NESCAC

[nescacfootyfan]

Just saw the Amherst box score...  I didn't realize Amherst men's soccer was offering UFC courses this season. At what point does Amherst Athletics step in and ask some serious questions? The red cards, the continued drama, the lack of discipline, this is becoming a pattern. If I were an Amherst alum, I'd be furious. Maybe it's time to dial it down a notch and work on some passing patterns instead of taking shots at the opposition.  I didn't see the red myself, though - can someone explain what happened?!

[jumpshot]

The cheap shots have been going on for years ....

[Earl2]

Middlebury looked really good. I am looking forward to the match-up against Williams.

[SimpleCoach]

I always look forward to the D3 Games of the week video.

Respectfully disagreeing with Simple Coach's prediction here though as an objective observer, I'll admit to having a slight (actually strong) bias toward the quality and composure of the defending national champions.

Sometime, this blind squirrel finds an acorn...

SC.

[Falconer]

Just saw the Amherst box score...  I didn't realize Amherst men's soccer was offering UFC courses this season.

Where have you been? They offer enough UFC courses to earn a major in it. Been in the catalog a long time...

[Middfan]

I thought the Panthers looked great yesterday, until they went into their prevent defense and packed it in. Before that, they won 75% of the play with crisp one and two touch passing.  They had Tufts chasing them around.  Once they loaded the box they gave up that whole-field advantage and the Jumbos were able to find their rhythm.  Still, a great win for the Panthers and an exhibit as to how well they can play.  Tuesday night against Wesleyan will be another good test.

[LibbyMoore]

Just catching up on the wild NESCAC weekend, that is a lotta draws! Saw the end of Bates v Conn, that got exciting. Pathways to the NESCAC tournament are starting to narrow for a few teams, but still enough games to play that nearly anything can happen, next weekend will be a big test for sure.

[Sandon Mibut]

On this date last year - overall (eventual NCAA result). Safe to say there is a lot of soccer left to play this season for all of these teams!

Tufts 8-1-2 (champs)
Williams 7-1-4 (sweet 16)
Wesleyan 7-2-2 (2nd round)
Bowdoin 7-2-2 (elite 8)
Amherst 7-2-3 (1st round)
Conn 6-2-4 (sweet 16)
Middlebury 5-4-2 (2nd round)

[blue_jays]

Just saw the Amherst box score...  I didn't realize Amherst men's soccer was offering UFC courses this season. At what point does Amherst Athletics step in and ask some serious questions? The red cards, the continued drama, the lack of discipline, this is becoming a pattern. If I were an Amherst alum, I'd be furious. Maybe it's time to dial it down a notch and work on some passing patterns instead of taking shots at the opposition.  I didn't see the red myself, though - can someone explain what happened?!

Amherst admin obviously does not care, or this would have been nipped in the bud years ago. I'm sure it's the usual "us against the world" mentality where "everyone hates Amherst" and they circle the wagons. People have been justifiably grousing on these boards about this for years and years.

[CollegeSoccerFan]

Just saw the Amherst box score...  I didn't realize Amherst men's soccer was offering UFC courses this season. At what point does Amherst Athletics step in and ask some serious questions? The red cards, the continued drama, the lack of discipline, this is becoming a pattern. If I were an Amherst alum, I'd be furious. Maybe it's time to dial it down a notch and work on some passing patterns instead of taking shots at the opposition.  I didn't see the red myself, though - can someone explain what happened?!

Amherst admin obviously does not care, or this would have been nipped in the bud years ago. I'm sure it's the usual "us against the world" mentality where "everyone hates Amherst" and they circle the wagons. People have been justifiably grousing on these boards about this for years and years.

Everybody knows that if you are hated by everyone, its not you - its everyone else 

Jokes aside, they win, and as long as they are good people on campus, admin could probably care less how they go about their play on the field

[nescac1]

I was just curious to check out if all the scrutiny of Amherst was based in any sort of statistical fact, and it is interesting to see that Amherst has led NESCAC in fouls per game (some years by a wide margin) every season from 2021 through 2026 (to date).  It also has accumulated, by a wide margin, the most yellow cards in the league over that time span, and the most red cards as well.  Of course, they've won a national title and finished second twice during the last five years, so the aggressive tactics have, at least until the last season or so, arguably paid off. But Amherst has been home to SO much high-level talent over that time (including this season, just look how many high profile transfers are on the team!) that you have to think it would have been inordinately successful regardless of tactical approach. 

Williams, meanwhile, continues to get little hype on the boards despite currently being first in NESCAC.  It hasn't always been pretty for the Ephs and they rarely seem to control the pace of play against other top teams, so maybe that is why.  But they have a star in the back in Jake Farmer, Kai Darrell has made some huge saves, and they have a slew of guys who can make things happen up front in Bethencourt, Appleton, Ruehlemann, Mitchell and Desmangles, among others.  Ideally they'd create more goals through longer build-ups rather than quick strikes, and there are a few too many easy opportunities for other teams, but the style does seem to be working out, so far, this year.  And it's scary for other teams to know how quickly they can turn a disadvantage into a goal.  At Wes, Tufts, and at Midd is a brutal end to the schedule, to they will need to play their A plus game going forward to hang on to first place. 

[Kuiper]

Region I - Poll 5 - October 13, 2026
Rank    School    Prev    W-L-T
1    Middlebury College    NR    8-0-2
2    Williams College    NR    9-1-1
3    Connecticut College    NR    6-2-2
4    Tufts University    NR    6-2-3
5    Bowdoin College    NR    5-1-4
6    Wesleyan University    NR    6-3-1
7    Colby College    NR    4-3-4
8    Trinity College    NR    6-4-1

[SierraFD3soccer]

Amherst admin obviously does not care, or this would have been nipped in the bud years ago. I'm sure it's the usual "us against the world" mentality where "everyone hates Amherst" and they circle the wagons. People have been justifiably grousing on these boards about this for years and years.

As to Amherst caring or not, I'm going with they don't. Check out this video from Amherst v. Middlebury in 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9YX_NSIFE

Notice also the Asst. Coach, Alex Ortega, now HC at Redlands. Among the disturbing behavior, a coach appears to be joining in the taunting, see :49 of the video where it appears that he is waving to the Middlebury crowd and not making any effort to correct the behavior of his players.

I sent this in an email to Amherst's pres. and he responded with -

Thank you for your note.  I am indeed aware of this deeply troubling behavior, and you are absolutely correct that it does not represent the standard of conduct that we expect of Amherst athletes.  I assure you that we will take appropriate action, and I hope that we will be able to earn back your respect for Amherst soccer.

So that was 2023. I'm guessing that Amherst admin either doesn't care or just doesn't want to know.

IMO, Amherst could play maybe even better with the talent they have. They just chose that way.

[stlawus]

Amherst admin obviously does not care, or this would have been nipped in the bud years ago. I'm sure it's the usual "us against the world" mentality where "everyone hates Amherst" and they circle the wagons. People have been justifiably grousing on these boards about this for years and years.

As to Amherst caring or not, I'm going with they don't. Check out this video from Amherst v. Middlebury in 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9YX_NSIFE

Notice also the Asst. Coach, Alex Ortega, now HC at Redlands. Among the disturbing behavior, a coach appears to be joining in the taunting, see :49 of the video where it appears that he is waving to the Middlebury crowd and not making any effort to correct the behavior of his players.

I sent this in an email to Amherst's pres. and he responded with -

Thank you for your note.  I am indeed aware of this deeply troubling behavior, and you are absolutely correct that it does not represent the standard of conduct that we expect of Amherst athletes.  I assure you that we will take appropriate action, and I hope that we will be able to earn back your respect for Amherst soccer.

So that was 2023. I'm guessing that Amherst admin either doesn't care or just doesn't want to know.

IMO, Amherst could play maybe even better with the talent they have. They just chose that way.

It's been basically 20 years of the same.  Back in '08 when they hosted the first and second round in Serpone's 2nd year there was an issue that weekend. I have plenty of stories from things I've seen in person that I have documented on here throughout the years.  Seems like it's all been tolerable from the admin point of view as long as they were winning. One has to wonder what happens if the results don't continue for a stretch.  If social media was more of a thing in the early 2010s along with better livestreams, this might have been addressed a while ago.  What really gets me is the professional pedigree of their coaching staff related to the program's behavior.  Serpone has like 5 master's degrees and has taught courses I believe. They have an assistant coach that was an elementary school administrator.  If kids in school behaved the way some of their players have they would have been punished, yet apparently the standards are lower for collegiate athletes at one of the most prestigious colleges in the world.  My own high school principal threatened to throw out the entire crowd in a playoff game once because of a couple parents mouthing off, yet at Amherst that kind of behavior is embraced by seemingly professional educators.

And as mentioned, the worst part about all of it is that it's a program that has elite talent and can play like a respectable program.  There is absolutely no need for it (anywhere for that matter), as all they have to do is play and let the results speak for themselves.  Unfortunately, it will take a very long time for the program to lose their reputation among the d3 crowd. Which I guess doesn't count for much since it's a niche thing, but still.