NESCAC

[Hotskull]

NESCAC 2025 Season Predictions

I think Tufts is my choice to win the league this year. They've been right there the last few years, defending as well as anyone in the country, but they just haven't had the goals in the big moments. If they can find a true #9 or just a couple guys who step up and finish chances when it matters, I don't see anyone stopping them. Tufts has to be asking themselves right now, "are we going to keep falling short, or are we going to step up and be the top dogs this year." This all comes down to goal-scoring and if their players are going to grab goals when it matters. 

Defensive player of the year for me is without a doubt Taylor Feinberg from Tufts. Rock solid and the kind of guy you build a back line around. The kid is going into his 5th year and is a brick wall but also grabs goals when they seem to matter. He will be the focal point of a tufts defensive looking to keep up the form they've had the last few years.

Offensive player of the year I'll go with either Keagan Harder from Middlebury or Xavier Canfin from Tufts. Harder was on fire at the end of last season and if he keeps that form he'll be tough to beat. But if Xavier stays healthy and locks in, it's his award. He has to stay away from the Boston nightclub scene and the distraction of all the beautiful girls at Tufts! Xavier if you are reading this, 8 hours of sleep every night, 3-5 fully balanced meals a day, and lots of water young lad!!! He's got the talent, it's just about focus and having the confidence to take defenders 1v1 and FINISH.

Tufts has the depth, and Dezotell finally has four full years of his own recruits. He's settled into the job and I think he's ready to take a team all the way. They'll miss a few of the guys who left but with the returners and some freshmen who can make an impact, I'm backing them.

Player to watch is sophomore Will Nicholas. Scored a worldie last season and had some big games. The question is, is he going to be happy being good or does he want to be great? Especially when you see a guy like Harder exploding as a freshman at Middlebury. Nicholas has to decide if he's going to let another man outshine him. Mr. Nicholas, go be GREAT!

For the title race, I've got Tufts, Middlebury, and Amherst as the big three. Conn can't totally be ignored but Jake Creus is retired now and whatever voodoo or weird rituals he had working for them is gone.

I'm pumped for this season. Tufts is hungry, Middlebury has firepower, Amherst is Amherst, and the whole thing is wide open.

[nescac1]

I realize Hotskull is a big Tufts homer but that's some ridiculous Mohammed Nuhu erasure. 

Also some Williams erasure - they do return nearly every goal from a Sweet 16 team (which was one of the few to beat Amherst) and defense should be bolstered by return of Griff Labonski, a DPOTY candidate, from injury.  F Ruehlmann and G Anglada are worth watching in the ROTY race.  A fully healthy year from Coehlho and growth from last year's FY stars Bethencourt and Mitchell should help offense as well.

[CACDaddy]

I wouldn't count Tyler Huck out for offensive player of the year honors. The Ross, California native has lit the NESCAC on fire since he arrived back in 2022, winning ROTY honors his freshman season and then back-to-back first team all-conference nods. He was also a third-team all American last year. He's coming off the highest goal total of his career and the complementary pieces in the Bowdoin attack are all retained from last Fall.

[SimpleCoach]

Watching @Conn v. @Hartford.  Don't find it particularly inspiring from Conn.  Same with Williams. 

SC

[Kuiper]

Watching @Conn v. @Hartford.  Don't find it particularly inspiring from Conn.  Same with Williams. 

SC

Conn College outshot Hartford 21-0, only had 6 on goal, and couldn't put one in?  Wow!  Was this just a park the bus + great goalkeeping situation or did Conn run out of ideas and strikers?

[CACDaddy]

Bowdoin 4 - University Of New England 0

The Polar Bears looked sharp in their regular season opener, downing the University of New England Nor'easters in a decisive 4-0 victory. Tyler Huck looks to be every bit of his All-American, All-Conference self, and opened the scoring just 6 minutes into the game. Fellow senior Mateo Pacelli found Huck just inside the 18 yard box essentially unmarked, and it was a routine finish for Huck from there. Huck scored another unassisted in the 41st minute. Do not sleep on this kid. I'm going to double down on my bet for Huck as a NESCAC POTY candidate. He has first team all-American potential. Mateo Pacelli assisted another goal to sophomore Adam Prince in the 58th minute, and then with just 3 minutes remaining in regulation, Liam Elias nets his first collegiate goal. I expect Pacelli to continue contributing on offense for the Polar Bears, whether it be scoring goals or dishing assists. The senior trio of Pacelli, Huck, and Rueda-Duran (who I was surprised to see coming off the bench) could provide a lot of points for the Polar Bears this year.

The point defense was essentially untested in their season opener. The Polar Bears outshot the Nor'easters 31-4, and I imagine Alex Ainsworth was bored in net. Bowdoin started an underclassmen duo at CB, Liam Myers and Lucas Nuernberg. It will be interesting to see how those two fair against higher-quality NESCAC opponents. Bowdoin has had a strong history of all-conference CB and CDM (Dylan Reid, Jack Selig, Julian Juanterona). A strong back line has generally been crucial to their success. We'll see how the two young bucks hold up as the year progresses.

[Bucket]

Middlebury rolls over Bridgewater State in its season opener, 6-0.

Eduardo Casanova and Will Sawin each with two goals and an assist. Keegan Harder, last year's Freshman of the Year and the Panther's leading scorer, added a goal and an assist.

Some notes:

• Replacing a defender like Luke Madden is no easy task, but Pablo Gonzalez, the transfer from UConn, looked solid in his Panther debut
• Midd started two first-years—defender Orlando Cavaceppi-Dove and midfielder Hamin Kim
• Was great to see Antonio Cosentino back on the pitch as a starting fullback, just 10 months after a brutal injury ended his impressive 2025 first-year season.
• Just as great to see Harper Nichol back and playing fut again. The forward from Brooklyn was super impressive during his first-year in 2023, before missing all of last season with an injury. His return adds to the depth and dynamism of the Panther offense.
• First player off the bench was another first-year with a familiar surname: Payne. Dylan Payne (one assist) is the younger brother of recent Panther standout Tyler Payne, who graduated last year.

Panthers travel to Clinton, New York on Saturday to start NESCAC play against Hamilton.

[Ejay]

Keep an eye on Williams freshman JJ Ruhlemann who scored less than 5 minutes into his debut. JJ led NJ in scoring last year when he netted 40 goals. He's the brother of former Wesleyan multi-year All-NESCAC honoree Lucas Ruhlemann.

[nescac1]

Thoughts on the first Williams game:

Overall, a disappointing result to end in a tie, though Wheaton looked solid.  The Ephs controlled the action early and late in the game, but towards the end of the first half and especially to start the second half seemed to be on their heels and were dispossessed in the midfield far too often.  Ephs need to improve ball control and build up in the middle of the field.

On the plus side, the Ephs started a very young group with a lot of talent all over the field, so there is certainly room to improve over the course of the season.  Only three seniors saw the field and only one of them played at least half the game, and the Ephs started three first years and three sophomores with four other sophomores playing big minutes off the bench.

GK remains a question mark as it's a very green position.  The Ephs split the position between two huge players, one a first year and one a sophomore, and clearly they are pretty even right now.  Both looked athletic and have big legs at least.  The FY who started was not really tested at all so hard to take much from the debut.  Kai Darrell, a Soph with limited experience, saw a lot more action - he made a few nice saves and the goal scored on him was not his fault at all. 

I was super impressed with the other two first-year starters.  On defense, Zach Greer looks like a future all-American, very skilled and very physical.  As noted above, JJ Ruhlemann has a ton of skill up front both as a finisher and creator, in addition to scoring a goal he very nearly added an assist on a play that probably should have been finished.  He should eventually be an all-league player and he definitely needs more touches going forward.  The Ruhlemann-Coelho-Bethencourt-Mitchell quartet has a lot of on-ball skill and should be able to create offense as they figure out each other's rhythms a bit more, there were a lot of plays were they just missed connecting with one another. 

The Ephs' strength as usual is in the back. Chase Caires was everywhere and played the full 90 at a very high level.  With Caires, Greer, Gibson and Lebonski, the Ephs have a lot of physicality and skill across the backline, with Atticus Ross as a high-level sub.  The Ephs will need to get a lot more out of the midfield position however.  A bunch of guys rotated in and out and as noted there wasn't a lot of precision in terms of possessing the ball for long stretches. The second unit especially was uncharacteristically (for a Siebert team) quiet despite playing big minutes.   

[Bret Clement]

Long time NESCAC fan but first time poster. A few interesting first results with Conn and Amherst struggling to find the net against their out-of-conference matchups. Williams continue to be Amherst with a shortage of individual quality so their tie is not as surprising. Dominant performances from the rest of the NESCAC.

[LibbyMoore]

And the other side of last fall's championship game completes their season opener 0-0--Suffolk holds the champs scoreless. Suffolk's long throw guy was busy tonight!

Looks like Conn and Amherst meet again this weekend for the first time since their PK shootout in Vegas, I might wager 0-0 for that one, too.

[Hotskull]

Not surprised with the tufts result at all.. seems they have found the goals already!! Hope the form continues but two rookies both grabbing two goals is no joke!! I expect Dezotell's troops to continue the form into the weekend

[Camelparent]

As a recent Conn alum with a bit too much free time, I'll be taking over this account from its previous owner. With the upcoming rematch, which I won't be mentioning again, I'm excited to be on the less stressful side of things.

This matchup could go one of two ways: a high tempo, entertaining clash between two much changed teams, or a 0-0 stalemate. Given both sides opened their seasons with scoreless draws, I expect a sense of urgency from the start with tackles flying in each direction.

Defensively, Conn looks solid. There's plenty of talent and experience in the backline starting with TJ Krongard (the future of Norway goalkeeping) protecting the experienced pairing of Charlie Miles and Dylan Hoke(who might still be injured), in behind the best 6 in the nation Max Haberman. The bigger question is going forward. The recently graduated 12 of the Class of '25 contributed around 40 goal involvements last season, and early injuries have sidelined players responsible for another 10. That leaves an attacking unit that hasn't had much time together, however, I expect the lads to step up and future all- American forward Marco Perugini to glue the humps to the camels back.

As for Amherst, I thought they'd be less affected by turnover, given their more route one style of play. But hopefully the hangover from last year is affecting their high energy style of play. With that in mind, I'm predicting an uncharacteristically high-scoring affair: Conn wins 2-1, with goals from Marco and the flying dutchmen himself GVB.

[EnmoreCat]

Amherst is introducing a large freshman class, nine in total after graduating thirteen seniors, including seven who started in the National Tournament final (with most of the others also being regular starters), of whom four were All-NESCAC selections.  I'd suggest that is quite a lot to seamlessly replace. What all this does do is create an opportunity for players to step up and take on responsibility.  That doesn't happen overnight and I would say that playing, Conn, Williams, Midd & Babson in four of the next six games is a pretty steep curve for this group. I watched the Suffolk game and my thought was that it will take time for things to gel.  But expectations are always high in western MA and I know that Coach Serpone will be fast-tracking this year's Mammoths.  My best guess is that the second half of the season will display the fruits of that process.  In any event, like all those with the Amherst shade of purple in their hearts, I hope that all rivals underestimate us. 

[Middfan]

Good morning NESCAC fans.  Don't we love this time of the year!  Alas, I can't follow my Panthers out to Hamilton for today's game.  Nor can I watch it on NSN at game time.  Can anyone tell me when the recorded version of these games usually becomes available?  Thank you.