NESCAC

[BendIt007]

Here is where things stand as head into last games.  Sorry if formatting is screwy! 
Will be interesting to see what happens .

Team    Played   PTS   Win-Loss-Ties        Remaining Games      
Tufts       8          19   6-1-1                  Williams   Bowdoin
Bowdoin      7          15   5-2-0         Colby      Conn C.           Tufts
Conn C.      8          15   4-1-3                  Bowdoin   Wesleyan
Middlebury   8         12   4-4-0                  Bates          Williams
Amherst     7         11   3-2-2        Bates     Wesleyan   Trinity
Colby     7         11   3-2-2       Bowdoin  Hamilton            Bates
Hamilton     8         10   3-4-1                 Williams      Colby
Williams     7         10   2-1-4        Hamilton   Tufts        Middlebury
Bates     7          5   1-4-2       Amherst     Middlebury   Colby
Wesleyan   8         5   1-5-2                 Amherst          Conn C.
Trinity   9        4        1-7-1                     Amherst

[Mr.Right]

Oh so bates has 3 games left? Then they are not eliminated BUT they must win all 3

[truenorth]

Bowdoin gets one back...2-1 Hamilton about 20 minutes left...MacMillan scores on a PK to the keepers right...It was hard to tell what the call was on the stream..Either a hand ball or foul gave Bowdoin the PK off a corner.

I start by acknowledging that my prediction of a 2-0 Bowdoin win was clearly wrong.  I was at this game on a beautiful warm sunny day in Brunswick.  Hamilton deserves credit for putting the ball in the net a couple of times when they had opportunities late in the first half.  The first goal was a little fluky as it got stuffed over the line after an initial stop by Van Siclen.  The second goal came as a result of Bowdoin's back line being caught too far up the pitch and Hamilton countering with a 4 on 2 break.  Bowdoin was much the better team in the second half and looked very likely to even the scoreline, but Hamilton managed to hang on.  Credit to them for getting the result.

[BendIt007]

Bates scores and within 2 minutes Amherst ties it up.  Wide open game on a grass field at Bates.

[BendIt007]

Bates and Amherst 1-1 at half... but does seem pretty wide open so expect a goal or two more in the second half.  Pretty even as of now.

[blooter442]

Williams 3-0 up at Babson and in total control.

[BendIt007]

Amherst controlling most of the play in the second half... but again, wide open.   Amherst scores with a nice shot 20 minutes in.  2 - 1 Amherst. 

[blooter442]

Bates has the ball in the net but it's called back for offside. Wow. Either way, Bates is giving this a real go -- I do like their never-quit attitude.

[BendIt007]

Fun game to watch.... Bates scored first, Amherst got 2, then Bates played very hard the last 15 minutes and almost got an equalizer.... one called back for off-sides (good call) and a couple of other chances.  They are not mathematically eliminated yet from tournament, but would have to win next two and hope with Williams or Hamilton loses their remaining games. 

The win moves Amherst up to 4th place.

[BendIt007]

The next game up is Colby versus Bowdoin at Bowdoin - Tuesday afternoon.  Important game for Bowdoin to solidify 2nd place standing and also for Colby to have a shot at the top slots.
Colby (3-2-2 in Nescac) coming off nice win against Amherst and Bowdoin (5-2-0 in Nescac) a loss to Hamilton.
  Who is going to win?

[Bobcat1]

Bates is not eliminated yet, but their backs are against the wall. They would need to beat Midd at home and Colby on the road to get to 11 points and have a chance.  They do hold the tie break with Hamilton as they beat them head to head.  It was a tough weekend to come away with 0 points, especially against Amherst in what played out to be a entertaining end to end game with the shot totals (18-17) and SOGs (7-7) just about even.  Bakken appeared to tie the game at 2 with just over 11 minutes left after banging home a rebound, but was called off-sides.  I'm not sure I agree with BendIt that it was a good call, but you have to accept it and move on.  Regarding the Tufts game, I thought the defense played well, especially Waston. Tufts has skill at every position and press you all over the field. I think they had 23 or 24 shots.  Merchant was not able to get much going against the right side of the Tufts D until drawing a foul with a minute left. A great ball found Watson's head for a laser that just went high of the far corner.  Would have been a helluva goal. Tufts just does not give up much in the run of play. Set pieces are where you need to capitalize against them.

On a side note, and as an alumn, the field conditions were rough.  Both days guys were slipping with regularity and in some cases it led to great scoring opportunities.  It's been a very dry fall here in Maine so there really is no excuse for not having a better grass field, especially as Bates has played a bunch of their home games on the turf. 

[Bobcat1]

First regional rankings come out this Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how many NESCAC teams are ranked in the NE Region.

Current National Computer Rankings of NESCAC teams that could be regionally ranked by the committee:
Massey - Tufts 1, Conn 7, Amherst 17, Williams 21, Midd 33, Bowdoin 35, Colby 39, Hamilton 43
Bennett - Tufts 3, Conn 12, Amherst 23, Williams 30, Colby 39. Bowdoin 54, Midd 65, Hamilton 77

Also expected to be regionally ranked:
Locks: Springfield (MR 4, BR 17), Brandeis (MR 12, BR 18), St. Joes (MR 38, BR 45)
At least three of these teams?: UMBos (MR 64, BR 53), Endicott (MR 71, BR 64), WPI (MR 67, BR 72), Gordon (MR 62, BR 85)
Others?

[BendIt007]

Bobcat ... on the Bates off-sides call.  I shouldn't have said it was a good call, just kind of thought the linesman would have the best angle.   I was actually hoping it was stood as Bates were working so hard.   From the camera angle it actually is very difficult to tell and especially without replay.

[Mr.Right]

Colby at Bowdoin about to kick off in half an hour. This is a big game for BOTH teams. Colby with a win could get into the Nescac Top 4 and at 7-3-2 would be regionally ranked next week if they were to also defeat Hamilton on the weekend. Bowdoin with a win would come very close to clinching a Nescac Top 4 berth and also keep their sagging Pool C hopes alive. With a very challenging remaining schedule with games at Conn and v Tufts I would think if Bowdoin were to lose this game they might lose their Top 4 spot eventually. Last year, Bowdoin dominated Colby up in Waterville and won the game 2-0. These midweek early start times can be tricky for the road team. This will only be Colby's 2nd game all year on grass and in the 1st game they got shutout by Wesleyan. Colby is playing very well right now as is Bowdoin even with the loss to Hamilton. Where will Bowdoin's advantage be besides in net? No size or athleticism advantage, no speed advantage, no creativity advantage, no goal scoring advantage...I will go Colby 1-0

[Mr.Right]

10 minutes into Bowdoin v Colby and Bowdoin has come out all over Colby and look very good 18 to 18..The problem is they have had no real dangerous chances let alone shots from all of this solid play. This has been the problem all year and is continuing so far in this match