2014 D3 Season: National Perspective

[LaPaz]

Went to Brandeis v Hobart.  5-0 Brandeis and they absolutely dominated. Hobart held them off for about 60 minutes and then the flood gates opened with "the dice" scoring 5 goals in about 15 minutes. Brandeis still playing some attractive soccer, playing quick and on the surface. They are a very skilled team and have some great team speed. I have said this before but they do lack some size and physical toughness which could hurt them in November but a very good team and entertaining to watch. Hobart I was disappointed in. I last saw them in 2011 at Babson and they had some good players and and were a above average d3 team. They did not have the talent and are lacking in depth. Hobart used to be able to push anyone thru admissions, not sure if that has changed.

[KnightFalcon]

Hmmmm, never thought of that - but it helps to live in the Midwest and have a connection to each program though.

[PaulNewman]

Watch out for Wheaton (MA).  Quietly off to a very strong start and now 3-0 after a good win again today.  Wheaton at Brandeis will be an interesting matchup in a few weeks.

[PaulNewman]

Stevens loses to Farmingdale, and Framingdale loses today to Baruch 3-1.  Go figure.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Cabrini beats Camden 2-1

Camden youth is showing; not winning the 50/50's and not playing well in offensive third.  Crazy ending; intentional handball in/around the box with less than ten seconds (AR has flag up and ref doesn't blow whistle or atleast you can't hear if he did).  The horn sounds, but after deliberation two seconds were added...  can't tell if the ball was placed inside from the video angle.

[PaulNewman]

Big shootout going on with SLU and Rochester with 5 goals already in 1st half and UR up 3-2.

[chelseafc30]

Has anyone seen Kenyon play? I feel them jumping 10 spots to number 4 seemed a bit hefty despite a good start. What was the reasoning for such a big jump?

[Ryan Harmanis]

Has anyone seen Kenyon play? I feel them jumping 10 spots to number 4 seemed a bit hefty despite a good start. What was the reasoning for such a big jump?

Generally the top team in each region is in the top 8 of the NSCAA national rankings.  With OWU's loss at Calvin, and Kenyon returning pretty much everyone from a Sweet 16 team, they jumped.  They also pasted Carnegie Mellon on the road, although it looks like CMU might be pretty down this year.

[PaulNewman]

The Kenyon jump was a big one but there were some other big moves that raised my eyebrows just as much, like Wheaton (Ill) jumping UP 5 spots after a loss, Amherst dropping 6 spots without even playing (although weak result in first game would have warranted the drop), Ohio Northern jumping 9 spots, Oneonta jumping to #13 from Receiving Votes, Calvin jumping to #19 from NR after a loss, Wash U up 8 spots after a loss, etc, etc.  And in the other direction probably a surprise that F&M didn't move up further after 2 quality wins.  As for Kenyon, a deep run always involves some good fortune and there is a long way to go, but they really only lost one star player who missed chunks of last season with injury.  Everyone else is back, including the back 4 and GK, the forwards, and most of the midfield.  They also added a D1 transfer and a strong frosh class with at least a few frosh who will be in the mix.   Kenyon has a senior-heavy team with lots of quality experience augmented by some very talented underclassmen.  Someone will have to play a very good game and get a good bounce or two to beat them.

Basically it looks like Messiah and Loras are in a category by themselves and everything after that is up for grabs.

In New England, Brandeis is very, very good again and watch out for Wheaton (MA).  Amherst vs Middlebury one to watch for tomorrow.

[PaulNewman]

The other thing with the rankings is that some of the expected heavyweights stumbled out of the gate -- Rutgers-C, Stevens, York, Rochester, etc.  Rochester should now be back on track with the win over SLU.

[PaulNewman]

Wheaton (MA) already up 3-0 on Keene State inside of 25 minutes.

[PaulNewman]

5-0 Wheaton, still 1st half

[chelseafc30]

The Kenyon jump was a big one but there were some other big moves that raised my eyebrows just as much, like Wheaton (Ill) jumping UP 5 spots after a loss, Amherst dropping 6 spots without even playing (although weak result in first game would have warranted the drop), Ohio Northern jumping 9 spots, Oneonta jumping to #13 from Receiving Votes, Calvin jumping to #19 from NR after a loss, Wash U up 8 spots after a loss, etc, etc.  And in the other direction probably a surprise that F&M didn't move up further after 2 quality wins.  As for Kenyon, a deep run always involves some good fortune and there is a long way to go, but they really only lost one star player who missed chunks of last season with injury.  Everyone else is back, including the back 4 and GK, the forwards, and most of the midfield.  They also added a D1 transfer and a strong frosh class with at least a few frosh who will be in the mix.   Kenyon has a senior-heavy team with lots of quality experience augmented by some very talented underclassmen.  Someone will have to play a very good game and get a good bounce or two to beat them.

Basically it looks like Messiah and Loras are in a category by themselves and everything after that is up for grabs.

In New England, Brandeis is very, very good again and watch out for Wheaton (MA).  Amherst vs Middlebury one to watch for tomorrow.

Thanks for the description NCAC. I knew that Kenyon had returned virtually everyone from last year so I knew they would be a very tough opponent this year. I think alot of their high ranking had to do with their 3-0 thrashing of CMU, but I'm not sure CMU is of the caliber that they were first believed to be. Looking at their roster so far, it seems that some of the freshman are getting good chunks of minutes at the moment. I wasn't aware they brought in a D1 transfer. Does anyone know who the transfer is or anything about him?

[PaulNewman]

And then Rochester plays to scoreless draw with Clarkson and SLU barely gets by Geneseo in OT.

[PaulNewman]

Trinity (TX) falls to Texas-Dallas.

Oneonta with very strong start.