NESCAC

[Kuiper]

More NESCAC schedules

Trinity (CT)

Opening at National Champion Tufts is a kick in the mid-section for a team that hasn't won a single conference game in the last two seasons.  It also doesn't bode well that they have Wesleyan, a team that beat them 4-1 last season, on the schedule TWICE (although they seem to be trolling the Cardinals by not identifying EITHER game as a NESCAC game).  As far as non-conference games, they drop Western New England in favor of Hunter College.

Hamilton

Hamilton had a stingy defense and some solid results last season, including a 0-0 tie with Middlebury, 1-0 victory over Bowdoin, and a 2-2 tie with Wesleyan, but couldn't get over the hump.  Because of their location away from most other NESCAC schools, they tend to have a more diverse (and sometimes more competitive) non-conference schedule.  This year, they trade out Oswego State, SUNY Poly, and SUNY Oneonta for Clarkson, Rochester, and SUNY Morrisville.

[Kuiper]

Tufts posted its 2026 roster.

Tufts

I kind of prefer when they don't do it this early, since it preserves the nostalgic illusion that preseason training is still a tryout and the roster isn't quite set until it's over.  Nevertheless, it's fun to start looking at where things stand for the defending national champions.  A few observations:

Antic and Pensky are back for a 5th year, as previously announced. 

They do get a DI transfer GK from Providence in Julian Ballester, but he doesn't come with much experience.  Zach Ubamadu, who was listed as a junior, is apparently not coming back, so the transfer takes his spot and a freshman takes the other GK position vacated by Sammy Kao.  So, they basically have four goalkeepers, but only Antic has any experience to speak of.

The other transfer is Riley Gray from San Diego State, who didn't see anytime in his 1 year there.  He's a 6'3" defender, which makes him one of the tallest defenders on the team and perhaps fills a role James Flagg played last season off the bench.

[Ephfan11]

Prediction:

Conn
Amherst
Tufts
Midd
Hamilton
Williams
Wes
Trinity
Bowdoin
Colby
Bates

[nescacfootyfan]

NESCAC Early Season Players to Watch

Season is basically here, so everything else is irrelevant. Early look at the guys I'm watching. Some takes will age well, some absolutely won't.

Conn: Perugini — kid is a magician and probably sits on the 1 throne. Has no business playing D3. Haberman — same conversation. Difference maker and just makes it happen. Hoke/Miles — feel like the same guy on the pitch, but Conn needs them to make the whole thing work.

Amherst: Dinzeo — huge fan. Wicked left foot, stand-up player, should come in and make a real impact. Nuhu — should have a huge year if he doesn't fall into Serpone's trance again. Kid is talented, just needs to wake up. Akanbo — could be the best second-ball winner in the league. Does the dirty work and actually has some sauce too. High upside.

Tufts: Henry Brown — touch leaves something to be desired, to put it nicely, but the kid is a warrior and somehow always gets on the end of things. Should be a big piece. Bijan — best defender in the league, no question. Sick player and ridiculous athlete. Pensky — fifth year, built like Casemiro and basically plays like him. Could completely change Tufts.

Midd: Dugan — I think he can outshine Perugini if he's actually locked in. Kid loves the bottle a little too much from what I've heard. Maybe put it down for a few months and let Middlebury cook. Harder — great player. If the young man did a little less of whatever it is he's doing and a little more playing, he'd have a real argument for best forward in the league. Cavaceppi-Dove — kid had a magnet on his foot every time I watched Midd last year. Breakout written all over him.

Hamilton: No one jumping off the page. Solid team, solid players, nothing that has me losing sleep.

Williams: Ruehlman — kid is a unit and a good player, but somehow never gets enough service. Honestly think Siebert makes both Ruehlman and Bethencourt look worse than they actually are. The talent is there, the setup just doesn't do them any favors. Labonski — nothing fancy, just a warrior. Bethencourt — actual player/gamechanger. Put him at Conn, Midd or Tufts and we'd be talking about him way more.

Wesleyan: Clack — downgraded Haberman, but still a good player. Keeps the tempo moving and gives Wes some stability. Jennings — sometimes looks like one of the best wingers in the league, then disappears for 40 minutes. Pick a version and stick with it. Saeed — has all the tools to be very good. At some point the tools need to become production.

Trinity: Tough one. Hope the best for the Bantams. Don't have much on the soccer side yet, but they probably throw the best parties in the NESCAC, so they've got that going for them.

Bowdoin: Prince — really good player. Quick, explosive, actually wants to take guys on. Myers — big defender and will be massive for them. Biggest question is who replaces Huck, because that is not exactly a small hole.

Colby: Scott twins — two big towers running around being physical and annoying. Good players, apparently good guys too. Counts for something.

Bates: Not sure. Someone enlighten me.

Early names I'm circling: Perugini, Haberman, Dugan, Dinzeo, Bijan, Akanbo, Cavaceppi-Dove, Bethencourt.

[Bucket]

I recommend adding Midd's Will Sawin to your list, please and thank you.

[headmaster]

Opening day for the NESCAC! My predictions for the regular season:

1. Tufts - While they do lose a group of experienced seniors and some depth, this squad returns a lot of the core from the national championship team including many of the league's best: Canfin, Antic, Pensky, Aktarzandi-Das, B. / H. Brown. They will pick up right where they left off last season tonight and ultimately three-peat as NESCAC regular season champs

2. Conn College - With returners Perugini, Hoke, Haberman and Miles, 4 of the best in the NESCAC which go head to head with Tufts' best, this is going to be a big year for them. Had they beaten Bowdoin in the Sweet 16 last year, I would've been curious to see how an elite 8 NESCAC championship rematch against Tufts would have gone. The question as always for this team is who is going to consistently put the ball in the back of the net.

3. Wesleyan - They return nearly all of their roster from last year's team and I am expecting this to be a big year, feeding off of last season's success. With Feldman, Clack, Saeed and Jennings entering their senior year, I'm expecting them to lead this squad to another successful season.

4. Middlebury - I am interested to see how they perform this year with so much transition in the squad over the last 2 seasons but ultimately between the quality they have led by Dugan, Sawin and Harder and their style of play, they are bound to have a good year

5. Amherst - I am not fully convinced by this squad after the way they performed last season. They were not able to recover after losing the senior class that won the national championship and I am curious to see if last year was just a transition year or if they will underperform again. Regardless, they have quality and their style of play is extremely hard to beat, so I expect them to stay in the mix

6. Williams - This is another interesting one to watch this season. Breakout freshman Ruehleman enters his sophomore year, along with Greer who was very impressive before getting injured. These two along with experienced Labonski will anchor the squad and will need some others to step up to compete for a top finish

7. Bowdoin - After an amazing season where they were among the country's best, I ultimately think it is going to be a transition year after losing the core of their squad from the past 4 years. This team seems to be one of the few exceptions in the league this year where last season's squad was heavily reliant on their senior class.

8. Bates - Their style of play is hard to beat and they often have many close games with the leagues best and get a few results. The question will be if they can get over the hump in some of those tight contests. We will see.

9. Hamilton - As in most seasons, I'm sure they will get some good results at home. Otherwise, I am not fully convinced.

10. Colby - Similar to Bates and Hamilton, they will get some good results and play teams tightly. Maybe they will surprise some this year.

11. Trinity - At the beginning of last season, they looked like a different squad with a draw vs. bates, draw vs. Conn, narrow loss to Midd and narrow loss to Tufts. After that, they completely fell apart. Interestingly, I don't see Ludvik on the roster who was their most dangerous player last year. We will see what this squad can do.

[jumpshot]

Conn absolutely crushes amHerst 3-1 whose frustration manifests itself, as expected, with red card, yellow cards, fouls, penalty shot, dissension among teammates, grabbing of jerseys... senior leadership not evident. A poor performance ... perhaps a challenge for the coaches to turn around.

[Kuiper]

Bowdoin 1 - Salve Regina 1

Bowdoin comes back with an 83rd minute PK to salvage a tie at home.  That's a bit of surprise, even if they are in a transition year as @Headmaster suggested

[nescac1]

Some early-season thoughts on Williams.

The Ephs have put up an impressive seven goals in two NESCAC games (not the cream of the crop in the conference as opponents, but solid enough teams for sure).  The finishing was clinical today: Spencer Mix had an incredible goal, I don't even understand how he scored as there were four defenders absolutely blanketing him and he still somehow knocked it into the corner of the goal from distance.  Lorcan Mitchell had a beautiful half volley off a deflection and JJ Ruehlmann had a great header that was set up by a long throw-in, strong game for him. Kai Desmangles, yet another very dangerous offensive player who I believe missed last season due to injury, scored his first career goal late off a gorgeous pass from FY Andrew Martins. Losing Mitchell to injury really hurt Williams last year and having him and Ruehlmann alternating at target striker with Desmangles, Appleton, Mix, Coelho and Bethencourt coming in and out as creative playmakers is a big advantage.

Concerns for Williams - the defense seems to be very banged up.  Greer has yet to play this year, Labonski left the game after scoring against Bates and has not been seen since, and solid FY starter Convery, who has played big minutes, limped off today immediately before Hamilton knocked one home, although he seemed OK.  As usual, Williams can struggle with possession in the midfield and seemed to have trouble controlling the ball especially in the first half, which you would like to see more of once they went up 2-0, and the D seemed a bit disorganized at times with a lot of guys coming in and out.  Most of the Ephs' offensive opportunities came on a very dangerous-looking counter-attack. 

Kai Darrell seems to have won the starting keeper job over last year's very solid starter and with two huge, capable, athletic goalies, that is definitely a position of strength.  Darrell had an absolutely spectacular diving save of a header today and looks fearsome in the box.  Another guy who really stood out is FY Nick Appleton, he is a player to watch as he has some real juice out there on the ball and should make his mark in NESCAC. 

Hamilton easily could have scored more goals and had way too many opportunities close to the net for Williams to feel like it dominated the game despite the final score.  As usual, Hamilton is strong in the midfield but seems to lack any sort of finishing touch, they skied several shots from dangerous positions and while they did have bad luck with one header off the post, 20 shots and only 4 on goal is not ideal and reflects how poor their finishing was today.   

The Ephs should be happy to be 2-0 in NESCAC and clearly are strong in goal and have a huge number of playmakers up front.  As usual Siebert trusts his entire roster and rotates a zillion guys in and out and it just seems at times like maybe a slightly more compact rotation would lead to some more continuity on the field, presumably that will shake out over time.  On the plus side, the team is always very fresh and with everyone getting early experience, it builds depth in the event of injuries.  But the Ephs need to work on possessing the ball in the midfield, especially when playing with a lead when you want to kill some time, and hopefully the defenders will start to heal up. 

[22Knowles]

Wesleyan with a huge victory against the Jumbos. 2-0 and Wes were the better side particularly in the 2nd half.   Wes was well organized and Adiutori in his first career start in goal was up to the moment commanding the box in the air.   The veteran Cardinal squad was poised, patient and disciplined.   Huge win that shows they are a real contender as they were last fall.  Wes has a lot of big bodies that complement quite a bit of skill that Saeed, Jennings and Cauvin bring.   

[SimpleCoach]

Wesleyan with a huge victory against the Jumbos. 2-0 and Wes were the better side particularly in the 2nd half.   Wes was well organized and Adiutori in his first career start in goal was up to the moment commanding the box in the air.   The veteran Cardinal squad was poised, patient and disciplined.   Huge win that shows they are a real contender as they were last fall.  Wes has a lot of big bodies that complement quite a bit of skill that Saeed, Jennings and Cauvin bring.   

I said it last week when Tufts beat Trinity, I thought they looked of step and not the team that won it all.  Still time to turn it around, but they are looking disorganized on both sides of the ball.  And think Wesleyan's organization is what made the difference.

SC.

[SierraFD3soccer]

When was the last time Tufts lost to anyone 2-0 or worse? Wow.

[nescac1]

Actually, Tufts lost to Williams 3-1 in the second game of LAST season.  And then, they never lost another game.  I wouldn't overreact to an early-season game, weird things can happen in early September.  Tufts has mostly the same cast of characters who dominated the post-season last year, and surely will find its footing soon enough. 

[Bucket]

Wesleyan with a huge victory against the Jumbos. 2-0 and Wes were the better side particularly in the 2nd half.   Wes was well organized and Adiutori in his first career start in goal was up to the moment commanding the box in the air.   The veteran Cardinal squad was poised, patient and disciplined.   Huge win that shows they are a real contender as they were last fall.  Wes has a lot of big bodies that complement quite a bit of skill that Saeed, Jennings and Cauvin bring.   

I said it last week when Tufts beat Trinity, I thought they looked of step and not the team that won it all.  Still time to turn it around, but they are looking disorganized on both sides of the ball.  And think Wesleyan's organization is what made the difference.

SC.

Still time to turn it around? LOL. You think?

Folks, chill. It's the 2nd game of the season. And as my friend nescac1 points out, there is plenty of (recent) precedent to suggest that jumping to a quick conclusion about what the season will portend is a fool's errand.

Congrats to Wes. Very nice early season win. And the Jumbos will be fine. That's a conclusion I have no problem jumping to.

[Kuiper]

Wesleyan's Yousof Saeed named Top Drawer NCAA DIII Player of the week

Tufts, the No. 1-ranked defending national champions, had not lost in 23 matches until they met Wesleyan and Saeed. The Texas native's second-half opener fueled the 2-0 upset victory, just days after he scored another in a 3-2 victory over Springfield.