Wow @CoachJon I had forgotten how faint the praise was for Simonetti !!! Great for her to earn vindication
More upsets ? Unranked NYU defeats #10 CWR 1-0 and Unranked Haveford ties #5 Johns Hopkins 1-1. Maybe College WSOC is experiencing more parity than in the recent past.
Hard to figure NYU out. Lost badly to Johns Hopkins at the Stevens Tourney 3-0 and got pushed around. Just a bad day? The Hopkins-Haverford is easier - Hopkins the better team, but like many teams don’t have that creative play-maker to finish in the final third. I’ve watched quite a few Hopkins games and they are physical and have big, strong, athletic players - but not that finisher. Their shots are either long range or absorbed by defenders.
Gonna go out on a limb here and call the Dickinson - Johns Hopkins game tonight as a 0-0 draw. Both teams have excellent defenses that disrupt play the closer the opposition moves toward the goal and neither team has that creative player that can manufacture an open shot inside the box. Unless there's a long shot that beats one of the keepers or a PK awarded, I see this one as a defensive struggle. Or, maybe something off of a corner goes in. Who knows, in this crazy game of soccer and in this crazy season we're witnessing? Anything can happen, but I'm seeing this as a scoreless draw.
Looks like both Massey and I were wrong, lol. But in our defense, the Hopkins goal was a fairly long shot (top of the 18) and the Dickinson score was a PK. Good game so far (halftime right now, 1-1)
@DJBomb that was a great call just the wrong score —2-2 instead of 0-0 prediction. Looking at the box score it appears as though Dickinson had more shots on goal, more corners and fewer saves than the Blue Jays. Third tie in a row for the historic juggernaut JHU. Both teams still undefeated in conference play.
I watched the game and it did actually follow my predictions - each goal was a little ”flukey”. The first Hopkins goal was very nice, a drive to the end line and a pass back out to the top of the 18. The Hop player looped it over the keeper. It was a pretty long shot, but a nice play. First Dickinson goal was a PK where the keeper had it - not sure what happened but it looked like she saved it and then it was in the goal. Second Hopkins goal was a failed clearance and Jackson ran onto it and beat the defender - but again, no move, just speed and power. Last goal by Dickinson was a Hopkins miscue on defense. Back line let a long kick drop in behind them - I think they thought the keeper was coming out quicker - and the Dickinson forward headed it over her. Just over a minute left. Great play, but the defense should have been able to play it. It was a good game. Well played by both teams. Hopkins had more possession, but they don’t get enough of their shots on goal. Very low pct for the year, I bet. I’d have to look back to confirm. I wasn’t aware of the coaching connection between the two. Dickinson coach played and coached at Hopkins. Interesting back story.
Yes I saw all of the goals but not the entire game. I am not sure you are giving enough credit to JHU for the first goal. It arose from an intelligent sequence of passes made possible by great movement away from the ball by the JHU attackers. They found the unmarked player and she skillfully one touched it above the goalie's outstretched hands with a mid-range high finesse shot into the goal. I agree with you completely about JHU's second goal. All power and quickness and a nice nutmeg of the goalie. Dickinson had to come from behind each time to get the equalizer. I was impressed with the patience and composure of the Dickinson players in the plays leading up to their second equalizer with 90 seconds left in the game. Also, for Dickinson's first equalizer, I thought their PK was well "earned" and the JHU keeper initially guessed right and stopped the shot but it had enough mustard on it that it went in. In summary Dickinson punished JHU for their critical mistakes. I guess they are good enough to do that now. I have seen Dickinson play over the last few years and I remember feeling they had a tendency to play sloppy kickball. Was not impressed. While watching them this time I immediately thought they must have a new coach and sure enough I read that the Dickinson coach is in his second year. I agree it's a nice back story. Part of the Leo Weil/JHU coaching tree. Now the student is competing well against the master? I think he is going to make the Centennial more competitive for years to come. JHU and Swarthmore will have a harder time dominating the conference if his teams keep playing this way.
I also saw the game. Hopkins struggles to shoot from inside the box. Lots of bombs from distance, especially from their midfield, who seems to be in the shoot first, pass second paradigm. As I noted before, the two outside backs for the BlueJays are scary fast. Both juniors with tons of minutes under their belts in previous years, they wouldn’t crack 10 feet if one stood on the others shoulders. But the whole size-of-the-dog cliche is at work here. The first goal was scored (and the passing sequence started) by one of the outside backs. Her profile lists her as a Forward/Mid so she must have been repurposed last year, to great effect. In watching the game, and to the point above, Dickinson got both goals, in runs/passes up Route 1. Nothing either right or left sideline went anywhere for Dickinson all night.
It looks like Tufts has replaced Amherst in the top 3 of NESCAC. Tufts doesn't seem to have problems scoring goals. Amherst is one stingiest defenses in the NESCAC but Tufts scored two yesterday. It will be interesting to see how they do against Hamilton today and Middlebury later this month.
Wow CHF, Tufts laid 3 goals on Hamilton in the first 15 minutes roughly...other than that the stats from the game looked about even...
In Amherst's case I imagine they are suffering the upheaval of not have Rubii Tamen playing on the team anymore.
CNU just took their worst conference loss perhaps since moving to the CAC, dropping a 5-2 decision at Salisbury. They were down 4-0 for a while. Ouch. So, they have been over-rated and may still be after this weekend. Salisbury was not even in the Regional ranking, much less national. This is an example where the computers will be much more favorable to CNU than the coaches. Losing 1-0 on a corner or pk is the same as allowing 5 goals to most computer models. Coaches will see 5 goals as a thumping. I checked and CNU had only allowed 4 goals all season....until Saturday. Good grass field, nice sunny day. Lineups look consistent, no red cards. not sure if there was a story.
Thanks I was wondering what happened to Amherst. They seem somewhat challenged in the last 2 seasons unfortunately.
Both of these conferences are going to have really fun end of reg season matches! Each conference has at least 3 teams with legit chances to finish with the #1 conference seed going into the conference tourney. And the UAA (though early still) is shaping up in similar fashion. The ncaa would be wise to take 5 teams from each of these leagues for the big dance and then fill in the rest.
Some good games tomorrow! Hopkins vs Swarthmore Virginia Wesleyan vs Washington and Lee Pomona vs Claremont On the Case Western Reserve note I was one that said the hire was a good one...Jen has improved programs in the past. Although the conference is proving to be tough for her in her first year but she will build it!
I might add that McDaniel vs Haveford has implications as well. Haveford seems to be another one of those teams that is playing well this season compared to their previous few seasons. Hamilton is as high in the NESCAC standings as I have seen them in the last few years. Tomorrow Hamilton vs Wesleyan is important to the post season aspirations for both teams.
I watched the Swarthmore @ Hopkins match. It did not disappoint. Swarthmore was certainly outmatched athletically, but made a game of it with a superior passing game. Their midfield dominated their counterparts for long stretches, effectively retaining possession. Unfortunately they lack the forwards from last year that would have converted those to real opportunities. Their first goal came from a miscommunication on the Hopkins side during a free kick from the half line that left a wide open right sideline. The Swarthmore attacker had an unfettered run at the corner of the 18 and made a great strike to net a goal to tie the game at 1. The second came off a throw in that the Hopkins All-American whiffed on the clearance and the resulting dribble landed at the feet of a Swarthmore striker from about 15 yards out. True to my previous comment, no one beat either BlueJay outside back for even a decent cross let alone a shot. The Hopkins goals were a microcosm of ways to score in the game. The first was a textbook corner/header combo. The second, by the Hopkins target forward was a solo run straight at the goal where she beat one defender, ran over another and poked the ball past the goalie from inside the 8. The final goal, was a speed run up the left side and a nice cross into the 8 for a tap in by the same target forward. With 4 games left, Swarthmore might be relegated to a spoiler role as they currently sit outside the bubble of Centennials 5-team tourney. They have only one easy match in the 4 games, the others include both Haverford and Gettysburg who sit above them in the table and the rankings. Hopkins, who Massey has as the hardest strength of schedule in the nation, has a relatively easier remaining 3 games with only Gettysburg looming. The #1 conf seed is still possible for Hopkins, but they’ll need a little help to get there, but Haverford-Dickinson-Hopkins will likely occupy the top 3 spots in some form.
I watched the game also. I like your take but I guess I saw it a bit differently. In their last match up Swarthmore defeated JHU 5-1 I think. 4 of the 5 forwards who scored in that game last season were also on the field last night. To my eyes the teams have even rosters. The big game changer was the mismatch between personnel on the back line vs JHU striker phenom Jackson who is talented, as well as big strong and fast. The JHU coach exploited the mismatch for 2 of the 3 JHU goals which came from her individual skill power and speed and finesse. The Swarthmore coach eventually made an adjustment and that shut down the JHU attack from the very talented #20 for JHU. Swarthmore created several chances to at least tie the game but it was too late and in my view they just ran out of time. I saw it as a game of matchups. Post season play looks good for the Blue Jays and I have not done the math to see if Swarthmore will make it after this loss.
I don’t disagree with your view on R Jackson. She is a handful and is usually double teamed. After Swats 2nd/final goal and with about 20 to play, Swat pulled a defender and played 4 at the top to try and get the equalizer. Hopkins countered by pulling TWO forwards for defenders leaving Jackson alone up top. It wasn’t so much that Swat had neutralized #20 as it was that Hopkins left her in a 1 v 3 situation. And Hops left wing forward, junior OToole had multiple dangerous runs down her side that resulted in corners, crosses and an assist on Jackson’s 2nd goal. Swat had no such productivity from their wings.