Now that we are heading into the final weekend of regular season play, I think it's time we should start talking about awards. Let's start off with player of the year.

Although Plesser has pretty much sealed the deal (and well deserving of course), I believe that the conversation still has to be had. This conversation needs to start with his partner in crime, Tanner Tedesco. Tedesco is the motor of Union's offense and everything runs through him. One could argue that without Tedesco, Plesser is not scoring nearly as many points per game, as Tedesco is leading the league in assists and 11th in the country. Union's lack of a secondary ball handler is evident to how important Tedesco is to his team. However, if the conversation is to be had about importance to their respective team, then Fitzgerald is making his case for a back-to-back. The Brewers have been without their leading scorer, Avery Lee, for the whole new year, and Fitzgerald has shouldered the Vassar offense. Although his numbers aren't what they were last year, his in-conference numbers are still up there and he is also a plus defender (which Plesser and Tedesco aren't). Whoever gets it will surely be deserving, but I rest my case with Tedesco.

As for DPOTY, there isn't a clear top dog. If we look at the league's patterns with this award in the past, they usually lean towards the league leader in steals. If they follow this logic this year, it will go to Anderson or Cabral. While Cabral is a great one on one defender, Ithaca's defense is so sub-par that it would be an interesting choice to give it to him. SLU's defense is elite, however, they don't prove anything one on one given that they play a zone in 100% of their possessions (and Anderson averages half the steals of the last SLU player that won the award). The same goes for Dudzinski, who is the leader in steals + blocks, but doesn't prove anything as a lockdown defender in their zone. Nonetheless, I think he is the most likely to win it. If we are strictly talking lockdown one on one defenders, then the case needs to be made for Karaguezian from Vassar. He is the top perimeter defender on the top defensive team in the conference (according to d3datacast), and he is matched up with the opposing teams best guard every game in a guard heavy conference. He has shut down Tedesco (3/14 FG & win, 6/15 FG & win), Gooden (3/17 FG & win), and Anderson (2/5 & win), just to name a few examples. He is also ninth in steals per game. Again, whoever gets it will be deserving, but there are many interesting cases to be made with no clear top dog leading the pack.


As for ROTY, there really shouldn't be a debate here. Although this is a fairly strong class, with Abernethy, Phelan, and Driscoll all having good rookie seasons, Gooden has shut this conversation down. Even with missing the last 5 (and assuming the next 2 + playoffs), the gap between Gooden and the next rookie is too drastic to make a case for anyone else.

2025-26 "The Scenario" Belt^Tm Path
3/20/25: Trinity (CT)
1/24/26: Wesleyan
1/31/26: Connecticut College
2/7/26: Amherst
2/14/26:  Williams

Fin!

@SimpleCoach, a poster on the D3 soccer boards who also hosts a podcast (All Things D3 Soccer), posted this on Quillman's Twitter thread and it's worth posting here too:

QuoteCouple of things that I noticed with Flo.
1.  I do think the quality of the broadcast has for the most part... most part.... improved.
2.  I've noticed that engagement in the world of D3 soccer has declined.  This is anecdotal to me.
3.  I don't know of and material impact that signing with Flo has had on any one school.  ie.  No new building because they got money from Flo.
4.  I do know for a fact that viewership is a 1/4, at best, of what it was before.  Again, soccer is my sport.
5.  I've been told by more coaches than I can count that they think it's a terrible model and would rather go out and raise money to make up the difference.
6.  For parents of players.... it's just another fee.

Quote from: HSCTiger74 on Today at 04:22:28 PM

Quote from: UMHB03 on Yesterday at 03:06:22 PM

Quote from: IC798891 on Yesterday at 01:03:54 PM

Quote from: UMHB03 on February 14, 2026, 05:01:31 PM

Quote from: The Third Division on February 14, 2026, 01:15:30 PMUMHB's two year scheduling agreement with Keystone screams desperation. It is not a good look for the program.

Go ahead and list the teams who are interested in scheduling a series with us. Then we can discuss which ones would be better options.

One would think the Division 3 philosophy is grounded in conference and regional competition rather than national and most schools are interested in scheduling as such.

Oh wait: It is

I know you all filter everything through the lens of "What's best for the football team?" which means you think everyone's just too scared to play you, but the sooner you realize that most D3 institutions have bigger concerns than the football team picking up an elite OOC game, the easier it'll be for you.

Thanks, you just proved my point.

We have limited options in our region to schedule, and few schools from outside our region want to play us, so we're forced to schedule those who do. Then you trolls come around offering unsolicited critiques of our scheduling without offering any ideas for what a program in our position should do differently.

What about the possibility that it's not that they don't want to play you, but rather that they are unwilling to take on the extra cost of a trip to Texas?

That's probably the case with many of them. That doesn't explain why so many are unwilling to schedule us at home, given that Harmon has been willing to schedule standalone road games, but I'm sure geography is a factor.

However, the scheduling challenges remain regardless of the reasons they don't want to schedule us, which is why we are forced to schedule whoever is willing to play us. I still haven't seen any suggestions from the backseat drivers as to what UMHB should be doing differently.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on Today at 04:56:44 PM

Quote from: lmitzel on Today at 12:51:04 PMSo the only caveat to this (and the only reason I know this is from talking with Bob Quillman who passed along a note from IWU's Sports Information department) is that the tiebreaker sheet on the CCIW website (that is not only over a decade old but is also kinda hidden now) is that it operates under the old eight-team format, so the "last seven" rule is actually "last eight".

This makes sense -- base the rule upon an entire round-robin rather than just a random number of games. And it stands to reason that the fifth tiebreaker will become "Record in their last nine games" when the CCIW becomes a ten-team league in 2027-28.

Yeah, it makes sense to me too, it's just weird that it's not updated on the CCIW's website, especially since you used to be able to click into the web page with the tiebreakers, and now it's kinda hidden along with being 12 years old and obviously now out of date.

Quote from: lmitzel on Today at 12:51:04 PMSo the only caveat to this (and the only reason I know this is from talking with Bob Quillman who passed along a note from IWU's Sports Information department) is that the tiebreaker sheet on the CCIW website (that is not only over a decade old but is also kinda hidden now) is that it operates under the old eight-team format, so the "last seven" rule is actually "last eight".

This makes sense -- base the rule upon an entire round-robin rather than just a random number of games. And it stands to reason that the fifth tiebreaker will become "Record in their last nine games" when the CCIW becomes a ten-team league in 2027-28.

Quote from: UMHB03 on Yesterday at 03:06:22 PM

Quote from: IC798891 on Yesterday at 01:03:54 PM

Quote from: UMHB03 on February 14, 2026, 05:01:31 PM

Quote from: The Third Division on February 14, 2026, 01:15:30 PMUMHB's two year scheduling agreement with Keystone screams desperation. It is not a good look for the program.

Go ahead and list the teams who are interested in scheduling a series with us. Then we can discuss which ones would be better options.

One would think the Division 3 philosophy is grounded in conference and regional competition rather than national and most schools are interested in scheduling as such.

Oh wait: It is

I know you all filter everything through the lens of "What's best for the football team?" which means you think everyone's just too scared to play you, but the sooner you realize that most D3 institutions have bigger concerns than the football team picking up an elite OOC game, the easier it'll be for you.

Thanks, you just proved my point.

We have limited options in our region to schedule, and few schools from outside our region want to play us, so we're forced to schedule those who do. Then you trolls come around offering unsolicited critiques of our scheduling without offering any ideas for what a program in our position should do differently.

What about the possibility that it's not that they don't want to play you, but rather that they are unwilling to take on the extra cost of a trip to Texas?

I do find that explanation to be highly probable.
There had to be a degree of disappointment that the job was not offered to her...it's a human reaction after giving 7 years of your life to that program.
That decision became somewhat validated by GP's early success at Amherst while Smith struggled for a few years before the current winning culture was being formed.
They played each other that first year 07'/08' & Amherst won big.
They hadn't played again until the NCAA God's brought them together last year in what became a classic barn burner.
No idea who's call it was to terminate future contracts to play but it's pretty apparent someone did.

Paul Leese has left Carthage to take the head coaching job at Lander, a small D2 public school in South Carolina.

Steve Domin ran the Carthage program for 27 years before he was pushed out the door. His successor Leese lasted four years.

There are currently four GAs and a part-timer listed on the Carthage coaching staff who are presumably minding the store (i.e., recruiting as well as preparing to run the spring drill season) while the school hunts for a new MSOC head honcho.

Senior night tonight at Albertus on NH, Hamden CT line.  Seniors include sharpshooter Jaquan  Kirkland, big man Avery Hinnant, combo guard and Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Ray Ford .