Liberty League

[soccerfan111]

How does Skidmore lose 2 games and stay ranked in the regional rankings?

[stlawus]

Even banged up a bit SLU is finding a way to get it done. No surprise a lot of it is coming from the midfield.  Would not have ever imagined an 8-0-1 start to the season.   Get the ball up, get the ball forward, and results will come.

[Saint of Old]

Even banged up a bit SLU is finding a way to get it done. No surprise a lot of it is coming from the midfield.  Would not have ever imagined an 8-0-1 start to the season.   Get the ball up, get the ball forward, and results will come.

Between 1997 and 2016 8-0-1 was a typical start for SLU, 4 of those years we did not lone ONE SINGLE GAME.
Then we started this negative backward play and were only decent thanks to the help of two Top 10 All time players who were with the team for 7 straight years.

Very happy that a former All American Saint is running the athletic department now who recalls the magic of SLU football and the ingredients that made it happen.

[stlawus]

Clarkson 4 Hobart 0          Hobart has to play Cortland tomorrow as well.

RPI with a very huge win at Union. RIT also with a major win against Vassar.  Some parity this season it seems.

SLU playing with a target on their back and some injuries to get the 2-1 win against Bard.  Bard goalie made several spectacular saves to keep it a game.  That road trip is always a hard one.  Bard is a vastly improved team, slowly but surely they are turning things around even if they aren't getting wins.  They are no longer pushovers.

If SLU can get one more win then they are are above the minimum 10 win threshold for NPI purposes (tie counts as half a win).  Every win from here on out allows SLU to drop a win that doesn't help them which will boost their NPI.

[kevdog]

Clarkson 4 Hobart 0          Hobart has to play Cortland tomorrow as well.

RPI with a very huge win at Union. RIT also with a major win against Vassar.  Some parity this season it seems.

SLU playing with a target on their back and some injuries to get the 2-1 win against Bard.  Bard goalie made several spectacular saves to keep it a game.  That road trip is always a hard one.  Bard is a vastly improved team, slowly but surely they are turning things around even if they aren't getting wins.  They are no longer pushovers.

If SLU can get one more win then they are are above the minimum 10 win threshold for NPI purposes (tie counts as half a win).  Every win from here on out allows SLU to drop a win that doesn't help them which will boost their NPI.

I was shocked when I saw some of those scores. Hobart losing by 4 to Clarkson was not what I expected. Vassar was another one I did not expect. What a difference a year makes. SLU with the same cast of characters have turned it around from last year years 6 win team. Hope they keep it going but league is always tough to go undefeated.

[Jcsimms]

Clarkson 4 Hobart 0          Hobart has to play Cortland tomorrow as well.

RPI with a very huge win at Union. RIT also with a major win against Vassar.  Some parity this season it seems.



SLU playing with a target on their back and some injuries to get the 2-1 win against Bard.  Bard goalie made several spectacular saves to keep it a game.  That road trip is always a hard one.  Bard is a vastly improved team, slowly but surely they are turning things around even if they aren't getting wins.  They are no longer pushovers.

If SLU can get one more win then they are are above the minimum 10 win threshold for NPI purposes (tie counts as half a win).  Every win from here on out allows SLU to drop a win that doesn't help them which will boost their NPI.

I was shocked when I saw some of those scores. Hobart losing by 4 to Clarkson was not what I expected. Vassar was another one I did not expect. What a difference a year makes. SLU with the same cast of characters have turned it around from last year years 6 win team. Hope they keep it going but league is always tough to go undefeated.

Clarkson got lucky early and Leitner lost his cool and got a red card with 20 left in the first half.  The coach pulled his starters to rest them for cortland. 

Hobart's achilles heel is high-contact teams.  It looked like Brady was getting sick of no call fouls.  Still needs to keep his head because he's just hurting his team.

[Kuiper]

Clarkson 4 Hobart 0          Hobart has to play Cortland tomorrow as well.

RPI with a very huge win at Union. RIT also with a major win against Vassar.  Some parity this season it seems.



SLU playing with a target on their back and some injuries to get the 2-1 win against Bard.  Bard goalie made several spectacular saves to keep it a game.  That road trip is always a hard one.  Bard is a vastly improved team, slowly but surely they are turning things around even if they aren't getting wins.  They are no longer pushovers.

If SLU can get one more win then they are are above the minimum 10 win threshold for NPI purposes (tie counts as half a win).  Every win from here on out allows SLU to drop a win that doesn't help them which will boost their NPI.

I was shocked when I saw some of those scores. Hobart losing by 4 to Clarkson was not what I expected. Vassar was another one I did not expect. What a difference a year makes. SLU with the same cast of characters have turned it around from last year years 6 win team. Hope they keep it going but league is always tough to go undefeated.

Clarkson got lucky early and Leitner lost his cool and got a red card with 20 left in the first half.  The coach pulled his starters to rest them for cortland. 

Hobart's achilles heel is high-contact teams.  It looked like Brady was getting sick of no call fouls.  Still needs to keep his head because he's just hurting his team.

I would say that pulling the starters and resting them for Cortland worked, but a bevy of red cards may have influenced this game too.  Perhaps someone who watched it has more information.

Hobart 1 - Cortland 0

Hobart scored in the 14th minute and held on against Cortland's barrage of shots, but a Hobart player received a second yellow in the 61st and then a Cortland player was red carded in the 79th (plus it looks like a coach or the Cortland bench got red carded in the 65th).

[kevdog]

Interesting that they played back to back games. Hamilton and Tufts played also today after playing yesterday. That's how it use to be way back in the late 80's and early 90's and how it is during tournament time. Glad most schools changed that as it can take a toll on the body with back to back games

[Saint of Old]

I played late 90s through 00 and they still had the back to back games Kevdog.
Was a normal thing to play 2 games in a weekend back then and the squads were also much smaller each team...maybe 20-22 players.

Boys got softer overtime

In all seriousness though, those back to back games on the weekend really gets you ready come tournament time and you have to pley 2 game weekends to advance.

[kevdog]

I played late 90s through 00 and they still had the back to back games Kevdog.
Was a normal thing to play 2 games in a weekend back then and the squads were also much smaller each team...maybe 20-22 players.

Boys got softer overtime

In all seriousness though, those back to back games on the weekend really gets you ready come tournament time and you have to pley 2 game weekends to advance.

Yeah the squads were much smaller than and the games were not 24 hours apart. Sometimes they were only 12 hours apart. Play a night game and then turn around and play a 11 AM game at another college the next day. It did prepare you for the tournament though

[Jcsimms]

Clarkson 4 Hobart 0          Hobart has to play Cortland tomorrow as well.

RPI with a very huge win at Union. RIT also with a major win against Vassar.  Some parity this season it seems.



SLU playing with a target on their back and some injuries to get the 2-1 win against Bard.  Bard goalie made several spectacular saves to keep it a game.  That road trip is always a hard one.  Bard is a vastly improved team, slowly but surely they are turning things around even if they aren't getting wins.  They are no longer pushovers.

If SLU can get one more win then they are are above the minimum 10 win threshold for NPI purposes (tie counts as half a win).  Every win from here on out allows SLU to drop a win that doesn't help them which will boost their NPI.

I was shocked when I saw some of those scores. Hobart losing by 4 to Clarkson was not what I expected. Vassar was another one I did not expect. What a difference a year makes. SLU with the same cast of characters have turned it around from last year years 6 win team. Hope they keep it going but league is always tough to go undefeated.

Clarkson got lucky early and Leitner lost his cool and got a red card with 20 left in the first half.  The coach pulled his starters to rest them for cortland. 

Hobart's achilles heel is high-contact teams.  It looked like Brady was getting sick of no call fouls.  Still needs to keep his head because he's just hurting his team.

I would say that pulling the starters and resting them for Cortland worked, but a bevy of red cards may have influenced this game too.  Perhaps someone who watched it has more information.

Hobart 1 - Cortland 0

Hobart scored in the 14th minute and held on against Cortland's barrage of shots, but a Hobart player received a second yellow in the 61st and then a Cortland player was red carded in the 79th (plus it looks like a coach or the Cortland bench got red carded in the 65th).

I didn't watch it but talked with someone who did.  Assistant coach accumulated a red because of yelling at the ref.  The cortland red was a dogso.  Apparently the kid did a full-on leaping football tackle just outside the box.  If you're gonna catch a red, might as well make sure.

The rest of the cards were Hobart. They're collecting a lot of cards that might matter later in the season.

[stlawus]

SLU at #1 and Hobart at #9 in the first NPI rankings.  Lots of soccer to be played, but quite a remarkable turnaround compared to last season for the Saints.  Wins from here on out for both teams allow them to drop weak wins from their NPI resume.  As I said, lots of soccer to be played and individual results can cause big swings in the numbers, but both teams have put themselves in a position to get a top 8 protected seed.  The road gets exceedingly more difficult as the target on the back continue to gets larger and larger.  Vassar will be an extremely difficult game for SLU given that Vassar needs the result.

[kevdog]

It's nice to see the Liberty League get some pub.  Never would I expect that SLu would be this highly ranked compare to the team last year since it is the same cast of characters.  Give credit to them and coach Tosh.  Also to have Hobart this high too is quite the accomplishment. Hoepfully the winning ways continue and we can get at least 2 in the tournament but there is stil a lot of soccer left and anything can happen.  Also it is nice to see Cortland and Oneonta ranked as high as they are. I could be wrong but 4 schools from NY in the top 20 is big accomplishment. Hope it continues.

[Kuiper]

USC Region III Poll 3 Sept. 29, 2026

Region III - Poll 3 - September 29, 2026
Rank   School   Prev   W-L-T
1   St. Lawrence University   NR   7-0-1
2   Hobart College   NR   8-1-0
3   SUNY Oneonta   NR   6-0-1
4   SUNY Cortland   NR   5-1-1
5   Ithaca College   NR   7-0-3
6   Clarkson University   NR   4-2-2
7   Skidmore College   NR   2-4-2
8   Bard College   NR   7-1-0

Region III - Poll 4 - October 6, 2026
Rank   School   Prev   W-L-T
1   St. Lawrence University   NR   9-0-1
2   Hobart College   NR   9-2-0
3   SUNY Cortland   NR   7-2-1
4   SUNY Oneonta   NR   7-0-2
5   Clarkson University   NR   5-3-2
6   Ithaca College   NR   7-1-4
7   Nazareth University   NR   6-2-0
8   Plattsburgh State University   NR   4-3-3

Nazareth and Plattsburgh replace Bard and Skidmore (showing that these coaches poll often lag results by a week, perhaps because of early voting).

[Bartman]

Hobart hosts Ithaca at Cozzens Field today, a must win for these teams that want to keep up with the Saints. Hopefully the Statesmen will keep cooler heads and minimize cards today.