New England Soccer Discussion

[WLCALUM83]

WPI's '08 Men's schedule:
http://wpi.prestosports.com/sports/msoc/2008-09/schedule

[pasoccerdave]

Plymouth State University:

http://athletics.plymouth.edu/sports/msoc/2008-09/schedule

[pabegg]

Trinity
http://www.trincoll.edu/athletics/main.aspx?mode=schedule&t_id=7&year=0

[WLCALUM83]

Final:  Coast Guard 5, Salve Regina 0.

  Per broadcaster account-Coast Guard's record is now 4-0, its' best start since 1994.)

[tjcummingsfan]

Keene state got worked over by a very good southern Maine team yesterday 5-0.  All 5 goals were scored in the first half. In the second the huskies just packed it in on d and made centering pass after centering pass look like they were to no one.

[Jim Matson]

Eastern Conn is moving up in the polls...

[ECSUalum]

Eastern Conn is moving up in the polls...

Yes but they lost to Rhode Island College today 2-1 in OT

RIC has many good players, and by sounds of thier sir names most are Brazilian -American or kids from other  S. American country extractions
One note on the game ,( it was streamed live on RIC web site) is that Maxim Fantle, ECSU top scorer, was  tripped in P-box on a break away in last minutes of 2nd half, no P-Kick called. looked like a bad call!!!

Overall, it was an exciting match

[Jim Matson]

Fantle is a strong player.  He is probably marked so closely that there was a lot of contact throughout the match - and the refs will sometimes let a lot of that stuff go as a result.  If he was really was tripped up, that is too bad.  Sounds like it was a great match.

[ECSUalum]

ECSU crushed U Mass Dartmouth today 7-0. USM I would say upset RIC 1-0.

Looking to be great LEC Tourney.

LEC could possibly have 2 teams in NCAA D-III  Regional!!!

CT teams, Trinity and  ECSU have a great shot

[ECSUalum]

RIC over Plymouth St 1-0 to win LEC Soccer Championship and berth in NCAA Regional tournament

ECSU should have a shot at at large bid

[owl]

The new season is around the corner.  Any predictions this year for NESCAC?  Amherst appears to have been hit hard by graduation on the offensive and defense and Williams lost their starting midfield.  Middlebury didn't lose much scoring but lost their all-american goalie.  Trinity and Wesleyan will be back with a vengence after their late season slippage.

[ECSUalum]

The new season is around the corner.  Any predictions this year for NESCAC?  Amherst appears to have been hit hard by graduation on the offensive and defense and Williams lost their starting midfield.  Middlebury didn't lose much scoring but lost their all-american goalie.  Trinity and Wesleyan will be back with a vengence after their late season slippage.

2009 D3 Men's Soccer NSCAA Pre-Season Rankings 8/11/2009 and
Final NSCAA/Adidas Division III Rankings
(As of 12/09/2008)  
Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Messiah  21-2-3 25 8
2 Stevens  19-2-5 24 NR
3 Amherst  15-4-3 23 NR
4 Loras  20-5-1 22 21
5 Trinity (Texas)  20-1-1 21 1
6 Middlebury  15-2-4 20 6
7 Montclair State  21-1-0 19 3
8 Christopher Newport  17-5-3 18 RV
9 Emory  16-2-1 17 5
10 York (Pa.)  18-0-2 16 2
11 Ohio Northern  20-5-1 15 NR
12 Hobart  18-1-3 14 4
13 Swarthmore  17-3-2 13 11
14 Carleton  17-2-3 12 7
15 Ohio Wesleyan  18-5-1 11 9
16 Johns Hopkins  13-5-5 10 NR
17 Augsburg  12-4-7 9 NR
18 Rochester  14-3-2 8 10
19 Dominican (Ill.)  19-3-1 7 13
20 Richard Stockton  16-6-1 6 15
21 Carnegie Mellon  15-3-1 5 20
22 Redlands  16-5-2 4 RV
23 Wheaton (Ill.)  15-4-3 3 17
24 North Carolina Wesleyan  16-3-2 2 NR
25 Western New England  16-1-6 1 12

 
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Case Western Reserve (Ohio), Texas-Tyler, Wittenberg (Ohio), Carroll (Wis.), Salisbury (Md.), Norwich (Vt.), St. Lawrence (N.Y.), RPI (N.Y.).
 
DROPPED OUT: No. 14 Whitworth, No. 16 Case, No. 18 Calvin, No. 19 Salisbury, No. 22 William Patterson, No. 23 Ithaca, No. 24 Eastern Connecticut State, No. 25 RPI.
 
Middlebury seems to be the pick as they are the perennial power house

[truenorth]

It certainly appears the NESCAC will be highly competitive again this coming season.  Last year's regular season results suggested that any team could beat any other on a given day. 

Middlebury and Amherst have to be among the favorites based on their regular season and NCAA tournament performances last year.  In addition to Williams and Wesleyan being strong performers in recent years, I'm guessing Trinity will be strong again after a great season last year.  And I wouldn't count out Bowdoin, who were very young last year and struggled to score goals, but were in position to grab 2nd in the NESCAC standings before suffering several upset losses late in the season.

Tufts, Colby, Bates and Conn College all had several big wins last year, and don't forget that Conn has brought in Kenny Murphy as new head coach, former top assistant coach at Brown.  It'll be interesting to see how the season plays out.

[ECSUalum]

Other considerstion is if top NESCAC teams, (Middlebury/Amherst), picked up any nationally watched recruits or foreign players who could start or bolster thier bench strength.  Historicallly, both teams seem to done an excellent job in this department

[owl]

Williams appears to need the most help and typically pulls in an international or two.  Amherest last year pulled in their leading scorer -Heo from Korea and a mid fielder from Conn College.  Rumor has it that the Korean player has to return to Korea which could really shake up their offense since they also lost Duker to graduation.  Midd generally recruits locally with a couple of aces from mid west and west.  Hard to draw a southern boy to upper Vermont.

Wesleyan, Trinity, Tufts and Bowdoin are only a couple of players out of the mix.  Any of these teams can win on any given day.  The key to survival in the very physical NESCAC is minimizing injuries and depth.