NESCAC

[Hotskull]

Big game today in Wellesley, MA as the Jumbos travel to take on the Beavers. In my opinion this is a must win game for Tufts. My prediction is 2-0 to Tufts with #18 and #20 on the scoresheet as well.

Also wondering if Tufts will have #16 Feinberg back. He is the rock of that back line and the inexperience without him showed this past Saturday as they dropped points to Wesleyan.

[Soccerlover]

Would hate to call myself an Amherst supporter after what happened over the weekend. Truly one of the most embarrassing results I have ever seen in the NESCAC. To play the way Amherst does and to lose in that fashion is nothing short of humiliating. Anyone who has ever put on an Amherst jersey should be truly ashamed of what their team has become.

"It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it." – Warren Buffett

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." – Martin Luther King Jr.

"As you sow, so shall you reap." – Galatians 6:7

[Soccerlover]

It's a long season. All of your posts seem to focus on Tufts.

You called Conn soft in your standings while putting Tufts first, and then posted again now after Tufts won 2–1.

Last season, Tufts sat in first the whole year, only to lose early, while Conn won the NESCAC and went to the national final.

In 2022 (as you pointed to Conn), Tufts finished 7th, lost in the NESCAC quarterfinals, and went out in the NCAA second round — while Conn reached the NESCAC final as 8 seed.

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say. Tufts hasn't won anything since the Shapiro days. As you mentioned, there is no trophy for the regular season.

As a fan of Tufts, I would be really worried about Dezotell!

@FanofNescac I hope you didn't think I missed Conn's midweek game. It is NOT going to be a long season for this Conn group, the way things are going. I hope they can pull it together, but you've got to get 3 points against Bantams if you want to be a serious program.

 

[Newenglander]

It's a long season. All of your posts seem to focus on Tufts.

You called Conn soft in your standings while putting Tufts first, and then posted again now after Tufts won 2–1.

Last season, Tufts sat in first the whole year, only to lose early, while Conn won the NESCAC and went to the national final.

In 2022 (as you pointed to Conn), Tufts finished 7th, lost in the NESCAC quarterfinals, and went out in the NCAA second round — while Conn reached the NESCAC final as 8 seed.

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say. Tufts hasn't won anything since the Shapiro days. As you mentioned, there is no trophy for the regular season.

As a fan of Tufts, I would be really worried about Dezotell!

@FanofNescac I hope you didn't think I missed Conn's midweek game. It is NOT going to be a long season for this Conn group, the way things are going. I hope they can pull it together, but you've got to get 3 points against Bantams if you want to be a serious program.

 

Do you really hope that???

[laker4141]

The NESCAC standings are always jumbled, but has it ever been this jumbled? Everyone tying everyone or losing a random game seems to be the norm this year. Very excited to see how this turns out over the next couple weeks.

[Camelparent]

It's a long season. All of your posts seem to focus on Tufts.

You called Conn soft in your standings while putting Tufts first, and then posted again now after Tufts won 2–1.

Last season, Tufts sat in first the whole year, only to lose early, while Conn won the NESCAC and went to the national final.

In 2022 (as you pointed to Conn), Tufts finished 7th, lost in the NESCAC quarterfinals, and went out in the NCAA second round — while Conn reached the NESCAC final as 8 seed.

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say. Tufts hasn't won anything since the Shapiro days. As you mentioned, there is no trophy for the regular season.

As a fan of Tufts, I would be really worried about Dezotell!

@FanofNescac I hope you didn't think I missed Conn's midweek game. It is NOT going to be a long season for this Conn group, the way things are going. I hope they can pull it together, but you've got to get 3 points against Bantams if you want to be a serious program.

 

Yea the Camels need to start defending set pieces to find success. 6 out of 8 Nescac goals conceded have come from set pieces including 2 against Trinity and 3 in the last 5 mins of the game. Luckily it is something that can be fixed.

It does seem a lot of your post seem to center around Conn and Amherst the two more successful teams out of the NESCAC over the past 4 years. I guess with success comes envy.

[deiscanton]

After prematurely releasing an NCAA Power Index (NPI) Summary report last Monday morning which was then pulled from the NCAA Statistics website a few hours later, the NCAA DIII Men's Soccer Committee has finally released the first official NPI summary report of the season.

This report covers games through Sunday, October 5, 2025.

The report is available at http://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/45910

NESCAC teams nationally ranked by NPI as of this morning--

1.) Williams (#1 in NPI)-- 60.517
2.) Tufts (#2 in NPI)-- 58.576
3.) Wesleyan (#10 in NPI)-- 57.500
4.) Bates (#15 in NPI)-- 56.884
5.) Amherst (#18 in NPI)-- 56.625
6.) Bowdoin (#22 in NPI)-- 55.918
7.) Hamilton (#23 in NPI)-- 55.874
8.) Connecticut College (#41 in NPI)-- 54.764
9.) Colby (#45 in NPI)-- 54.499
10.) Middlebury (#49 in NPI)-- 54.448

10 of the 11 NESCAC men's soccer teams currently carry quality win bonuses, as their NPIs are above 54.

11.)  Trinity (CT)  (#62 in NPI)-- 53.840

[nescac1]

With those rating, NESCAC is very likely a lock for at least seven teams in the tourney and could end up with as many as nine, especially with Conn and Middlebury talented enough to win some super-high NPI games down the stretch that would massively boost their ratings. Crazy. Outside of Trinity, basically anything can happen in any game between the other ten teams in the league. 

Williams is clearly in very good shape as its three ties are all against extremely strong teams (number four Wheaton, Bowdoin, and Amherst) and they have big wins against Tufts, Bates and Hamilton.  Wesleyan is a huge game on Saturday certainly. 

There has been a lot of disparagement of the Ephs' talent level by certain posters on this board, and clearly unfairly so.  Williams doesn't dominate possession in most games, it's true, but the success has come from the (1) typically stout back line (Greer, Caires, and Labonski are big, tough and all likely to be all-league players, and Greer should be the NESCAC ROTY, and those three plus 6'4 FY Jake Farmer and subs Ma and Ross will all be back next year as well) that concedes very few clean looks on goal (2) excellent GK play from the big, athletic young duo of Aleix Anglada (another contender for ROTY and very likely a future all-league keeper) backed capably by Kai Darrell, and (3) a very opportunistic quick-strike offense that can capitalize on opponent mistakes especially when exhausted by Williams' waves of pressing players.

The big difference between this year's Williams team vs. prior iterations is the sheer number of capable finishers up front.  Lorcan Mitchell and JJ Ruehlmann are an excellent target-striker duo who should only get more efficient as they mature, and I think the Ephs will eventually deploy them more together as a pair.  Alex Bethencourt is great both as a set-up man and finishing plays.  And Kirkman and Coehlho (the latter of whom has yet to score this season but has proven capable in the past) are also very opportunistic finishers. 

[smoova]

After a bumpy start, the unheralded Cards are quietly putting together a nice season with wins over the bobcats, otters and lord jeffs. Would be quite the story if they could sneak out of Williamsville with a Little Three title on Saturday.

[nescac1]

Yeah, I don't think ANYONE had Williams-Wesleyan as the game of the year in NESCAC, but the winner (if there is a winner) is the Little 3 champion and is in great shape for the number one seed in the NESCAC tourney.  Both (along with Tufts) are already locks for the NCAA tourney I'd have to think.  If Williams wins, they are in particularly good shape, since they'd have the tie-breaker over Tufts, Bates and Wesleyan.  Wesleyan has certainly been a surprise, but they seem to be earning dividends from their massive FY class, as four FYs have started at least a few games each, including a FY defender who has played every minute of the season. 

On their current impressive streak of four wins and a tie during five straight conference games, they have been remarkably efficient - they have only 42 shots, 16 of them on goal, during those five games, but have scored 9 goals.  By way of comparison, in its last THREE games, Amherst has taken 41 shots, put 14 of them on goal, but only scored 2 goals.     

Wesleyan has a lot of iron men on the squad - vs. Amherst, they played only three subs, only one of whom played big minutes.  The GK and defensive unit including defensive midfielders seem to basically never sit out.  It will be interesting to see if a well-rested Williams squad with its waves of subs can wear them down over the course of the game, but the relatively short bench doesn't seem to be hurting the Cards at all, as they won the second half in each of their last five games! 

[flyingdutchman]

Wesleyan's recent results have been impressive, don't get me wrong; however, watching them play, I don't understand how they are getting the results they are. Talking about Wesleyan as a potential league winner seems absurd to me. They are proving they are hard to beat, but I don't think anyone in their offense is particularly threatening. I don't see them advancing past the first round of the NESCAC tournament, unless it's a 0-0 tie and they win it in penalties. Maybe they will continue to prove me wrong, but these results have to be a fluke