I really had the feeling the the top left and bottom right were very strong. Cool to see it quantified.
I think folks might like to watch some of the following Teams and Players. Go to the team web site to find links for game streams. Defenders get the short end of the stick – no commonly used stats are available to quantify individual excellence. OTOH, for people like me who say: “Our defense has 11 players,” there are a couple of team stats to look at. Top 5 DEFENSES: Goals Against Average……………………..Shutout Percentage 1. Thomas More--------0.141………… 1. Thomas More---------85.7 2. Knox------------------0.148…..…… 2. Hardin-Simmons-----85.0 3. Hardin-Simmons----0.150……..… 2. Knox-------------------85.0 4. Lynchburg------------0.153……….. 4. Lynchburg-------------84.2 5. William Smith-------0.222…..…... 4. Rowan-----------------84.2 Comparing the top 15 teams in goals-against average (DEFENSE) to the top 15 teams in goals per game (OFFENSE), only 1 of top 15 goals-against average teams is not in the tournament, while 5 of top 15 goals per game teams did not make the tournament. Looking at the teams and individuals that score a lot - Top OFFENSE: Goals Per Game 1. Penn St.-Berks-----------------5.29 2. Trinity (TX)---------------------4.55 3. Hardin-Simmons--------------4.20 4. Penn St.-Behrend--------------4.15 5. Greensboro --------------------4.00 – not in the tournament 6. William Smith-----------------3.94 Individual……………………..…………........Goals…...GPG ….…Rank Elizabeth Perkins (So. Hope)….…......25……….1.25..…. 2 - tied Raba Nassif (Sr. Stevens)……………......22……….1.16…..… 7 Destine Graves (Sr. Centre)……….…...23……….1.15…….. 8 - tied Kami Jones (Jr. Hardin-Simmons)…..23.……...1.15…….. 8 - tied Marisa Weaver (Sr. Messiah)……...…..21….……1.11….…. 11 Stats are from the NCAA.com website. Teams I like to watch play: William Smith (my team), Williams, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Messiah, Stevens (Raba Nassif), Centre (Destinie Graves), WashU (GK Lizzy Crist) ENJOY! -CJ 5016
William Smith Herons: 5- Worcester State Lancers: 0 Game report: http://www.hwsathletics.com/news/20...ncaa-2nd-round-with-5-0-win-over-lancers.aspx 48 degrees max with a breeze – the sun was November-low in the sky; it was cold for the spectators. The field played slow and the ball seemed a bit dead., resulting in several passes coming up short. One such W-S pass was intercepted about 25 yards from goal within the first 20 minutes. The W-S keeper came off her line to start a challenge, however the Lancer player missed the open goal high and to the left. It would have been the game’s first goal. W-S played most of the game in the Worcester St. half of the field. Worcester St. never quit , most notably Lancer So. Tsara LeBlanc (M, Gardner, MA) who played on the right side and challenged W-S Sr. Emma Diehl (LFB, Brighton, NY) constantly. During the first 23:00, W-S had made 7 shots, none of which were particularly threatening. Then, at 23:00, Megan Richard (F, Southwick, MA) was subbed in. About 1:45 later, she received the ball back to goal, just inside the right side corner of the 18 with a defender on her back, turned to her right and in the same motion sent a line drive with her left foot into the far side of the goal. Five different players ended up scoring goals for W-S. In about the 34th min, Lancer Sr. Briana Moreno (MF, Lynn, MA) caught a hard –driven ball square in the face, which knocked her off her feet. From the stands, even after she got up, she appeared to be affected. The trainer came out and checked her. She left the field, but did return in about the 71st minute and finished the game. Trinity (CT) Bantams: 0 – Worcester Polytechnic Engineers: 0; 2OT; Trinity advances on KFTPM Game report: http://www.bantamsports.com/sports/wsoc/2016-17/releases/Women-s_Soccer_G_191617 KFTPM – Trinity….. Yes…..No…..No…..Yes…..Yes…….…3 ………………..WPI……..No…..No……No….Yes…no shot…..1 The temperature stayed about the same and the sun got even lower in the sky for today’s second game. As a neutral, I found the 0-0- game to be quite exciting. Trinity appeared to be the better soccer team and was on the front foot for about the first 10-15 minutes of the game. Through hustle, WPI then got their feet under them and generally out-worked Trinity for the rest of the game. WPI’s So. Gabi Hoops (GK, Stonington, CT), the post , and the crossbar teamed up to keep WPI in the game. Otherwise Trinity would have won in regulation. Hoops also stopped two of the KFTPM with excellent saves. (Unfortunately, the first three KFTPM by WPI were well within the reach of the Trinity GK.) Other notes: I found WPI’s Sr. Lynn Renner (D, Aberdeen, SD) to be the best defender in the game. She has a powerful free kick and generally contained Trinity Sr. 6’-1” Nicole Stauffer (right side forward, Chesire, CT) when needed. Trinty's outside defenders: Jr. Alexa Barbaresi (D, Newport Beach, CA) was smooth, capable, and has a very long throw-in. Trinity Fr. Kelly Lucas (D, Ludlow, MA) was similarly smooth and capable. The W-S Herons watched this whole game from opposite the south goal 18 yard line on the spectator's side of the field. A friend told me before the game: "Aliceann said she wants this one to go to PKs." (re: Heron coach Aliceann Wilber) 5174
Nice to see things getting underway. Were there any upsets? Chris Newport upset widely ranked Rowan. CN is only ranked in D3soccer but not Massey or Hero. Also Wentworth took down Arcadia which I suppose was an upset. I saw the Amherst and Swarthmore games. Both advanced and will play each other tomorrow. I also watched Pomona but had to give up bc the video camera had too much difficulty keeping up with the play but Pomona also advanced. Looking ahead I guess Williams will most likely face Hopkins in the round after tomorrow. That should be interesting, Only the Massey Ratings seem to give Hopkins their due in my opinion.
Rowan did not have a great schedule but upset TCNJ in their conf tournament to stay highly ranked. CNU also did not have a great schedule and had a few stumbles but is good and I would not make JHU a strong favorite. Perhaps they rested more players with a cleaner win than CNU. Big advantage in the d3 back-to-back format. Hopkins did lose to McDaniel a couple weeks ago allowing 3 goals and had to go there to win their conf title. There are only a few teams in the d3 tourney that would be prohibitive favorites. Late season "form" and depth are a very big deal I think and hard to predict. That is, what good players have survived the season healthy and how many do you have? Some of these d3 teams are pretty good but it's usually because of a small number of special players that need to stay healthy to win in Nov. The Hopkins forward Van de Loo is one of them for sure. And Upsets- How about Penn-State Berks beating Carnegie Mellon? A regional penn state satellite school beating CMU. That has to sting a bit. Kind of like SIUE beating Notre Dame. I would not bet a dime on this stuff.
Thanks EK I have seen McD play one game. I was impressed with the intensity with which their forwards pressed the backline forcing errors etc. They also seemed to have team speed. JHU seemed like the best team in CC to me but McD seemed dangerous though somewhat less skilled than JHU to me. I think this is Vanderloo's last year so that I am guessing she will carry the team with that in mind.
Johns Hopkins' Sr. Meg Van de Loo (M, Eau Claire, WI) is putting on a show against Christopher Newport. She scored her 2nd in the 74th minute to put Hopkins up 4-o. That goal made her the all time single season leader in goals for Johns Hopkins. She also scored tonight's 3rd goal and assisted on the first two.
Hopkins was very good this weekend but they need to beat Williams and Messiah/Middlebury to get to the final 4. Interesting - 3 NESCAC teams in the Sweet 16 (Williams/Amherst/Middlebury) 3 UAA teams (Brandeis/Chicago/WashU) 2 Centennial (JHU/McDaniel) That's half of the remaining field! Even though William Smith might still be the favorite at this point. The d3 committee did well to separate these teams in the draw. Also - Penn-State Berks! Bennett has their SOS ranked 231 (of 440) and I think easy guess they have the lowest athletic budget of any school remaining. The coach has to do both mens/womens teams. Their entire women's soccer budget could be what a Power5 spends on a long weekend roadtrip. And many of those teams have been home for weeks now. A reason to love d3 soccer for sure.
On William Smith's site (schedule page), why do they have to travel to Brandeis for the next round(s)? Being the #1 team shouldn't they host? And if not, how did Brandeis secure the site over Amherst, who seems to be ranked higher both regionally and nationally?
William Smith is hosting the NCAA D3 Field Hockey Semi Finals and Finals on Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th. A long time ago, William Smith decided they did not want to host two major NCAA events on the same weekend. Since 1988, William Smith field hockey coach Sally Scatton has 3 National Championships. Scatton, Aliceann Wilber (soccer) and Pat Genovese (lacrosse) have coached at WS a total of 97 years and are three WS "Title IX Pioneers" #HeronPride
With the above information, just curious how did Brandeis was awarded to host over Amherst, who is ranked higher?
Also surprised WS has the late game - figured they would want the earlier one to gain more rest should they move on to Sunday
Hello, LineJudge - I see you joined BS today. Welcome and I hope you'll be a regular poster! RE: Playing at Brandeis over Amherst, I have no clue or insight on which to base a guess. I think perhaps, IF William Smith had some input, they did not want Amherst to have the home field for Saturday's game. I also have no clue as to whether 11 AM or 1:30 PM is a better time to play. 5719
You never know who actually applied to host, schools need to want to host. You also don't know exactly what else is going on at the campus. Sometimes it's even something like a concert. Sometimes schools close Friday for Thanksgiving Break and so hard to have staff around. (Why games got moved off that weekend after Thanksgiving, btw). ALSO- there is still a mileage factor. The NCAA does not want to fly teams over the 500 mile limit, so if there's a lower seeded team that avoids that 500 mile rule, they may just get the game. As to game time- I would always prefer the first game time so I can stay and scout the 2nd game live (or just eat and go home). I hate to scout teams in the first game and then lose!
Agree on game time. That is why it is surprising the highest seed has the later game. Maybe Amherst hosting the men's had something to do with sites although looking at this past weekend they were able to host both. Not sure anyone is 500 miles and don't think another team can affect where hosting is if they do not put a bid in to host themselves. Just looked up Brandeis' field. Artificial turf surrounded by a track. http://www.fcboston.org/fields---facilities
According to the Pre-Championships Manual, there are to be four sectional sites for this coming weekend's games. It looks to me like Brandeis is the sectional site for the third round and quarterfinal games this coming weekend, for this quarter of the bracket. The Amherst men are playing there too (v Brandeis), so it apparently is the sectional site for the men too. My best guess is that this was the most transportation-cost-efficient site for all the teams -- apparently four women's teams and four men's. Plus, with 6 games to be played, it seems like a turf field would be highly preferable. Six games in two days on a grass field this time of year would be a pretty dubious proposition.
According to Brandeis' site the men are playing at Amherst. I do believe Amherst men's and women's teams have their own fields, so would only be 3 games on each. Maybe it was the cost effective issue - which is too bad that is a consideration when it gives lower seeds an advantage. Either that or Amherst didn't put a bid in. I guess if the two higher ranked teams win their will be no home field advantage anyway.
Yeah, I'm sure that's the convo that took place with their admin- "Don't worry about giving up the op to host. We will just go there and play a nice little final 16 game/training sess on the turf and as it will prepare us for salem?" Put down your pipe...
Seeding is not a rigid proposition in the D3 tournament, and actually, does not exist. I don't think you'll see any numbers at all in the press releases or publications, just an asterisk for the host. So, lots more of the considerations mentioned earlier go into choosing hosts then just who might be the higher seed. In the first weekend, it's pretty clear who the 1-4 and 2-3 games are but there are some much stronger 2-3 games in D3 than you'd see in a d1 bracket since flying around the country is very discouraged. CNU vs Rowan, 2 conference champs with high win%, is a good example of a pretty high level 2-3 game on the first weekend (played at JHU since they are from the same region and Balt was right between them, even though Hopkins is not in their region). So, geography is a big deal and who might be considered a higher seed in the round of 16 is not as important as the most central team, costs, and hosting capacity. Hosting is also a big obligation in d3. Just having a basketball game and swim meet at home one of these weekends can really stress a schools resources. Plus- big surprise, there are deals being made all the time! AD owes a favor to another AD and so doesn't fight to host. So, unless you're in the ADs office when that call comes in, all of this is guess work anyway! Bigger point - you need to win away and win neutral site games to advance at some point but it's only a 3 weekend event. Even the National Champ will only play on 3 fields in the Tourney. Get over it. How about Penn-St Berks flying to Texas! Doubled their season budget in one weekend. Thanks NCAA! You know those kids are thrilled. So, you private school parents in the Northeast, just get in your BMWs and enjoy the games! BUT, please belabor this point if you must. We are very good at that here at BS! (guilty as charged)
Not belaboring, was just wondering how the system worked. I originally brought up the point as I was curious to why WS wasn't hosting. Not a good reward for all the work during the season for the players that go undefeated and ranked #1 to possibly playing another team on their home field in the 4th round, especially when it is turf (if they usually play on grass). But this is a mute point if WS chose not to host. Amherst I would guess would be somewhat upset as well, but better for them to go to Brandeis as apposed to WS.
Nothing to get over. Again, just curious on how the process works and why. Neutral site games are certainly needed to win it all(final four), away games, not necessarily and technically shouldn't be, if the highest seeds choose to and accept hosting (as they should in hopes of rewarding their teams for current season success). Who knows if this will happen, an away game for WS vs. Brandeis could be a big advantage for Brandeis as they have played half their games on the turf. But again, can't blame anyone if WS chose not to host.
AFAIK all the teams with grass fields have turf fields available to practice on. I'm not so sure all the turf teams have grass available for practice. AND all the teams play on both grass and turf during the season. So I don't think the ersatz grass is a very big advantage for Brandeis. I think being at Home and not having to travel is a bigger advantage. McDaniel, Amherst and William Smith all have grass home fields. Right now the only teams that care about any perceived advantage Brandeis may have as hosts are Brandeis and McDaniel. For William Smith and Amherst, they are both on the road; the only game they care about is Saturday; and Brandeis isn't in it. 5965
I noticed that the Brandeis website says the men's game is at Amherst, time TBD, but the Amherst website has the game at Brandeis with the time listed. Here's some more info on hosting from the Pre-Championships Manual: The Division III Championships Committee has prioritized the following site-selection criteria for all championships: 1. Quality and availability of the facility and other necessary accommodations; 2. Geographical location (which may include such factors as rotation of sites, weather, accessibility and transportation costs); 3. Seeding; and 4. Attendance history and revenue potential, which shall be considered necessary to assure fiscal responsibility. In addition, the soccer committees include the following site-selection deliberations: ● Hosts for all rounds of the championship must have the ability to charge admission; ● Preference is given to grass/grass-like surfaces; ● Preference is given to playing surfaces 70 yards x 115 yards or larger. The minimum field size is 65 yards x 110 yards;* ● Hosts must be able to establish a barrier to separate the spectators from the field of play; and ● The potential host must have played the majority of its home games on the field it is submitting for consideration. A competing institution that cannot charge admission at its home facility and/or cannot establish a barrier to separate the spectators from the field of play and/or does not have a field that meets minimum-size requirements (65 yards x 110 yards) may not serve as host.
Maybe they updated it. Shows at Amherst now... http://athletics.amherst.edu/sports/msoc/2016-17/schedule