I personally do not have a problem. At the very least, they won't have 2 games a week with a compressed schedule. Fewer injuries maybe. Could be that they only play on weekends which will let them be in class more often. The airplane leagues miss a whole lot of classes.

Quote from: Kuiper on October 08, 2026, 12:35:39 PMIf you look at the Centennial Composite Schedule, it almost feels like a deliberate move on the part of the conference for schools to schedule strong opponents this coming Tuesday/Wednesday.  It's probably just a coincidence that every conference member is playing a team higher than them on the NPI rankings, but it's pretty clear the schedule was structured to allow for this late-season non-conference game and schools may have decided they would be better prepared to play a stronger non-conference team later rather than earlier.  If every Centennial team won their mid-week game and got an NPI boost, that might help push another team into an at-large spot.

Tues 10/13

Haverford @ Manhattanville
Salisbury @ Ursinus
Gettysburg @ Carnegie Mellon
Stevens @ Swarthmore

Wed 10/14

Dickinson v. Christopher Newport
Messiah @ Muhlenberg

Very true! IMO, the Muhls don't have a shot against Messiah, but the other 5 have a chance.

Like all D3, all about finishing which is in short supply.

All great points, but now all the teams are relying on int'l talent to include the Sasho who admittedly held back as long as he could imo.  His game on Tues. against Rutgers he two American starters and one American sub out of 15. His last nat'l championship in 2018 of his starters he had 4 int'l and the 4 subs they were all American. This was also the year he had Donovan Pines (played and started at DC United and I think is in Austria now - also the son of the president of UMD) and Canadian Dane St. Clair who played against the US on Tues).

So split schedule imo is wash as to developing American talent as opposed to taking int'l rejects who are older to begin with. Will that reverse, I'm guessing no as recruiting int'l players is much easier than running around the country to go to soccer tournaments. D2 is also full of int'l players and maybe even more so.

All great for D3 though.

FYI Mont. State's Amer Lukovic is still playing college soccer. He has been playing for Rutgers in his years 5 and 6. After his D3 of year, he was injured. He has 3 goals right now, 2 against Northeastern and one against MD.

Quote from: SimpleCoach on October 08, 2026, 11:44:01 AM

Quote from: Hopkins Walk-On on October 08, 2026, 10:59:13 AMI only saw the first half of the Hopkins game but they were awful. Zero shots. Salisbury spent the half on Hopkins side of the ball and peppered the box with corner kicks and throw-ins. One throw-in got through and was headed in. Based on the box score, Hopkins ramped it up in the 2nd half but it was too little, too late. They took 10 shots but only 2 were on goal.

Dreadful.

SC.

Saw part, but I'm having problems figuring what is going on nowadays. Obv. the result speaks for itself.

While not the end of their season, the next games against Dickinson and Manhattanville will def. have a big impact on Hop. Question also how much the long (2-3 hr) bus ride to the Eastern Shore in the middle of the week impacted Hop. The ride to Purchase, NY will be over 4 hrs.

When my son played in a D1 bus league, they always travelled the day before played the next day and took the bus back home that night getting back around 3am. Obv. mid week games will not happen for D3, but can have an impact on a teams travelling.

Quote from: Kuiper on October 07, 2026, 03:47:30 PMD1 news that might be of interest to D3 fans

According to the NCAA's official social media account:

DI Cabinet approves proposal that would move men's soccer to a two-semester playing season. Because it passed with less than 75% of the vote, the proposal will now go to a 30-day rescission period, during which eligible DI schools or conferences can submit a vote to defeat the new rule. If two-thirds of the eligible members do not vote to defeat it, it will subsequently take effect.

The Cabinet's vote is not final until its meeting concludes later today.

Sasho Cirovski from Maryland fought for this for 13 yrs. Remember when he first proposed it. Many thought he was crazy. Like it hate it, it def. is different and we will only see. I am a Terp fan and definitely like watching his teams despite the fact the most if not all impactful ones are foreign born on UMD. He resisted for a while before adopting the Marshall model.

Interesting that rather Aug 1st they start on Aug 15 and have the NCAA tournament in late April May rather then in the cold.

Check out is his tweet along with the comments. All interesting imo - https://x.com/SashoCirovski/status/2107950976514822488

Really, really tough night for the better teams in the Cent. Conf. Hop lost to Salisbury 2-1 and Dickinson to Leb Valley also 2-1. Obv. both dropped in their rankings.

Dickinson plays Christopher Newport next week and with a win will help with its rankings as well as against Hop on Oct. 21st. IMO, if Hop wins the CC tournament there will be only one CC team in the NCAAs. Further, if Hop loses a CC game and does not win the tournament, CC may only have one team as well. Hop is the only one in contention right now in the rankings at 32, Fords at 62 and Ursinus at 70. Dickinson has sunk to 103.

Some other interesting points - Dickinson is driving down to Leesburg, VA (neutral site west of DC) on a weeknight against CNU (ranked 32) and the Fords are going on the same day up to Purchase NY to play Manhattanville (ranked 29) at 2pm. Two possible tough games as their last out of conf. On top of that, they play each other this Saturday. If a team sweeps both, it could mean a lot as far as rankings are concerned.

That is very interesting. Obv. lot of games to go.

Amherst loses three games against NESCAC teams and ties two others and still is ranked 87th. It's only wins are against 182 ranked Albertus Magnus and 381 Westfield St. Obv based on a formula, but they are basically that high because it tied two higher ranked teams in NESCAC. FYI, they are the highest rank with a losing record also.  You have to go to 110 to get the next team ranked with a losing record which is Vassar at 3-5-2 which I can only see that high because it beat Montclair St. in their first game 2-1 and maybe tying Hop in their second.

IMO, as to Cent. Conf, Hop has to lose in the tournament to get two teams in this year. Maybe if Haverford turns it around they could have 3 teams.

1-1 F&M v Dickinson Dickinson scored first midway in 1st. Before that though Dips hit the crossbar with a very nice shot. F&M scored with about 6 min left on a nice goal. Dickinson definitely had better opportunities, but F&M played some solid defense with good to great goalkeeping.

People say Dickinson is not as good which is true, but if they can finish better they are still dangerous imo.

The big picture in Cent Conf definitely as clear as block glass. Ursinus and Muhls tie while the Bullets beat Hop 1-0. Crazy conf. So wide open with 5 games a piece to go.

Thanks for going through that. Like I said before, I'm guessing that not many of the 415 D3 programs who would not change places with F&M. May not be a NESCAC or Messiah success, but consistent.

Dislike or like, Coach Wagner and his great staff Donnie Spangler (15 yr asst and could have easily moved on) and Mark Wagner (since 2017 and 25 yr coach of Eastern) have impacted a lot of men over the years. Now over a generation. Guys in their 40's along with recent graduates helping out mentoring current players. Set the standard and the guys hold each other to it. 

Not much else you can ask for from a D3 coach and his staff. 

Quote from: nescacfootyfan on September 26, 2026, 02:20:57 PMMidd 2 – Bowdoin 0

The Panthers continue to look dangerous.

Huge fan of the two towers that come in around the midway point of each half: Horowitz and Dunlop. They create absolute havoc, and Horowitz is a legit threat.

Props to Payne and Cavaceppi Dove too. From what I've seen, those two can send basically any midfield trio into a full spin cycle.

Bowdoin just didn't have enough quality tonight. Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out how they were undefeated coming into this one.

QuoteHugo Horowitz's brother, Oscar, was truly a scoring force for F&M.

Haverford @ Johns Hopkins hmmmm. We will definitely figure out if the Fords are real. Like I said before, the Fords are now 17-0-11 over the last two years. 7-0-1 right now. Yeah no signature wins, but no losses as well. Also they have only given up 2 goals this (11 over 2 yrs) .25 goals per game and .039 in two years. This year they have scored 24 goals.

Obv. this will be a big test for the Fords, but you have to say the Fords are favorites just based on results this year. Maybe back to their late 2010's??

Quote from: soccerfan111 on September 24, 2026, 03:42:09 PMWhat's going on with F&M? Haven't caught a game this year yet, but they had a string of 10-12 years of NCAA and fighting to be in the Top 10 nationally. Tough year last year but seems like it's continuing into this year.

Obv. last year they fell off a cliff, but I don't think that was surprise for people watching the team. After 2024, they lost some serious talent. I would say the everything that could go wrong did, but overall they just did not have the talent to sustain what they had done over the years. During the great run, they always had two or three really good players, but most of all they had some serious leaders. 

One thing that is new, Coach Wagner brought in 16 freshman which twice as many in most years. Overall, he is trying to figure out the mix. IMO, they have a good keeper and two centerbacks that really solid. Obv. where they are failing is scoring. Only 5 goals in 7 games while giving up 6 goals. If team can marginally flip this, they can get there in the last 8 games (F&M scheduled 16 games, but did not finish its first game bc of lighting).

This year they may have recovered a bit to be a middling team in the Cent. Conf. They need to finish in the top 6 to be in the conf playoffs and hope to be peaking at the right time. Will they get there, mehhh, maybe which is all good.

Yeah, make fun of them not getting beyond the 2nd round. It's all good, but how many of the 415 D3 programs would love to switch places? It's all perspective. Also, while success is important, the F&M alumni are very tight through their time in Lancaster and beyond. IMO, success is important, post college is much more. The team environment is the key part.

Quote from: paclassic89 on September 23, 2026, 08:59:58 PMAlbright 1-0 over F&M at Tylus.  Oof, can't blame the field for that one

Albright had a very nice goal. F&M had some opportunities, but scoring 5 goals over 7 games is not going to get it done. FYI, as to fields, Ford's appears to be way better than many years before. Lot's to work on.

As to Dickinson, its really tough to maintain success.

F&M at 3-3-1, which is better by a bit from last year 1-5-1, is pretty much facing a must win against Swat. being 0-1 in conf play this Saturday. It'll be the Battle of Wagners. Dan Wagner has not lost to the other Wagner since 2013. Several ties along the way since 2013. Only one time that F&M won by more than one goal. So, like the other games, it should be good one.