Which MIAC men's team improved the most this year? Who will make the top 4 and the MIAC playoffs? Will the playoff champ have a chance to advance deep into the NCAA III playoffs?
63 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I'm not saying they will win the thing because they will not, but I think you will see Augsburg compete much more this year. They still may be a year away but they did a better job of recruiting this past year. They may be the most improved. We will see.
They did get Hildebrandt from Highland. I watched him all through HS...the kid can play. It will be interesting to see how they come together this year.
St Johns is loaded with returning talent from last years MIAC Tournament champion team which went on the NCAA's. They should win the league championship this year. I think they only graduated 2 starters from last years squad. This years incoming class from all reports is down as many top players could see how many returning starters were freshman and sophs.and opted for schools where they may have abetter chance of playing in the next 2 years. The only negative I see is their coaching staff isn't quite as soccer savvy as some of the other top schools in the conference but I must admit they do a great job recruiting. GAC lost a little too much to graduation to be a factor in 2006...but wait til next year as this years freshman class is supposed to be awesome!
I look for Augsburg and St. Thomas to each finish 1 or 2 positions higher than last year. I think that the Gusties and Hamline could have a drop but will still be middle of the pack.
St John's will be weak in the middle of the park. They don't have a true inside midfielder of the caliber of the other top MIAC schools. They were desperately hoping Aaron Witchger would gain entry to the school but that didn't pan out. That would have made them the #1 team in MIAC in this Ole's opinion. The Johnnies will rely on their backs to boot the ball forward to Kodet. The top MIAC coaches will be ready for that this year and scoring will be a problem for St Johns against the better MIAC teams.
Horst can/probably will play offensive mid-field. I think they have a good shot to be in the top 4, but not sure how graduation and injuries will affect them.
Augsburg and St Thomas are definitely the most improved teams in MIAC. St Johns added Horst but he's hurt and the situation with Aaron Witchger didn't come to fruition as mentioned above. St Thomas had Jon Stillwell transfer in from Wisconsin. Andy Velez from Mpls South opted to play at St Thomas rather than a D1 school. Augsburg will be the surprise of the league and will improve their record dramatically over last year with this strong freshman class. (Many knowledgable soccer fans rate Augsburg coaching staff the best in MIAC) Augsburg and St Thomas had the best recruiting results of the top 5-6 MIAC schools. Gustavus had a pretty good crop of freshman enter this fall. St Johns failed to bring in any highly regarded freshman(maybe there's a sleeper in the bunch?). Too many young starters coming back this year.
Augsburg has a fine coaching staff but to say they are the best is probably a stretch. They did probably have one of the best recruiting classes this year so kudos to their staff.
The MIAC should be very competative this year with 6, posibly 7 teams having a legitimate chance of finishing in the top 4. The top 4 order will probably come down to the last few games.
Have a daughter who went to Wartburg. You're wrong about the academics - at least on the women's side! Mandatory study sessions, coaches all over the girls about getting high grades. Academics really were stressed. She had a 3.9 in HS and maintained that caliber while there.Same coach for men and women so think it would be about the same.
WCM you are off base again (you make a habit of that!)
Wartburg is outstanding academically (as are most of the upper Midwest’s private universities.) They may lack the marketing savvy of a Mac, who spend significant dollars selling their image and buying their way onto the "best of" lists. Spending money, knowing the right people and calling in favors help them believe they have some academic superiority.
Wow, this forum is starting to sound like the club and h.s. forums. Thought it might stay above all the bickering being that it was college. So a college parent is just one step above being a H.S. parent. At least the kids are one step above....not sure about the parents. Makes me go, "Hmmm..."
GAC 1-0-1: Good weekend. Drew with Edgewood and beat Whitewater.
MAC 0-2-0: Lost to Edgewood and Whitewater - 2 of the better teams in the midwest, but Mac typically takes at least one of these 2 games.
UST 1-1-0: Beat Northwestern (Roseville) and got beat up by Loras 3-1.
STO 1-0-0: Racked up 8 on Martin Luther.
BU 0-2-0: Went after the big boys (Linfield and Colorado College) and came up empty.
AUG 2-0-0: Put up 8 on Crown and then beat Loras 2-0. Great result for a traditionally below average team.
CON 2-0-0: Beat Concordia (WI) and U of Mary (ND) to get more wins than they had all last year.
SJU 1-0-1: Beat U of Mary (ND) and drew level with Concordia (WI). Probably not the result SJU wanted in the second game.
HAM 2-0-0: Great result against Central on Friday and finish with a 5-goal performance against Coe.
SMU 2-0-0: Put up 14 goals in 2 games against Rockford and North Central. Play Loras Tuesday.
CAR 1-1-0: Struggled against a solid North Park team and built self-esteem against Rockford by scoring 10 goals.
First Weekend Rankings (My opinion - it's very early and these aren't worth the time I took to type them, but it's kind of fun.) 1. GAC 2. MAC 3. SJU 4. AUG 5. UST 6. HAM 7. STO 8. CAR 9. CON 10. BET 11. SMU
GAC will only get better as the season progresses. They have a few key positions where the newcomers are just getting used to the players around them.
St Johns is working through some injuries and played without 2-3 starters and lost D'Allesandro to grades. They are struggling to find someone who can control the middle of the park. St Johns will be a force if they can fix the inside mid hole and the 3 starters recover from current injuries in time for the conference games.
MAC will be back, too much talent to not be in the running. They also outcoach the majority of the teams in the MIAC.
Augsburg will be the surprise of the MIAC. Tons on young talent has bumped a few of last years starters from hteir starting roles.
I saw Augsburg play on Saturday and at least in this game they seemed to have some problems in the final third but I thought their defense was outstanding. We will see how they do against tougher competition in MIAC. But so far they are 4-0-0, but most likely most of the teams are undefeated in non-conference. Let the MIAC season begin.
By the way, I caught a h.s. game at Mac's new field turf stadium. As much as I understand why schools would prefer to have field turf it was sort of sad to see the big white football (pointy kind) lines and small purple ones for the other football (round-ball). They used to have such a beautiful field and real sod field. Just a shame. I also noticed that the field is like so many field turfs are when they are first laid down and not settled in yet. Players stumbling a bit on the turf and some weird bounces to the ball. Seems it always takes about a year for those fields to calm down.
So does anyone know how many MIAC teams still play on real grass?
What's up with St. Thomas...going to OT with a team they usually beat 10-0 in Northland. Hamline and Augsburg undefeated heading into the conference season - when was the last time that happened? Macalester struggling with Ripon, and then St. Mary's easily handing Ripon a 2-0 loss - MAC may be lucky the Wartburg game got rained out - they look miserable at this point. Gustavus is running the table and scoring goals...watch out for another NCAA Run!
Wednesday Predictions:
GAC over CAR 3-0 SJU over BET 2-1 HAM over SMU 2-1 UST over CON 1-0 AUG over STO 1-0
Bethel and St Johns were 0-0 at the half yesterday. St Johns finally won 2-0. Bethel unfortunately will struggle again this year. They're 0-5. Whats wrong with the St Johns team this year? They only graduated 1 starter and most thought they would win the MIAC. At this rate they may not make the playoffs. A neighbor whose son goes to Bethel mentioned the score to me but he didn't see the game. Did anyone here happen to catch it?
I saw all but the 1st ten minutes of the game yesterday. My son plays for Bethel and we anticipated to see a very strong St Johns as they have so many returning starters. We're not very good this year (0-5 after losing yesterday) but weren't as impressed with St Johns this year as expected. St Johns looked weak in the middle 3rd of the field. They just couldn't link play from the back to the attackers. They also had a defender who was struggling because he couldn't play the ball with his left foot. Although he got by against us he will be eaten up by MIAC teams with quicker more aggressive forwards. I tend to agree with earlier posts based on this match that St Johns will struggle to make the MIAC playoffs. (we'll struggle to stay out of last place)
We stopped at Augsburg on the way home to see a few of my son's summer teammates playing for the Auggies. Augsburg looked very strong and one parent from Augsburg noted after they won 1-0 that they haven't given up a goal in 6 games this season. Is that for real? Now I see why some are saying Augsburg may win the MIAC this season.
I have to agree...the MIAC still has a few of the "old gym coaches" who really don't grasp the finer points of the game. These guys not only don't see the strategic/tactical adjustments they need to make during a match they also totally overlook talent in tryouts and so many times have talented athletes playing out of position. I'm sure the talented staff at Augsburg chuckles at the lack of coaching knowledge and ability against some of their opponents
The Augsburg coaching staff has done a great job over the last few years both in recruiting and having a very organized team on the field. They are playing mostly freshman and sophomores while achieving this success. These coaches truly understand the game having played it at a high level and this gives them an edge over coaching staffs at some of the other MIAC schools.
I went to Augsburg's homecoming game on Friday night (9-29) against Mac. Mac's forwards really took it to Augsburg the 1st half. Over all there was a much higher level of skill on the Mac players and they controlled the midfield and the one forward, Carson Gorecki from Mahtomedi, was very impressive. He is tall and gets up on the headers, has amazing pace, plays smart and decent touch. He was ripping the very good d of Augsburg up at times. Augsburg played very direct and the quality of the balls to the forwards was poor most of the time. They were also losing most of the 1st and 2nd balls.
The second half Augsburg made a few adjustments and just came out a lot more aggressive. They got one back on a free kick 45 yards from goal that was headed in. Towards the end of the game it looked like Holker moved them into a 4-3-3 with the keeper really pushing up the field hard as a sweeper-keeper. Very interesting as they put a lot of pressure on Mac in the final minutes and almost scored off a header from another free kick. Then in the final seconds of the game received one more free kick that was delivered to the head of an Augsburg player who thumped one off the left upright with 5 seconds left in the game.
So Mac is now on a roll. Augsburg gives up the first two goals of the season and lose for the first time this season. The second half of this game was very entertaining.
I also saw the game last night and agree with bq's assessment. Both coaches made tactical adjustments that had positive impacts for their teams.
I've seen all the top MIAC schools play now (except St Thomas) and at this point of the season think that Macalester is playing the best attacking soccer and is by far the most entertaining team to watch. They possess the ball well and have dangerous players up top. Leaney used only 2 subs last night. Top coaches know which players can contribute and who will be overmatched. Mac also gets an edge in coaching/intangibles.
Gustavus is a close second in my opinion when it comes to offensive prowess and will be there at the end along with Macalester. Gustavus has the best midfield combo (I'm surprised their #6 isn't playing D1 somewhere)in the MIAC and are well organized and get numbers forward in an organized manner.
Augsburg will stay in the hunt on defense and goalkeeping alone. This is the school that's by far the most improved in MIAC and is already my favorite the next 2 seasons. Their coaching staff is one of the 2-3 best in the MIAC. Their freshman and soph recruiting classes undoubtably the tops in MIAC the past 2 years. I don't think their recruiting will go downhill with the staff they have in place.
St Johns is athletic and play aggressive defense but their attack is very unorganized. I don't know whether this is a lack of midfield talent or coaches unable to convey/teach the concept that possession is critical to success. They look like a mid-level HS or Classic 1 MYSA team team playing boot & scoot. A real shame given the athetes they have. Lack of scoring will be their downfall.
Hamline is still a wild card IMO as I've only seen them once and saw them against what I felt was an overmatched opponent. Today's game will be an indicator if they're for real.
Deepest sympathy and condolences to the Leaney family with the passing of his beloved wife Carrie this past Friday after a valiant battle with breast cancer.
Augsburg gets back on shutout track with 3-0 win over Buena Vista - not much of a win, but they did not play Alex Hildenbrandt, James See, Kelsey Duerr, Vinnie Brooks, or Pascaul Venter (GK who had long streak) - all five starters.
Gustavus scrapes by Luther in two OT's - Luther is now 2-9-0 on the season. Tough road trip after St. Olaf win on Saturday.
Hamline makes big statement with 1-0 win over the Toms - for the 2nd consecutive season...and St. John's is back with a 3-1 thumping of Carleton.
It is now a seven-team race, as St. Olaf is eliminated from Playoff contention.
UST has got to be the most up and down team in the MIAC. Wednesday of last week they played awful at Carlton and were lucky to get a point at 1-1. Saturday, they completely dominate play and lose 0-1 to Hamline. Tonight they played efficiently and beat a very good MAC team. They could win the rest of their games, or lose the rest of their games.
Huge day in the MIAC this afternoon - Gustavus at home vs. St. Thomas and Macalester at St. John's....losers could find themselves on the outside looking in come November with Hamline and Augsburg continue to win. Auggies have 13 shutouts in 14 games - that is sick.
NCAA would consider this with strength of schedule, but it likely won't come from a MIAC team with 3 losses in the regular season. With Gustavus a lock (at this point) to make the tourney, a second team will come from either the conference tournament (if GAC doesn't win that) champion or the regular season runner-up if it gets to the playoff final.
Will be tricky, but at this point Loras's strength of schedule puts them ahead of the MIAC schools - even with a loss to Augsburg.
Pool A Winners (AQ): Wartburg, Gustavus, Puget Sound, Redlands
Pool B: UC-Santa Cruz (maybe Colorado College)
Pool C: Toss is up - there is still too much to play for this to even guess, but why not! St. John's, Whitworth and MAYBE Loras
What is up with Carleton's schedule? They beat Rockford 10-0 to open the season - Rockford only has 11 players, and later cancels the remainder of their season (they did not compete in 2005). So, to improve their record, today Carleton beat Finlandia 10-0, and Finlandia starts and finishes the game with only nine players - yes nine!
First of all, these schools should not be allowed to play NCAA contests that count, second of all - what the hell is Bob Carlson thinking when scheduling these terrible opponents? This doesn't help anyone.
This announcement on the NCAA web may say it all. They plan to start interviewing for a new Men's and Women's coach before 15 November. That's is between now and the 1st round of NCAA Division III championships.
Pretty sure that is a HR thing - have to declare a National Search because they are changing the title of the coaches to assistant professor...but job will stay with the current staff.
St. John's can pretty much clinch the title with a win over St. Thomas on Tuesday - with thier lone remaining game against Concordia.
If Augsburg beats Gustavus, and St. Thomas beats St. John's...and then in teh final day, Gustavus beats Bethel, St. John's drops Concordia, and Augsburg knocks off St. Thomas, we would have a three-way tie for the MIAC Title...with Augsburg earning the #1 seed on head to head (having defeated both St. John's and Gustavus)...
I've seen the "top 4" MIAC teams at least 2 times each.
Gustavus is the best overall team and has the best understanding of how to play the game. Their midfield understands the game better than any other MIAC team. Gusties # 6 and # 14 see the field well and can take over the pace of the game.
St John's has strong physical athletes who most of the time appear to have little concept of how to connect the defensive 1/3rd with the offensive 1/3rd but they depend on their athleticism and win. I like their attackers #10 and #20.
Augsburg has the best defense and the best keeper. They also are the best coached and keep their shape defensively better than any other team in the MIAC. Their keeper is the tops in league this year. A real leader.
St Thomas is my Jeckyll & Hyde team. At times they look unbeatable and then they have mental lapses that look like a HS JV team but when they're on can beat anyone.
The key game to determine MIAC outcome will be the St Johns v St Thomas this week.
This should be a battle as St Thomas has the size, strength and speed in the back to play with St Johns athletes up top. Tommies # 22 cleans up a lot of mistakes. He's my pick for MIAC defender of the year.
If you want to watch what will be the most physical MIAC match of the year this will be it.
Good luck to all the teams as the conference winds down.
Yea, this is the closest contest in a long time. Augsburg plays the Gusties (2nd place with 14 pts.) at Augsburg on Wed. night at 7:30. Then Augsburg has to play St. Thomas @ St. Thomas for the last game of the season on Saturday at 1:00. Right now Augsburg is in 3rd place with 12 points and Hamline and St. Thomas are tied for 4th with 11 points. Anything can happen yet. Get out and and see some games. This is going to get scrappy.
Who predicted that final four at the beginning of the year?
Augsburg's tie with UST might cost them an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament...unless Hamline defeats St. John's in the first playoff game...and Wartburg wins the IIAC Tournament...Gustavus is a lock for the NCAA's no matter how they do in the MIAC Playoff. Hamline is done unless they win the MIAC event, and SJU needs to at least get to the final to have a chance.
Unlikely the conference gets three teams this year.
Neiter Augsburg or Hamline have a real chance for an at large bid, they will need 2 huge upsets to advance. While both teams have excellent coaches, they do not have the quality to compete at the next level. Augsburg will continue to rise as they will land a couple outstanding Fr next year. But Hamline is headed for the bottom 1/3 next year with Helling gone and not much quality in the So and Jr classes.
Hamline beats St John's 1-0 in an upset. St John's didn't make adjustments to Hamlines defensive strategy. Andy Coutts had a masterful game plan and St John's failed to make necessary moves to attack the packed in defense.
The Johnnies played too direct and right into Hamline's defensive strength and strategy. St John's appeared frustrated and didn't know how to pull Hamline out of the shell. I thought the coaches should have made adjustments sooner to try to get better shots on goal. Gustavus picked Hamline apart during regular season and I suspect they won't fall prey to the same tactics as the Johnnies.
St Johns seems to have so much firepower why do they have a problem scoring goals against better teams. Are they just playing "boot ball" and relying on their speed and strength up top? I was stunned to hear that Hamline beat them at St Johns. Kudos to Andy and his boys. He must have had the better game plan because he sure didn't match up in talent. Not a knock on the Pipers but St Johns is loaded. Hamline...congrats! Good luck against the Gusties!
Gusties beat Hamline 2-0. While St Johns has as much or more talent than Gustavus their coaching wasn't as perceptive or able to change on the fly as the Gusties staff. St Johns fell into Hamlines trap and played right into the heart of the Hamline defense. They seemed to lack midfielders with the ability to slow down the game, hold the ball and wait for team mates to move off the ball to create space and chances. Direct direct direct...way too predictable. The tougher the going got the more direct the Johnnies attacked. Which is exactly what Hamline coach Andy Coutts wanted. Zelenz made adjustments in the game vs Hamline and also at halftime to create a little more space for his attackers and it pays off with 2 goal victory. Gustavus midfield was much more patient and actually expected to receive the ball from their backs and therefore controlled possession much more than Hamline. As far as NCAA goes Gustavus earns automatic bid and I expect if MIAC gets an at large bid it will go to Augsburg as they only had 3 losses on the season to St John's 4 losees. In addition Augsburg defeated St Johns in head to head play. Hopoefully the NCAA will look at strength of conference and give a 3rd spot to St Johns.
The only MIAC men's team to make the NCAA D3 tournament was was Gustavus with the automatic bid as MIAC tourney champs.
I was hoping Augsburg or St Johns might get an at large bid but no such luck.
Based on returning players I'd have to say Gustavus and Augsburg will be at the top of the pack next year with St Johns, St Thomas, Macalester and Carleton fighting for the other 2 playoff spots.
63 comments:
I'm not saying they will win the thing because they will not, but I think you will see Augsburg compete much more this year. They still may be a year away but they did a better job of recruiting this past year. They may be the most improved. We will see.
They did get Hildebrandt from Highland. I watched him all through HS...the kid can play. It will be interesting to see how they come together this year.
St Johns is loaded with returning talent from last years MIAC Tournament champion team which went on the NCAA's. They should win the league championship this year.
I think they only graduated 2 starters from last years squad. This years incoming class from all reports is down as many top players could see how many returning starters were freshman and sophs.and opted for schools where they may have abetter chance of playing in the next 2 years.
The only negative I see is their coaching staff isn't quite as soccer savvy as some of the other top schools in the conference but I must admit they do a great job recruiting.
GAC lost a little too much to graduation to be a factor in 2006...but wait til next year as this years freshman class is supposed to be awesome!
I look for Augsburg and St. Thomas to each finish 1 or 2 positions higher than last year. I think that the Gusties and Hamline could have a drop but will still be middle of the pack.
What about Mac - they are usually a factor in this conf aren't they?
Mac was ranked #1 in the pre-season poll:
http://www.miac-online.org/news201.html
I'm giving big props to Augsburg. They had a great recruting class and if they can find some goals, they will finish top 4.
MIAC Predictions
1. Macalester
2. St Thomas
3. Augsburg
4. St Olaf
5. Gustavus
6. St Johns
7. Hamline
8. Carleton
9. Bethel
10. Saint Mary's
11. Concordia
Ole,
Why are you ranking St Johns so low in the conference?
They have most of their starters back and brought in horst...a D1 caliber player.
St John's will be weak in the middle of the park. They don't have a true inside midfielder of the caliber of the other top MIAC schools. They were desperately hoping Aaron Witchger would gain entry to the school but that didn't pan out. That would have made them the #1 team in MIAC in this Ole's opinion.
The Johnnies will rely on their backs to boot the ball forward to Kodet. The top MIAC coaches will be ready for that this year and scoring will be a problem for St Johns against the better MIAC teams.
Horst can/probably will play offensive mid-field. I think they have a good shot to be in the top 4, but not sure how graduation and injuries will affect them.
Macalester, St. John's, and Gustavus are locks for 3-of-4 playoff spots....then it is between St. Thomas, Augsburg, Carleton, and St. Olaf
I've heard Horst hurt a knee and will be out for several weeks. He may need surgery.
Augsburg and St Thomas are definitely the most improved teams in MIAC.
St Johns added Horst but he's hurt and the situation with Aaron Witchger didn't come to fruition as mentioned above.
St Thomas had Jon Stillwell transfer in from Wisconsin. Andy Velez from Mpls South opted to play at St Thomas rather than a D1 school.
Augsburg will be the surprise of the league and will improve their record dramatically over last year with this strong freshman class. (Many knowledgable soccer fans rate Augsburg coaching staff the best in MIAC)
Augsburg and St Thomas had the best recruiting results of the top 5-6 MIAC schools. Gustavus had a pretty good crop of freshman enter this fall.
St Johns failed to bring in any highly regarded freshman(maybe there's a sleeper in the bunch?). Too many young starters coming back this year.
One freshman from Gustavus jumped ship and surfaced in Iowa. (Wartburg College, I believe.)
Augsburg has a fine coaching staff but to say they are the best is probably a stretch. They did probably have one of the best recruiting classes this year so kudos to their staff.
The MIAC should be very competative this year with 6, posibly 7 teams having a legitimate chance of finishing in the top 4. The top 4 order will probably come down to the last few games.
MIAC Coaches poll is out.
http://www.miac-online.org/news201.html
Wow - its suprising to see Gustavus ranked 8th!!!
Wartburg is a soccer machine, its all about the soccer. Lacks the athelete-scholar focus of the really good schools like Mac, etc.
Gustavus is ranked 2nd in the men's poll. Gusties ranked 8th in women's poll.
Have a daughter who went to Wartburg. You're wrong about the academics - at least on the women's side! Mandatory study sessions, coaches all over the girls about getting high grades. Academics really were stressed. She had a 3.9 in HS and maintained that caliber while there.Same coach for men and women so think it would be about the same.
WCM you are off base again (you make a habit of that!)
Wartburg is outstanding academically (as are most of the upper Midwest’s private universities.) They may lack the marketing savvy of a Mac, who spend significant dollars selling their image and buying their way onto the "best of" lists. Spending money, knowing the right people and calling in favors help them believe they have some academic superiority.
Wow, this forum is starting to sound like the club and h.s. forums. Thought it might stay above all the bickering being that it was college. So a college parent is just one step above being a H.S. parent. At least the kids are one step above....not sure about the parents. Makes me go, "Hmmm..."
FIRST WEEKEND RECAP
GAC 1-0-1: Good weekend. Drew with Edgewood and beat Whitewater.
MAC 0-2-0: Lost to Edgewood and Whitewater - 2 of the better teams in the midwest, but Mac typically takes at least one of these 2 games.
UST 1-1-0: Beat Northwestern (Roseville) and got beat up by Loras 3-1.
STO 1-0-0: Racked up 8 on Martin Luther.
BU 0-2-0: Went after the big boys (Linfield and Colorado College) and came up empty.
AUG 2-0-0: Put up 8 on Crown and then beat Loras 2-0. Great result for a traditionally below average team.
CON 2-0-0: Beat Concordia (WI) and U of Mary (ND) to get more wins than they had all last year.
SJU 1-0-1: Beat U of Mary (ND) and drew level with Concordia (WI). Probably not the result SJU wanted in the second game.
HAM 2-0-0: Great result against Central on Friday and finish with a 5-goal performance against Coe.
SMU 2-0-0: Put up 14 goals in 2 games against Rockford and North Central. Play Loras Tuesday.
CAR 1-1-0: Struggled against a solid North Park team and built self-esteem against Rockford by scoring 10 goals.
First Weekend Rankings (My opinion - it's very early and these aren't worth the time I took to type them, but it's kind of fun.)
1. GAC
2. MAC
3. SJU
4. AUG
5. UST
6. HAM
7. STO
8. CAR
9. CON
10. BET
11. SMU
GAC will only get better as the season progresses.
They have a few key positions where the newcomers are just getting used to the players around them.
St Johns is working through some injuries and played without 2-3 starters and lost D'Allesandro to grades.
They are struggling to find someone who can control the middle of the park.
St Johns will be a force if they can fix the inside mid hole and the 3 starters recover from current injuries in time for the conference games.
MAC will be back, too much talent to not be in the running.
They also outcoach the majority of the teams in the MIAC.
Augsburg will be the surprise of the MIAC.
Tons on young talent has bumped a few of last years starters from hteir starting roles.
Having seen a few of the games, my rankings would be this:
1. GAC
2. STO
3. MAC
4. AUG
5. SJU
6. HAM
7. CAR
8. BET
9. UST
10. CON
11. SMU
I saw Augsburg play on Saturday and at least in this game they seemed to have some problems in the final third but I thought their defense was outstanding. We will see how they do against tougher competition in MIAC. But so far they are 4-0-0, but most likely most of the teams are undefeated in non-conference. Let the MIAC season begin.
By the way, I caught a h.s. game at Mac's new field turf stadium. As much as I understand why schools would prefer to have field turf it was sort of sad to see the big white football (pointy kind) lines and small purple ones for the other football (round-ball). They used to have such a beautiful field and real sod field. Just a shame. I also noticed that the field is like so many field turfs are when they are first laid down and not settled in yet. Players stumbling a bit on the turf and some weird bounces to the ball. Seems it always takes about a year for those fields to calm down.
So does anyone know how many MIAC teams still play on real grass?
What's up with St. Thomas...going to OT with a team they usually beat 10-0 in Northland. Hamline and Augsburg undefeated heading into the conference season - when was the last time that happened? Macalester struggling with Ripon, and then St. Mary's easily handing Ripon a 2-0 loss - MAC may be lucky the Wartburg game got rained out - they look miserable at this point. Gustavus is running the table and scoring goals...watch out for another NCAA Run!
Wednesday Predictions:
GAC over CAR 3-0
SJU over BET 2-1
HAM over SMU 2-1
UST over CON 1-0
AUG over STO 1-0
Bethel and St Johns were 0-0 at the half yesterday. St Johns finally won 2-0. Bethel unfortunately will struggle again this year. They're 0-5.
Whats wrong with the St Johns team this year? They only graduated 1 starter and most thought they would win the MIAC.
At this rate they may not make the playoffs.
A neighbor whose son goes to Bethel mentioned the score to me but he didn't see the game. Did anyone here happen to catch it?
Anon 7:30
I saw all but the 1st ten minutes of the game yesterday.
My son plays for Bethel and we anticipated to see a very strong St Johns as they have so many returning starters.
We're not very good this year (0-5 after losing yesterday) but weren't as impressed with St Johns this year as expected.
St Johns looked weak in the middle 3rd of the field. They just couldn't link play from the back to the attackers.
They also had a defender who was struggling because he couldn't play the ball with his left foot. Although he got by against us he will be eaten up by MIAC teams with quicker more aggressive forwards.
I tend to agree with earlier posts based on this match that St Johns will struggle to make the MIAC playoffs. (we'll struggle to stay out of last place)
We stopped at Augsburg on the way home to see a few of my son's summer teammates playing for the Auggies.
Augsburg looked very strong and one parent from Augsburg noted after they won 1-0 that they haven't given up a goal in 6 games this season. Is that for real?
Now I see why some are saying Augsburg may win the MIAC this season.
Yea, my son does not play on the team but attends Augsburg. I have caught three of there games and there D is very impresive!
England,
I have to agree...the MIAC still has a few of the "old gym coaches" who really don't grasp the finer points of the game.
These guys not only don't see the strategic/tactical adjustments they need to make during a match they also totally overlook talent in tryouts and so many times have talented athletes playing out of position.
I'm sure the talented staff at Augsburg chuckles at the lack of coaching knowledge and ability against some of their opponents
Augsburg 0-0 Hamline 2OT
St. John's 2-1 St. Olaf 2OT
Gustavus 3-0 Concordia
Carleton 2-1 St. Mary's
Augsburg still yet to concede a goal..Gustavus continues to win games by a 3-goal margin...Johnnies slip by St. Olaf...this race is already tight!!!
Augsburg knocks off St. John's 1-0 in double overtime - scoreless streak now at 1,189 minutes. Augsburg is leading the MIAC...are you kidding me?
The Augsburg coaching staff has done a great job over the last few years both in recruiting and having a very organized team on the field.
They are playing mostly freshman and sophomores while achieving this success.
These coaches truly understand the game having played it at a high level and this gives them an edge over coaching staffs at some of the other MIAC schools.
I went to Augsburg's homecoming game on Friday night (9-29) against Mac. Mac's forwards really took it to Augsburg the 1st half. Over all there was a much higher level of skill on the Mac players and they controlled the midfield and the one forward, Carson Gorecki from Mahtomedi, was very impressive. He is tall and gets up on the headers, has amazing pace, plays smart and decent touch. He was ripping the very good d of Augsburg up at times. Augsburg played very direct and the quality of the balls to the forwards was poor most of the time. They were also losing most of the 1st and 2nd balls.
The second half Augsburg made a few adjustments and just came out a lot more aggressive. They got one back on a free kick 45 yards from goal that was headed in. Towards the end of the game it looked like Holker moved them into a 4-3-3 with the keeper really pushing up the field hard as a sweeper-keeper. Very interesting as they put a lot of pressure on Mac in the final minutes and almost scored off a header from another free kick. Then in the final seconds of the game received one more free kick that was delivered to the head of an Augsburg player who thumped one off the left upright with 5 seconds left in the game.
So Mac is now on a roll. Augsburg gives up the first two goals of the season and lose for the first time this season. The second half of this game was very entertaining.
I also saw the game last night and agree with bq's assessment. Both coaches made tactical adjustments that had positive impacts for their teams.
I've seen all the top MIAC schools play now (except St Thomas) and at this point of the season think that Macalester is playing the best attacking soccer and is by far the most entertaining team to watch. They possess the ball well and have dangerous players up top. Leaney used only 2 subs last night. Top coaches know which players can contribute and who will be overmatched. Mac also gets an edge in coaching/intangibles.
Gustavus is a close second in my opinion when it comes to offensive prowess and will be there at the end along with Macalester. Gustavus has the best midfield combo (I'm surprised their #6 isn't playing D1 somewhere)in the MIAC and are well organized and get numbers forward in an organized manner.
Augsburg will stay in the hunt on defense and goalkeeping alone. This is the school that's by far the most improved in MIAC and is already my favorite the next 2 seasons. Their coaching staff is one of the 2-3 best in the MIAC. Their freshman and soph recruiting classes undoubtably the tops in MIAC the past 2 years. I don't think their recruiting will go downhill with the staff they have in place.
St Johns is athletic and play aggressive defense but their attack is very unorganized. I don't know whether this is a lack of midfield talent or coaches unable to convey/teach the concept that possession is critical to success. They look like a mid-level HS or Classic 1 MYSA team team playing boot & scoot. A real shame given the athetes they have. Lack of scoring will be their downfall.
Hamline is still a wild card IMO as I've only seen them once and saw them against what I felt was an overmatched opponent. Today's game will be an indicator if they're for real.
Deepest sympathy and condolences to the Leaney family with the passing of his beloved wife Carrie this past Friday after a valiant battle with breast cancer.
Great report MIAC Alum. I appreciate the insight.
I did not know anything about John Leaney's wife. I am very sorry to hear that and my condolences also.
Augsburg gets back on shutout track with 3-0 win over Buena Vista - not much of a win, but they did not play Alex Hildenbrandt, James See, Kelsey Duerr, Vinnie Brooks, or Pascaul Venter (GK who had long streak) - all five starters.
Gustavus scrapes by Luther in two OT's - Luther is now 2-9-0 on the season. Tough road trip after St. Olaf win on Saturday.
Hamline makes big statement with 1-0 win over the Toms - for the 2nd consecutive season...and St. John's is back with a 3-1 thumping of Carleton.
It is now a seven-team race, as St. Olaf is eliminated from Playoff contention.
Got to love a team with a player named Vinnie. I hope he is a hard tackling and sometimes dirty player just like Bullet Tooth Tony was.
Seen him play. He is definitely one of the "hard men" of the conference.
UST 2 MAC 1
UST has got to be the most up and down team in the MIAC. Wednesday of last week they played awful at Carlton and were lucky to get a point at 1-1. Saturday, they completely dominate play and lose 0-1 to Hamline. Tonight they played efficiently and beat a very good MAC team. They could win the rest of their games, or lose the rest of their games.
St. Thomas has been that way for years, it's not really a surprise.
Huge day in the MIAC this afternoon - Gustavus at home vs. St. Thomas and Macalester at St. John's....losers could find themselves on the outside looking in come November with Hamline and Augsburg continue to win. Auggies have 13 shutouts in 14 games - that is sick.
Anybody in the top 6 wins out and they are in the playoff. Anybody looses 2 games and they are most likely out of the playoff.
St Johns keeps winning 2-1 over Mac...big game with Hamline this weekend.
I've seen SJU play and they're terribly unorganized in my opinion but somehow they have enough athletes to get the job done.
Good to see schools like Hamline and Augsburg having good years.
Should be a great season end to see who makes the playoffs.
Will the NCAA take an at large team with 3 losses? They should given the strength of the MIAC.
NCAA would consider this with strength of schedule, but it likely won't come from a MIAC team with 3 losses in the regular season. With Gustavus a lock (at this point) to make the tourney, a second team will come from either the conference tournament (if GAC doesn't win that) champion or the regular season runner-up if it gets to the playoff final.
Will be tricky, but at this point Loras's strength of schedule puts them ahead of the MIAC schools - even with a loss to Augsburg.
Pool A Winners (AQ):
Wartburg, Gustavus, Puget Sound, Redlands
Pool B: UC-Santa Cruz (maybe Colorado College)
Pool C: Toss is up - there is still too much to play for this to even guess, but why not! St. John's, Whitworth and MAYBE Loras
Hmmm...interesting.
Sounds likewinner of Hamline-St Johns this weekend will go to NCAA's.
Loser probably doesn't.
What is up with Carleton's schedule? They beat Rockford 10-0 to open the season - Rockford only has 11 players, and later cancels the remainder of their season (they did not compete in 2005). So, to improve their record, today Carleton beat Finlandia 10-0, and Finlandia starts and finishes the game with only nine players - yes nine!
First of all, these schools should not be allowed to play NCAA contests that count, second of all - what the hell is Bob Carlson thinking when scheduling these terrible opponents? This doesn't help anyone.
This announcement on the NCAA web may say it all. They plan to start interviewing for a new Men's and Women's coach before 15 November. That's is between now and the 1st round of NCAA Division III championships.
http://ncaa.thetask.com/market/view_full.php?id=40707
Pretty sure that is a HR thing - have to declare a National Search because they are changing the title of the coaches to assistant professor...but job will stay with the current staff.
St. John's can pretty much clinch the title with a win over St. Thomas on Tuesday - with thier lone remaining game against Concordia.
If Augsburg beats Gustavus, and St. Thomas beats St. John's...and then in teh final day, Gustavus beats Bethel, St. John's drops Concordia, and Augsburg knocks off St. Thomas, we would have a three-way tie for the MIAC Title...with Augsburg earning the #1 seed on head to head (having defeated both St. John's and Gustavus)...
Crazy.
I've seen the "top 4" MIAC teams at least 2 times each.
Gustavus is the best overall team and has the best understanding of how to play the game. Their midfield understands the game better than any other MIAC team. Gusties # 6 and # 14 see the field well and can take over the pace of the game.
St John's has strong physical athletes who most of the time appear to have little concept of how to connect the defensive 1/3rd with the offensive 1/3rd but they depend on their athleticism and win. I like their attackers #10 and #20.
Augsburg has the best defense and the best keeper. They also are the best coached and keep their shape defensively better than any other team in the MIAC. Their keeper is the tops in league this year. A real leader.
St Thomas is my Jeckyll & Hyde team.
At times they look unbeatable and then they have mental lapses that look like a HS JV team but when they're on can beat anyone.
The key game to determine MIAC outcome will be the St Johns v St Thomas this week.
This should be a battle as St Thomas has the size, strength and speed in the back to play with St Johns athletes up top. Tommies # 22 cleans up a lot of mistakes. He's my pick for MIAC defender of the year.
If you want to watch what will be the most physical MIAC match of the year this will be it.
Good luck to all the teams as the conference winds down.
Yea, this is the closest contest in a long time. Augsburg plays the Gusties (2nd place with 14 pts.) at Augsburg on Wed. night at 7:30. Then Augsburg has to play St. Thomas @ St. Thomas for the last game of the season on Saturday at 1:00. Right now Augsburg is in 3rd place with 12 points and Hamline and St. Thomas are tied for 4th with 11 points. Anything can happen yet. Get out and and see some games. This is going to get scrappy.
http://www.miac-online.org/mensocr.html
Augsburg losses last night in sudden death overtime to the Gusties 0-1.
Augsburg 1 St. Thomas 1
Augsburg moves into the playoffs and St.Thomas is done for the year.
St. John's
Gustavus
Augsburg
Hamline
Who predicted that final four at the beginning of the year?
Augsburg's tie with UST might cost them an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament...unless Hamline defeats St. John's in the first playoff game...and Wartburg wins the IIAC Tournament...Gustavus is a lock for the NCAA's no matter how they do in the MIAC Playoff. Hamline is done unless they win the MIAC event, and SJU needs to at least get to the final to have a chance.
Unlikely the conference gets three teams this year.
Neiter Augsburg or Hamline have a real chance for an at large bid, they will need 2 huge upsets to advance. While both teams have excellent coaches, they do not have the quality to compete at the next level. Augsburg will continue to rise as they will land a couple outstanding Fr next year. But Hamline is headed for the bottom 1/3 next year with Helling gone and not much quality in the So and Jr classes.
Hamline beats St John's 1-0 in an upset.
St John's didn't make adjustments to Hamlines defensive strategy.
Andy Coutts had a masterful game plan and St John's failed to make necessary moves to attack the packed in defense.
The Johnnies played too direct and right into Hamline's defensive strength and strategy.
St John's appeared frustrated and didn't know how to pull Hamline out of the shell. I thought the coaches should have made adjustments sooner to try to get better shots on goal.
Gustavus picked Hamline apart during regular season and I suspect they won't fall prey to the same tactics as the Johnnies.
St Johns seems to have so much firepower why do they have a problem scoring goals against better teams.
Are they just playing "boot ball" and relying on their speed and strength up top?
I was stunned to hear that Hamline beat them at St Johns.
Kudos to Andy and his boys. He must have had the better game plan because he sure didn't match up in talent. Not a knock on the Pipers but St Johns is loaded.
Hamline...congrats! Good luck against the Gusties!
Gusties beat Hamline 2-0.
While St Johns has as much or more talent than Gustavus their coaching wasn't as perceptive or able to change on the fly as the Gusties staff.
St Johns fell into Hamlines trap and played right into the heart of the Hamline defense. They seemed to lack midfielders with the ability to slow down the game, hold the ball and wait for team mates to move off the ball to create space and chances. Direct direct direct...way too predictable.
The tougher the going got the more direct the Johnnies attacked. Which is exactly what Hamline coach Andy Coutts wanted.
Zelenz made adjustments in the game vs Hamline and also at halftime to create a little more space for his attackers and it pays off with 2 goal victory. Gustavus midfield was much more patient and actually expected to receive the ball from their backs and therefore controlled possession much more than Hamline.
As far as NCAA goes Gustavus earns automatic bid and I expect if MIAC gets an at large bid it will go to Augsburg as they only had 3 losses on the season to St John's 4 losees. In addition Augsburg defeated St Johns in head to head play.
Hopoefully the NCAA will look at strength of conference and give a 3rd spot to St Johns.
The only MIAC men's team to make the NCAA D3 tournament was was Gustavus with the automatic bid as MIAC tourney champs.
I was hoping Augsburg or St Johns might get an at large bid but no such luck.
Based on returning players I'd have to say Gustavus and Augsburg will be at the top of the pack next year with St Johns, St Thomas, Macalester and Carleton fighting for the other 2 playoff spots.
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