NESCAC

[Kuiper]

I would suggest watching Redlands.  I see them as an Amherst in the making....

SC.

Redlands might get there when Ortega has a couple of recruiting cycles, but right now they are trailing Cal Lutheran in fouls (212 - 172) and Occidental in cards (33 (including 2 reds) - 26).  Caltech by contrast, has 111 fouls and 17 cards.

[College Soccer Observer]

...and Bates was called for 5 more fouls than Amherst. 

If you look at any single game it is common for Amherst to have fewer penalties than their opponents. However, the hidden stat is how much worse most opponents play (fouls/game and cards/game) when facing Amherst. From 2021-today, the 10 NESCAC teams not named Amherst have played over 1000 total games with an average # of fouls/game around 11.5 and average # of cards/game of 1.4.

When you look at every game Amherst has played since 2021, their opposition has averaged 13.5 fouls/game and 2.04 cards/game.

You have to go back to 2012 to find a season in which Amherst was not 1st or 2nd in the conference in cards/game (and they've "won" 9 out of last 13 years).

I'd wager Serpone's strategy also helped shape Alex Elias's approach in coaching the Middlebury team as Middlebury has seemed more physical since Elias took over in 2017 and has been in the top-3 of cards/game for most of Elias's tenure as head coach (not in 2023 nor 2026 YTD).

For Amherst you have to go back to 9/28/24 just to find a game in which they had zero cards. And back to 11/5/23 to find a game in which both Amherst and their opponent had zero cards in a game. Amherst has had just 4 games since the start of the 2022 season with zero cards (that's 4 out of 89 games over the course of 4.5 seasons)!

And Amherst is worse when they get to the NCAA tournament. Since 2021 they've averaged 17.3 fouls/game in NCAA play while racking up an astronomical 63 cards in 22 NCAA tournament games. If you remove their 2021 NCAA tournament - which was fairly benign by their standards - they're averaging 18.2 fouls/game and have 53 cards in 16 NCAA games from 2022-2025.

Since Covid, the NESCAC has also gotten increasingly physical. Before 2020, it was rare to have more than 1-2 NESCAC teams average > 1.5 cards/game over the course of the regular conference season. Since covid an average of 1.5 cards/game is normal and we're regularly seeing 2-3 teams average at least 2 cards per game for entire regular conference seasons.

In summary: Amherst's rough "style" is a systemic issue dating back at least a dozen years, and it is also increasingly endemic to the NESCAC (and perhaps all of the upper-tiers of D3 soccer?).

I think the problem with using cards per game is that, especially pre-Coivd, referees in the NESCAC were reluctant to give cards.  One of the first NESCAC games I attended in person was Middlebury at Amherst in Sept 2019.  55 fouls called, and three yellows, all in overtime.  Same two teams played again in NESCAC semis, 32 fouls, three yellows (no overtime).  As the general oversight of NCAA soccer officiating has focused on clamping down on some of the nonsense, you are seeing more cards for things that used to be just fouls or were ignored altogether.  My impression is that the style of play has always been physical, but that the referees are reacting to it differently now.
In 2019, there were only 2 red cards given to NESCAC men's teams.  Trinity, Amherst, Midd, and Bates all averaged more than 1 yellow per game.  In 2021, there were 4 reds, and Bowdoin, Tufts, and Williams were the only teams to get less than a yellow per game.  In 2022, there were 10 reds and only Bowdoin and Colby were less than a yellow per game.  In 2023, there were 8 reds, and only Bowdoin was less than a yellow per game.  In 2024, there were 5 red cards (4 to Trinity) and no team in the league was under a yellow per game. In 2025, there were 5 reds, but the only 2 teams who averaged less than a yellow per game were Wesleyan and Bates.  This year, there have been 6 reds and only Bates is under a yellow per game. 

[Kuiper]

Region I - Poll 6 - October 20, 2026
Rank   School   Prev   W-L-T
1   Middlebury College   NR   9-0-3
2   Williams College   NR   9-1-2
3   Connecticut College   NR   9-2-2
4   Tufts University   NR   7-2-3
5   Bowdoin College   NR   7-2-4
6   Wesleyan University   NR   6-3-3
7   Amherst College   NR   5-3-4
8   Trinity College   NR   6-5-1

[LibbyMoore]

Looking at the schedule for the week, and noticed that Amherst has what has to be the most undesirable travel schedule of the week: a double header in Maine last weekend followed by...a midweek game back in Maine vs Husson! Looks like a replacement game for a canceled Eastern CT game, but that is the short end of the stick for sure: https://athletics.amherst.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule

[ccd494]

Husson had a game canceled against Williams a couple of weeks ago, so both were looking for a game.

At least Amherst doesn't need to drive all the way to Bangor- they are meeting in the middle-ish at a high school outside Portland.

[nescac1]

NESCAC is now an insane collective 42-1-8 out of conference.  As a result, there is a very good chance NESCAC will receive seven, possibly even eight, NCAA bids.  Midd (NPI 1), Williams (4), Conn (10), Tufts (18), Wesleyan (20) and Bowdoin (23) are all locks or very close to locks at this point, and maybe four from that group will be hosting first round pods.  So that's six in.  Hamilton is in very good shape at 33, wins over Colby and Morrisville to end the season probably make them close to a lock regardless of how they perform in the NESCAC tournament.  Amherst is currently 45, but would move way up if they beat Trinity and then get at least one result against Wesleyan and then in the NESCAC tourney.  Very easily could see eight teams in if Amherst and Hamilton finish strong. 

[SierraFD3soccer]

While the out of conf. schedule looks impressive. NESCAC out of conf. teams are not impressive or are not in the least this year. Each plays 4 or 5 teams. How many are top teams? Very, very few. Middlebury's out of conf teams are very middling.

Maine Marine ranked 309
Husson 233
Endicott 57 (the one exception)
US Merchant 189

Amherst

Albertus Magnus 165
Westfield 376
Babson 45
Keene 327
Husson 233

Williams

Gordon 80
Wheaton MA 51
Keene 327
Univ of Hartford 156

Tufts

UMASS 197
Thomas 113
WPI 326
Babson 45
Westfield 376

On several occasions, they just beat up on the same teams.