Division 3 - 2018

Discussion in 'Women's College' started by CoachJon, Aug 9, 2018.

  1. CoachJon

    CoachJon Member+

    Feb 1, 2006
    Rochester, NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wrote this before seeing @C13soccer 's post. I'm not nearly as effectively concise.

    I watched the second half of William Smith 1 (35th) at Union 0 and all of Chicago 2 (47th, 85th) at Carnegie Mellon 1 (40th) on live stream yesterday.

    The WS game was non-descript. I think the score represented the play. I was very disappointed in WS lack of connected passes and inability to become dangerous in the attacking third, especially when they had possession in the zone between the penalty area and touchline. So many opportunities died there.

    In contrast, I was very impressed by CM’s first half vs. Chicago. Their play was lively, and after the first ten minutes or so of forward passes going to no one, the off-the-ball players began recognizing the situations and running toward spaces where the ball was going to be passed. I liked the footwork of CM center midfielder Taylor Cammarata (So. Cary, NC) and even more the ability of forward Kaily Bruch (Sr. Glenview, IL) to collect and control balls coming at her from awkward angles while under pressure. CM substitute midfielder, Kristen Chong (So. Fullerton, CA) scored the first goal with a perfectly struck free kick from near the middle of the field about 25 yards out.

    The 47th minute Chicago PK came from IMO a poor call on one of those ball-to-arm shots when the player was partially turned away from the oncoming ball. Afterward, the second half play was more equal and I think CM started running out of gas from their high-energy play about 25 minutes in.

    On my stream the gold Chicago numbers on Maroon were hard to read, and even with her red hair, it was tough to pick out All-American midfielder Jenna McKinney (Sr. Tampa, FL), except when she was on the ball, which did not seem a whole lot. However, McKinney did her thing and scored the winning goal in the 85th minute when she received a pass in tight quarters in the penalty area and turned for the shot from the left side to the far post.

    McKinney frequently passes the ball while in full stride when dribbling, making the pass quite unexpected – and by so doing she gets off the early pass, rather than waiting too long, as many midfielders do.

    [Obscure reference- kinda reminds me of the way Ernie DiGregorio used to shoot from the hip while on the move when playing hoops for Providence and in the NBA].

    6256
     
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  2. C13soccer

    C13soccer Member

    Arsenal
    United States
    Aug 30, 2018
    Hopkins beat Swarthmore in an exciting Centennial match, 2-1. Hopkins definitely controlled the possession during the game though SOG’s were effectively even. The win essentially secures Hopkins of the reg season banner and therefore the hosting duties for the league tourney.

    Offense for Hopkins still seems to struggle for continuity with the loss of Soph O’Toole who was last year’s rookie of the year, but went out a few games ago with the dreaded ACL.
     
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  3. SoccerSwattie

    SoccerSwattie Member

    Oct 17, 2016
    #78 SoccerSwattie, Oct 14, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2018
    C13 I also watched the contest between conference rivals Swarthmore and JHU. I think the possession tilted slightly to JHU but both teams created great opportunities, played possession, and launched hard shots that missed by inches. JHU struck first with a beautiful and brilliant combination of passes culminating in a goal at 3:41. Swarthmore battled back to tie the game in the 37th minute. Swarthmore conceded the winning goal in the 76th minute off a chaotic scrum in the box. Overall, Swarthmore led in shots and shots on goal but fell short of the win. To my eyes the game was even and could have easily gone either way.

    Last season JHU won the regular conference game but lost to Swarthmore in PK's for the Centennial post season Championship game hosted at JHU. In my view these teams have even levels of talent which bodes for an exciting contest the next time they face off.
     
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  4. C13soccer

    C13soccer Member

    Arsenal
    United States
    Aug 30, 2018
    All the excitement in the next 2 weeks of reg season games seems to lie in 2 conferences - UAA and Nescac.


    In the northeast, Amherst sits in third, but in a surprisingly strong position having already played the other league heavyweights. With just 2 games vs Wesleyan and Trinity, it would be easy to project them to a 8-1-1 finish. Middlebury and Williams are set to meet in the season final, and Williams still has to get by Tufts this Saturday. We could easily (but not likely) end up with three teams at 8-1-1.


    In the geographical expanse that is the UAA, Washington and Chicago both still have to play each other as well as the next two in the standings (Brandeis and NYU). That automatic bid is truly up for grabs.


    Texas-Dallas and Hardin are another candidate for reg season dead heats as they have already squared off to a draw. But unlike the UAA, they have a league tourney to settle matters.


    Wheaton, Johns Hopkins and William Smith are effectively uncatchable in their league standings race.

    Find the UAA and Nescac games online and enjoy the drama!
     
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  5. C13soccer

    C13soccer Member

    Arsenal
    United States
    Aug 30, 2018
    First Regional rankings are out..

    https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/soccer-women/d3/regional-rankings

    The only surprises for me were minor ones.

    The Central committee putting Hope just above Chicago despite an extra blemish on their record.

    No love being shown to UAA teams in the East, South Atlantic with 2 teams (NYU, Emory) being ranked below teams with similar records playing more directly in the region. UAA has to be either the #1 or #2 toughest leagues in D3.

    Hmmmmm
     
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  6. SoccerSwattie

    SoccerSwattie Member

    Oct 17, 2016
    From the games I have seen so far the UAA seems to stand head and shoulders above all of the other leagues...I think that Emory is a great team in need of healthy forwards...NYU did not seem to be one of the better teams to my eyes, their current place in UAA notwithstanding....
     
  7. C13soccer

    C13soccer Member

    Arsenal
    United States
    Aug 30, 2018
    I have not seen either Emory or NYU, but I have seen several UAA games and have been impressed. My point is only that it seems strange to reward RIT with a #5 seed vs NYU’s #7 when the only significant win was against Farmingdale?

    And for Emory they get slugged down the polls while Centre waltzes in with and unblemished record against literally nobody.
     
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  8. Eddie K

    Eddie K Member+

    May 5, 2007
    Please look at the facts before slamming a team publicly. Centre has a 100% record with wins over Great Lakes #1 (Denison) and #4 (Mt. St. Joe). Emory has a few good wins (Brandeis and Pacific-Lutheran) but has 5 non-wins including losses to in-region Rowan and Bridgewater.

    Emory is not "slugged" at all and in fact is over-ranked a bit by the NCAA since they are above Rowan in their region who beat them head to head.

    Centre is in a weak conference and should not be punished in the rankings any more than Emory should be rewarded for being in a good conference. IMHO, SOS is a bit over-rated in D3 because of the tremendous geographic and resource differences in conferences.

    The UAA will get 4 teams in the NCAA tournament again. Likely as many or more than any D3 conference....again. I don't see how anyone in the UAA can complain when finishing 4th with no tournament, just being in the top HALF of your conference, gets you into the dance.
     
  9. C13soccer

    C13soccer Member

    Arsenal
    United States
    Aug 30, 2018
    I have looked at the data. Have you? Here it is...


    #1, #14, #15, #19


    That’s from the current USC NATIONAL rankings. Those are teams Emory plays this season.


    And Centre’s list...


    No one faults them for having an easy conference schedule, but if you want to be considered a top team and be ranked like one, then schedule some out of conference games that carry some weight. Many top teams have relatively “light” conference schedules but make up for it with out of conference heavies. Messiah, TCNJ, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Christopher Newport.....all schedule heavies in addition to their regular slate. Hell, even Williams, with arguably the toughest league in the country (or #2 to UAA) scheduled MIT & Farmingdale to play 2 of their 4 OOC games.


    And before you throw “geographic proximity” at us for the reason the SAA stays home, Centre could easily play Washington, or Emory, or Chicago, or Carnegie without stretching their travel budget.


    But they don’t. And derision ensues.


    Enjoy the first round of the NCAAs.
     
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  10. PlaySimple

    PlaySimple Member

    Sep 22, 2016
    Chicagoland
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    #85 PlaySimple, Oct 19, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2018
    I agree with some of what you write here but respectfully disagree with a bit of it as well.

    I do agree that Emory isn't having a great year but as C13 stated, the schedule that they are playing is pretty challenging. It's true, though, that some of Emory's OOC games should have been won.

    Centre, while not a bad team, really should beef up its OOC schedule. I would not count Centre's victories over Denison or Mt. St. Joes as good wins. Neither team is very strong and both are over-ranked in the regional rankings. Denison's conference, the NCAC, has been strong in the past. This year it is not. There is a good chance that Denison will not even win the conference tournament and the NCAC will not get an at-large bid - only the conference tournament champion will dance.

    I can never remember Mt. St. Joe's conference being particularly strong. The Great Lakes rankings in which Denision and Mt. St. Joe are #1 & #4 in, respectively, are peculiar all the way around. Ohio Northern at #2 is definitely a stronger side than Denison is. I would also be willing to say that Carnegie Mellon, the #5 team in the region, would be able to beat Denison and Mt St. Joe. However, CM is 7-5-1 overall and 0-4 in the UAA so a ranking much higher than where they are would probably be unjustified.

    Getting back to Centre, they will probably finish the regular season with an unblemished record and win the conference tournament. Their conference, the SAA, is a very weak conference and as with the NCAC, there will be no at-large bids. That shouldn't matter to Centre, though, as they should win the tournament. What I expect to happen to Centre is that they will be beaten by the first good team that they face in the post-season. I will gladly admit that I am wrong if that doesn't happen. Jay Hoffman, Centre's coach, runs a good program but he really should beef up that OOC schedule. It would be better for them to go into the tournament with a few blemishes on the record against strong teams rather than an unblemished record against lesser sides. That scheduling strategy makes even more sense since Centre is clearly the best team in the SAA and should be unchallenged in the conference tournament.

    As usual, teams that probably should have been in the post-season will be on the outside looking in. It happens every year. Teams that shouldn't make the tournament, will make the tournament. That is what happens when conferences get automatic berths and there is a limited number of at-large bids. This is not unique to soccer or D3 soccer. It happens in all divisions and it happens in other sports. It is what it is.

    One comment that I would like to make about the UAA and the NESCAC is that the quality of the players in those conferences is generally very strong. The teams in those conferences have many players that could have played at D1 schools. The schools in those conferences are strong from an academic standpoint and will always attract good students. There are a lot of female soccer players, good soccer players, that are also good students. The same is true for other D3 schools that are strong academically. For a kid that is an excellent soccer player and student, is involved, is thoughtful, and is a high achiever, it's an easy choice when it comes to getting a lot of athletic money to attend a school that is mediocre academically vs a school that is excellent academically and will not be awarded athletic aid but may get aid in other forms.

    **one correction, Eddie - you stated that Emory is ahead of Rowan in their region. That is actually not true. Rowan is #6 in the S Atlantic region and Emory is #7
     
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  11. PlaySimple

    PlaySimple Member

    Sep 22, 2016
    Chicagoland
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I got a chance earlier in the week to catch some of the Augustana win over Illinois Wesleyan. I've watched some of IWU's games this season because I knew someone last year looking at going to the school and I know a few players on the team.

    Augustana is a much improved team from past years and their standing in the CCIW is improved. IWU is struggling a bit with finishing and holding possession. IWU has some strong defenders that have been keeping them in contests but, even so, the rest of the team is relying on them too much. My philosophy is that in any sport that relies on possession, if you don't have possession, you had better be fighting as hard as possible to get possession. It you lose possession, all resources are toward winning it back. IWU seems too lackadaisical about getting possession back. In soccer every player on the field needs to play defense. IWU is lacking that.

    What I also noticed about IWU, after looking at their roster, is that there is only one keeper on the roster. That is very dangerous and almost unheard of. I noticed some scary instances of the keeper coming off of her line vs Augustana so communication may be an issue. She was caught in "no man's land" a few times and was lucky that there were not more goals scored on those errors.

    This is a growing year for IWU. I believe that one of the team's leading scorers from last season is out for the year and there are some other injuries. The coach is a first year head coach and seems to be learning and growing. The last coach, Dave Barrett, that was at IWU for years and is now at D1 Fairfield, seems to have really hosed over the team before he left. If you look at the team's schedule you'll notice that there are a disproportionate number of away games vs home games and most peculiar is that many of those away games are during the week with long travel distances. It looks pretty brutal. He also doesn't appear to have done any work in trying to secure another keeper for the team. The current players have every right to be extremely angry with Barrett for what he did to the team prior to leaving.
     
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  12. HouseofCards

    HouseofCards Member

    Nov 26, 2012
    Those are some pretty strong assumptions about Barrett unless you have specific knowledge of the situation. He was announced at Fairfield on January 16 and IWU didn't announce his replacement until March 31. That is 2.5 months of critical recruiting time that went by without a coach in place. It is also just as likely that he had a goalkeeper recruited that bailed when he left. It is possible that he mailed it in once he decided he was moving on, but I would be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt based on his track record. I highly doubt he would want the program he built to be dismantled or go off the tracks, and I would suspect he wanted nothing but the absolute best for the players he was leaving.
     
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  13. C13soccer

    C13soccer Member

    Arsenal
    United States
    Aug 30, 2018
    I agree completely with this ^^^^

    If you look at Chicago, MIT, & Johns Hopkins you have 3 schools ranked in the top 10 for National Universities along side the likes of the Ivies, Stanford, etc. Go a little deeper and CalTech and Emory also rep the D3. On the Liberal Arts side you’ve got almost exclusively D3 members led by Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, and on and on.

    An Ivy coach explained it to me once as looking for unicorns. He needs to find players that are high quality D1 prospects, but not good enough to get full rides at the top D1 soccer programs. If those kids come from wealthy families who don’t need the scholarship $$...OR...come from a low income family that can qualify for merit cash...that’s the unicorn!

    Those top D3 schools (academics above) tend to also have really good soccer (and all athletics) programs because they get the same types of unicorns - athletes that are not quite good enough for the Stanford’s or UNC’s to give them money and are in the highly selective Ivy pool of unicorns. I know Chicago, MIT and Hopkins all had to turn away walk-ons this year that would have started for 90% of the D3 programs in the country.

    It’s how all college sports should be - you come for the academics and then consider the athletics after.

    Sadly, it is exactly opposite that in D1.
     
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  14. CoachJon

    CoachJon Member+

    Feb 1, 2006
    Rochester, NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I want to throw in my two or maybe three cents about Centre.
    15-0-0 is an accomplishment. They have won against Otterbein, Denison, and Mt. St. Joseph, which were losses last year. I think the ranking acknowleges that.

    The comments regarding Centre’s soft schedule piqued my interest. Because in 2015, I enjoyed their team play when watching several of Centre’s games – they made it to the NCAA Semifinals (finishing 21-2-1) . And because last year I commented that Hardin-Simmons (23-1-0) had a very soft schedule and I believed they would flame out in the NCAAs, but they made it to the NCAA Semifinals, too.

    The current Centre team has 3.20 GPG and 0.27 GAA, while in 2017 H-S had greater than 5 GPG and about 0.3 GAA going into the NCAAs.

    In 2017, Hardin Simmons was carried by two players, defender Kristen Parrish and midfielder Kami Jones, while the D3 leading goal scorer (Kessler) and assist maker (Meyer) were actually supporting cast.

    From @PlaySimple ‘s observations, I understand that 15-0-0 Centre will probably be undefeated going into the post-season but doesn’t have the talent to go very far in the NCAAs this year. My reading of player stats and bios seems to bear that out. By comparison in 2015, Centre had outstanding talent in defender Tori Dillard, midfielder Alex Combs, and forward Destinie Graves (one of the top 5 goal scorers in D3), among others.

    Centre’s GAA is impressive, even given a relatively weak schedule. Defense may get them a game or two into the tournament, but without game-changing players, I doubt they will go far.

    7267
     
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  15. Eddie K

    Eddie K Member+

    May 5, 2007
    Wow, people care about D3 soccer....nice.

    Thanks for making my point @C13soccer . Emory LOST 3 of those 4 games. and 1 more to a team in their region in Rowan (that one hurts them). You can make an argument if you want that losing games to good teams means you're a good team. OR you can actually give credit to a team that wins all their games. ALL their games. Centre did go out and schedule good teams near them in the Great Lakes region (Ohio) and won those games. Denison may be down compared to other years but this week they are ranked #1 in their region. "wins against ranked teams" is one of the selection criteria. That win against a #1 regional team is better than any win Emory has. That's just a fact (at least for this week!). SOS is another criteria. Centre's SOS was just .557 this week, that's not too bad. Emory has the top SOS in their region with a .647 and if they beat the bottom 3 teams in the UAA to finish strong, they will likely still get a bid. If they do that and finish 4th or better in the UAA, I do think they will be worthy.
    They also need the teams above them in region - CNU/TCNJ/Centre and RMC or LC to win their AQs, and they'll be only 2nd off the board for an at-large and be good. If Bridgewater and/or Rowan score upsets and take their AQs, it will become a close call for Emory AND they still need to likely win all of those 3 final games.

    All these facts are changing week to week still so, if Centre loses a conference game and Emory wins out, I'll happily root for them in the tournament.
     
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  16. C13soccer

    C13soccer Member

    Arsenal
    United States
    Aug 30, 2018
    Let’s try this another way Eddie.

    Here’s what we EMPIRICALLY know about....

    Messiah - they are the # 1 team in the standings in MACC and they are at least as good as/better than the #1 team in the Centennial. As good as the #1 team in the Liberty. As good as/better than the #1 team in the MACF.

    Chicago - they are the #1 team in the UAA standings [tied] and they are at least as good/better than the #1 team in the MWC. As good as the #1 team in the MIAA. As good as the #1 team in the CCIW.

    I could go on down the list of the national top 10. Most have played OOC games vs significant opponents. And those results (win lose or draw) provide the all-important CONTEXT key in helping observers/fans/pollsters evaluate how good a team really is.


    And what do we know about Centre? Only that they are the #1 team in their conference and they are at least as good as/better than the #2 team in the NCAC. That’s it.

    Hey, they might run the tables on the whole NCAA tournament. They might be the best D3 team to ever lace em up. Those are both real, if statistically minute, possibilities.

    But history would contest that with mountains of examples to the contrary. Highly ranked teams that play no significant competition to get said ranking almost always end up being judged as “over-hyped” when the season is over.

    You should let this board know if you are willing to place a wager on Centre making it to the final four...I’m sure there are plenty of takers on that action.
     
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  17. Eddie K

    Eddie K Member+

    May 5, 2007
    Come on now,
    You can't put "EMPIRICAL" in all-caps and then talk about "context' and 'history' in the same argument. Pollsters/committee folks care very very little about context and history. They care about win%, SOS, wins against ranked, common opponents, and h2h....THIS Season.

    So, Centre has a 'good win' over Great Lakes #1 - Denison.
    Emory's best wins are over NE #4 and West #6.
    Emory's Win% with 5 non-wins is significantly lower than Centre at 100%. The SOS difference is not big enough to make that up (according to several committees of coaches and admins actually working in d3 women's soccer every day). Even the computers at Herosports have Centre at 15 and Emory at 18.
    These are facts. They could change this weekend so maybe wait 48 hours and your case may be better. Losing to good teams helps your SOS at the cost of Win%. Every coach takes that level of risk based on the quality of their team, their conf, and available resources to play games. I'm sure Centre wishes they had played a tougher schedule this year and maybe if Emory had not traveled to Rowan and Lynchburg, they would have more control over their destiny, but they don't. Emory seems to have an unlimited budget and a consistent great conference schedule. BUT you need to win some of those games. In the UAA, for comparison, CMU seems to have a crap budget and almost always plays local non-conf teams. The UAA, despite their reputation and resources, doesn't do conf tournaments for financial reasons. So, if D3 is anything, its diverse.

    Maybe we'll get a Centre v Emory game. Would be cool but I am not a gambler and don't need to bet to prove an argument. If I was betting on D3 college women's soccer, or any soccer for that matter, I would have lost my house years ago!
    Enjoy the games.
     
  18. SoccerSwattie

    SoccerSwattie Member

    Oct 17, 2016
    Interesting upsets today with Vassar defeating WS somewhow and Colby defeating Hamilton in the NESCAC. not sure it Hamilton will make the post season play now.
     
  19. CoachJon

    CoachJon Member+

    Feb 1, 2006
    Rochester, NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was at the Vassar-William Smith game yesterday. Vassar had WS pinned in their own half pretty much the entire first 45 min. In the second half, Vassar defended their lead and survived a last 20 minute push by the Herons; Vassar defended WS's 9 second half corner kicks heroically. With the ball, Vassar looked like they had a plan and knew how to execute it - which primarily was making great runs against the WS center backs and getting on through balls. WS seemed unorganized and lacking in confidence the whole game.

    The shots taken reflected the game: 1st half - V=8, WS=6; 2nd half - V=3, WS=19. Midfielder Amanda Adams (So. Rowley, MA) played brightly for the Herons.

    The 11-3 Herons have not lost 3 regular season games since 2009, which also was the last time they lost two games in a row. This was the first Liberty League loss since RPI beat them in 2012.

    7620
     
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  20. PlaySimple

    PlaySimple Member

    Sep 22, 2016
    Chicagoland
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I agree that Barrett likely would want nothing but the best for the players and the program after he left. Perhaps my statement that Barrett "seems to have really hosed over the team before he left" is a bit harsh. I don't believe that he intentionally "hosed" the program but he did the program no favors with his scheduling.

    Look at the facts for this season:

    Of the 18 regular season games, 10 are away games and 8 are home games. Of those 10 away games, 6 of them are on school nights with a considerable travel distance that guarantees the bus gets back to school very late in the night or very early in the morning. I would challenge you to find another team with that sort of a schedule. If Barrett knew that he was staying do you honestly believe that he would be alright with that scheduling? He probably would have worked hard to improve on the schedule. In the last 10 years IWU qualified for the NCAA tournament and as recently as 2014 they were a final 4 team. Additionally, Barrett was at IWU for 17 years prior to going to Fairfield. Coaches and teams with that sort of resume are generally afforded the luxury of composing a more favorable schedule than what the team faced this season. So, again, while I don't really believe that he "hosed" the program, his inaction to gain a more favorable schedule did hose them.

    As far as the keeper situation is concerned, I looked at past rosters and there was another keeper on the roster last year that now isn't. The previous year showed that the primary keeper from that year, a sophomore, is also no longer on the roster. It seems like the team has a hard time retaining keepers. IWU is an academically challenging school so perhaps there were academic issues, or it could have been a social thing, or perhaps a transfer, or the kids just quit playing. It happens. More than likely Barrett was recruiting another keeper that lost interest when he went to Fairfield. I did look at this year's Fairfield roster and there doesn't appear to be players from the Chicago area that are freshmen. If there were, that would indicate to me that Barrett offered players that he was recruiting at IWU. Of course, if you look at the IWU roster, there are players from outside of Chicagoland so there could be a player from elsewhere that he was recruiting while at IWU.

    If you look at Fairfield's 2019 commits, there is a keeper from Libertyville and a defender from Waukesha. Not many, if any, players from Chicagoland or Wisconsin are going to have an urging to go to school in Connecticut so more than likely he started recruiting those players while at IWU. Don't think that I'm implying that there is something wrong with Barrett recruiting those players to Fairfield. Since he knows the players it is smart for him to do so since he is familiar with them and has an established relationship. I'm merely mentioning it anecdotally.
     
  21. PlaySimple

    PlaySimple Member

    Sep 22, 2016
    Chicagoland
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    #96 PlaySimple, Oct 23, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2018
    I was reading what I posted above and noticed something that I wrote. I am too late to edit it so the correction is below:

    I wrote: "In the last 10 years IWU qualified for the NCAA tournament and as recently as 2014 they were a final 4 team."

    I meant to write: "In the last 10 years IWU qualified for the NCAA tournament 9 times and as recently as 2014 they were a final 4 team."
     
  22. HouseofCards

    HouseofCards Member

    Nov 26, 2012
    I was getting ready to say that this is one of your most level headed posts until I decided to take you up on your offer to look at the facts. First, when dealing with scheduling, you have to know that coaches have little to no say on the conference schedule. After eliminating conference games (only 2 midweek away games, North Central and Augustana - both only 2 hours) there are only 2 non-conference away games on the schedule, one of which against Whitewater was canceled (2 hours 45 minutes away). The other, against Franklin, comes in at just over 3 hours. 3 hours travel is not unheard of at the D3 level, especially in the midwest. So, to get the facts straight, only 4 midweek away games, only 2 of which he has control over (1 of which was canceled). If you really want to throw in the Sunday away games, which there is no class time missed at all, they should have been back in Bloomington by midnight at the latest for the 2 Sundays they were on the road.

    If you want to say that he would have worked to change the schedule if he was sticking around, all you have to do is look at the 2017 schedule and you would see that there was more travel in that season, so yes, I believe he was just fine with that schedule.

    Next, I will take you up on your challenge to find other programs with similar schedules. Just in the CCIW, Millikin has 5 away games on school nights, 3 of which are midweek requiring missed classes, all non-conference. Augustana has 4 school nights plus 2 Fridays that could require missed class depending on school schedule. Wheaton has 5 away games that require missed class, and they don't schedule Sundays. Elmhurst took 2 midweek trips and a Friday trip to Michigan, all of which likely required missed class time, not counting conference travel.

    All this to say, you are in Bloomington, Illinois, it's not exactly like you have a ton of schools next door that you can play like schools in the Chicago area. On top of that, if you want to have a decent strength of schedule, you might have to travel a bit. And then, all these are home and away, so the schedule next year will likely have some of the places they traveled coming back to them in 2019.
     
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  23. PlaySimple

    PlaySimple Member

    Sep 22, 2016
    Chicagoland
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    The problem isn't having to miss classes. Most student-athletes make accommodations for that. The problem is getting in late and then possibly having to still study and then getting some rest prior to classes in the morning.

    BTW, you're still a tool.
     
  24. CoachJon

    CoachJon Member+

    Feb 1, 2006
    Rochester, NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    William Smith Heron's Aliceann Wilber Elected to United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame
    https://www.soccerwire.com/notes/united-soccer-coaches-hall-of-fame-class-of-2019-announced/
    Aliceann Wilber is the current Head Women’s Coach at William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., where she has built the Herons into one of the most successful and widely respected programs in the nation. She had a career record of 555-132-57 (.784) entering the 2018 season, her 39th year as a collegiate coach. Under her guidance, William Smith won NCAA Division III National Championships in 1988 and 2013. She became the first woman in collegiate soccer history to earn 400 career wins and her current total puts her in first place on the Division III all-time list. She was named the United Soccer Coaches Division III National Coach of the Year in 1987, 1988, 1991 and 2008 and remains one of only three coaches (and the first woman) to win the award four times at any level.

    In 2013 she was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of United Soccer Coaches as the Women’s College Representative and currently serves in the same capacity on the organization’s Advocacy Council. She also is the National Chair of the Women’s Division III All-America Committee. In 2003, Wilber became the first female to receive the prestigious Bill Jeffrey Award for her long-term service to college soccer.

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  25. karlmarx123

    karlmarx123 New Member

    Russia
    Oct 6, 2018
    After seeing Messiah play, I still put them as a favorite this year, even though they are not #1. They are just so hard to score on.
     
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