NESCAC

[Camel_Supporter]

Huge congrats to the Jumbos. As a camels fan, man I wish we could have played them in the tourney. These games are all match ups, and I do feel we are the team that most consistently challenges tufts

[camosfan]

I told people I wanted Tufts to play anyone but Con, you are not going to beat a NESCAC team three times in a given year!

[northman]

As a longtime Polar Bears supporter, I have to point out that Bowdoin drew with Tufts in the regular season and...although in a losing cause...slightly "out statted" Tufts in the Elite Eight game.

[camosfan]

Your cross-town rivals are often your toughest games.

[Sandon Mibut]

How are the top NESCAC teams looking in 2026 as far as returning players from their 2025 squads?

Looking at the 2025 All Conference teams:

Tufts graduates 2 (GK Antic and M Daniel Yanez) and retains 3 (D, F, F; all juniors)

Middlebury graduates 2 (Gavin Randolph and Casanova); retains 1.

Bowdoin loses Huck who I assume will be hard to replace; retains 2.

Wesleyan graduates their GK but retains 4 (all current juniors).

Bates loses 1, retains 3 (2x frosh and 1 soph)

Williams graduates F Henry Kirkman; retains 1.

Conn retains all 5 of their All Conference players (D, D, M, M, F; 1x Soph and 4x Juniors).

Amherst retains 3 (2x soph and 1 junior)

Based on that small sample, one could argue that 2026 will feature Conn, Wesleyan and Tufts battling for the championship. Amherst and Bates poised to move up. Bowdoin likely to slip by losing Huck. Williams: who knows. And Middlebury losing a couple key players could slip or perhaps tread water.

[nescac1]

Congrats to Tufts, what a crazy way to secure the title -- is there a video anywhere of Tufts' game-tying goal?

Williams hasn't had great conclusions to the last two seasons (although making two straight Sweet 16s is certainly respectable), but was the only team to beat Amherst in its championship year, and one of only two to beat Tufts this year. 

I do think looking beyond the all-conference teams that Williams could be dramatically improved next year.  Next year will be the first Ephs' team that will have four Siebert recruiting classes.  Up front they return the NESCAC ROTY in Ruehlmann who I think will be more consistent as a sophomore, another strong striker in Lorcan Mitchell whose season was ended prematurely by injury, and Bethencourt, who is certainly an all-NESCAC level player and led the team in points this year and was huge down the stretch.  Overall the Ephs' return 7 of the top 8 scorers, including the 4 out of the top 5 who were underclassmen.  In the back, Williams returns four out of their top five defenders, two of whom have been all conference players (Caires and Labonski) and two of whom were FYs (Farmer and Greer, the latter of whom was I believe hurt to end the season and was a big loss, as I think he is another player who should eventually be all-NESCAC).  Finally, the young GK unit should be much improved now that it has experience, led by FY Anglada, who showed all-league potential as a FY.  Where the Ephs really need to improve is in the midfield, so hopefully some young players or incoming recruits can step up there. 

But, as noted in the prior post, the same can be said for most of the league, with (again looking beyond just all-league) Tufts, Amherst, Conn, Midd, Bates and Wesleyan all returning the vast majority of their key players.  It's crazy that NESCAC had a national title team and a few others contending deep in the tourney and yet, on paper, the league should be MUCH stronger next year overall. 

[camosfan]

and one of only two to beat Tufts this year.

Tufts lost only one game this year and that was to Williams!

[Ron Boerger]

Congrats to Tufts, what a crazy way to secure the title -- is there a video anywhere of Tufts' game-tying goal?

As a Trinity(TX) fan, it has been all over my social feeds since the event.  Here you go.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-5I4tr-dLA

[nescac1]

Thanks Ron.  Man, it cannot get any more brutal than that ...

[Camel_Supporter]

and one of only two to beat Tufts this year.

Tufts lost only one game this year and that was to Williams!

I do wonder how that nescac final woukd have turned out if we didnt give them a goal at the end of the game...

[SKUD]

I do wonder how that nescac final woukd have turned out if we didnt give them a goal at the end of the game...
[/quote]

I know how the Conn season should have ended had it not been for 2 unnecessary blunders/PKs by their 2nd round opponent.

[Newenglander]

I do wonder how that nescac final woukd have turned out if we didnt give them a goal at the end of the game...

I know how the Conn season should have ended had it not been for 2 unnecessary blunders/PKs by their 2nd round opponent.
[/quote]

Well I think you mean could have ended.....20 (9) and 9(4) shots for Conn and Babson respectively

I believe CamelSupporter was talking about a Williams/Conn game from years past.......

[camosfan]

I think he was referring to the Conn v Tufts NESCAC tournament game.

[Sandon Mibut]

This Tufts team is on a revenge tour. The last two years, they've been hyped up, carrying a top ranking all season, only to crumble when it really mattered. That will not happen this year. This team is full of certified DAWGS.

They've got one of the strongest and deepest backlines we've seen in recent years (.455 GA average / 8 clean sheets — shoutout Antic in goal), paired with an attack that finds the back of the net when it matters most. In previous years, Tufts often needed a set piece or an unsung hero to grind out a winner... Not this team. Yanez is 4/4 from the spot in the last six games (CR7-level clutch), and the front three (Perkins, Canfin, Brown) have combined for 33 points, while Jett, Shultz, Fallone, Denby, and others have put in lights-out performances.

DeZotell seems to have finally found the right balance with this roster — major credit to him and his staff. In a year where Amherst look like your local church-league team and Middlebury's backline resembles a bunch of cones standing in the way of opposing attackers, Tufts is playing like the juggernaut we've always known them to be.

If they go into the weekend with the mentality that they end other teams' seasons, not that they are the team to beat, there will be another NESCAC trophy in the cabinet. My advice to the young lads up in Medford: do not play with the timid mindset of "only two more guaranteed games." In fact, F$#K THAT.* Play like you want to flex the strength you have over these inferior, minuscule, delicate, and outright afraid NESCAC schools. Gents, it is Tufts vs. everybody, and there can only be one at the top.

I'll be flying up to Boston this weekend to watch the destruction.

To the rest of you NESCAC fans: You may read this and think I'm too confident — maybe even delusional. But if that's how you feel, I actually sympathize with you... because you're the one who's delusional for not seeing the greatness, hard work, grit, and — as stated before — a squad of DAWGS right in front of your eyes.

– Hotskull

This is one of the funniest posts I've seen on the boards. Tufts has had great regular seasons for the past two years and it's amounted to nothing for them. A first place team on a "revenge tour" playing a subpar Bates team in the first round usually doesn't end in a dicey 1-0 win from a penalty, which seems to be Tufts' favorite way to score this year. It looks more like Dezotell has found the right balance of whining from the bench and bribes for the refs than a good roster this year.

Tufts has already shown that they're not a playoff team again this year, so you can say they're "DAWGS" going into this weekend as much as you want, but that's not gonna change what they all know- this Middlebury team has been edging greatness for years and this is the year it will all come to fruition.

Until Dezotell gains the confidence to create a real soccer team that doesn't play straight up haram ball, I will never give him credit for being a good coach. My left big toe could coach a team to play on the counter and lump in long throws. Dezotell is an old school NESCAC coach, who's stuck in the past and can't see that the game is changing around him. We've already seen Tufts' Brexit counterpart in Amherst lose this postseason. Inverting Wingbacks and Xg are here to stay and if teams can't adapt, they'll be left in the dust of innovators like Middlebury.

-NESCAC Fan 🫡

Final score: Hotskull 5, NescacFan246 0

[Newenglander]

This Tufts team is on a revenge tour. The last two years, they've been hyped up, carrying a top ranking all season, only to crumble when it really mattered. That will not happen this year. This team is full of certified DAWGS.

They've got one of the strongest and deepest backlines we've seen in recent years (.455 GA average / 8 clean sheets — shoutout Antic in goal), paired with an attack that finds the back of the net when it matters most. In previous years, Tufts often needed a set piece or an unsung hero to grind out a winner... Not this team. Yanez is 4/4 from the spot in the last six games (CR7-level clutch), and the front three (Perkins, Canfin, Brown) have combined for 33 points, while Jett, Shultz, Fallone, Denby, and others have put in lights-out performances.

DeZotell seems to have finally found the right balance with this roster — major credit to him and his staff. In a year where Amherst look like your local church-league team and Middlebury's backline resembles a bunch of cones standing in the way of opposing attackers, Tufts is playing like the juggernaut we've always known them to be.

If they go into the weekend with the mentality that they end other teams' seasons, not that they are the team to beat, there will be another NESCAC trophy in the cabinet. My advice to the young lads up in Medford: do not play with the timid mindset of "only two more guaranteed games." In fact, F$#K THAT.* Play like you want to flex the strength you have over these inferior, minuscule, delicate, and outright afraid NESCAC schools. Gents, it is Tufts vs. everybody, and there can only be one at the top.

I'll be flying up to Boston this weekend to watch the destruction.

To the rest of you NESCAC fans: You may read this and think I'm too confident — maybe even delusional. But if that's how you feel, I actually sympathize with you... because you're the one who's delusional for not seeing the greatness, hard work, grit, and — as stated before — a squad of DAWGS right in front of your eyes.

– Hotskull

This is one of the funniest posts I've seen on the boards. Tufts has had great regular seasons for the past two years and it's amounted to nothing for them. A first place team on a "revenge tour" playing a subpar Bates team in the first round usually doesn't end in a dicey 1-0 win from a penalty, which seems to be Tufts' favorite way to score this year. It looks more like Dezotell has found the right balance of whining from the bench and bribes for the refs than a good roster this year.

Tufts has already shown that they're not a playoff team again this year, so you can say they're "DAWGS" going into this weekend as much as you want, but that's not gonna change what they all know- this Middlebury team has been edging greatness for years and this is the year it will all come to fruition.

Until Dezotell gains the confidence to create a real soccer team that doesn't play straight up haram ball, I will never give him credit for being a good coach. My left big toe could coach a team to play on the counter and lump in long throws. Dezotell is an old school NESCAC coach, who's stuck in the past and can't see that the game is changing around him. We've already seen Tufts' Brexit counterpart in Amherst lose this postseason. Inverting Wingbacks and Xg are here to stay and if teams can't adapt, they'll be left in the dust of innovators like Middlebury.

-NESCAC Fan 🫡

Final score: Hotskull 5, NescacFan246 0

Can't argue with the resiliency and the Natty but if the critique is on the style - "My left big toe could coach a team to play on the counter and lump in long throws" Don't think that changed at all during this run.