D3 Women's Soccer 2017 Season

Started by DivisionIIISoccerSource, August 04, 2017, 02:06:59 PM

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CarpIsNotAFish

Quote from: cciw83 on October 08, 2017, 04:52:25 PM
I am still trying to figure out if Chicago is that good or Emory just had a very bad day. I stopped watching early in the second half as Chicago had it under control. Chicago midfield controlled the play and Emory either because of the speed of play or talent looked disorganized and had a number of giveaways without pressure.  It was not a surprise of Chicago winning, but the score and type of contest were.

One of standout newcomers for Emory last season #26, a forward, was substituted early in the first half, wonder if she is nursing an injury or coming back from an injury.

I think Chicago is that good. Look at Emory vs ranked opponents - Hopkins, C. Newport & Wash (Mo). All one goal losses, and except Hopkins fairly even stats. Emory couldn't get a single point in 3 games vs teams ranked in the 5-15 spots (depending on whose ranking you are looking at). No one is ranking Chicago in that range. Sure the Maroons haven't been truly tested yet, but they haven't slipped, even a little. So a 4-0 result is quite reasonable for the clear and away #1 team in the nation and a team in the 20-30 slot.

blue_jays

Quote from: cciw83 on October 08, 2017, 04:52:25 PM
I am still trying to figure out if Chicago is that good or Emory just had a very bad day. I stopped watching early in the second half as Chicago had it under control. Chicago midfield controlled the play and Emory either because of the speed of play or talent looked disorganized and had a number of giveaways without pressure.  It was not a surprise of Chicago winning, but the score and type of contest were.

One of standout newcomers for Emory last season #26, a forward, was substituted early in the first half, wonder if she is nursing an injury or coming back from an injury.
Chicago is that good. Definitely one of the top 3 favorites to win the national title.

CarpIsNotAFish

Chicago...I'll say this up front, they are deserving of the #1 ranking they currently hold.

But...

They are nowhere near to being unbeatable. Their record is built on a schedule that lacks a single true top 10 game. They have one coming when they face conference foe Washington (MO), but until then the competition has been pretty thin. They played Pomona-Pitzer to start the season back when the west coasters were in the preseason Top 10. But that ranking turned out to be misguided and Pomona has fallen out of the rankings completely and their only other matches of significance were against Carnegie Mellon and Emory, both currently in the 20's.  Despite their demonstrated willingness to travel far beyond the confines of the western Great Lakes region, they haven't played Messiah, TCNJ, William Smith, Geneseo, Johns Hopkins, etc...all of whom would have been good pre-conference matches for them.

Not condemning Chicago or the AD that handles the scheduling...and again, I believe they deserve their ranking. But I'd be very worried if I were the head coach of Chicago as I enter the NCAA's knowing my squad has not been tested, as compared to a Messiah who played Hopkins, William Smith, Carnegie and Misericordia in the span of less than 2 weeks.

blue_jays

Quote from: CarpIsNotAFish on October 16, 2017, 01:44:31 PM
Chicago...I'll say this up front, they are deserving of the #1 ranking they currently hold.

But...

They are nowhere near to being unbeatable. Their record is built on a schedule that lacks a single true top 10 game. They have one coming when they face conference foe Washington (MO), but until then the competition has been pretty thin. They played Pomona-Pitzer to start the season back when the west coasters were in the preseason Top 10. But that ranking turned out to be misguided and Pomona has fallen out of the rankings completely and their only other matches of significance were against Carnegie Mellon and Emory, both currently in the 20's.  Despite their demonstrated willingness to travel far beyond the confines of the western Great Lakes region, they haven't played Messiah, TCNJ, William Smith, Geneseo, Johns Hopkins, etc...all of whom would have been good pre-conference matches for them.

Not condemning Chicago or the AD that handles the scheduling...and again, I believe they deserve their ranking. But I'd be very worried if I were the head coach of Chicago as I enter the NCAA's knowing my squad has not been tested, as compared to a Messiah who played Hopkins, William Smith, Carnegie and Misericordia in the span of less than 2 weeks.

This is basically same Chicago team that made Final 4 last year and played Messiah to overtime. And they're better than last year's version. They're ready for anyone.

4samuy

Quote from: blue_jays on October 16, 2017, 02:34:28 PM
Quote from: CarpIsNotAFish on October 16, 2017, 01:44:31 PM
Chicago...I'll say this up front, they are deserving of the #1 ranking they currently hold.

But...

They are nowhere near to being unbeatable. Their record is built on a schedule that lacks a single true top 10 game. They have one coming when they face conference foe Washington (MO), but until then the competition has been pretty thin. They played Pomona-Pitzer to start the season back when the west coasters were in the preseason Top 10. But that ranking turned out to be misguided and Pomona has fallen out of the rankings completely and their only other matches of significance were against Carnegie Mellon and Emory, both currently in the 20's.  Despite their demonstrated willingness to travel far beyond the confines of the western Great Lakes region, they haven't played Messiah, TCNJ, William Smith, Geneseo, Johns Hopkins, etc...all of whom would have been good pre-conference matches for them.

Not condemning Chicago or the AD that handles the scheduling...and again, I believe they deserve their ranking. But I'd be very worried if I were the head coach of Chicago as I enter the NCAA's knowing my squad has not been tested, as compared to a Messiah who played Hopkins, William Smith, Carnegie and Misericordia in the span of less than 2 weeks.

This is basically same Chicago team that made Final 4 last year and played Messiah to overtime. And they're better than last year's version. They're ready for anyone.

Carp

I get much of what you said referencing Chicago and the elite women's sides.  However,  Massey ratings have chicago as 5th in strength of schedule behind Carnegie #1 and Messiah #2.  I attended the Chicago/Carnegie game this past weekend, which Chicago won 2-0.   Quite frankly it could have been 3 or 4.  Carnegie then went down to St. Louis and beat WashU 1-0.  I was actually impressed with the Carnegie back line.  I know Messiah needed OT to dispatch Carnegie at home, but at this point all we can look at is head to head.  IMHO, Chicago has a structured and disciplined back line and score in many ways and if going thru the UAA doesn't prepare you, I'm not sure what does. By the time the season ends, Chicago will have likely faced 7 or 8 regionally ranked teams.

WUPHF

Quote from: 4samuy on October 16, 2017, 04:05:52 PM
I attended the Chicago/Carnegie game this past weekend, which Chicago won 2-0.   Quite frankly it could have been 3 or 4.  Carnegie then went down to St. Louis and beat WashU 1-0.  I was actually impressed with the Carnegie back line.  I know Messiah needed OT to dispatch Carnegie at home, but at this point all we can look at is head to head.  IMHO, Chicago has a structured and disciplined back line and score in many ways and if going thru the UAA doesn't prepare you, I'm not sure what does. By the time the season ends, Chicago will have likely faced 7 or 8 regionally ranked teams.

I went to the Carnegie Mellon game at Washington University, though I missed parts of the game as I had a toddler in tow.  I was very impressed by the Tartans and I'll second the comment about the back line.  I would say the game was played pretty evenly throughout with maybe a slight edge to Carnegie.

I thought the Bears were tentative at times, though maybe it was just a matter of playing a better team.

CarpIsNotAFish

Quote from: 4samuy on October 16, 2017, 04:05:52 PM
Quote from: blue_jays on October 16, 2017, 02:34:28 PM
Quote from: CarpIsNotAFish on October 16, 2017, 01:44:31 PM
Chicago...I'll say this up front, they are deserving of the #1 ranking they currently hold.

But...

They are nowhere near to being unbeatable.

Carp

I get much of what you said referencing Chicago and the elite women's sides.  However,  Massey ratings have chicago as 5th in strength of schedule behind Carnegie #1 and Messiah #2.  I attended the Chicago/Carnegie game this past weekend, which Chicago won 2-0.   Quite frankly it could have been 3 or 4.  Carnegie then went down to St. Louis and beat WashU 1-0.  I was actually impressed with the Carnegie back line.  I know Messiah needed OT to dispatch Carnegie at home, but at this point all we can look at is head to head.  IMHO, Chicago has a structured and disciplined back line and score in many ways and if going thru the UAA doesn't prepare you, I'm not sure what does. By the time the season ends, Chicago will have likely faced 7 or 8 regionally ranked teams.

The Massey SOS ranking is a great example of the point I was struggling to make. Hypothetically, if a team played ONLY teams in its own conference (like Nescac nearly), then you would expect that the strongest team in that conference would NOT have the most difficult SOS - since they don't have to play themselves. That holds true in the NESCAC, Williams has an easier SOS than Tufts, CT College & Hamilton.

In leagues where there are a plethora of out of conference games, this would be mitigated by who the team scheduled to fill up its season. Messiah has the toughest SOS in the Mid Atlantic despite being the best team in the conf because they play Stevens, PacLuth, Hopkins & WSmith in their schedule.

But in the UAA, Chicago's SOS is only 3 spots below the #1 SOS Carnegie and they haven't played a significant opponent outside of the UAA. Heck, conference foe Emory has a SOS 4 spots below Chicago and they played both CNewport and Hopkins before having to face UAA's Chicago & Carnegie, and yet a weaker SOS.

Again, I think the Maroons deserve the #1 spot, but there seems to be some circular logic in how SOS is being calculated in the UAA.

PlaySimple

I watched quite a bit of the Illinois Wesleyan @ Wheaton stream last night. I don't have a kid at either school but, as a Chicagoan, was watching for the regional interest. This was a big CCIW match with league title implications. Last year Wheaton won in the regular season, 1-0, and IWU won in the CCIW playoffs.

I was surprised at how direct both teams played and really feel that neither will make a long run in the post-season. At the opening kick off, Wheaton just booted the ball down the field into their attacking third. I believe that the ball went out of bounds. This is the type of stuff that is seen in recreational league games. When it was IWU's turn to start, they did the exact same thing! In my mind when a team kicks off that way they are just as well off to kick the ball down the field to other team and say "here, you guys take possession." That stuff rarely works and I'm not sure why a team, at the collegiate level, would do such a thing. The last time I saw a team do it, and it was successful, was when UNC was playing Yale and Yael Averbuch kicked the ball over the keeper's head for what was probably the fastest goal ever. Unless a team has a player that can do that, it's a waste of possession, IMHO.  You can be sure that was not something that UNC did often and it was probably done for the novelty of it. Averbuch had probably done it in training while goofing around and wanted to see if she could do it in a game.

If you've never seen it, here is the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aIoGpN9caw

Anyway, I think that both teams do have potential but it wasn't seen in the match. IWU, it sometimes seemed, would often just kick the ball forward and hope for the best. That is a total waste of possession. There were several on the team that would try to connect passes but players wouldn't move to space or, if the receiving player had multiple pass options, chose to boot the ball or hang on to the ball and dribble until they were dispossessed. Why just kick the ball ahead to nobody? Again, just say "here, you guys take possession." Soccer is the "beautiful game." Well this match represented the "ugly game." Wheaton was nearly as bad. It seems that they might have more practice in playing the direct game because there were instantly runners tracking down the balls. Wheaton also took a lot of shots from far outside the 18. Actually, the second goal was scored that way and another pinged off of the crossbar. Most of the shots were ill-advised, though.

Really a sloppy game, IMHO, and not one to take a kid to to learn the fundamentals of possession soccer. It also seemed that neither team could keep the ball on the ground.

CarpIsNotAFish

Quote from: PlaySimple on October 17, 2017, 02:36:48 PM
I watched quite a bit of the Illinois Wesleyan @ Wheaton stream last night. I don't have a kid at either school but, as a Chicagoan, was watching for the regional interest. This was a big CCIW match with league title implications. Last year Wheaton won in the regular season, 1-0, and IWU won in the CCIW playoffs.

I was surprised at how direct both teams played and really feel that neither will make a long run in the post-season. At the opening kick off, Wheaton just booted the ball down the field into their attacking third. I believe that the ball went out of bounds. This is the type of stuff that is seen in recreational league games. When it was IWU's turn to start, they did the exact same thing! In my mind when a team kicks off that way they are just as well off to kick the ball down the field to other team and say "here, you guys take possession." That stuff rarely works and I'm not sure why a team, at the collegiate level, would do such a thing. The last time ...

Too funny. I've seen multiple D3 college teams do this Rec-move to start the game. I honestly have no idea why. My only guess is that some teams feel they are significantly better at pinning a ball in the opponent's defensive third than they are in possessing/passing it into the same area. To me it just announces "BAD COACHING."

PlaySimple

^^ Agree. It also shows, at IMHO, that the coach has little confidence in his team's ability to keep possession. It's just poor soccer. I would rather see a team be patient and play tiki-taka soccer while winning 1-0 rather than bootball with a low percentage of possession and a 3-0 result. Teams seem to lack patience these days. Both IWU and Wheaton seemed content to bypass the midfield. That's a lazy style of play and when a forward gets the ball that dribbles it until they're dispossessed, that's even worse.

2xfaux

Do any of you folks know where final four is this year? 

Ron Boerger

Quote from: 2xfaux on October 18, 2017, 05:52:45 PM
Do any of you folks know where final four is this year?

DIII Soccer Championship
Dec. 1-2, 2017
UNC Greensboro Soccer Stadium
Greensboro, NC

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/soccer-women/d3

Abitofeverything

Quote from: Ron Boerger on October 18, 2017, 06:46:19 PM
Quote from: 2xfaux on October 18, 2017, 05:52:45 PM
Do any of you folks know where final four is this year?

DIII Soccer Championship
Dec. 1-2, 2017
UNC Greensboro Soccer Stadium
Greensboro, NC

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/soccer-women/d3


I know hindsight is 20/20, but this should have been in Raleigh during CASL Showcase...would have been a great opportunity to show kids that D3 is not necessarily a "lower" level of play!

Ron Boerger

Quote from: Abitofeverything on October 19, 2017, 10:50:10 AM
I know hindsight is 20/20, but this should have been in Raleigh during CASL Showcase...would have been a great opportunity to show kids that D3 is not necessarily a "lower" level of play!

I wonder if anyone submitted a bid for Raleigh.   NCAA can only go where there are people willing to put a championship together.

Abitofeverything

Anyone in trouble? Season over for quite a few schools now.