D-3 Women 2021

[Stryker]

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.   
   

[Ron Boerger]

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.  The old guard will probably get back into the swing of things once they have a chance to work out their rotations and everyone gets used to each other. 

[Stryker]

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.

[Stryker]

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.

[Ron Boerger]

The D3soccer.com poll is back!

https://d3soccer.com/top25/women/2021/week3

D3soccer.com Women's Top 25, Week 3
Through games of Sunday, September 19, 2021

#   School (1st Pl. Votes)   Record   Pts.   Prev.
1   TCNJ (14)   6-0-0   956   —
2   Chicago (3)   7-0-0   831   —
3   Johns Hopkins (1)   4-0-1   823   —
4   Chris. Newport (1)   5-0-0   790   —
5   Washington U.   5-0-1   754   —
6   Trinity (Texas) (2)   5-0-0   739   —
7   Messiah   4-1-1   707   —
8   MIT (1)   7-0-1   671   —
9   Misericordia   6-0-0   613   —
10   William Smith   4-1-1   545   —
11   Emory   6-0-1   500   —
12   Centre   6-1-1   475   —
13   McDaniel   6-0-0   464   —
14   Amherst   4-1-0   428   —
15   Case Western Res.   6-0-0   427   —
16   Wesleyan   4-0-0   412   —
17   Pomona-Pitzer   4-0-1   366   —
18   Loras   7-0-1   362   —
19   Carnegie Mellon   6-1-0   358   —
20   Tufts   3-1-0   345   —
21   Wartburg   6-1-1   332   —
22   Pacific Lutheran   6-0-0   304   —
23   Hamilton   3-0-1   177   —
24   Middlebury   5-1-0   156   —
25   Puget Sound   5-0-1   131   —

Receiving Votes: Dickinson 121, Brandeis 95, Scranton 95, Southwestern 91, Washington and Lee 88, Kalamazoo 67, Denison 61, Franklin and Marshall 61, Cal Lutheran 51, Roanoke 50, Hanover 48, RIT 46, Calvin 34, Texas-Dallas 29, Western Connecticut 23, UW-Oshkosh 23, Rutgers-Newark 23, St. Catherine 19, Geneseo State 17, UW-La Crosse 17, Central 15, St. Lawrence 13, Clark 10, Ohio Northern 6, Otterbein 6, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 6, Stockton 6, Gettysburg 6

[Stryker]

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

[Ron Boerger]

(Formerly) #8 Trinity (TX) loses Sunday at Southwestern (TX), 1-2, despite 31-5 shot and 13-4 shots-on-goal advantages.  The game-winner for Southwestern came on an own goal in the 55th minute, after which Trinity could not find the equalizer.

The loss broke a streak of 136 straight conference wins; the last regular-season loss for Trinity came on November 1, 2008, when Southwestern won by an identical score.   

[Stryker]

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.

[Stryker]

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           

[Stryker]

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.

[WLCALUM83]

Pre-match homework on NACC 1st round playoff matches:

#6 Marian at #3 Dominican:  (Stats gleaned off of NACC site)
      Dominican;  Regan Coxon is 2nd in the NACC in goals (18) and 3rd in Assists (8); Goalie Ashliee Ishman tops the league with a .926 save pct.
      Marian:  Ashley Welk is 4th in the NACC in assists (7)

#5 St. Norbert at #4 IL Tech:
     IL Tech:  Led the NACC in goals (78) Goalie Flannigan was 5th in save pct. (.797) 

(Figured since I did some minor ranking work on the sport, I could at least see about putting in 2 cents on at least one match.)

[WLCALUM83]

Will take in the video feed of St. Norbert/IL Tech:

More at halftime:

[WLCALUM83]

UPDATE  Marian and Dominican are tied at 2 with less than a minute left in opening half
                    (Sabers gave up 2 early goals)
Dominican live stats:  Star goals byiDaniela Tova-Mirandar and Alexandra Canarelli,
                                Both Saber goals by Allison Fought.


SNC/IL Tech:  IL Tech up 1-0 at half:  At first, SNC was able to generate a lot of throw ins by forcing IL Tech to go toward the sidelines on offense. SNC was able to get a couple of early shots. IL Tech broke through on a 15th minute goal by Julia Taliana on a rebound off a block. SNC tried a couple of crosses later, that missed, and their best chance in the 38th minute (one of the few shots they got straight at the goal) sailed wide.

[WLCALUM83]

NACC Tournament Finals:
    Dominican 4, Marian 2 (Stars' Regan Coxon got both of the 2nd half goals)

    IL Tech 1, St. Norbert 0.
    Play opened up more in the second half. St. Norbert had 2 golden chances from close distance, but Scarlet Hawk goalie Flanigan was able to get saves on each one. IL Tech had a couple chances of their own, but Green Knight goalie Collins was also up to her defensive task. With about 12 minutes left, one St. Norbert sub checked into the match, than after less than one minute on the pitch had to leave due to an injury that looked to be pretty serious. The player needed to be helped off the field. The announcer didn't think it was due to player-to-player contact, so perhaps one of her feet hit the pitch strange.

     Dominican gets MSOE and IL Tech gets top seed Concordia-WI next..

[deiscanton]

NEWMAC First round

Final:  (#4 seed) Babson 0, (#5 seed) WPI 0 after extra time.

WPI advances to the semifinals on kicks from the mark, 3-2, after 5 rounds.  WPI plays on Thursday at #1 seed MIT-- WPI handed MIT its only loss of the season in regular season NEWMAC play.

Babson now has a program record 758 minutes without conceding a goal-- last time Babson conceded a goal was October 9, 2021, against Emerson.  However, that streak is likely to continue into next season as Babson was ranked #6 in Region II in the Week 2 regional rankings, and the season is most likely over for Babson.

Tonight in NEWMAC First round games, it will be #3 seed Clark hosting #6 seed Springfield, and #2 seed Emerson hosting #7 seed Wheaton (MA).

The match was even on shots 19-19, and on shots on target, 8-8.

WPI had the edge on corners, 10-1.

Babson committed 9 fouls to WPI's 7.  There were no bookings.  Each team was called for offsides twice.

9:14 PM update-- the other NEWMAC first round games are now final.

Wheaton (MA) (#7 seed) won at Emerson (#2 seed), 1-0.

Springfield (#6 seed) also won at Clark (#3 seed), 1-0.

The NEWMAC semifinals on Thursday will have WPI (#5 seed) at MIT (#1 seed) and Wheaton (MA) (#7 seed) at Springfield (
#6 seed).

All of the home teams today (#2, #3, and #4 seeds) failed to advance in the NEWMAC womens's soccer tournament, either by losing outright, or by being on the losing end of kicks from the mark.