MARK YOUR CALENDARS (2015) FIXTURES

[lastguyoffthebench]

Early on in the season we have a few tasty fixtures. 

Which powerhouse is likely to lose first?   Messiah, Wheaton, Loras, OWU, SUNY Oneonta, Trinity?    My guess is K-zoo beating OWU on 9/4.

9/1  Loras vs UW-O
9/1  Dickinson vs Catholic
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9/4 OWU vs Kalamazoo
9/4 Covenant vs Montclair St
9/4 CSS vs Hope
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9/5 Messiah vs Carnegie Mellon
9/5 Brandeis vs Trinity (TX)
9/5 Haverford vs Stevens Tech
9/5 Calvin vs Gordon
9/5 Rutgers-Newark vs Rochester
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9/6 Rutgers-Newark vs Cortland St
9/6 Rutgers-Camden vs Salisbury
9/6 Thomas More vs Case Western
9/6 Lycoming vs York (PA)
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9/8 Wheaton vs Loras
9/9 Williams vs SUNY Oneonta
9/9 Methodist vs Virginia Wesleyan
9/9 Wheaton vs WNEC
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9/11 Emory vs Centre
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9/12 Wheaton (Ill) vs Berry
9/12 Babson vs Brandeis
9/12 Carnegie Mellon vs Kenyon
9/12 Muhlenberg vs Stevens Tech
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9/13 Christopher Newport vs Rutgers-Camden
9/13 UC Santa Cruz vs Whitworth
9/13 Wartburg vs Colorado College

Morrisville State opens with Oneonta St, Cortland St, Rochester

[Mr.Right]

I am most looking forward to Brandeis early season Texas swing. My gut says that if this trip took place in early October the results would be a bit different but I am predicting they struggle this trip. I think Brandeis will still be searching for team cohesiveness this early in the season with the loss of key senior leaders. No doubt they still have a great roster with excellent depth and a strong frosh class coming in but sometimes it takes a few weeks to get everyone om the same page.

[Mr.Right]

Messiah at Carnegie Mellon will also be very interesting. I remember watching about 3-4 Carnegie Mellon games last year and was impressed how competitive they were in the games I watched. They should have gotten a result at Brandeis last year as they were unlucky not to finish a couple clear chances. They only lost 1 game(0-3 v Kenyon in 1st game of the season) by more than 1 goal all year. To me they looked like an organized well coached team that over achieved a bit. This tells me that once the new coach gets the players to compete they will learn to finish games and be atop the UAA very soon.

The best time to get a result against Messiah, or any top team for that matter, is the 1st or 2nd game of the season. Players are still getting their legs, team cohesiveness, new captains and leaders, different roles and new faces and much much more can factor into the UPSET happening the first week. If memory serves in 2012 Utica went down to Messiah on the opening weekend and went up 1-0 in the 1st minute on a fluke goal. (the odds on Utica scoring 1st in that game would have been 10,000 to 1). Messiah ended up winning 2-1 but if that same game had happened mid October it would have been 6-1.

[Mr.Right]

Oneonta at Williams will also be intriguing. Oneonta will have been together since August 20th with 4 games under their belt while Williams with a new coach. new style , 1st game of the season and only back since Aug 30th are at a clear disadvantage. Oneonta will love Williasm 120 x 80 field as they were very fit lsat year and looked like they could run all day. This is a real head scratcher as to why Sullivan would schedule this game as the 1st game of the season putting Williams in a real battle their 1st game of the year. Late September would have worked much better. I think Oneonta wins this game 3-1

[PaulNewman]

Interesting early trip out West for Oberlin, taking on Occidental and Pomona-Pitzer.

[nw_ds]

I am most looking forward to Brandeis early season Texas swing. My gut says that if this trip took place in early October the results would be a bit different but I am predicting they struggle this trip. I think Brandeis will still be searching for team cohesiveness this early in the season with the loss of key senior leaders. No doubt they still have a great roster with excellent depth and a strong frosh class coming in but sometimes it takes a few weeks to get everyone om the same page.

I also think in general people underestimate how difficult it is to go on the road and win in these games that require traveling via flights. Brandeis will be somewhat used to this due to the UAA schedule, but it's still a long trip with quality opponents so I would not be surprised at all to see them struggle as well. It's great to see them schedule this trip on top of their already difficult schedule though; should they make the tournament again this year having as many games like these as possible under their belts can only help

[NEPAFAN]

Great thread!

[lastguyoffthebench]

Messiah went to the bakery this season... Plenty of cupcakes for a rebuilding year.   The Mid Atlantic is a strong region with teams on the up and up.  Must win the conference this year or they will be on the outside looking in.

I think Trinity will dominate Brandeis...

I think CMU atleast gets a point vs Messiah.

Loras will beat Wheaton...

Camden will beat Salisbury


Please add rivalry games to this thread.  I know most of them are scheduled for later in the season, but it's easy to overlook one with so many games on the daily card(s).

[Ryan Harmanis]

I'll probably put something more detailed together over the next week or so once I can check out everyone's schedule, but OWU has some decent regional games:

9/4 OWU vs Kalamazoo - 2nd in MIAA in 2014 making the trip, should be an entertaining early-season game
9/12 OWU @ Centre - Centre is the big, physical style of team that often causes OWU problems
9/16 OWU @ Ohio Northern - generally top two teams in Great Lakes region, almost always lots of goals

Unfortunately no real powerhouse out-of-region team on the early schedule, whereas in the last five years they've had Wheaton (2x), Calvin (2x), CNU (2x), Messiah, etc.  And Carnegie Mellon, despite being in-region, hasn't been on the schedule since some lopsided results a few years back.

[All NESCAC]

Oneonta at Williams will also be intriguing. Oneonta will have been together since August 20th with 4 games under their belt while Williams with a new coach. new style , 1st game of the season and only back since Aug 30th are at a clear disadvantage. Oneonta will love Williasm 120 x 80 field as they were very fit lsat year and looked like they could run all day. This is a real head scratcher as to why Sullivan would schedule this game as the 1st game of the season putting Williams in a real battle their 1st game of the year. Late September would have worked much better. I think Oneonta wins this game 3-1

Good analysis...perhaps Sullivan wants to open with a very tough game so he can gage his team, and also continually point to it, if a loss or tie, to keep the team focused on improving...ie."you're good, but your not that good, certainly not yet, but you can be".  If its a win, then it's a huge momentum lift.  Better to lose early than late.

[Flying Weasel]

Isn't it possible that the scheduling of the Williams-Oneonta game was in the works or even finalized before Sullivan was hired?  I don't know how far ahead scheduling is done and Sullivan was named very quickly after the 2014 season closed.  Just didn't know if it should be assumed the early Oneonta game was his doing.

[Mr.Right]

Isn't it possible that the scheduling of the Williams-Oneonta game was in the works or even finalized before Sullivan was hired?  I don't know how far ahead scheduling is done and Sullivan was named very quickly after the 2014 season closed.  Just didn't know if it should be assumed the early Oneonta game was his doing.

After being around Nescac for as long as I have I can say with quite certainty that Russo would never have scheduled that game for all the disadvantages I listed. He would never have scheduled his toughest non-conference game and most likely his toughest game all season as the 1st game of the year on Sept 8th with Williams only being back for a week vs Oneonta who will have been on their 5th game and 3 weeks since the start of their pre-season. I would bet my house on it. He also would not have scheduled that game knowing a new coach was taking over. Also, Sullivan when at WNEC has played Oneonta the past couple of seasons so maybe the coaches get along well and like to play each other.

On that note I can also tell you I am also not very surprised to see Trinity CT playing back to back games to open the season on a Tuesday and Wednesday before welcoming Williams that Saturday. One in a long line of boneheaded moves made by Pilger the past 12 years at the helm of Trinity

[lastguyoffthebench]

Stevens Tech Pryor nets a hat trick and scores late to beat Haverford 3-2.

Camden misses a bundle of opportunities and beats St. Mary's in OT with a PK by Connor Hurff (3G 5A on season).

No surprise to see Messiah lose on the road in a great finish.   

K-zoo my "upset" pick falls in OT to OWU.   Have not looked at box score...

Oneonta St with a 3rd consecutive clean sheet which spells trouble for Williams.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Etown up 2-0 on DeSales.  Shoulda been on this thread former AA George Crampton (Etown alum) vs Skipper


Etown looking to start 3-0 on season with a win over Dickinson.    Centennial with a rough star this far...

[backyarddawg]

Rough start for CC but playing enough quality opponents to take a lump early.