Mid-Atlantic Region

[SierraFD3soccer]

0-4 seems to be a first for F&M. They lost 4 in a row in 2002 I think. IMO, F&M after going down 2-0 against Kenyon played much better than it had over the previous 3 games, but may be more hope than fact.  FYI, 4 F&M games, they only scored 3 off of PKs. So lots and lots of worries in Lancaster. Lost a lot of talent so we will see what they are made of, plus how coaching will impact them.

The Boot home game against Elizabethtown this Saturday is huge for F&M.

As to Messiah - all eyes on their visit to Dickinson tomorrow at 6. Great mid week game with a lot on the line. Both big games for each. Dickinson has played Messiah very tough over the last couple of years. 1-0 win and 2-1 lose for Messiah.

Also a lot more pleasant actually talking about soccer on this board as compared to NESCAC!

[SierraFD3soccer]

Well, that didn't take much digging. Totally forgot they were blown out against W&L in 2023. 4-0 down in Lexington. That team wound up winning the conference title and losing to #4 Middlebury in the tournament.

And it turns out I did have time. The only other 4-0 loss I see, going back to 2012, was a loss to Neumann. That came during a stretch of seasons when Hop was very mediocre, but they still managed to avoid a bunch of blowouts.

True a lot of time left. That W&L team lost to Amherst in the semis in pks in 2023 (one of the worst pk shootout ever).

[Freddyfud]

Keep an eye on Catholic and 2024 Landmark Offensive PoY Holden Woodings...

Catholic are off to a 2-0 start after topping Shenandoah 1-0 and St. Mary's College 4-1. St. Mary's had previously won their first 2 matches against Ursinus (2-1) and York (1-0).

Woodings (SR) had 15 goals in 21 games last season and is now off the mark with a goal against St. Mary's to open his account for this season.

Catholic are carrying 11 juniors and 5 seniors (as per their roster on website). Could be a good year for them. They play Washington & Lee on Sept 13 which may be a good litmus test for the Cards. It will also be interesting to see them go head to head with Scranton in the Landmark, who beat Messiah 2-0 in their first game.

The transfer from UNCW is another one to watch.  Heck of a defender.  And a polite young man (a friend of my son.)

[NEPAFAN]

Messiah is 0-3, not sure if that takes anything away from Scranton's win. any win at Messiah is good in my book..

[Ejay]

Someone I'm keeping an eye on this year is TCNJ. They hired a great coach in Steve DeMatteo to replace the assistant basketball coach who was their interim coach in a 2-12-5 season last year. Under DeMatteo's guidance, they currently sit 4-0 and have outscored their opponents (albeit weak) 19-1.

SimpleCoach and I have publicly discussed several times our surprise how TCNJ has largely been irrelevant for several years.  A one-time powerhouse in the 80s-90s (including a chip in '96 and runner-up in '91, '97), the program has only won more than 10 games in a season twice this century.

TCNJ is a great academic school, has a lovely campus and should be attracting NJ's best D3 talent. While I'll hold judgement on their prospects for this year until they get into league play, I'm hopeful this start is giant step in the right direction.

[Hopkins92]

Continuing down this path, the women's side of the soccer equation is a perennially good team. They have made it to November Madness most years in the last decade, losing in the Championship Game in 2023.

They have the academics and campus life, and it is within a reasonable "let's go to the city for a concert" distance from Philly and "let's go spend the weekend in the Big City" from NYC.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Leb Val v. Gettysburg - great free kick goal early by LVC. As good as any EPL free kick.  https://gomacsports.tv/flyingdutchmen/

[Ejay]

Scored by Nathan Prex. He's a stud. Was an All-American So. year, and had a decent Jr. year despite missing a handful of games and then playing hurt.

[NEPAFAN]

Dickinson, get your camera operator in order. Missed the goal just now. At least it wasn't behind a pay wall!

[SierraFD3soccer]

Any other year, the Dickinson over Messiah would be epic. Now...

The JHU v St. Mary's 3-3 had it all!  Plus the student announcers were awesome!! Not avante garde like Haverford, but they were having a great time!!The red card was a little weak though. At least it was near the end.

[Hopkins92]

The student announcers were pretty funny. Not understanding the advantage rule fairly early in the affair helped set my expectations with those two guys early.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Yeah, while a little partisan, they weren't super super homers

[Mr_November]

A game that many may have missed/glazed over was Rutgers-Newark vs. Eastern...

Final score was 4-3 to RN, with the game-winning goal coming with less than 30 seconds left on the clock. The game was end to end stuff with boisterous announcers calling the action. RN initially took the lead before Eastern had reclaimed the lead twice at 2-1 and 3-2.

Eastern play a good brand of soccer but look like they could get scored on at any moment.

[Mr_November]

Notable results so far this season from the top contenders in the MAC Commonwealth:

Alvernia 0-5 Rochester
Widener 0-5 Gettysburg
Messiah 0-3 Dickinson

York seem to be the only one who has held onto their form from last season, with their only loss being 1-0 to St. Mary's College. York also tied LVC 2-2 and beat Susquehanna & Neumann

Might be an interesting shakedown in conference play...

[Mr_November]

One player to keep an eye on for St. Mary's College is sophomore Nick Haney. So far this season...6 Starts, 3 goals, 1 Assist...1 red card. From what I've seen, Haney is a skillful, dynamic player that has the X-factor in him that can win games. He also has a bit of a temperament, as you might gather from the red card against JHU.

Haney scored goals against York (game winner), Catholic, & Hopkins.