I disagree with Rye. They have one good mifielder, a couple solid players sprinkled throughout the side. The rest of their team is relatively weak. Look at who they played. No one like Loomis, Deefield, etc. the best teams they play are Trinity-Pawling, or Brunswick.
#8 Deerfield just beat #1 Winchendon in an upset. They compete so well and yet they are always considered underdogs to win New Englands. Deerfield is my dark horse to go all the way this year. The only other teams who have a chance of winning are Loomis and Bridgeton, but Bridgeton is an all post-graduate school for boys, so anyone matched up against them is unevenly matched. Loomis, on the other hand, is very strong offensively and defensively. I predict Loomis plays Deerfield in the final, and the winner is a tossup.
The Deerfield/Winchendon result is quite an upset. I saw both teams play at the beginning of the season and would not have predicted this outcome if they played 10 times. That being said, Bridgeton and Loomis look like the class of the remaining four but DO NOT WRITE OFF BBN (you heard it here first) They are a first class team, with a great coach, alot of senior leadership and one of the hottest strikers around right now (a hat trick in the quarters). See you on Sunday at the finals, whoever is playing. P.S. Maybe next year the powers-that-be will fix the problems in the play-off selection process so the Class A teams don't keep getting screwed.
BBN deserves a lot of credit i don't know much about their program recently; in my day they were not consistent playoff contenders. This year was supposed to be a Nobles repeat but at the end of the season, there's no doubt BB&N were the best team in the ISL. They may be overamtched in New Englands against PG factories like Deerfield & Loomis, but a regional title isn't out of the question.
Dr. Jay, what flaws do you see in the system/teams getting screwed? It seems that the teams in the A tournament can play with each other, the teams in the B tournament can play with each other, as well as the C tournament. The 8 seed upset the 1 seed in A, took the 1 seed to PK's in class B before losing, and Beaver CDS, a traditionally strong program lost in double overtime to the number one seed. It seems like the "selection committee" or whatever it is did a pretty good job of finding the right teams for the respective tournaments.
There is no doubt that for the most part, the designation of A, B and C have nothing to do with soccer ability. Nor should it. It is based strictly on the number of boys in the school. Take a team like Rivers - small school (class C) - but great coach who does excellent recruiting. They won the New England A championship 3 years ago. They are competing quite well in B this year. There are two problems with the system: (1) Teams can play up, but not down. If two class B teams play up, only 6 class A teams can make the playoffs. Every year its the same - 10 or 11 B teams make the playoffs (8 in B, 2-3 in A) but only 5-6 A teams do. (2) There is no quantitative system for picking the teams. Deerfield, Avon and Hotchkiss all made the tournament even though Belmont Hill and Salisbury had better overall records. Without changing the number of teams in the playoffs or the overall structure, the solution is easy: Make 3 classes (A, B, and C) with roughly equal numbers of teams. Using the final regular season records tempered by a "strength of schedule" factor (there are mathematical formulas out there that do this), pick the top 8 teams in New England and have them playoff for the "Championship." Take the next 8 teams in Class A that didn't qualify for the Championship - they will compete for the class A title. Repeat for B and C.
Okay, yes I do see what you are seeing, and your solution does sound very reasonable. However, I just have one question. I was doing a little research, and it appears that teams can play down. Both Bancroft and Berwick, are Cclass C schools according to the NEPSAC website, yet they recieved the 2 and 4 seeds in the Class D tournament. Maybe it is only Class A teams cannot "play down"?
You're right about Bancroft and Berwick. And I just realized Groton is a B school but is playing in D ! What's up with that ? Maybe it is only the A schools that can't play down. I wonder if these rules are actually written down somewhere ?
I think that must be the case, that it is only the Class A schools than cant play down. If they could, Belmont Hill for one would surely make the Class B tournament over a team like Rivers, which recieved the 5 seed.
How about adding a play-in game to determine the tournament teams. If 5 teams, for example, have 10 or more wins, and there are only 4 tournament slots, then the 4th and 5th teams, based on conventional points play to see who moves on. Also, I would like to make a strong plea for refereeing the tournament with 3 officials, a center ref and 2 linesmen. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the 2 ref diagonal system is a joke.
The problem with the play-in is that the Private School league is committed to doing the entire tournament in a week. The teams finish the season on a Saturday, play quarters on a Weds, Semis on Saturday, then finals on Sunday. Fitting in a play in game, especially in November in New England with the weather being so iffy, just doesn't seem to work unless the regular season ends earlier. As for the refs - don't you think schools like Deerfield, Choate and St Paul's, whose endowments exceed the GNP for most countries on earth, could afford the third ref?
New England Prep School Tournament 2004 BBN defeats Deerfield 3-1 on one semifinal today. All goals scored in the second half. BBN's hot striker had another hat trick (six in two games against quality opponents - unreal !). BBN's defense stayed compact and only made one error (unmarked striker on a free kick - header goal) BBN is playing really well right now. They may be giving up some in both talent and depth to their opponent in the finals tomorrow (Loomis or Bridgeton) but I expect them to fight hard. It won't surprise me if the game goes to OT or PK's.
New England Prep School Tournament 2004 BBN wins the Class A tournament in overtime over Loomis. Thayer wins Class B over Wilbraham. Providence CD wins Class C over Groton in overtime. The ISL shows its dominance - 2 champs and one runner up. Congratulations to the winners, especially to BBN - what a great season.
Re: New England Prep School Tournament 2004 I was at the games today, and was pretty impressed by what I saw. The Class A final was really high quality soccer. Numbers 6, the center back, and 10, the center midfielder stood out for Loomis and were both very good players. Numbers 8, 11 and 21 (game winning goal scorer) all looked good for BBN all day. Congratulations to BBN.
I watched BB&N's striker (#21) for about a week now, and he is a great striker. In the Deerfield/BB&N semifinal, I felt that neither team was really playing very well, but he would score random goals out of nowhere. That was also the case in the Loomis/BB&N final at times. He was the leading scorer in the ISL this year, but as a scout I must say that he is one of the laziest players out there. If he involved himself in the game more, instead of cherry-picking goals, he would be one of the top recruits in New England. What a waste of already great potential.
As to the crazy playoff schedules every year, I agree that they need to lengthen out the postseason. It's just too hard to play three important playoff games in the span of 4 days. However, it is harder to actually make this happen because trimester schools have final exams, Thanksgiving breaks, new seasons, etc. Also, two years ago the Loomis/Nobles game had to be cancelled due to snow. There are so many variables that could mess up the playoff schedule. However, the players deserve more time to rest after each game after working so hard to get to the playoffs. One night between semifinals and the championship just doesn't make much sense.
While BBNs striker might appear lazy at times, he gets it done when it counts, as witnessed by 7 goals in 3 games, including the game winner in OT. It isnt always how you do it, but if you do it.
maybe but it's players should all be in college. hard to call that a HS team. If I were a PG I'd choose Exeter, Andover, NMH, Deerfield, Cushing, Taft way before Brewster.
Lets see they beat st pauls and in their last 4 games they are 3-0-1 they shouldn't have tied that game but they did beat st pauls and they have got prob the best keeper in the state so they will have a chance to do damage once they get all their players back. They ar eplaying philips on weds and they have a good chance on an upset wouldn't surprize me to see brewster win.
and by the way this isn't a post about HS teams its the best Prep School teams in New England which means PG's
With the 2005 WNEPSSA fall season halfway through, it's once again time to analyze the top New England prep school soccer programs. The level of soccer this year has been considerably lower than in the past - many of the elite schools lack the depth and skill to do well this year. Perennial powerhouses like Loomis, Taft, Hotchkiss, Avon, and Deerfield are down from the level they were at a year ago. All of these teams are smaller and slower than they were a year ago; Avon, Hotchkiss, and Deerfield all have sub-.500 records. Only Wilbraham & Monson looks virtually unbeatable this year. In five games, they have scored 22 goals... Perhaps some of the decline in skill for these teams can be attributed to the large amounts of rain that has collected in the New England area. It will be interesting to see how things shape up in the second half of the season. My dark horse of the season is Suffield Academy, who has been upsetting teams all season with strong play from Senegalese striker, Khadim Diouf. Look for his name to pop up often.