NESCAC Women's Soccer

[Unregistered]

I've often been told that NESCAC offers the best D3 women's soccer in the country. Is that just local New England bias. I was checking the NCAA D3 results and the three NESCAC entrants are all out already. Amherst lost 4 - 0 in the second round (32 teams). Williams lost in the 3rd round (16 teams) and Middlebury lost in 3rd (16 teams). Williams was ranked 2nd in nation before the tournament and, I believe, Amherst was top 10. The margin of Amherst's defeat is most surprising.

[Unregistered]

The highest concentration of top D3 teams is in the Northeast. That does not mean it is the best D3 soccer, just has the most highly ranked teams and the best competitive conference. Last year I believe three girls programs, Williams, Amherst and Tufts ended up in the top 10 nationally. That's good soccer.

[Unregistered]

I've often been told that NESCAC offers the best D3 women's soccer in the country. Is that just local New England bias. I was checking the NCAA D3 results and the three NESCAC entrants are all out already. Amherst lost 4 - 0 in the second round (32 teams). Williams lost in the 3rd round (16 teams) and Middlebury lost in 3rd (16 teams). Williams was ranked 2nd in nation before the tournament and, I believe, Amherst was top 10. The margin of Amherst's defeat is most surprising.

We drove out to watch one of the Williams games...not D1 by any means. Too slow for us.
If you want to be a big fish in a little pool then that might be a good fit.

[Unregistered]

We drove out to watch one of the Williams games...not D1 by any means. Too slow for us.
If you want to be a big fish in a little pool then that might be a good fit.

I saw Williams scrimmage early in the season. I found their speed of play impressive.

[Unregistered]

I saw Williams scrimmage early in the season. I found their speed of play impressive.

Well maybe it was just the day we drove out ? every team has an off day...they won..but it was slow.

Cheers

[Unregistered]

NESCAC women's soccer is very good soccer. Besides, the academic quality is outstanding. If your kid wants a terrific education and can play soccer, it is a great experience.

[Unregistered]

Is Andover loaded with club players? If so, which clubs? If not, pretty impressive that they were able to beat a Stars/Scorps loaded Nobles team.

[Unregistered]

We drove out to watch one of the Williams games...not D1 by any means. Too slow for us.
If you want to be a big fish in a little pool then that might be a good fit.

enjoy watching your daughter on the bench at her D1 school, majoring in [insert easy major at mediocre academic college here]. You are a soccer snob parent.

[Unregistered]

We drove out to watch one of the Williams games...not D1 by any means. Too slow for us.
If you want to be a big fish in a little pool then that might be a good fit.

I've seen a few D1 games where it was a good thing they played on turf because grass grows faster than their speed of play.

[Unregistered]

We drove out to watch one of the Williams games...not D1 by any means. Too slow for us.
If you want to be a big fish in a little pool then that might be a good fit.

I have had the chance to see Williams play several times over the last two years and they were very entertaining (as were their NESCAC opponents) and the speed of play was fast. There were many highly-skilled players that could have played on any NE D1 team. They probably chose Williams for the outstanding academics and perhaps the multi-billion dollar endowment. Last year's average financial aid award (need based as they see it) for the incoming 539 students was $40,000. Thar's gold in them thar hills! Suffice it to say there is a distinctive allure to the NESCAC schools.

[Unregistered]

enjoy watching your daughter on the bench at her D1 school, majoring in [insert easy major at mediocre academic college here]. You are a soccer snob parent.

Not all D1 schools have mediocre academics. You shouldn't generalize.

[beentheredonethat]

I have had the chance to see Williams play several times over the last two years and they were very entertaining (as were their NESCAC opponents) and the speed of play was fast. There were many highly-skilled players that could have played on any NE D1 team. They probably chose Williams for the outstanding academics and perhaps the multi-billion dollar endowment. Last year's average financial aid award (need based as they see it) for the incoming 539 students was $40,000. Thar's gold in them thar hills! Suffice it to say there is a distinctive allure to the NESCAC schools.

I would dare say that if you can afford to pay the fee's and travel expenses in club soccer you are not going to qualify for the 75% in financial aide you suggest and in order to qualify for any sort of merit aide your kid would have to SAT scores well in excess of 2160 (720's) to even be in the mix.

While I have no doubt that there are many capable players in the NESCAC league and that many of the programs are very solid, to suggest that as a whole that these schools have better soccer programs than the lesser the D1 programs in NE is a little bit of a stretch. First off, the $50K most NESCAC schools charge for tuition is a steep number. Considering that there are no athletic scholarships to offset it and merit aide has to be tied to academic performance it only makes sense that the talent pools are narrowed by economic factors. Secondly, since these schools place more emphasis on academic prowess than athletic prowess in their admissions process it also makes sense that the talent pools are even further narrowed by academics. While every team is going to have it's fair share of elite level players, it only makes sense that the programs with the greater restrictions on them will have the thinner benches and end up to be weaker teams.

[Unregistered]

maybe not "as a whole" BTDT, but you are kidding yourself if you think that just because smart kids are smart enough to get into the top NESCAC schools that that translates into lesser soccer skills and teams. Many of us have either saved enough for college or would rather our kid pick the best academic school over scholarship money at a lesser academic school, and we'll figure out a way to make it work. I think that is MANY of us. And I definitely do think that Williams could beat nearly every bottom D1 team 9/10 times. There are lots and lots of kids in this country that are smart AND elite level soccer players to fill those benches.

[Unregistered]

maybe not "as a whole" BTDT, but you are kidding yourself if you think that just because smart kids are smart enough to get into the top NESCAC schools that that translates into lesser soccer skills and teams. Many of us have either saved enough for college or would rather our kid pick the best academic school over scholarship money at a lesser academic school, and we'll figure out a way to make it work. I think that is MANY of us. And I definitely do think that Williams could beat nearly every bottom D1 team 9/10 times. There are lots and lots of kids in this country that are smart AND elite level soccer players to fill those benches.

Agreed here. Tons of MA girls with smarts and elite skills are choosing D3 schools. Too bad there are many families out there chasing the scholarship dream. The funny thing is...they are the ones traveling all over the country, spending all kinds of money on flights, hotels, etc. Seems nutty to limit your kid to fighting for athletic pennies when you could save buckets of it by sticking to regional stuff and then you can pick your school without strings attached.

[beentheredonethat]

maybe not "as a whole" BTDT, but you are kidding yourself if you think that just because smart kids are smart enough to get into the top NESCAC schools that that translates into lesser soccer skills and teams. Many of us have either saved enough for college or would rather our kid pick the best academic school over scholarship money at a lesser academic school, and we'll figure out a way to make it work. I think that is MANY of us. And I definitely do think that Williams could beat nearly every bottom D1 team 9/10 times. There are lots and lots of kids in this country that are smart AND elite level soccer players to fill those benches.

I am not debating that there are lots of kids that are smart that can play soccer. Nor am I debating that there is more to picking a college than soccer. I just think the notion that a NESCAC school has the ability to consistently beat a low level D1 school is a little far fetched. I had a conversation with the head coach of St Rose last spring in which she told me that they try play a number of low level D1 schools on their spring play dates and that she found that while they can compete with them, her team did not exactly blow them away. St Rose is a D2 powerhouse and if they can only compete against the likes of a UMass what makes anyone think a school without scholarships can?