NESCAC

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

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Bobcat1

Just looked at the final D3Soccer.com poll.  Impressive to see Tufts went 6-0 against the final top 10, and 8-0 against the final top 25 allowing just 1 goal.  Defense wins Championships...

On to 2017! Hopefully the NESCAC Conference can make it 4 titles in a row...

blooter442

Quote from: Bobcat1 on December 13, 2016, 02:35:59 PM
On to 2017! Hopefully the NESCAC Conference can make it 4 titles in a row...

On that subject, who do we think the favorites for the NESCAC title will be next year?

I did not keep up with the NESCAC very well this year besides Tufts (because of geography and interest) and the Maine teams (mostly Bowdoin because of my family connections) so I don't really know who is looking like the best squad coming back. Based on what I know, I am tempted to say it is wide open – even with Tufts' and Amherst's success in recent years, I do not see one clear favorite for next year. Amherst loses a good number of starters. Tufts loses a decent amount right down the spine – Greenwood, Sullivan, Zach Halliday, Lawson, Becherano, and Majumder. I think having Hlinomaz coming back next year will be big for Amherst and I think Tufts has some good young guys but I think the loss of guys like Greenwood – a four-year starter and arguably the key to Tufts' title success this year – and Majumder and Becherano could be bigger than the Jumbos realize at the moment and could see them come back to the pack a bit more next year, but you never know. That said, I like Tasker a lot and Rojas and Braun made big impacts this year and could become household names in years to come.

Elsewhere, I think Midd.'s losses of Conrad and Glaser will be big. Conn's loss of Devlin will likely be big as well. Gimand and Savonen were the guys keeping Trinity competitive from what I could tell. I am tempted to say Bates could surprise but I said that I thought they would this year and they did not have a good year, finishing below .500. I look forward to the year that they finally break out and have a good year, but it doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. Is Hamilton legit or did they just overachieve this year?

Seems like Bowdoin brings back a good amount, Niang is a beast. Did we ever find out what happened to Van Siclen?

Mr.Right

As much as I am a Nescac fan I can predict with certainty that Nescac will not win a 4th straight NCAA Cgampionship next year. In fact I do not see a Nescac team reaching the Elite 8 next year. It is waaay to early to say but a ton of the predictions will be based on what talent each team brings in and what talent has been developed over the off-season from returning players. BTW Hopefully we can rely on Ommadawn and possibly others for his outstanding work with his off-season "Hot Stove Action" and list of incoming Frosh and some highlights...A quick look from my point of view for 2107.....

Amherst----With the losses of two huge classes last year and this year I think they will struggle a bit especially early in the season depending on their early Nescac schedule. No program can lose all those starters in 2 years and expect to get to the 2017 NCAA Final 4. It is Amherst so they will reload big time but not enough to win the 2017 Nescac title. Hlinomaz is a good player but tends to disappear in games against better competition. I thought the last 3 weeks of the season in 2016 he was a non factor plus he is not a talented enough player like a NPL to put a team on his back. A Top 4 finish I expect but there will be more losses on the resume in 2017 than there have been lately.

Wesleyan---This team was very young last year coupled with some very bad luck and they were in the Nescac basement for the 1st time in Wheeler's 17 years. I was very impressed with 3 of their Frosh and like I said before I thought their Freshman class was better than Williams' freshman class which SHOULD never happen in any year. This team will rebound significantly if they can find a formidable back 4 and GK. This is Wheeler's bread and butter and I expect him to turn this ship around to make a run at a Top 4 next year in Nescac.

Williams---They lose a ton of talent and REALLY need a big time Frosh class next year or at least 1 truly Impact player to come in. Sullivan is a very good coach but I think he needs to step it up recruiting wise as they are starting to dig themselves a hole and have not made an NCAA appearance in over 3 years since their back to back NCAA Final 4 runs in 2012 and 2013. Russo missed 3 NCAA tournaments in 22 years in which Williams was allowed to participate. Sullivan has missed 2 in 2 years with some talented sides. Time to step it up a bit.

Bowdoin----After beating the eventual NCAA Champion 2 times in a week they got SNUBBED by the NCAA Committee in not getting into the NCAA's in 2016. I thought this Bowdoin side was one of the "hottest" teams in the country the last month of the season. They deserved to be in even over Middlebury IMO. They lose Dias-Costa and THAT IS IT....His skill will be missed but should be replaceable especially in Wiercinski's system and style of play. If they can get even 1 or 2 quality frosh that can help even off the bench this team will have some serious depth for the first time since their 2010 NCAA Final 4 run. I really think Bowdoin can win the 2017 Nescac Title based on returning their whole back 4 and midfield(besides Dias-Costa) and getting the best GK back in the league(assuming Van Siclien's injury was not a ACL issue). This team needs to come back fit and ready to go and I am expecting better things from Stenquist in midfield along with Niang they could form the best CM duo in Nescac next year. I would like to see Bowdoin drop one or two of those "weak" Maine schools out of conference and maybe put a Gordon / Endicott / Wheaton(MA) on their schedule along with Babson to beef up the SOS and OWP. These are all teams that are in close proximity and all teams Bowdoin has played in the past. Also, THEY MUST start the season ready to go and string 5 to 6 wins together instead of relying on October / November to get "hot" as this is starting to be a trademark of Wiercinski's sides.

Tufts-----You cannot argue with 2 NCAA Championships in 3 years and it is quite clear that Shapiro is the best coach in Nescac if not the D3 Nation right now. He is also a quality recruiter as he and Serpone are the best in Nescac. I give the edge to Shapiro in recruiting over Serpone because of the slight disadvantage(which IMO is diminishing by the day) of recruiting to Tufts over Amherst academically. Still like Bloots said they LOSE A TON. I was expecting Tufts to be a quality side in 2016 but not a NCAA Champion side by a long shot. What I have noticed in Shapiro's tenure is how players have developed year to year and improved in quality from Frosh onwards(think Majumder and Halliday)..I was a bit disappointed in Rojas this year as I was expecting "more" out of him as he has some serious talent. He has skill but for a Jersey kid and a kid with his frame I was disappointed that he was not a more physical player. Sometimes kids can get a bit overwhelmed from club soccer to Nescac in their Frosh year with the physicality of the league but when I notice him pulling out of tackles that opened my eyes. I think he will only get stronger and grow right into his frame and have a very good Soph year. I will be curious to see what kind of recruits Shaprio brings in but they will not be repeating NCAA Champions in 2017.

Hamilton----What a great bounce back year for Perry Nizzi and finally cracking the Top 4 In Nescac for the 1st time since rejoining the league in 2011. In fact I believe that was the 1st time they cracked the Top 7. They were very young last year and I liked what I saw out of a couple Frosh especially up top but they did also rely on 3 key seniors that will be big losses for a program like Hamilton. If Nizzi can get another 2-3 solid contributing Frosh and a GK they will continue to not only surprise but contend for a possible NCAA berth but they must go 5-0-0 out of conference or 4-0-1 if they keep Oneonta St on their schedule.

Trinity----Savonen will be back for 1 more year as I believe they red-shirted him so that will be a big bonus but they lose 3 very key players in midfielders Gimand and Murphy and Milbury up top. Personally, Murphy is the biggest loss as he was a tough Jersey kid that worked very hard in midfield. Gimand while very skilled was very "soft" and almost afraid to tackle so maybe they can get some more physicality in midfield and add some skill as well to feed Savonen up top. Maybe they can convince Bednarek to come back for his senior year. They MUST shore up defensively and in net but Pilger IMO is the worst recruiter in Nescac. There is no reason for Trinity to not be a Top 5 side with their admissions advantages and fantastic campus as they compete for Nescac titles in every other sport. I believe they are getting a brand new field next year and if that rumor is right I believe it will be turf. Not sure if that is in 2017 or 2018 or if the project was cancelled but I remember hearing that so that might give them a nice home field advantage. I still expect a Top 8 next year.

Conn---On the flip side Kenny Murphy is one of the best recruiters in Nescac considering all the disadvantages he has to work with at Conn. 2 advantages are admissions and no Football but again the campus and facilities just do not stack up to other Nescac's. They lose their best player in Devlin and he is NOT REPLACEABLE next year. They were not as good as they were in 2015 and I am not expecting much in 2017 unless he gets a couple studs in his Frosh class. The problem is we will only be waiting to find out the 2-3 usual players that will either have been booted off the team or quit because of the demanding style and sometimes overly negative Murphy that players get sick of that happens every year. The loss of Leon this year really hurt. Their GK'ing was shaky at best and for the first time in a while I thought their back 4 was not as physical and not nearly as organized as they usually are under Murphy. I am not expecting much next year from Conn unless again he gets a stud player or 2 that can contribute right away.

Midd----No NCAA tournament appearances since 2010. Waste of a pretty good 2016 class that got nowhere in their 4 years except racking up goals against the likes of Southern Vt and Green Mountain and getting the occasional "good" result against the better teams in Nescac. To be fair they really got snubbed by the NCAA Committee in 2016 and especially in 2015. Also, for the first time in a long time they started to show a resemblance of balance in playing styles with some whacking from the Back 4 but also some good creativity and skill in midfield and were knocking the ball around on the carpet much more than I have seen a Midd team do since 2009. Like I have said in previous posts the loss of their 3 best players in Sydor, Conrad and Glaser will REALLY HURT but maybe this team needs some new leaders with more ambition and fight. If Saward is sticking around for a couple more years then HE MUST rely on his former players and young assistants to start recruiting and maybe letting them start getting their fingerprints on the program kind of like Margolis at Brandeis. Midd WILL ALWAYS get great athletes but if they can snag a couple skilled, fast and creative players next year then I think this team will be right there. This will no doubt be the hardest team to predict for next year until we see what they have coming in and what they have developed in the off season. I will predict they will struggle next year with some growing pains as they will be very young but sometimes that is not such a bad thing and they could surprise. Again.....very tough to predict Midd right now for 2017.

Who am I missing?


Ahhhh....Bates and Colby....Our two most unlikely Nescac coaches that IMO are just not good fits at Nescac schools for various reasons. Both teams continue to under perform year after year. Seabrook I will give a pass because he has only been at Colby 3 years and does have a Nescac Top 8 on his resume but they looked seriously over matched in 2015 and 2016 in some games against the better Nescac sides. Again, he is a very good coach and has Colby very organized defensively almost like a Leicester City did against Man City this past weekend except they do not have anything resembling a counter attack which BTW Leicester looked so good on the counter against City but of course had nothing today against Bournemouth. Yes back to my point...at some juncture Colby must find some players like Meisel and create some fast skilled counters out of their defensive shell and MUST GET A STRIKER who can finish. If not they will continue to get the surprise result here and there in league play and rack up 3 to 4 0-0 draws in Nescac play which will not get it done for a Top 8. One thing about Pilger at Trinity he will not sit in against teams and that allows his teams to get wins and 3 points when maybe they do not deserve it(Think their 2OT wins at Bowdoin and a nice trashing of Wesleyan in October that got them 6 points and into the Top 8. Colby MUST play more aggressive when on the counter and in attack.

Bates----Disaster.... I love to remind all you Bates fans that the last time Bates made the Nescac tournament was when Purgavie was coaching. 5 years at Bates for Flaherty and not 1 finish better than 10th. Ugly. I said from the beginning this was not a good fit and I will stick to it.

Bucket

After 33 years, Dave Saward will step down as head coach of the Middlebury soccer program at the conclusion of the 2017 season.

Alex Elias is the coach-in-waiting.

http://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/msoc/2016-17/releases/20170118dalxb2

Mr.Right

Saward is / was a legend at Midd but the last 6 years have been trying times up at Midd for Men's Soccer...No NCAA berths and the talent to have been in 3 of them. Excellent job opportunity and while Alex Elias is an excellent coach I am a bit shocked that they do not open the job up at least. They would get some great applicants and former players(Kyle Dezotell) that would apply. Elias I believe has never been a Head Coach anywhere and is quite young for a Nescac job so all etes will be on that situation moving forward.

Ommadawn

Thanks to the efforts of Shooter and OldNed on the new "hot stove" thread, we are able to get a glimpse of some of the new recruits for NESCAC squads.  It looks like Amherst in particular has locked up a few real gems...

Amherst

Nate Brody  http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6108735/5721de24041ddc1b00788731

Sebastian Derby  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5STLl2rqsA

Jack O' Brien  http://www.hudl.com/profile/3254177/jack-obrien

Michael Saks  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeXUPSvzMsM


Connecticut College

Renzo Albertoni  http://www.ncsasports.org/mens-soccer-recruiting/wisconsin/verona/verona-area-high-school1/renzo-albertoni

Liam Donelan  http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6877575/5721d9560c5e681224b344e1

AJ Marcucci  http://www.hudl.com/video/3/4574999/5721e6e7b019261f80e8a1da


Williams

Nicholas Ranieri  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu1LZJygXtI



injured_nescac_player

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share what one of our guys wrote about NESCAC soccer (he's a player in it). It's an absolutely hilarious satire about NESCAC soccer, and I still chuckle when I read it. takeplug is a site that (a former player, still in college, had to stop because of several knee surgeries) was just founded a couple days ago. Hope you take a read, you'll be missing out if you don't!

https://www.takeplug.com/writing-1/2017/2/14/would-paul-pogba-make-it-in-the-nescac

Cheers.



blooter442

Quote from: injured_nescac_player on February 15, 2017, 04:29:04 PM
Hey guys,

I just wanted to share what one of our guys wrote about NESCAC soccer (he's a player in it). It's an absolutely hilarious satire about NESCAC soccer, and I still chuckle when I read it. takeplug is a site that (a former player, still in college, had to stop because of several knee surgeries) was just founded a couple days ago. Hope you take a read, you'll be missing out if you don't!

https://www.takeplug.com/writing-1/2017/2/14/would-paul-pogba-make-it-in-the-nescac

Cheers.

"Could he still perform on a cold, rainy night in Maine?" 😂

sokermom

This article is quite hilarious.  Good job.

1970s NESCAC Player

Quote from: injured_nescac_player on February 15, 2017, 04:29:04 PM
Hey guys,

I just wanted to share what one of our guys wrote about NESCAC soccer (he's a player in it). It's an absolutely hilarious satire about NESCAC soccer, and I still chuckle when I read it. takeplug is a site that (a former player, still in college, had to stop because of several knee surgeries) was just founded a couple days ago. Hope you take a read, you'll be missing out if you don't!

https://www.takeplug.com/writing-1/2017/2/14/would-paul-pogba-make-it-in-the-nescac

Cheers.

Go Mules!

All NESCAC

Quote from: injured_nescac_player on February 15, 2017, 04:29:04 PM
Hey guys,

I just wanted to share what one of our guys wrote about NESCAC soccer (he's a player in it). It's an absolutely hilarious satire about NESCAC soccer, and I still chuckle when I read it. takeplug is a site that (a former player, still in college, had to stop because of several knee surgeries) was just founded a couple days ago. Hope you take a read, you'll be missing out if you don't!

https://www.takeplug.com/writing-1/2017/2/14/would-paul-pogba-make-it-in-the-nescac

Cheers.

Now that is funny.


blooter442

This might have been covered elsewhere, but apparently Amherst's mascot is now the Mammoth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZHpxAXDJto

Mr.Right

Quote from: Ommadawn on April 05, 2017, 10:08:12 PM
Here's another batch of highlight videos from new recruits at NESCAC schools:

Bates

Blaise Marceau  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlKNkWa7mAw

Bowdoin

Alex Chaban  https://vimeo.com/148389801

Aidan Loten  https://vimeo.com/147753088

Max McPherron  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-PbsuXqzVI

Colby

Alberto Butts-Lee  http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/worcester-academy-hilltoppers-(worcester,ma)/soccer/videos.htm?videoid=feab895f-ff27-455a-955f-669995d7056b

Middlebury

Marco Kaper  http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6968570/575436cb051e325b5c6d2f74

Andriy Proctor  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Sx3Qa9R4k

Tufts

Will Harned  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVljXAok90c

Williams

George Taylor  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYrJcGyeUSc


Some good players on this list. The kid Williams got from Berkshire School is a very good player and I believe he was the best player on a very talented Berkshire School team so that is a start for Sullivan but Williams needs goal scorers next season or they will continue to struggle.

I believe Nescac schedules will be out next week as it is always interesting to see who each Nescac team decides to play in their 5 non-conference games.

Mr.Right

As of June 5th only one Nescac team schedule has been released. Williams has their 2017 schedule up and it is nothing special with a surprisingly WEAK team on it.  Their 5 non-conference games are at RPI, Skidmore, at Coast Guard, at Babson and hosting Mt.St Vincent. For a historically strong program like Williams and a reputation for playing the best teams in New England this schedule is certainly not as challenging as it could be. 2 Newmac's and 2 Liberty League games are fine but it looks like they had an opening weekend in October that they needed to fill an they filled it with any team they could find.  If that is the case then I understand why you would be playing Mt.St.Vincent and will give them a pass. Not sure why you would pick up a road tilt at Coast Guard who will sit 10 behind the ball and try to steal the game on the counter.