D3Boards.Com Soccer Top 20 Fan Poll

[EnmoreCat]

Could be a marketing opportunity,  "The Simple Coach" magic spray on hand for an AR to use everytime the ball goes out.

[SimpleCoach]

Could be a marketing opportunity,  "The Simple Coach" magic spray on hand for an AR to use everytime the ball goes out.

Am down with that.  Last year, the most egregious abuse of the throw in came from Williams.  I mean I could have sworn if it went out at midfield, the throw in would be at the corner flag.

SC.

[Newenglander]

Could be a marketing opportunity,  "The Simple Coach" magic spray on hand for an AR to use everytime the ball goes out.

Am down with that.  Last year, the most egregious abuse of the throw in came from Williams.  I mean I could have sworn if it went out at midfield, the throw in would be at the corner flag.

SC.

Question on the long throws - are the referees actually looking for legal throws? seems like some of the long throws I see hoofed into the box certainly blur the line of both hands on the ball and passed up and over the head........

[Hopkins92]

I think there's a decent amount of leeway and I actually don't mind that too much. As long as the thrower keeps both hands on the ball and the motion is over the head... fine.

Weston McKennie is a guy that probably bothers some of the purists/sticklers out there.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1660267508446756865

[SierraFD3soccer]

The throw-in cheating/latitude drives me crazy as well.  In part I just think there's too much going on for one referee to stay on top of everything.  Not quite as often, but happens for free kicks too.

True, in some cases, but at the D3 college level, the ARs are almost always as good as the center referees.  They might be less experienced, but are most likely as qualified based on training as the center. Any good center referee is going to rely on their ARs. If they don't then, in my opinion, they aren't good centers. Yes, sometimes ARs are not great, but at this level they should be. I can expect that from lower club or rec level referees, but not at this level.

I reffed for a number of years, but only to the HS/club level. I know when I centered and had the pregame meeting, I always told the ARs what they were to do and not do. Running the lines especially when it was in front of them was an important part for me. I did work with college level referees and they had way more games/training than myself. I'm guessing Simplecoach can say the same.  As an AR, I stood where he was to take the thrown in. Once he saw where I was directing the thrower, I went down the line to the last defender.  In my experience, center refs appreciate that and I definitely did when I as center.  Also important to note, centers are supposed to patrol the other side of the field of his ARs (basically traveling diagonally)  if he is doing what we were taught so most likely he can't locate where a ball went out when it is on the AR side.   

Sometimes where the game takes place will impact on the level of ref quality, but, living close to B'more, many refs are available for a well paid game at Hopkins.  D3 level refs do get paid well from what I remember which was about 3 years ago. Also whether a center/ARs are being assessed by NISOA, can be a factor on their performance.

[Gregory Sager]

I think there's a decent amount of leeway and I actually don't mind that too much. As long as the thrower keeps both hands on the ball and the motion is over the head... fine.

Weston McKennie is a guy that probably bothers some of the purists/sticklers out there.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1660267508446756865

Yeah, that throw-in was from the side of the head, not over the head. But I've never seen that called.

As an aside, one day on the air I'm going to spend 20 seconds exclaiming the word "Goal!", just to see if I can do it without becoming light-headed.

[Hopkins92]

The throw-in cheating/latitude drives me crazy as well.  In part I just think there's too much going on for one referee to stay on top of everything.  Not quite as often, but happens for free kicks too.

True, in some cases, but at the D3 college level, the ARs are almost always as good as the center referees.  They might be less experienced, but are most likely as qualified based on training as the center. Any good center referee is going to rely on their ARs. If they don't then, in my opinion, they aren't good centers. Yes, sometimes ARs are not great, but at this level they should be. I can expect that from lower club or rec level referees, but not at this level.

I reffed for a number of years, but only to the HS/club level. I know when I centered and had the pregame meeting, I always told the ARs what they were to do and not do. Running the lines especially when it was in front of them was an important part for me. I did work with college level referees and they had way more games/training than myself. I'm guessing Simplecoach can say the same.  As an AR, I stood where he was to take the thrown in. Once he saw where I was directing the thrower, I went down the line to the last defender.  In my experience, center refs appreciate that and I definitely did when I as center.  Also important to note, centers are supposed to patrol the other side of the field of his ARs (basically traveling diagonally)  if he is doing what we were taught so most likely he can't locate where a ball went out when it is on the AR side.   

Sometimes where the game takes place will impact on the level of ref quality, but, living close to B'more, many refs are available for a well paid game at Hopkins.  D3 level refs do get paid well from what I remember which was about 3 years ago. Also whether a center/ARs are being assessed by NISOA, can be a factor on their performance.

The guy on my side of the field... you could tell he was a vet and probably has a lot of center experience. And I've seen him for many years. The guy on the other side, where the egregious turf gobbling took place, I don't remember seeing him before and he looked a little green. The Hop bench/coaches got really mad at him in the second half when he missed that they wanted to sub.

THAT SAID, overall the refereeing was very good (or I would've mentioned it in my game notes.) I just noticed this in that particular instance because the Muhles pretty much flipped the field on that one play and Hop was really pinning them in...

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Here was my ballot. One change I need to make is I don't know why I have Lynchburg ahead of Chris Newport. That definitely will be changed next ballot.

1   Messiah
2   Mary Washington
3   Amherst
4   Middlebury
5   Texas Lutheran
6   Rochester
7   John Carroll
8   Case Western Reserve
9   Carleton
10   Chicago
11   Montclair St
12   Lynchburg
13   Chris Newport
14   Franklin & Marshall
15   Conn College
16   SUNY Oneonta
17   Williams
18   Mount Union
19   Calvin
20   St Thomas
21   Trinity (TX)
22   Bowdoin
23   Wartburg
24   North Central (IL)
25   Gustavus Adolphus

Only teams in the top 25 not on my ballot were Tufts, Redlands, Denison
On my ballot but not Top 25 were Lynchburg, Trinity (TX), Wartburg

[jknezek]

New poll, Messiah reclaims the top spot after a one-week hiatus. Mount Union is the big winner on the week, John Carroll the big loser. Middlebury at 6 is the first team to appear on less than all 8 ballots.

D3Boards.com Soccer Fan Poll Games as of 9/24/2023

National Top 25

Rank		School			Points		Weekly Change		Voter Breakdown
1		Messiah (7)			199		3		1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
2		Amherst (1)			189		1		2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 6, 2, 2
3		Mary Washington			174		-2		3, 3, 6, 5, 3, 2, 4, 8
4		Oneonta State			165		5		7, 4, 5, 8, 5, 3, 8, 3
5		Chicago			146		1		11, 9, 7, 3, 12, 4, 7, 9
6		Middlebury			139		1		4, 5, 3, 6, 14, 6, 5
7		Mount Union			126		12		8, 19, 13, 11, 7, 15, 3, 6
8		Carleton			121		6		6, 21, 10, 12, 6, 10, 15, 7
9		Bowdoin			117		9		9, 11, 16, 4, 11, 16, 12, 12
10		Montclair State			105		0		7, 9, 10, 7, 5, 13
11		Texas Lutheran			101		-1		5, 8, 9, 21, 8, 4
T12		St. Thomas (TX)			97		4		15, 22, 12, 7, 5, 10, 14
T12		Tufts			97		11		20, 12, 19, 14, 9, 9, 18, 10
14		Case Western Reserve			92		-2		17, 8, 17, 21, 4, 19, 13, 17
15		Connecticut College			83		2		10, 6, 15, 23, 8, 11
16		Rochester			79		-3		12, 10, 11, 16, 20, 16, 18
17		Cortland State			72		4		14, 20, 17, 14, 13, 9, 23
18		North Central (IL)			70		3		18, 15, 18, 13, 12, 20, 16
19		Williams			54		-12		16, 4, 18, 24, 19, 21
20		Occidental			40		---		13, 23, 25, 15, 25, 15
21		Franklin and Marshall			32		-16		24, 11, 11
T22		Calvin			31		-7		18, 14, 15
T22		Trinity (TX)			31		---		16, 23, 25, 21, 14
24		John Carroll			26		-22		17, 19, 17, 25
25		Widener			25		---		14, 22, 18, 25

Also Receiving Votes:
Lynchburg (21) , Redlands (21) , Macalester (20) , Emory (18) , Denison (16) , Gustavus Adolphus (14) , UW-Platteville (13) , New Paltz State (11) , Wartburg (11) , Washington and Lee (10) , Christopher Newport (9) , Ithaca (8) , Plattsburgh State (6) , Ohio Wesleyan (4) , Dickinson (2) , Lebanon Valley (2) , MSOE (2) , St. Joseph (CT) (1)

Newly Ranked: Occidental, Trinity (TX), Widener
Dropped Out: Christopher Newport (Prev:20), Redlands (Prev:24), Denison (Prev:25), Gustavus Adolphus (Prev:25)

1 = 1st Place Vote, 25 = 25th Place Vote in Voter Breakdown
Special Thanks to the Voters: FCGrizzliesGrad, Mid-Atlantic Fan, Coach Jeff, PaulNewman, Paclassic89, SimpleCoach, College Soccer Observer, Greg Sager

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Ithaca receiving votes? 3-1-2 with a 4-0 loss to Cortland and no signature wins. Interesting.

[Coach Jeff]

Looking at my ballot I think Mt. Union is having a great season so far.  However, when I look at their results 5 of their wins are against PAC which is not historically a strong league.  In fact all those teams they beat in the PAC have triple digit power ratings.  One team is rated 315 on the scale.  Only 2 of their wins have come against a top 30 teams (25 and 30).  Not sold on them being a top 10 team yet.  Hoping I am wrong.  They play a nice style of soccer just need to see bigger results.  Time will tell. In the future I would like to see them schedule tougher non-league games. 

[Coach Jeff]

Ithaca receiving votes? 3-1-2 with a 4-0 loss to Cortland and no signature wins. Interesting.

Agree totally??

[SimpleCoach]

Looking at my ballot I think Mt. Union is having a great season far. In the future I would like to see them schedule tougher non-league games.   However, when I look at their results 5 of their wins are against PAC which is not historically a strong league.  In fact all those teams they beat in the PAC have triple digit power ratings.  One team is rated 315 on the scale.  Only 2 of their wins have come against a top 30 teams (25 and 30).  Not sold on them being a top 10 team yet.  Hoping I am wrong.  They play a nice style of soccer just need to see bigger results.  Time will tell.

I have them ranked 15th.  I don't think they are Top 10 material, as much as I would love it if they were.  I think it is a condition of the USC Rankings that has them that high.  They are very good defensively and on set pieces, and they control the ball.  Thought Calvin was better, but unlucky on the day.  Happens.  Can they break the Top 10 in my rankings?  Yes, but think they need to beat Ohio Northern on the road, and Capital on the road, without tripping up against BW, Heidelberg and Marietta.

Go Raiders!

SC.

[Coach Jeff]

Looking at my ballot I think Mt. Union is having a great season far. In the future I would like to see them schedule tougher non-league games.   However, when I look at their results 5 of their wins are against PAC which is not historically a strong league.  In fact all those teams they beat in the PAC have triple digit power ratings.  One team is rated 315 on the scale.  Only 2 of their wins have come against a top 30 teams (25 and 30).  Not sold on them being a top 10 team yet.  Hoping I am wrong.  They play a nice style of soccer just need to see bigger results.  Time will tell.

I have them ranked 15th.  I don't think they are Top 10 material, as much as I would love it if they were.  I think it is a condition of the USC Rankings that has them that high.  They are very good defensively and on set pieces, and they control the ball.  Thought Calvin was better, but unlucky on the day.  Happens.  Can they break the Top 10 in my rankings?  Yes, but think they need to beat Ohio Northern on the road, and Capital on the road, without tripping up against BW, Heidelberg and Marietta.

Go Raiders!

SC.

I think you are right.  Those wins would increase their ranking.  Good luck Raiders!  We will be watching!

[PaulNewman]

1). Messiah
2)  Amherst
3)  Chicago
4)  Bowdoin
5)  Mary Washington
6)  Middlebury
7)  St Thomas
8)  Oneonta St
9)  Texas Lutheran
10) Montclair St
11) Mt Union
12) Carleton
13) North Central
14) Tufts
15) Calvin
16) Rochester
17) Cortland St
18) Williams
19) John Carroll
20) Emory
21) CWRU
22) Lynchburg
23) Connecticut College
24) Lebanon Valley
25) Occidental