I didn't see a thread for this, so it seemed good to start one, as my hometown UCSD Tritons made it to the college cup in Pittsburgh, PA, where I used to live (it was at Highmark Stadium of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds): So, to start off, here is the schedule of UCSD: http://www.ucsdtritons.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5800&SPID=2339&SPSID=29909&DB_OEM_ID=5800 Add newsbytes (schedules, scores, press releases, whatever) for your favorite D2 here.
Great idea. There are some d2s near me as well but are there any sites or blogs just about D2 soccer?? I've seen d3soccer.com but found nothing like that for d2. D2 schools seem interesting. Lots of state schools but some small privates as well. Seems more like d3 with scholarships rather than watered down d1. Assuming many D2s originally wanted scholarship football and now that benefits women's team sports like soccer. The PSAC in PA for example. Almost all regional state schools, most with football, but many with a 2nd practice/game venue for soccer.
No offense intended, and I am not meaning to derail this thread, but with the exception of some of the top D2 programs such as Grand Valley State, Bridgeport, UCSD, and some others, many D3 programs on the whole are a bit better than many D2 programs. In my experience there is a higher number of quality D3 sides vs D2 sides. The draw of D3 athletics at the better schools is a better balance of life in the aspects of academics, athletics, and social aspects. In terms of academic and athletic quality I would say that most D2 schools are analogous to NAIA schools. Again, I am not intending to offend anyone. I am merely commenting on Eddie K's analogy that D2 "Seems more like d3 with scholarships rather than watered down d1."
In my experience with observing D2 soccer, many o the teams are just taking a pause in D2 on their way to D1.
Your top 15-25 D2 schools are normally better than a majority of D1 schools RPI 100 and below. The sunshine conference in Florida is stacked with teams that are better than the D1 schools in Florida that aren’t UF, FSU and UCF. It’s really amazing how good some of these programs are considering that some only have 2-3 scholarships. As for the comparison of D2 to D3 - the gap between the top D3 schools and the rest is much larger than the same gap at the D2 level. I would say that there are only 6-10 D3 schools that could compete with an average D1 school where there are probably 30-40 D2 schools that could compete at a similar level.
OG, I think that's a very fair overview. D2 vs D3 is also very geographic. No D3s in Florida for example, but dozens in New England states. Wikipedia says there are only 6 States with no d2s but 15 with no D3 schools. There are also very few NAIA schools in the mid-atlantic or maybe East coast generally. East coast kids don't know what it is. My original point was noting the lack of attention to D2 soccer given there are 250+ soccer programs across the US. D2 does have an 'identity problem' in many areas i guess but so does D3 some places and certainly the NAIA.
This is great to see a Div 2 thread! My daughter committed to a D2 school because she absolutely loved the coach, girls in her recruiting class and the city. She's a B/C student - she'd struggle academically in a lot of the coveted Div 1 schools due to the large class sizes. The quality of players was very good too. She's hoping to play for the semipro/pro summer league team in the city during the summers. What's great about soccer is that if you don't like the conference, playing level, school, not getting enough game time, etc. you can transfer without having to red shirt.
what I know, D3 schools can't offer athletic scholarships. Their often private schools, thus way more expensive tuition, plus usually over charge for room & board(even though their accomdations aren't more inviting) as well as for books & a host of extra fees.. D3 probably has better education, but it realy depends on your major: no matter how big a school is, the sports coaching staff will pressure you away from hard courses like nursing or pre med. to something easier like teaching. For instance, my kid swtiched from nursing to sports management major, so her D2 shcool she's decided on, got way bigger/better athletic facilities(they've won several past national titles in several sports) than the smaller, liberal arts type, D3's can
I started a D2 thread kind of because we here in San Diego have D1 and D2 (UCSD and PLNU), but seem not to have D3. My second stint in my hometown started in 2009. Previous to that, I was in the Pittsburgh PA area. I was within walking distance of La Roche (now) University (D3), and regularly went down to Carnegie Mellon (D3). I never got familiar with D2, though I'm not sure where Carlow, PPU, and others in town compete. It does seem like in daily life, across all sports, I hear more about D3 than D2.
https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/print/soccer-women/d2/2019?utm_campaign=d2inline-article I haven't watched any yet, but see that PLNU is still in it, having defeated UCSD, who went to Pittsburgh, PA for the College Cup.
This is very good. There is a home out there for everyone and often times the draw of DI is not necessarily the best choice. Our first had a great experience playing D2 in the midwest.
Why does Div 2 at the end of the season do a conference tournament before going to NCAA championships - only to play the same teams? I think I prefer the Div 1 way of doing it.
It's mostly geography. D2 conferences seem to be a bit more 'self contained' geographically around the country so you would have to purposefully push teams farther around to mix up the NCAA tournament bracket early on. that increases costs and missed class time. That's a factor in D2/D3 but in D1, doesn't seem to be such a concern. In D1, it's not really a "regional" bracket after the first round like they at least pretend to do even in basketball. In D1, Wash St just won the group at UVA! and has to fly back to S. Carolina on Thanksgiving weekend when there are 3 CA schools and Utah still in the tournament. That makes sense! At least if they win, its UNC who finally comes west for the final 4. The d2 final four will be streamed for sure, and likely for free. I'm sure the teams in it will have links on their schedule pages.
Division 2’s national tournament is entirely regionally based. Each region is made up of 3 conferences (south central is 2 conferences with lonestar merger) and each region is allocated a specific number of berths to the tournament (6-8), AQs+at large.
My experience with D2 soccer is somewhat limited except for the GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) which I think is very strong soccer with Grand Valley being the headliner of the conference.
Grand Valley State 2019 Div 2 National Champs! https://www.ncaa.com/news/soccer-wo...tate-wins-2019-dii-womens-soccer-championship Anybody watch the game?
Thanks for the link. I am going to watch. I saw the box score and GVSU was out shot 3to1 - That's something I have never seen!