NESCAC

[lastguyoffthebench]

"Remember the 7th and 8th place team in the conference both tied Amherst who had a 40 game unbeaten streak"
You're using the same "one night" statement to refute d3sw, and one games score as a reference point for Lycoming to not make the NESCAC postseason (this doesn't work in sports, as you have already mentioned).   Well anyways, that "second night" Hamilton played Amherst, they lost 4-1.    Lycoming lost to Messiah 2-1 earlier in season too, but also got waxed by Camden 4-0.  Just a matter of teams playing super conserative vs. straight up.

Sure, the NESCAC is a power conference, but Lycoming still played a fairly strong out-of-conference schedule;  York (L 0-1), Rochester (L 0-2), Susqu.  York and Rochester are teams that are on or near the same level as Amherst, Williams, and definitely on the same level as a team like Wesleyan...

Remember that Lycoming tied Messiah who at one point had a 33 game unbeaten streak before falling to York in 2013, and could very well be at 51 game unbeaten streak.


My opinion is that Lycoming would be in a 3 team race for the 7th and 8th spots...  much like the NJAC is a three team race for that 6th and final playoff spot.

[All NESCAC]

"Remember the 7th and 8th place team in the conference both tied Amherst who had a 40 game unbeaten streak"
You're using the same "one night" statement to refute d3sw, and one games score as a reference point for Lycoming to not make the NESCAC postseason (this doesn't work in sports, as you have already mentioned).   Well anyways, that "second night" Hamilton played Amherst, they lost 4-1.    Lycoming lost to Messiah 2-1 earlier in season too, but also got waxed by Camden 4-0.  Just a matter of teams playing super conserative vs. straight up.

Sure, the NESCAC is a power conference, but Lycoming still played a fairly strong out-of-conference schedule;  York (L 0-1), Rochester (L 0-2), Susqu.  York and Rochester are teams that are on or near the same level as Amherst, Williams, and definitely on the same level as a team like Wesleyan...

Remember that Lycoming tied Messiah who at one point had a 33 game unbeaten streak before falling to York in 2013, and could very well be at 51 game unbeaten streak.


My opinion is that Lycoming would be in a 3 team race for the 7th and 8th spots...  much like the NJAC is a three team race for that 6th and final playoff spot.

Using the "one game example" can lead to unrealistic projections, but remember the #8 team in NESCAC last year Hamilton not only tied Amherst (#1), they also beat Wesleyan (#2 regular season), and also beat Williams (#3 regular season).  So while it's still a somewhat "fuzzy" comparison, the league is pretty tough top to bottom and most  certainly #'s #1 through #8.

[Saint of Old]

Hamilton has always been a historically good squad who would compete for a tourney spot in the Liberty League each year.
The problem for Hamilton is that they went to a very good league at the very moment their program was rebuilding after  afew strong years.
Hamilton has the ability to beat anyone in the Conference I believe. They just have not had the consistency to be a top 4 in NESCAC.
I thnk that in a season or two they will be right there competing once again for post season play.

The last 5-7 years in D3 soccer, good teams have become much better, and mediocracy is punished much more than before.

[LaPaz]

Hamilton will never be able to compete in Nescac for a top 4 just because of the severe travel. They had their best team last year and were very average in conference. They had a great home record with some impressive results but two trips to Maine a trip to Connecticut and Boston or Central Mass ever year will wear a team down.

[Saint of Old]

We shall see.
I think Vassar faces the same challenge in the LL, but seem to make it work.
A very good point on the trouble teams have when they travel though.

I just think this program is too well coached to be perenial bottom feeders and wiill compete.

The good news is, we do not have towait that long to see.

[All NESCAC]

We shall see.
I think Vassar faces the same challenge in the LL, but seem to make it work.
A very good point on the trouble teams have when they travel though.

I just think this program is too well coached to be perenial bottom feeders and wiill compete.

The good news is, we do not have towait that long to see.

The difficulty of far travel away games runs through the entire league and is not limited to Hamilton as there are many 3 hour + destination bus rides.  On a different topic, I am still amazed the NESCAC continues to schedule at least one weekend (and sometime 2) per season with back to back regular season games on Sat/Sun given the physical toll a game takes, let alone back to back games on consecutive days.  For  a League of supposedly enlightened minds this scheduling trend is pretty barbaric in terms of player safety given the time necessary to recover from a match before being thrown into the next one.  I've got to believe some serious pulls and injuries can result from the second game given the fatigue from game 1.  In a league which is know for its very physical style of play I am very surprised to see this scheduling continuing.

[LaPaz]

Hamilton's travel is not matched by anyone else. 9 hours from Hamilton to Colby and Bates. 8 hours to Bowdoin, another 5-6 hours to Conn, Tufts, Trinity etc etc. Everyone else in the league has close competition to go with maybe a very long trip once or twice during the season.

The scheduling has to continue the way it is. You need to squeeze 15 games into 60 days. Thats a game every 4 days. Plus the back to backs get you ready for the NCAA's and Nescac tourney.

[All NESCAC]

Hamilton's travel is not matched by anyone else. 9 hours from Hamilton to Colby and Bates. 8 hours to Bowdoin, another 5-6 hours to Conn, Tufts, Trinity etc etc. Everyone else in the league has close competition to go with maybe a very long trip once or twice during the season.

The scheduling has to continue the way it is. You need to squeeze 15 games into 60 days. Thats a game every 4 days. Plus the back to backs get you ready for the NCAA's and Nescac tourney.

Don't disagree that Hamilton is the toughest place to travel to or from. Regarding the schedule there are a few weeks. Which don't have a weekday game. Why not take those back to back and put one in the middle of the week?

[LaPaz]

because nescac schools pride themselves on missing the fewest hours of class time as humanely possible. If a team schedules a mid week game its usually at night or against an opponent within 1 1/2 hours away. Not to mention, mid week road games are a huge disadvantage because players tend not to be as focused as weekend games

[amh63]

Amherst soccer preview is posted in its website.  There are seven new players...six freshman and a soph listed....bringing the present squad to 29 players.  There is also a new assistant coach...replacing an assistant that left for an head coaching position.  The writer of the preview is also a new assist SID.

[amh63]

Williams season preview is posted as well as its roster
29 players with 7 freshmen on the roster.

[LaPaz]

Things to watch for week 1 and week 1 guesswork:

Wesleyan v Bowdoin-        1-0             Wesleyan returns all 11 starters and has a pretty good incoming frosh class. They have more depth this year. I will be watching their keeper situation, long road trips including 2 to Maine, toughest non-conference schedule and opening game against a decent ECONN team. Bowdoin has lost some key cogs in Brewster, the injury plagued Jones and striker Dannesert. Their keeper situation was horrific last year and should get a big boost from an injury plagued frosh Steve Vansicklin. When I saw them last year they played extremely conservative and I do not expect that to change. I do not see a real dangerous roster here and do not expect Bowdoin in the top 6 this year. Wesleyan has more talent and experience.

Williams v Colby-               2-0             Williams is 15-0-1 all time aganist Colby outscoring them 47 to 3. The games have been closer the past few years and I expect this contest to be the same, but Williams will come out on top. Williams is returning a glut of players all over the field and really lost nothing to graduation. Thier biggest loss is in goal. I like the incoming frosh but Russo usually gives the returning kid first crack. Rashid and Muralles should be in full form and I like the kid Danilack in the back. Colby has been apathetic on offense for years and this is not changing this year or until the coach can bring in some quality up front. Their keeper Funkhouser is inconsistent at best and their midfield lacks any creativity. Pratt is good in the back. If Colby plays like UNH which is where the coach is coming from they might overtake Amherst as the ugliest style in Nescac.

Hamilton v Trinity-             1-1             Hamilton played very well at home last year. Trinity has gotten results against Hamilton every year. They started strong last year and completely faded at the end.  Hamilton loses some key players and might struggle this year and Trinty loses some key players in the spine of their team. Complete toss-up

Tufts v Bates               2-0                        - I have ripped Bates on this board for a while and deservingly so. NO need to beat a dead horse. I have also commended Tufts and its talent for the past 3 years. This senior class has talent across the board. I hope their egos can gel this year. They open with the easiest schedule and could be undefeated up until they play Amherst.

[lastguyoffthebench]

http://www.nscaatv.com/rankings/3153

[All NESCAC]

http://www.nscaatv.com/rankings/3153

Report on Saturday tri-scrimmage of Wesleyan, Trinity and Conn was that none of them were impressive.

[PaulNewman]

Tried to watch some of Amherst vs New England College, and it's really almost unwatchable.  Field looks like an indoor arena with old-style artificial turf.  Can't tell if the video is just distorted, but field looks like it is 80 by 45.