NESCAC

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

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OldNed

Quote from: amh63 on November 12, 2018, 06:34:00 AM
Amherst beats St. Joe's 4-2.  Writeup on Amherst's  website.

I was there and Amherst deserved to win - they were simply better.  They certainly don't play pretty soccer, but damn they're effective at what they do.  St. Joe's couldn't compete with their size and the long throw ins as 3 of the 4 goals game on balls into the box that weren't immediately cleared by St. Joe's.  This is the NESCAC thread so I'm not going to go on and on about St. Joe's as part of me wants to do, but credit goes to Amherst for their play yesterday. German Giammattei gave St. Joe's fits early and he was easily the most dangerous guy on the field for Amherst.  I was also particularly impressed with Cutler Coleman - he's not big, but he's in there fighting for every ball and pound for pound he was the toughest Amherst player on the field on Sunday.

I will say that the field was atrocious and the game should not have been played on the grass field.  Both teams were slipping and sliding all afternoon on the pitch.  It's not sour grapes as I don't know if the outcome would have been any different on turf, but when you have players go to kick a free kick and their cleats slide out from underneath them, that's a sign that the field is rubbish.

Bobcat1

Quote from: OldNed on November 12, 2018, 07:44:12 AM
Quote from: amh63 on November 12, 2018, 06:34:00 AM
Amherst beats St. Joe's 4-2.  Writeup on Amherst's  website.

I was there and Amherst deserved to win - they were simply better.  They certainly don't play pretty soccer, but damn they're effective at what they do.  St. Joe's couldn't compete with their size and the long throw ins as 3 of the 4 goals game on balls into the box that weren't immediately cleared by St. Joe's.  This is the NESCAC thread so I'm not going to go on and on about St. Joe's as part of me wants to do, but credit goes to Amherst for their play yesterday. German Giammattei gave St. Joe's fits early and he was easily the most dangerous guy on the field for Amherst.  I was also particularly impressed with Cutler Coleman - he's not big, but he's in there fighting for every ball and pound for pound he was the toughest Amherst player on the field on Sunday.

I will say that the field was atrocious and the game should not have been played on the grass field.  Both teams were slipping and sliding all afternoon on the pitch.  It's not sour grapes as I don't know if the outcome would have been any different on turf, but when you have players go to kick a free kick and their cleats slide out from underneath them, that's a sign that the field is rubbish.

Our teams have all been there Old Ned. It's a very tough place to play given the field dimensions and the strengths of the Amherst roster.  St. Joe's had a brutal draw. Beating Midd and Amherst on the road in less than 24 hours would be extremely difficult for any team in the country. Congratulations to the Monks on a helluva run the last 2 years!

Mr.Right

Old Ned...... I feel u deserve to let loose on whatever you want to say on St.Joe's and I would like to read whatever u want to get off ur chest...The more honesty the better...Its not really Nescac related but post it in D3 National Perspective 2018...


blooter442

Quote from: amh63 on November 12, 2018, 06:34:00 AM
Amherst beats St. Joe's 4-2.  Writeup on Amherst's  website.

And they start coming out of the woodwork... ;)

Mr.Right

Nescac Notes from NCAA Tournament-------I saw pretty much every game that a Nescac team was involved in...Some more than others because of the multiple games at the same time but my thoughts are......


Biggest Disappointment-----I will rank them in order with #1 being the worst of the bunch......


3. Middlebury-----2 weeks off did no favors for this team as their finishing was piss poor. Had they finished their legit chances against St.Joe's at even a 50% clip they could have gotten 3 Goals in that game. Instead they had to chase for most of the game and did finally get the tying goal with 12 minutes left. The goal they conceded in the 1st Half was abysmal as it was against the run of play. It looked like Midd had the wind at their backs in the 1st Half and only could produce a couple real dangerous chances. I will give them props as they were shooting low to get St.Joe's GK on the carpet and force him to make decisions with long balls in the box but the best chance in the 1st Half was not finished as Senior back Peter Davis should of gotten his toe on the ball to get the games first goal. He was inches away and did not finish it. Instead about 5 minutes later a relatively harmless long throw by St.Joe's went right to a Midd defender who could have easily cleared the ball. Instead of clearing it he flicked it with the back of his head right into the mixer across the 6 and a St.Joe's player was WIDE open and easily finished it. Midd defenders were caught flat-footed and ball watching as the kid was wide open. Those are the types of things that can play out after not playing a game for 2 weeks and not being 100% sharp for 90 minutes. Still it is possible that Midd players were expecting the ball to be cleared instead of perfectly flicked across the box but its no excuse as you must read the play before it happens. Midd was chasing the game from there and had a couple real dangerous chances before finally relying on their banged up Captain Dan O'Grady who I do not remember playing all 1st Half. He started the 2nd Half and the difference was noticeable as Midd IMO was controlling play for the most part against the wind and O'Grady was a big part of that. He is one of those players that is a gamer and he took advantage of an opportunistic chance and banged it in with the outside of his right foot while his body was falling to his left. It was a superb effort and those are the type of goals kids like O'Grady score. He wanted to do anything he could to help Midd win the game and he did but it just was not enough. Midd seemed like they were content with the tying goal and almost lost concentration as they gave up the game winning goal to St.Joe's 7 minutes later and in the 85th minute off a long ball into the box that was finished beautifully. Midd Senior defender Moffat was to blame as he was marking that kid and mistimed his jump and took himself out of the play and the St.Joe's kid finished it and it was ballgame. Midd will graduate 2 backs in Peter Davis and Moffat plus hard working Jeremy Barovick who was holding all year and really did a fine job. The biggest loss will be O'Grady as unlike the other three guys he cannot be replaced right away and others will have to pick their games up to replace him. 2nd straight year where Midd got into the NCAA's on a Pool C but the 2nd straight year they were finished off in the last 5 minutes of the game. In 2017 they conceded to Cortland St with 2 minutes left on a soft PK add that to this year and those are two disappointing performances in their opening round games. They have showed they are consistently getting into the NCAA's but now they have to man up and try to make a run.


2. Conn College--------Another team with 2 weeks off before the NCAA's. 2nd straight year they have qualified with a Pool C bid but the 2nd straight year they had 2 weeks off before playing an NCAA game. Last year they gave up a late goal to UR on a rare GK'ing error by Marcucci and UR knocked them out and went on to a NCAA Elite 8 run. That was a tough draw last season and they were not quite as good a team as they were this season. This season they had a very favorable draw AT HOME(has to be the first time EVER Conn has hosted an NCAA game) and were primed for a run IMO. They blasted Thomas off the field in the 2nd Half and I wonder if that got them a little over confident for Sunday's match. Sunday's match was gut wrenching as IMO they were the better team and had NUMEROUS chances to grab a tying goal and failed miserably. Ramapo was a typical NJAC team as they had a mix of some skill, physicality, danger man up top, solid GK'ing and an edgy style. Let me just say for BOTH games just like the good ol days of playing games at Conn they drew a serious crowd. I would guess a few hundred loud and crazies that helped them out as the 12th man. That was how it used to be at EVERY home game for Conn and no matter how good they were each year that crowd would help take their opponents out of a game. Some of the Conn students were just nuts and liquored up by gametime and it was fun to watch games there. Anyhow, this game was a major disappointment as they allowed a real soft goal in the 9th minute to Ramapo's star striker. A long ball that should have been cleared easily was allowed to take a bounce by Conn defenders and as it bounced GK Marcucci was charging out of his net as that all happened the Ramapo player flicked it over Marcucci's head. Had Conn defenders not allowed that ball to bounce it would have been fine OR had Marcucci stayed home he would have easily saved it. For some reason he saw something he did not like and came out of his net and the rest was history. Conn had not let up such a soft goal all year and from there they were chasing the game for 80 minutes. Conn played hard and with energy and created a ton of chances BUT COULD NOT FINISH ANYTHING. Manoogian missed a PK about 10 minutes after Ramapo's goal that was SO BAD. Such a weak effort and an easy save by the Ramapo GK who played well all game.  I blame Murphy though for not changing his system until WAY TO LATE IN THE GAME. He waited until 10 minutes left and he was about 15-20 minutes to late. Interestingly, when Conn did push #'s forward they looked dangerous as hell and one could wonder had this team been attacking all year like that they could have scored some serious goals and still won a ton of games with 2 solid CB's and Manoogian or Butera switching off sitting in front of them with the other blasting forward and with the Nescac POY and easily best GK Marcucci in net they would have been able to defend their opponents dangerous counters. They would have drawn way more fans all year had they played like that but alas this is Nescac and we have 11 conservative Head Coaches. Ramapo was decent and had their own chances throughout the game to increase the lead but nothing like Conn's chances as Conn hit the post twice and missed one sitter and another with no one in goal that was shockingly cleared off the goalline. Just a tough tough loss as Conn was a Sweet 16 team IMO and blew their chance to make a run. Now they graduate A TON of good players that WILL hit them hard in 2019.



1. Williams----------This to me was the biggest disaster of a performance that I have seen in a while. Credit to Williams and Sullivan for getting them back into the NCAA's for the first time in 5 years but jesus this was shockingly bad. I'm sorry but this draw was as good as Williams could have hoped for when their name was called on the selection show. Etown is decent but CMON they were not a great team. They had a couple players and did try to connect on passes BUT Williams basically handed them the game. Also, NO Etown's striker at least in that game did not impress me at all and frankly he was not the best player on the field at all. I would take Williams striker Demian Gass over him anyday. Since his comeback from injury he has scored 4 Goals in 4 Games and the kid is a stud and luckily he will be back but he is always injured and MUST get some meat on his bones because he has everything else. As Nescac11 posted Williams was dominating the game for the first 30 minutes and finally got a well deserved goal to take a 1-0 lead and looked like they were going to take that lead into Halftime. I have no idea what happened after they scored but the team fell off considerably. Were they overconfident? I mean Etown did not look good basically the whole Half so it is possible. The 2 goals Williams conceded were a joke. Williams was AWFUL defending in this game which surprised me because some of their best players are defenders. Senior Captain Scatt Macdonald was off all game and I have no idea why the stud Frosh Oberg is not starting but Etown scored off a corner and failed clearance. Williams had 4 CHANCES to clear the ball out of its box but failed to do so and the Etown striker Waso was opportunistic by getting his toe to the ball and sticking it in the net but CMON that ball MUST be cleared. Williams GK had no chance. Etown's 2nd goal was really disappointing as Williams conceded it in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd Half after the kid Sanchiz was allowed to dribble through 4 Williams defenders and then he hit a weak shot that HAS TO BE SAVED but Williams GK Schein dove over the ball as he was a step slow getting down(which I was worried about since the beginning of the year) and the ball was in the net. What Williams did next was beyond frustrating for me. Instead of playing some futbol on Cortland's carpet like they were doing the first 30 minutes they decided to play long ball after long ball to spring one of their quick strikers. It was ugly as hell and it was a mess and was not effective. Williams had a real opportunity to get to the Sweet 16 this season as Etown never really had a sniff after their 2nd goal but neither did Williams frankly. They reminded me of a 2017 RPI side with better strikers. They were not good defensively at all and had Williams spread them out like they did at the beginning of the game they would have generated many more chances but they panicked and they went the easy route by trying to spring a striker off 40 yard long balls. All Etown did was back off to take away the speed of Williams strikers. The GK looked shaky at best and frankly if a team like Cortland St springs 5 GOALS on you then there are problems back there. Cortland St did not impress me either but they were better than Etown but man they play ugly especially on their home field. They are athletic for sure but not very skilled and I expect them to get beat handily in the Sweet 16. I am not big on excuses but it was Williams first night game of the year so maybe they were taken out of their routine but that is a pretty weak excuse. Williams lose a real gamer in Scatt Macdonald. Andreou is gone as is Dory and the GK. I do not understand the lineups either that Sullivan was rolling out there at the end of the year up front. Guys like Frosh Adams and Fellito got A TON of minutes and produced NOTHING. I think they each got one goal each all year. I love Fellito's toughness and fight but man he and Adams MUST improve their skill or they will not be able to score goals in Nescac. Another issue is Sullivan NEVER changes his tactics as I mean you are down a goal in the 55th minute in a do or die game and they are still playing a 4-2-3-1. Attacking with 4 guys is not going to get it done against an Etown team sitting with 6 and sometimes 8 guys. 4 v 8...I mean you do the math....I mean you are in a do or die to score a goal...You keep Scatt and move Ranieri to CB with Bardong sitting in front of them and everyone else MUST be flying forward including the 2 wingbacks. How else do you expect to score a goal? You stick Oberg up front with Felitto and Gass. Have Fleischer and maybe Dory attacking and then have the quick Petrik on the flank along with maybe Fabricant..I mean get creative...IDK I just get frustrated with this conservative nonsense with Williams and frankly the whole league.

Mr.Right

I really only got bits and pieces of Tufts v Stevens and only watched the first 15 minutes of Amherst v St.Joe's......I was really impressed with Amherst in those 15 minutes as before I knew it or St.Joe's knew what was going on it was Amherst with a 3-0 lead. It was very impressive and they were not fluky goals. Old Ned was right as German Giammattei was a beast in that 1st Half and was causing all kinds of problems for St.Joe's. I had a feeling Amherst would come out pumped up on their Home field and do what they do to teams not ready to play. They bury them with wave after wave of pressure. St.Joe's looked lost the first 15 minutes but to St.Joe's credit they got a goal back before the Half and then a sweet hit on a set piece to get them within 1. CB Felix Wu made up FOR HIS STUPID DIRTY OFF BALL FOUL that led to St.Joe's free kick goal by getting his own goal off a header to end St.Joe's season. St.Joe's is a solid outfit but just unprepared for how Amherst comes out of the gates and as most of us new they were a good team BUT not a legit undefeated side. As if they were in Nescac they would get used to the league but certainly would not be undefeated and would be conceding more goals. Still I thought had they drawn anyone other than Amherst in the 1st/2nd Round pod including Tufts but I knew Amherst would not be a good matchup for them especially after a battle with Midd the day before. I will say Amherst made some stupid plays to concede those goals. Besides Wu's bonehead play, St.Joe's 1st Goal was an embarrassment as basically they scored off a goalkick that was hit 50 yards and run onto and finished. Unacceptable as Amherst was playing to high a line and got burned with speed. I think it was Shahmirzadi who got burned or maybe it was O'Brien but they both have speed so the St.Joe's kid Onyejose has some wheels to beat those two guys but man you NEVER let up a goal like that. That is something to watch for this weekend. Defensively they are still shaky and GK Bernie White did not look as dominant as he has been looking especially with shots that made him get down or make him move. Fikayo Ajayi had the game of his career as he netted 2 goals and was all over the field. If he finishes like that against Tufts watch out. Also if Giammattei plays like he did in the 1st Half against Tufts I think they can win that game.  Cutler Coleman is very consistent and always plays well IMO as he is fun to watch because he gets his nose in everything and not afraid and you have to respect that for a kid his size. I like that Ajayi did not care that he was being sacked as a CB because frankly he was an awful CB but instead of getting all pissed off he decided to be a team player and help the team wherever he was needed. I have no idea why Serpone kept him at CB as even against Bowdoin when I saw them play the 2nd game of the year I could tell Ajayi was NOT a CB and did not have a clue about the position except to use his size to head everything out of the box. It is very hard to beat a team like Amherst twice in the same year and if Amherst plays like they did on Sunday and Tufts is still having problems finishing off chances the Amherst will win that game. No doubt in my mind.


Colby-------Besides Amherst I thought Colby was my Nescac team of the weekend. I wrote extensively on them in an earlier thread so I will re=post my comments here.....Colby actually played the best futbol out of all the Nescac teams yesterday. They really played well and you are correct they should have won the game in OT. MSU was giving them so much space because the game was stretched that I think Colby got out of their usual gameplan of sitting with 6 because of all the space. Clouse really hurt them on the defensive end because of his lack of mobility MSU was finding 2v1's in the middle of the field and getting some nice chances from it. Rosenberg and Douglas played excellent and Pereira had one of his best games of the season. It just happened that their luck ran out but I was a little surprised at their fitness as they did look gassed in the last 20 minutes of regulation but then got some pep back in OT. The goal they conceded in the 85th minute was unfortunate as the Frosh Pugh took a risk by going for the ball off the long serve instead of letting his man retrieve the ball and then sticking him. The failed clearance which hit off the back of an MSU player right to the kid who scored was also some bad luck but it was an excellent finish with the kids left foot. Still Pereira missed a sitter and Fletcher missed basically an open goal without the GK in it so they can only blame themselves for not finding the winner. PK's were a not as good as in the Nescac Tournament as the first 3 banged them home but Fabricant who is from Jersey and probably had tons of family and friends there bombed his 30 yards over the goal which is unacceptable and actually Berolzheimer's I was surprised because it was telegraphed and a pretty weak effort. Still it was a fantastic effort for a team that was not just "happy" to be in the NCAA's but wanted to keep their season going and had the confidence to do so.

Mr.Right

With Tufts winning its 3rd NCAA Title in 5 years it got me thinking about the program's history a bit more. Up until 1990, the Tufts Men's Soccer Head Coach was still a part-time Coaching gig and the program was struggling mightily by the late 80's. The Athletic Director at the time was a man by the name of Rocky Carzo. He was the former Head Football Coach at Tufts and was a legend on campus. I had met him a couple of times when I was younger and he was pure class. Nicest guy but also very direct and to the point. I clearly remember in the Spring of 1990 he and a few others had made the decision to make the Men's Soccer job Full-time like most of the rest of Nescac at the time. He was as honest as they come because he would always say he only knew one thing about Soccer and that was he did not know anything about it. So he went about the process very professionally. He obviously talked to other AD's in the league about what they thought but what impressed me the most was he went and listened to input from some other Men's Soccer Head Coaches in Nescac at the time. In 1990, most of the Head Coaches in Nescac had been at their respective schools at least 10 years so I am sure he got some pretty good input. But to think how times have changed as you would never see an AD these days go directly to rival schools Coaches for advice.


Over the years I have criticized former Tufts Men's Soccer Coach Ralph Ferrigno mercilessly on here. Rightly so though as he basically threw the white flag by 2005 and hung on for 4 more years before getting sacked. To this day I still do not really know why he gave up on it but it was kind of sad to see play out. Anyway, I kind of wanted to be fair to him and give credit where credit is due. He was hired in the Spring/Summer of 1990 out of some impressive candidates including a couple Nescac and D1 Assistants. He was hired away from Dartmouth at the time he was assisting Dartmouth Men's Soccer Head Coach Bobby Clark. The other assistant on that staff was John O'Connor who eventually got hired at UChicago I think in 1995 and then left to go to URI in 2006 until getting sacked and is now on the sidelines at Castleton. Like Shapiro he came from the Bobby Clark mold of play providing a solid structure and plenty of defensive depth. Other than that he and Shapiro's tactics were pretty different. Ferrigno ALWAYS played a flat 4-4-2 which was a common formation in the 80's/90's. He would constantly yell at his two strikers to stay together. Also, like Shapiro he was not dealt a great hand but still managed to get results his first few years without the support from Admissions/Athletics that Shapiro now enjoys.  As Shapiro did he kind of cleaned house and immediately had Tufts a much more formidable and organized unit. By Ferrigno's 5th year(just like Shapiro) in 1994 Tufts were rolling and went up to Williams in the NCAA 2nd Round and soundly defeated the Ephs on Cole Field 2-0. Williams the year prior had made it all the way to the NCAA Championship game and were the premier team in the region at the time so it was a massive victory for Tufts and Ferrigno and was a serious statement for the program(IMO the most important victory in program history until Messiah in 2014). In the early days, Ferrigno was one of the best recruiters in the league. He was EVERYWHERE. He took the D1 mold of recruiting to D3 and was an animal on the trail. He brought in some sick players and always had a nasty striker or two. I remember a great striker Matt Adler and the skill of guys like Peter Maglicic and the grit of Evan Dabby. He had another striker but I just cannot remember his name but he was a goal scoring machine. He had a couple very good Hispanic players. Point is he brought in some serious players and did not have much support which looking back on it was impressive. I think they had another NCAA run in either 1996 or 1997 and up until 2001 Tufts was one of the better programs in Nescac. He also brought an awesome atmosphere to Kraft Field. Hands down the toughest place to play in New England in those days(along with Conn College but Tufts was a much better team than Conn at the time). If you asked any Williams player where the best place to play a game was they would tell you Tufts. It was not because of the actual field as the field was garbage but it was the crowd. Tufts would draw better than any team around and you would play in front of hundreds of screaming fans. It was a serious pressure cooker for an opponent to go in there because you were boxed in with people from endline to endline 3 and 4 deep plus the stands were jammed. I really wish the current group of players could feel that kind of environment. I really think the guys that enjoy pressure and competing in front of a crowd like that would thrive. Of course it could also eat you up if you were not up to snuff. It was a great place to watch a match. After 2001 the program started to regress into mediocrity and like I had said by 2005 it was curtains. IMO and this is pure speculation the program nose-dived because of Ferrigno's club team/camps he would run and the money that came with it. That sounds crazy now but you have to remember 25-30 years ago there were no Academy teams and not nearly the amount of club teams as today. It was all focused around ODP as that was the top of the line and there were only so many spots for ODP teams so the rest went to club teams. He rightly picked up on a supply/demand issue with Club teams in the Boston area and the absolute need for more clubs/teams. He had to be making a ton of money at the time and my hunch is he started to focus on the club(err the money) more than Tufts. Immediately after Tufts made that run in 1994 he was running weekly full page ads in Soccer NewEngland for his club team. I think it was Lightning FC but I could have the name wrong. Anyway, he managed to walk and chew gum at the same time by running that club and all those camps while also succeeding at Tufts but my guess is that was maybe part of the reason for the downfall. I mean Tufts remained somewhat competitive but not nearly anything like the 90's and by the mid 2000's you would have Williams/Midd/Amherst beating them pretty soundly. Even Bates one year beat them like 7-2 it was not good. His final year in 2009 was shambolic(thanks Bloots) as they finished the year 2-11-2 or something like that with a Captain named Bear Duker. Nice kid from Belmont Hill and his brother was a real good player for Amherst a couple years earlier but I would be willing to bet Bear Duker sans 2009 would have a hard time even making Tufts 2018 squad now. That is how bad it got and I think he knew he was gone before the season began but who knows.....


Brother Flounder

Quote from: Mr.Right on December 03, 2018, 10:35:32 PM
With Tufts winning its 3rd NCAA Title in 5 years it got me thinking about the program's history a bit more. Up until 1990, the Tufts Men's Soccer Head Coach was still a part-time Coaching gig and the program was struggling mightily by the late 80's. The Athletic Director at the time was a man by the name of Rocky Carzo. He was the former Head Football Coach at Tufts and was a legend on campus. I had met him a couple of times when I was younger and he was pure class. Nicest guy but also very direct and to the point. I clearly remember in the Spring of 1990 he and a few others had made the decision to make the Men's Soccer job Full-time like most of the rest of Nescac at the time. He was as honest as they come because he would always say he only knew one thing about Soccer and that was he did not know anything about it. So he went about the process very professionally. He obviously talked to other AD's in the league about what they thought but what impressed me the most was he went and listened to input from some other Men's Soccer Head Coaches in Nescac at the time. In 1990, most of the Head Coaches in Nescac had been at their respective schools at least 10 years so I am sure he got some pretty good input. But to think how times have changed as you would never see an AD these days go directly to rival schools Coaches for advice.


Over the years I have criticized former Tufts Men's Soccer Coach Ralph Ferrigno mercilessly on here. Rightly so though as he basically threw the white flag by 2005 and hung on for 4 more years before getting sacked. To this day I still do not really know why he gave up on it but it was kind of sad to see play out. Anyway, I kind of wanted to be fair to him and give credit where credit is due. He was hired in the Spring/Summer of 1990 out of some impressive candidates including a couple Nescac and D1 Assistants. He was hired away from Dartmouth at the time he was assisting Dartmouth Men's Soccer Head Coach Bobby Clark. The other assistant on that staff was John O'Connor who eventually got hired at UChicago I think in 1995 and then left to go to URI in 2006 until getting sacked and is now on the sidelines at Castleton. Like Shapiro he came from the Bobby Clark mold of play providing a solid structure and plenty of defensive depth. Other than that he and Shapiro's tactics were pretty different. Ferrigno ALWAYS played a flat 4-4-2 which was a common formation in the 80's/90's. He would constantly yell at his two strikers to stay together. Also, like Shapiro he was not dealt a great hand but still managed to get results his first few years without the support from Admissions/Athletics that Shapiro now enjoys.  As Shapiro did he kind of cleaned house and immediately had Tufts a much more formidable and organized unit. By Ferrigno's 5th year(just like Shapiro) in 1994 Tufts were rolling and went up to Williams in the NCAA 2nd Round and soundly defeated the Ephs on Cole Field 2-0. Williams the year prior had made it all the way to the NCAA Championship game and were the premier team in the region at the time so it was a massive victory for Tufts and Ferrigno and was a serious statement for the program(IMO the most important victory in program history until Messiah in 2014). In the early days, Ferrigno was one of the best recruiters in the league. He was EVERYWHERE. He took the D1 mold of recruiting to D3 and was an animal on the trail. He brought in some sick players and always had a nasty striker or two. I remember a great striker Matt Adler and the skill of guys like Peter Maglicic and the grit of Evan Dabby. He had another striker but I just cannot remember his name but he was a goal scoring machine. He had a couple very good Hispanic players. Point is he brought in some serious players and did not have much support which looking back on it was impressive. I think they had another NCAA run in either 1996 or 1997 and up until 2001 Tufts was one of the better programs in Nescac. He also brought an awesome atmosphere to Kraft Field. Hands down the toughest place to play in New England in those days(along with Conn College but Tufts was a much better team than Conn at the time). If you asked any Williams player where the best place to play a game was they would tell you Tufts. It was not because of the actual field as the field was garbage but it was the crowd. Tufts would draw better than any team around and you would play in front of hundreds of screaming fans. It was a serious pressure cooker for an opponent to go in there because you were boxed in with people from endline to endline 3 and 4 deep plus the stands were jammed. I really wish the current group of players could feel that kind of environment. I really think the guys that enjoy pressure and competing in front of a crowd like that would thrive. Of course it could also eat you up if you were not up to snuff. It was a great place to watch a match. After 2001 the program started to regress into mediocrity and like I had said by 2005 it was curtains. IMO and this is pure speculation the program nose-dived because of Ferrigno's club team/camps he would run and the money that came with it. That sounds crazy now but you have to remember 25-30 years ago there were no Academy teams and not nearly the amount of club teams as today. It was all focused around ODP as that was the top of the line and there were only so many spots for ODP teams so the rest went to club teams. He rightly picked up on a supply/demand issue with Club teams in the Boston area and the absolute need for more clubs/teams. He had to be making a ton of money at the time and my hunch is he started to focus on the club(err the money) more than Tufts. Immediately after Tufts made that run in 1994 he was running weekly full page ads in Soccer NewEngland for his club team. I think it was Lightning FC but I could have the name wrong. Anyway, he managed to walk and chew gum at the same time by running that club and all those camps while also succeeding at Tufts but my guess is that was maybe part of the reason for the downfall. I mean Tufts remained somewhat competitive but not nearly anything like the 90's and by the mid 2000's you would have Williams/Midd/Amherst beating them pretty soundly. Even Bates one year beat them like 7-2 it was not good. His final year in 2009 was shambolic(thanks Bloots) as they finished the year 2-11-2 or something like that with a Captain named Bear Duker. Nice kid from Belmont Hill and his brother was a real good player for Amherst a couple years earlier but I would be willing to bet Bear Duker sans 2009 would have a hard time even making Tufts 2018 squad now. That is how bad it got and I think he knew he was gone before the season began but who knows.....

Thanks for the great history!

d4_Pace

Mr. Right thats why I really appreciate you. As someone that is as tapped into Tufts and d3 soccer as can be I knew very little of that. Thank you for the insight and when I get enough post you have a couple +k coming your way from me.

Buck O.

Quote from: Mr.Right on December 03, 2018, 10:35:32 PM

Immediately after Tufts made that run in 1994 he was running weekly full page ads in Soccer NewEngland for his club team. I think it was Lightning FC but I could have the name wrong.

His camps at Tufts were called Lightning Camps or something very close to that.  My son went to one of them sometime around 2007.  Don't know about the club name, though.

Ejay

Quote from: Mr.Right on December 03, 2018, 10:35:32 PM
Ferrigno ALWAYS played a flat 4-4-2 which was a common formation in the 80's/90's. He would constantly yell at his two strikers to stay together.

Yup. As a striker in the earl 90's, I was constantly told to be "10 yards at all times" from my striker partner. 

Ommadawn

Quote from: d4_Pace on December 03, 2018, 11:50:36 PM
Mr. Right thats why I really appreciate you. As someone that is as tapped into Tufts and d3 soccer as can be I knew very little of that. Thank you for the insight and when I get enough post you have a couple +k coming your way from me.

I agree and will spot you the positive karmas.  He's about the crest the 200 mark. 

soccerfan111

Surprised no one has commented here yet with the Conn job opening up. Anyone know happened with murphy?

Striker22

Posting from the Conn College careers website, as of today's date (if anyone is interested in reading)...

Athletics/Physical Education

Adjunct Associate Professor/Head Coach of Men's Soccer


Connecticut College, a highly selective private liberal arts college in New London, CT, and a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), is accepting applications for the position of Head Coach of Men's Soccer.  This is a full-time appointment with adjunct faculty status beginning July 1, 2019.  Primary responsibilities involve coaching and coordinating all aspects of a Division III men's soccer program competing in the most competitive conference in the nation.  Requirements include Bachelor's degree (with Master's degree preferred), coaching experience in soccer at the collegiate or comparable level and the proven ability to recruit student-athletes capable of succeeding at a highly selective liberal arts institution competing at the highest level of Division III.  The successful candidate will also have the highest ethical standards with regard to NCAA and NESCAC rules.

This will be an exciting opportunity to lead a storied program, including NCAA tournament appearances in the past two seasons. The successful candidate will join a committed department dedicated to providing for our students an environment that allows them to strive for excellence in the classroom and in intercollegiate competition.  Our coaches are faculty members who have coaching, teaching, and administrative responsibilities in the Department of Physical Education & Athletics.  Their commitment to the mission of the College is demonstrated by their full integration into the life of the campus community.

Connecticut College educates students to put the liberal arts into action as citizens in a global society.  A private, highly selective institution in New London, Connecticut, mid-way between New York and Boston, the College is notable for its strong academic programs, friendly campus, and emphasis on broad interdisciplinary teaching and research.  With a student/faculty ratio of 10/1, students learn from their professors in classrooms, studios, labs, and across the residential campus and the entire globe.  The intimate size of our community (approximately 1800 students from 45 states and 70 countries) fosters collaboration among faculty, staff and students.

The College's Board of Trustees, President, administration, faculty and staff share a commitment to diversity.  We foster the values of equity, inclusion, and respect for all human differences, for these are essential to the fulfillment of our mission.  Structural evidence of this commitment can be seen in our Center for Critical Study of Race and Ethnicity, the Dean of Institutional Equity and Inclusion, our Unity House Multicultural Center, and the diversity programming sponsored by many departments across the campus. The College is also an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.  Please visit our website, http://www.conncoll.edu, for more information about the College and our faculty searches.

Applicants should submit: (1) a resume with the names and contact information of three references and a cover letter of not more than two pages, to Fran Shields Director of Athletics, at: http://apply.interfolio.com/60225.  Review to begin on March 25, 2019 and continue until the position is filled.

truenorth

Sounds like a pretty good job to me.  By the way, my son's wife is a D3 head coach at one of the country's top rated liberal arts colleges (not a NESCAC school).  It is a pretty sweet job...