2014 Surprise Teams

Started by MidwestAficionado, February 28, 2014, 02:39:46 PM

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repete

Ballboy:

Don't know if you're out there lurking but if you are ... I'm glad you provided those names for the FSU recruits. I saw them play at Hopkins a while back, not the best game overall but Strine and Basham are both very solid and fit in nicely. Very tough sked ahead for FSU, though, with CNU this weekend. If you're a Frederick guy, it looks like Hood is also getting it together a bit this fall.

Joe Wally

#61
Wabash College is 9-0-2, and is ranked in the NSCAA/Continental Tire poll for the first time in school history!

The Little Giants are 15th in this week's poll.

Wabash beat #23 ranked Rose-Hulman 1-0 on September 24, and host Kenyon on October 18.

D3soccerwatcher

Watch out for Gordon.  Their second year coach (who mentored under Dave Brandt at Navy) is building a powerful team.  They exited the national tourny early last year, but they will be a bit more of a force to reckon with this year.

lastguyoffthebench

Quote from: Joe Wally on October 09, 2014, 06:32:33 PM
Wabash College are 9-0-2, and is ranked in the NSCAA/Continental Tire poll for the first time in school history!

The Little Giants are 15th in this week's poll.

Wabash beat #23 ranked Rose-Hulman 1-0 on September 24, and host Kenyon on October 18.

They have played 2 teams over .500.    SOS of 330.  83rd overall in Massey Ratings.     Can we anticipate an upset over Kenyon or OWU?

Off Pitch

Quote from: D3soccerwatcher on October 09, 2014, 09:39:10 PM
Watch out for Gordon.  Their second year coach (who mentored under Dave Brandt at Navy) is building a powerful team.  They exited the national tourny early last year, but they will be a bit more of a force to reckon with this year.

Very difficult to know how good Gordon might be.  They have played a very soft schedule and have two losses to middle of the pack Little East teams.

Christan Shirk

lastguyoffthebench's fact-checker in the house . . .

Let's be fair, Wabash has played THREE teams over .500:
Spalding (7-5-0)  W2-1
Franklin (5-4-1)  T0-0
Rose-Hulman (7-3-2)  W1-0

But the point stands, their schedule is extremely weak.  Opponents' avg. winning pct. is only .363 (to date).  Only 3 of 11 opponents sport winning records as mentioned above.  Even the teams in the Top 25 with the weakest schedules (Lycoming, Colorado, Luther, Salisbury), don't come close to having that soft a schedule. Consequently there's no game that can be used to measure where they might stand among the top team across the nation. 
Christan Shirk
Special Consultant and Advisor
D3soccer.com

PaulNewman

Compared to recent years there is no doubt that Wabash is a big surprise so far this year, their schedule notwithstanding.  And we'll find out how worthy they are on a national scale very, very soon, as the Little Giants are away at OWU on 10/15 and then host Kenyon on 10/18.  And they have a trap game before those two challenges tomorrow away at Allegheny.

backyarddawg

2014 Surprise team to me is Muhlenberg.  If you look at what Coach Topping has graduated in the last couple of years and just missing the playoffs last year to start 7-1-2 and only defeat at F&M in double OT.  I don't think the CC saw this coming.  Great job by Coach Topping.

Professional Ballboy

Quote from: repete on October 09, 2014, 04:26:10 PM
Ballboy:

Don't know if you're out there lurking but if you are ... I'm glad you provided those names for the FSU recruits. I saw them play at Hopkins a while back, not the best game overall but Strine and Basham are both very solid and fit in nicely. Very tough sked ahead for FSU, though, with CNU this weekend. If you're a Frederick guy, it looks like Hood is also getting it together a bit this fall.

Hey Repete;  Im not a Frederick guy, I'm an Olney guy but I have watched this set of boys for years and talked to DIII coaches such as McDaniel, Stevenson, etc who thought they couldn't recruit that set because of talent.  Im still on board with you that they are potentially higher quality players that really just wanted to stay close to home but because of "now" limited D1 choices in state they went DIII.  However as freshmen they are holding FSU together it seems.  You are right Big Game today vs CNU.  Brown is legit and should pose a problem for the #3 ranked defense in country.  I'm still routing for the underdog!!!

Christan Shirk

Apologies for my post about Wabash.  I lost track of which thread I was in.  They certainly are one of the season's surprises.
Christan Shirk
Special Consultant and Advisor
D3soccer.com

PaulNewman

Add WPI to the Surprise list.  11-2 after coming from behind to beat Springfield today.  Only losses are a pair of 1-0 results against Brandeis and Wheaton.

repete

Ballboy: Nice showing by FSU today. They did what they had to do against CNU to grab the tie ... as the shot differential showed. Well-coached squad. Good minutes for the young guys. I really enjoyed watching Hawkins play for them as well. That's got to be a long, frustrating ride for Newport back to Va.  BTW, I see Moradel is playing at MC this year.

Flying Weasel

Have to throw Penn State-Harrisburg out there after their tremendous week beating York and No.16 Salisbury to improve to 9-3-0.  Talk about coming out nowhere.  3-13-0 last year and 0-8-0 in the CAC.  This year 9-3-0 and 2-2-0 with their first two CAC wins since joining the conference come against the top two historically (I know York is a mess this year). They close out with Frostburg, Chris. Newport, and Mary Wash., so still a lot of work just to make the CAC playoffs, but this week should give them confidence moving forward.

repete

Great week for PS-H. I heard the goal Saturday was a bit bizarre -- and the only shot on goal vs. 9 for Salisbury. Salisbury seems to be in a bit of a finishing funk, given that scoreless match vs. Catholic the week before.

gobash83

Quote from: NCAC New England on October 10, 2014, 05:40:47 PM
Compared to recent years there is no doubt that Wabash is a big surprise so far this year, their schedule notwithstanding.  And we'll find out how worthy they are on a national scale very, very soon, as the Little Giants are away at OWU on 10/15 and then host Kenyon on 10/18.  And they have a trap game before those two challenges tomorrow away at Allegheny.

Wabash avoided the trap today with a 4-3 win over Allegheny.  As a long time follower of the LGs, it is certainly a surprise that they are playing so well (even against an admittedly weak schedule).  Are they ready for prime time yet?  Probably not though the upcoming games against OWU and Kenyon will be good measuring sticks. 

The program has struggled for years and hopefully a successful season this year can begin to change the program's culture and serve as a base to build on for the future.
"Did Wabash Win?"--Ralph "Sap" Wilson '14 (1891-1910)