NESCAC

[Camel_Supporter]

Camel_Supporter, welcome to the team and the conversation.  I suspect you and I were on the same sideline on Sunday and observed the same level of play.  And yes, Devlin was awesome back in the Kenny era.  Loved watching that young man play, especially when he knocked in the winning penalty in the NESCAC quarterfinal against Williams (after a super late equalizer in regulation from someone else) on Harkness field.  One of my best Conn memories, right there.

Fingers crossed you can get down here for the action on Saturday or Sunday.

Ahh, what a memory. I played in that Williams game and remember the 3-3 comeback with a last minute free kick well. I felt we had a really strong team that year and really felt that we should have got an at-large NCAA bid that year. If only we didn't lose to Bowdoin that next game. It seems the selection committee has  gotten wiser giving more NESCAC teams at-large bids since then. If only I played in a different era...would have loved to join the dance.

Will certainly do my best to make it to New London for these upcoming games!

[camosfan]

Anyone knows when they will name the ALL NESCAC teams?

[College Soccer Observer]

Last year it was released on Wednesday morning of the week between the NESCAC finals and the NCAA tournament.  Look for it tomorrow.

[camosfan]

Expecting to see these names: Xavier,Mateo,Ben Brown, Tyler, Cassanova, Nuhu, Bettencourt, #7 Con Midfielder among the names!

[EnmoreCat]

Haven't been able to watch as much this season, particularly lately, but irrespective, it's definitely worth acknowledging what I understand will be Amherst's twentieth consecutive NCAA tournament this weekend.  It has been a challenging transition season for the Mammoths, but I've seen enough to reasonably expect a higher placed conference finish in 2026. 

[Kuiper]

For Bowdoin fans:

Since most of you probably have never heard of Lyon, let alone know anything about the soccer program, I thought I would offer a few reactions on this matchup.  Lyon isn't technically in Region X or in the West, but they are Region X adjacent and they play a lot of SCAC/ASC teams in non-conference games.

1. This is a reward for Bowdoin having to travel to San Antonio for last year's first round and play Trinity TX

Lyon is 1544 miles from Bowdoin.  That's not the farthest a team has to travel for a first round game (Occidental has to go 1925 miles to get to Minneapolis to play Augsburg and Whitman has to travel 2019 miles to get to San Antonio to play Texas Lutheran at Trinity University), but it's not an easy trip.  It's about 100 miles to get to Little Rock or Memphis airports and neither will get you to Portland, Maine direct.  You could fly from Memphis direct to Boston, but then you have another couple of hours to get to Bowdoin.  However they travel, it will be a long day.  Bowdoin had a long travel day to get to San Antonio last season and I guess turnabout is fair play according to the NCAA committee.

2.  I don't think Lyon's problem will be the culture shock of going from Arkansas to Maine

They only have 7 players who are actually from Arkansas on their entire 49 person roster and most of them haven't played at all this season or have played very little.  And I doubt all 49 are actually on the varsity or will be traveling or the NCAA is going to have a really big bill for airfare.

3.  Lyon may have one of the most diverse international rosters in D3 men's soccer

The coach is Brazilian and the starting goalkeeper, top four goal scorers, and the assist leaders are all Brazilian.  They have 10 Brazilians in all.  Does anyone speak Joga Bonito in Brunswick, Maine?    But the coach doesn't discriminate.  They also have players on the roster from Argentina, Ecuador, Scotland, Venezuela, Hungary, Italy, England, Portugal, Peru, Colombia, Nigeria, Mexico, Panama, and Myanmar.  It's a cross between the United Nations and a Benetton commercial in Batesville, Arkansas, a city of about 11-12K people that is home to "The Fastest Place on Dirt" because of its famous dirt track racing ovals.

4.  Lyon would probably be a mid-table team if they had played in the SCAC

They played Dallas, McMurry, Centenary, Hendrix, and Ozarks - all bottom half SCAC teams except Hendrix - and beat Dallas and McMurry, tied Ozarks and Hendrix, and lost to Centenary.  They also lost to East Texas Baptist, which finished third in the four team ASC.

They scored 44 goals, compared to 30 for Bowdoin, but 10 of Lyon's goals came against the Mississippi University for Women (which has men, but not very many of them and even fewer who are good at soccer).  In any event, I'm guessing Lyon's Brazilian style will not translate well on a cold November day in Maine (and playing out of the back will be even more dangerous).

In other words, Bowdoin should be heavy favorites in this game

5.  On the other hand, Lyon has had a lot of success of late

This is Lyon's first year as a full member of the NCAA, but they were able to play in the SLIAC in 2023 and 2024 as they transitioned to full membership and they were regular season SLIAC champions both years.  In 2024, they also won the USCAA National Championship in Pittsburgh.  So, they do have experience in playoff tournament environments in colder environments.

All the Brazilian forwards are players you'll want to watch if the conditions allow it, including top scorer Lucca Torres, who scored the winning goal in the SLIAC championship game, and Matheus Nunes, who scored in the semifinals, as well as MF Christian De La Rosa and D Tomas Biasi were also first team All SLIAC, but midfielder Micah Rangel is someone you can't help but watch on the field.  He's generally not an offensive threat, but at 6'4" with what seems like another 5-6 inches of hair, he can block everyone's view defending a corner kick.  You might be able to spot him in this story about the team winning the SLIAC tourney.

[camosfan]

Don't think NCAA pays for more than 24 players, total party of 30?

[northman]

Kuiper, thanks for the well researched background info on Lyon.  Very interesting indeed.  I take it the Matheus Nunes of Lyon is not the same Matheus Nunes who currently starts for Manchester City?

[Convict charlie]

Don't think NCAA pays for more than 24 players, total party of 30?

You also have three coaches and two athletic trainers.

[camosfan]

Teams are out, surprise no mention of Mateo and Ben Brown!

[Nescac in November]

Why does the 1st team have 17 players?

[Kuiper]

Don't think NCAA pays for more than 24 players, total party of 30?

Yea, I was just kidding about that as part of explaining why many of those countries will not be represented in the players who actually are on the roster for Lyon against Bowdoin.  They only traveled with the smaller roster to the SLIAC tournament too.  Expect to see players who are primarily Brazilian, Argentinian, Ecuadorian, Mexican, Venezuelan and Texan (mostly Mexican-American), with a player each from Scotland and England as well.  The bulk of their best players are Brazilian, which is why you see the Brazilian flag in the photo on the story I linked.  They don't have a ton of quality depth, though, behind those stronger players.

And as far as Matheus Nunes, let's just call him the closest thing you'll find to Man City's Nunes in the middle of nowhere Arkansas! 

[camosfan]

Why does the 1st team have 17 players?

Should be 18, 11 starters and the bench!

[Newenglander]

Teams are out, surprise no mention of Mateo and Ben Brown!

Whats also interesting is the real lack of seniors on the first team......

[camosfan]

The number one defense in D3 should have more than one defender on a NESCAC team!