Quote from: Bucket on November 03, 2026, 10:05:03 AM

Quote from: Cacfan1 on November 02, 2026, 09:40:31 PMCan we please acknowledge, for the moment, what Conn just did to top-5 nationally ranked and defending national champion Tufts Jumbos? Of course, what ultimately matters is the numbers on the final scoreboard. Conn couldn't get it done. Finishing, or lack thereof, can be the great equalizer in soccer, and Conn has been inconsistent with it all year. Credit to Tufts because Tufts defended.

But Tufts defended with their lives. Forget the fact that Conn outshot Tufts 25-4. (25 to 4? WHAT!?). Conn - in a league that plays for the long throw, set pieces, and counters - with the ball at its feet suffocated and pinned back Tufts deep in its own half for much of the game, forcing it to react to Conn's will. This was not empty possession; this was entertaining, chess-like, break-you-down-with-the-ball-on-the-ground shot-creation. Extremely difficult to do at this level against that opponent in a high-stakes atmosphere. If Conn can find a finishing touch in the NCAA's - watch out, world.

Perugini deserves the player of the year award. It's just obvious. His performance against Tufts may have been his best yet. He has all the attacking tools, and he does it without being a superior athlete - even more impressive. He terrorized Tufts with his dribbling, quick turning, shielding, change of speed, beating players with the ball down the wing, shots, and slipping runners through to goal. Definitely the league's most watchable player. He's shown the best all-around attacking quality, enough team-W's, a high national ranking, and the stats: leads the league in shots on goal, points, and NESCAC goals with 9. He's 5 for 5 on PKs, including two audacious shots that got the goalie to dive before the shot, both in the same playoff game. Kid oozes confidence. The league hasn't seen an attacking center-mid like him since Pat Devlin.

That's a lot of "ink" spilled for a team that lost.

More impressive, to me, is Tufts emerging with the win, despite being outshot 25-4.

And if you want to acknowledge a season-defining moment, look no further than Amherst against Middlebury. (And it pains me to a great degree to write these words.)

Amherst went on the road, against the top-ranked team in the country, perhaps needing a win to extend their season, and they did just that. Far more impressive than anything Conn did last weekend.

And you can have Perugini. Will Sawin is my player of the year.

Sawin just doesn't pass the eye test.

Quote from: MunnyTim on November 01, 2026, 08:36:28 AMWas debating whether to jump in this morning.  Took in the Tufts Conn game yesterday - frustrating affair.  Camels outshot the Jumbos 25-4 after going down a goal (more on that in a bit) about 4 minutes into the game.  I am not sure I have ever seen a Jumbos team sit back like that and present so little offensive threat.  Protecting a lead for 85 minutes is a tough task for any team.

A note regarding the officiating over the last few weeks - and I will admit this is from a biased perspective.  This is the second time in a few weeks (Bowdoin one week ago and then yesterday) where the Camels have had a late goal ruled out for a foul in the box.  After re-watching both the day after, both calls were give-able, but awfully soft.  Yesterday's was off a corner with 6 min to go in the second overtime on a foul committed on the keeper.  I get that these are tough, judgment calls, but could we at least find some consistency with them?  After watching NESCAC soccer for over a decade now and witnessing the evolution toward more direct soccer with tons of set pieces, Camel keepers have been roughed up regularly over the years without much protection from the officials.  The goal ruled out yesterday happens almost every game - three players going for the ball and a rebound going into the net.

Ok, rant over.  Just hoping for a tad more consistency.  Oh, the the Tufts goal occurred off a set piece, right after the official declined to protect a Conn centerback as he was undercut on a long clearance ball header.  Watch the film and see for yourself.

In the end, lots of story lines for this weekend coming up and TONS of questions/possibilities for the NCAA site deliberations for the following weekend.

Absolutely true MunnyTim. Incredibly soft call on the corner for what usually goes down in the NESCAC. In addition to Tufts and Bowdoin, Conn had a goal disallowed after the fact versus Bates. That is three potential game winners disallowed for the camels. I'm sure the humps will be fueled and ready for the NCAAs.