Opening day for the NESCAC! My predictions for the regular season:
1. Tufts - While they do lose a group of experienced seniors and some depth, this squad returns a lot of the core from the national championship team including many of the league's best: Canfin, Antic, Pensky, Aktarzandi-Das, B. / H. Brown. They will pick up right where they left off last season tonight and ultimately three-peat as NESCAC regular season champs
2. Conn College - With returners Perugini, Hoke, Haberman and Miles, 4 of the best in the NESCAC which go head to head with Tufts' best, this is going to be a big year for them. Had they beaten Bowdoin in the Sweet 16 last year, I would've been curious to see how an elite 8 NESCAC championship rematch against Tufts would have gone. The question as always for this team is who is going to consistently put the ball in the back of the net.
3. Wesleyan - They return nearly all of their roster from last year's team and I am expecting this to be a big year, feeding off of last season's success. With Feldman, Clack, Saeed and Jennings entering their senior year, I'm expecting them to lead this squad to another successful season.
4. Middlebury - I am interested to see how they perform this year with so much transition in the squad over the last 2 seasons but ultimately between the quality they have led by Dugan, Sawin and Harder and their style of play, they are bound to have a good year
5. Amherst - I am not fully convinced by this squad after the way they performed last season. They were not able to recover after losing the senior class that won the national championship and I am curious to see if last year was just a transition year or if they will underperform again. Regardless, they have quality and their style of play is extremely hard to beat, so I expect them to stay in the mix
6. Williams - This is another interesting one to watch this season. Breakout freshman Ruehleman enters his sophomore year, along with Greer who was very impressive before getting injured. These two along with experienced Labonski will anchor the squad and will need some others to step up to compete for a top finish
7. Bowdoin - After an amazing season where they were among the country's best, I ultimately think it is going to be a transition year after losing the core of their squad from the past 4 years. This team seems to be one of the few exceptions in the league this year where last season's squad was heavily reliant on their senior class.
8. Bates - Their style of play is hard to beat and they often have many close games with the leagues best and get a few results. The question will be if they can get over the hump in some of those tight contests. We will see.
9. Hamilton - As in most seasons, I'm sure they will get some good results at home. Otherwise, I am not fully convinced.
10. Colby - Similar to Bates and Hamilton, they will get some good results and play teams tightly. Maybe they will surprise some this year.
11. Trinity - At the beginning of last season, they looked like a different squad with a draw vs. bates, draw vs. Conn, narrow loss to Midd and narrow loss to Tufts. After that, they completely fell apart. Interestingly, I don't see Ludvik on the roster who was their most dangerous player last year. We will see what this squad can do.
1. Tufts - While they do lose a group of experienced seniors and some depth, this squad returns a lot of the core from the national championship team including many of the league's best: Canfin, Antic, Pensky, Aktarzandi-Das, B. / H. Brown. They will pick up right where they left off last season tonight and ultimately three-peat as NESCAC regular season champs
2. Conn College - With returners Perugini, Hoke, Haberman and Miles, 4 of the best in the NESCAC which go head to head with Tufts' best, this is going to be a big year for them. Had they beaten Bowdoin in the Sweet 16 last year, I would've been curious to see how an elite 8 NESCAC championship rematch against Tufts would have gone. The question as always for this team is who is going to consistently put the ball in the back of the net.
3. Wesleyan - They return nearly all of their roster from last year's team and I am expecting this to be a big year, feeding off of last season's success. With Feldman, Clack, Saeed and Jennings entering their senior year, I'm expecting them to lead this squad to another successful season.
4. Middlebury - I am interested to see how they perform this year with so much transition in the squad over the last 2 seasons but ultimately between the quality they have led by Dugan, Sawin and Harder and their style of play, they are bound to have a good year
5. Amherst - I am not fully convinced by this squad after the way they performed last season. They were not able to recover after losing the senior class that won the national championship and I am curious to see if last year was just a transition year or if they will underperform again. Regardless, they have quality and their style of play is extremely hard to beat, so I expect them to stay in the mix
6. Williams - This is another interesting one to watch this season. Breakout freshman Ruehleman enters his sophomore year, along with Greer who was very impressive before getting injured. These two along with experienced Labonski will anchor the squad and will need some others to step up to compete for a top finish
7. Bowdoin - After an amazing season where they were among the country's best, I ultimately think it is going to be a transition year after losing the core of their squad from the past 4 years. This team seems to be one of the few exceptions in the league this year where last season's squad was heavily reliant on their senior class.
8. Bates - Their style of play is hard to beat and they often have many close games with the leagues best and get a few results. The question will be if they can get over the hump in some of those tight contests. We will see.
9. Hamilton - As in most seasons, I'm sure they will get some good results at home. Otherwise, I am not fully convinced.
10. Colby - Similar to Bates and Hamilton, they will get some good results and play teams tightly. Maybe they will surprise some this year.
11. Trinity - At the beginning of last season, they looked like a different squad with a draw vs. bates, draw vs. Conn, narrow loss to Midd and narrow loss to Tufts. After that, they completely fell apart. Interestingly, I don't see Ludvik on the roster who was their most dangerous player last year. We will see what this squad can do.