Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! I never opened the annual D3 thread because there was basically no 2020 season due to covid-19. I went to an in-house game last Saturday and wanted to share a little about that. And I think we should have a place for off-season talk in anticipation of the Fall 2021 season. What is going on with your team or league/conference? Here is a D3 tweet I wanted to share. The fact that D3 athletes are better than average students is no surprise to those who follow D3 - or that women athletes out-perform men academically. This year was the first in which all Division III schools were required to report graduation rates for student-athletes. These data show that student-athletes graduate at higher rates than other students at Division III schools (women +10, men +3).#whyD3 https://t.co/esR12HXeFp pic.twitter.com/qYDbOtEw6v— NCAA Research (@NCAAResearch) November 18, 2020 William Smith Herons Green vs. White Game Only folks close to the WS team knew about it. My friend, who is close to the team, let me know. It was cloudy and a cold 45 degrees – fortunately there was not much of a breeze. Cozzens field was in great shape, having had no use this fall. All the players and staff were masked the whole time, even when the players were playing. The gates were locked, so we had to stand outside the fence to watch. Most of the less than 25 total spectators were students. They played two 50-min halves with no times out; just subs. I think it ended up 7-4 for green. 8 starters from the 2019 NCAA #2 team returned; 5 who are seniors now, including USC Scholar Athlete of the year, first team All American defender Maialen Martinez- who played holding mid. WS would have gone deep in the 2020 tournament, if one had happened. Senior center midfielder Merilyn Hinrichs, who missed that last part of the 2019 season with an ACL, was back in action with no brace or tape that I could see. Last year, one of the assistant coaches told me that he had seen many athletes rehab from ACLs, with varying success – but Merilyn was attacking rehab like a tiger and he was sure she would be ready for the beginning of the 2020 season. I have heard that all the D3 soccer players will get an extra year of eligibility. I think that most will want to graduate on time and get into the work force, if they can (and stop paying tuition, fees, room & board). I have no clue as to which of the Herons are planning on returning for the Fall 2021 season. Anyway, it was great fun watching the players play live and in person. Rumor is WS wants to play a few games in the spring vs. local D3 teams. Stay Well, All!
It's me again. I would have posted the following if it was any of our Women's D3 coaches being honored, however because it is Aliceann Wilber, I jumped right on it. Coach Wilber was selected as the 2020 Women's Soccer Award of Excellence recipient, sponsored by @WAGSinsoccer. Congratulations to @HeronSoccer head coach Aliceann Wilber, who has been selected as the 2020 Women's Soccer Award of Excellence recipient, sponsored by @WAGSinsoccer. She will be officially honored during the Digital Convention in January.➡️ https://t.co/gvcOZZYFQJ pic.twitter.com/JYcGQ6jB97— United Soccer Coaches (@UnitedCoaches) November 24, 2020 Article: https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/ali...the-womens-soccer-award-of-excellence-winner/
The NWSL 2021 Draft list of registered players is out. There are 49 players on it. https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/art...of-players-registered-for-the-2021-nwsl-draft As I usually do, I scanned for non-D1 players. In previous years, I listed blurbs for current NWSL pros Bethany Balcer (2019) and Jennifer Cudjoe (2018), neither of whom was drafted. They both played at NAIA schools. This year’s list has: 1 from D3; 3 from D2; 3 from NAIA; and one non-college player. Only the three from NAIA played league games in the fall of 2020. Here are some notes about the eight players. D3 Amanda Lebelt, 5’7”, F-M, Centenary University (2019: 8-8-1) From Milford, NJ; 2020-21 Junior 2019 (So) All Conference 2nd Team, 10 G & 3A 2018 (Fr) All Conference Hon Men, 5G & 6A D2 Samara Lino, ,M, University of Montevallo (2019: 14-4-4, conf. champions) From Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; 2020-21 Senior 2017-2019: 57 GP 36 GS; 10G & 5A >Montevallo has a spring 2021 schedule Sandra Nbwateme, 5’3”, F, Southwestern Oklahoma State University (2019: 13-5-3, conf. champions) From Kampala, Uganda; 2019-20 Senior 2016-2019: 81 GP 80 GS; 78G & 35A Makayla Toth, 5’3”, F, University of Central Missouri (2019: 19-3-1) From Wichita, KS; 2020-21 Senior 2017-2019: 74 GP 74 GS; 45G & 21A 2017 NCAA D2 Champions (26-0-0, as a freshman started every game) 2019 USC 2nd Team All American >Wichita is less than 3 hours from KC. NAIA Anika Kallash, 5’9”, F, Central Methodist University (2020: 10-2-0, plus 3 games at a neutral site in March 2021 and the conference tournament in April) From Troy, MO; 2020-21 Senior 2017-2020: 72 GP 66 GS; 77G & 33A Team career leader all time for both goals and assists All Conference 1st Team 3 times 2019 NAIA 2nd Team All American >Troy, MO is near St. Louis, a little more than 4 hours from both KC and Louisville. Yasmin Del Valle, 5’5”, D-M, West Virginia U - Tech (2020: 5-4-2) From Orlando, FL; 2020-21 Senior 2017-2020: 54 GP; 7G & 0A >Orlando is close to Orlando. Harlie Ford, 5’3””, D, Webber International University (2020: 4-9-1) From Deltona, FL; 2020-21 Graduate Student Her sister, Dayne is a 5’7”senior forward. 2019-2020: 25 GP, started 7 of 10 in 2020. >Deltona is about a half hour from Exploria Stadium. No College Affiliation Julia Lopes, 5’1”, F, Club: Greater Long Beach, CA From Torrance, CA; also, is Brazilian Is now 20 years old, out of West High School in Torrance. Did “Julia’s Soccer Planet” soccer blog in 2012 (age 11) showing pics of her with Marta and with Cobi Jones. Does voice-over acting. >Torrance to LA is 40 minutes and to Sacramento is 7 hours…and 12 months. [For the folks who do not follow the NWSL, both LA and Sacramento have expansion teams starting in 2022.] 619
Spring games have started. I looked at the web sites for the D3 schools near me. Only Nazareth has a Spring Schedule posted. Nazareth: 8 games: five at home & 3 away; includes RIT on April 7 at home. They are 2-0-0 so far. RIT: nothing on web site. I heard they have 3 games: 4/7 at Nazareth, 4/13 home vs. Monroe Community College, and vs. William Smith TBD. University of Rochester and SUNY Geneseo: nothing on the web sites. William Smith: I am waiting to hear back. Nothing on the web site. 1225
Disappointed to hear that Rochester decided not to put RIT on its Fall schedule for 2021. Enjoyed watching the cross-town rivalry matchup in 2019.
William Smith v RIT scrimmage set for April 25, time TBD. No spectators allowed due to Covid restrictions. This was the matchup I wanted to see in the 2019 Liberty League Championship. William Smith with its stellar defense and its scoring spread across the board with no 1 dominant scoring threat. RIT with a strong defense but having the top 3 scorers in the League. The 2019 regular season matchup occurred early in season before the RIT offense had started to mesh and fully integrate their freshman forward. Of course, with RIT graduating 2 of those forwards, this scrimmage will not really tell us how the matchup would have played out. Granted not on the level of the Messiah/William Smith championship game but it's still going to be a good scrimmage. My only wish is that it could be streamed.
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has a league schedule this spring for Woso. https://empire8.com/index.aspx?path=wsoc They will have a conference tournament April 13, 15, and 17 among the 6 teams playing this spring. Elmira, Hartwick, and Keuka opted out and did not play conference games. Empire 8 standings as of April 8: School ConfOverall Nazareth 4-07-0 Sage 3-13-1 St. John Fisher 2-2-12-2-1 Utica 1-2-12-2-1 Houghton 1-22-3 Alfred 0-40-4 Elmira0-00-3 Hartwick0-00-0 Keuka 0-00-0 I watched Nazareth host RIT on Nazareth’s live stream yesterday. No sound, but they play-by-play feed did keep track of subs and fouls. It was Nazareth’s seventh game and RIT’s first game this spring. Naz won 2-0 on two first half goals. The disparity in games played showed clearly. RIT was full of rust and Naz played with confidence, having had 6 wins already this spring. The weather was gorgeous and it made me happy the players could be out there playing a game. Everyone wore masks, even while playing and no spectators were supposed to be attending, but the ‘no spectator’ rules appear to be loosening up in this part of the State. I am planning on catching games at William Smith on April 18 and 25. 1797
The twelve team American Southwest Conference completed a Spring 2021 schedule followed by a tournament; final standings are below. On April 10, the championship was won by Hardin-Simmons over UT Dallas via KFTPM (4-3) after 2 scoreless overtime periods were played; regulation time ended 1-1. This was the 23rd ASC championship for Hardin-Simmons. https://ascsports.org/news/2021/4/10/cowgirls-win-23rd-womens-soccer-title.aspx SchoolCONFOVERALL East Division UT Dallas * #5-06-0-2 East Texas Baptist *4-1-16-2-2 Belhaven *4-2-14-3-1 Ozarks *1-2-12-5-1 LeTourneau1-5-12-8-2 Louisiana College0-40-4 West Division Hardin-Simmons * % &5-0-17-0-2 Mary Hardin-Baylor *6-17-1-1 Sul Ross State *2-2-22-2-3 McMurry *1-2-12-5-1 Howard Payne1-51-7 Concordia Texas1-61-6-1 & Conference Champion # East Champion % West Champion * Qualified for ASC Tournament 1996
Most D3s in the mid-atlantic seem lucky to be playing a few friendlies but the mostly VA ODAC conference had a spring season and tournament. A few teams opted out but the regular season was won by Washington & Lee while Bridgewater got them in the PK shootout to win the conference title. Interesting that W&L would have likely been ranked higher by the NCAA committee having won the regular season contest with Bridgewater. Happy for these players and one of the covid silver linings I guess is that everyone in college soccer has learned to stream live games. However it might look! https://www.odaconline.com/sports/wsoc/index
Here's the link to the live stream of William Smith vs RIT tomorrow at 11 https://hwsathletics.com/sports/2021/4/15/soccer-william-smith-vs-rit.aspx
I went to RIT at WS this morning (WS 3-1). It was a nice cool partly cloudy day with mostly sun in the first half, mostly clouds in the second and back to mostly sun for the 30-minute bonus period. Strong breeze blowing from the north to the south end of the field. Players not masked while playing. Field was heavy due to 2.5 days of rain prior to today. No spectators were supposed to assemble, so the many of us who did watch had to find spots outside the fence to watch from. Scoring: RIT 26th, WS 53rd, WS 81st, WS 83rd. RIT looked way better than they had vs. Nazareth until about 20 to 25 minutes left in the game, after which the WS level of play was much higher than RIT. The bonus period allowed more minutes for mostly bench players, with WS scoring the only goal. WS started one 2020-21 Fr. as a central defender; she did well. Of her classmates, at least 6 got significant playing time. The WS players who were 2019-2020 juniors, and are now seniors, provided most of the superior play. I have no clue whether or not any will be returning in the fall for year 5. The true 2021-2022 seniors are not nearly as strong a group. 2355
I had the chance to watch the live stream of WS/RIT game. Your comments were insightful. It was good to watch WS. Not sure if it was rust or defensive pressure on the passer, but there were a number of potential scoring opportunities for WS early in the first half that just missed connecting. Early on, it seemed that RIT could match the team speed of WS but as the game went later into the second half, the ball movement and team speed of WS created more opportunities for them. I got to admit that I was impressed by Julia Keogh in the second half. It's a pity that she lost this year since I get the feeling it would have been a good one for her. I'm sure that RIT is hoping that those WS seniors decide not to come back next season. From the RIT perspective, they took a lot of positives out of the match. They could tell that WS players were a little rattled when RIT took the first half lead. Though it didn't take long into the second half for WS to take back control. RIT felt that while WS kept a lot of possession in first half, the RIT defense largely dictated where WS moved the ball. RIT got strong play from a first year goalkeeper Ava Valachovic in the second half, making at least 3 great saves on open shots by Keogh. The goals scored on her were not due to bad play on her part. They got scoring opportunites from several first years as well. Many of the strategies and plays emphasized in practice were not implemented, which limited RIT's offensive performance. It gave the players something to think about and build on. Overall it was good scrimmage between two good teams.
Any news as to whether any of the William Smith 2020-2021 seniors are returning for a Year 5 for this fall? I see that William Smith was ranked # 2 in the pre-season poll. Curious whether that was simply based on the 2019 record or if it was based on some/all of the strong players from the 2020/2021 class returning for an extra year.