders" above the rest of the league.  Would you agree that Tufts has created some separation? 

At any rate, I too would like to see what Tufts would look like if they opened up a bit.  As I noted before, and despite them being fortunate in some big spots over the past few years, a team that plays so close to the vest takes a real chance of losing on a fluke goal or not advancing on PKs.

truenorth

No...I wouldn't say "head and shoulders", not even in a shampoo ad.  All kidding aside, Tufts is good and has a great recent pedigree, but they are not a huge cut above the rest of the NESCACs in my view...

Mr.Right

I do not recall saying anything about Tufts being "light years ahead of the rest".....Never said it and if that was what you took from reading my post I am frustrated to say the least....PN got it....I think you chose to ignore it and put your own spin on a totally different argument instead of arguing the other side of the position I took and given me a list of reasons why Tufts should not change a damn thing.