November 10
Today is a big day as college teams all around the country find out their postseason fates. The NCAA tournament seeding will be announced at noon, with ECAC selections being made sometime after that. While we are not in consideration for an NCAA bid, we are hoping to find out this afternoon that we have been chosen for the ECAC tournament.
Some teams on the ECAC selection list will not be participating as they will instead be competing in the NCAA tournament. Medaille College won the AMCC postseason title and will be participating in NCAAs. While Hobart suffered a shocking upset in their Liberty League semifinal against Union, it was the first loss of the season for the Statesmen and they will likely receive an NCAA bid. Rochester also has a strong profile, as the national powerhouse finished tied for first in the University Athletic Association, one of the strongest D3 conferences in the nation.
Ithaca may be on the bubble for an NCAA bid as the 23rd-ranked team in the country fell to Stevens in the Empire 8 championship game. Ithaca is 11-4-3 overall, and defeated Stevens earlier in the year after drawing with Hobart. Other Empire 8 teams who applied for ECACs are Utica (who fell to 8-9-1 overall in a playoff loss to Stevens), and St. John Fischer (who also made the Empire playoffs despite a 5-9-3 record overall).
In the SUNYAC conference, a strong team from Brockport could be an ECAC favorite after a 10-6-2 overall record and a conference final loss to Cortland. SUNY Oswego (8-9-1 overall after losing to Brockport in the SUNYAC playoffs) have also applied for ECAC consideration.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Conference Tournament Weekend
November 6
This weekend, most conferences around the country hold their playoffs, and while we did not qualify this year there is still a lot for us to keep an eye on. In the Liberty League, host Hobart takes on Union in the first semifinal. Union (11-3-3 overall) is a great team, but Hobart (16-0-2) is the top-ranked team in the Northeast and the #4-ranked Division 3 team in the country. Union will be a tough test, but Hobart is almost unbeatable at the moment and playing on their home field will be a big advantage as well. In the other semifinal, second-seeded RPI takes on St. Lawrence. RPI was the surprise team this season, after not making the league playoffs last year they have risen to second place in the league and are ranked #25 in the country. St. Lawrence is a consistent contender, having won the Liberty League championship in 2005 and 2006 before finishing second last season. My prediction is that Hobart takes the title over St. Lawrence in the final, but we’ve learned that anything can happen in Liberty League action.
There are other results for us to watch this weekend, as teams on the ECAC selection list have an opportunity to win automatic bids to the NCAA tournament and leave more spots open in the ECAC tourney. There are three teams in the Empire 8 final four that have also applied to ECACs. However, the final team in the tournament is powerhouse Stevens Tech, so it will be very difficult for one of these squads to emerge victorious. Stevens takes on Utica in one semifinal, while St. John Fischer plays league-leader Ithaca (who upset Stevens in the regular season to grab the top seed). A win by anyone but Stevens in the Empire 8 will help us out, although Ithaca, currently ranked #23 in the country, could also claim an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament if they fall short of an automatic qualifier. Elsewhere, Medaille is in the AMCC championship game against Penn State-Behrend, while Brockport will be playing in the SUNYAC semifinals tomorrow.
This weekend, most conferences around the country hold their playoffs, and while we did not qualify this year there is still a lot for us to keep an eye on. In the Liberty League, host Hobart takes on Union in the first semifinal. Union (11-3-3 overall) is a great team, but Hobart (16-0-2) is the top-ranked team in the Northeast and the #4-ranked Division 3 team in the country. Union will be a tough test, but Hobart is almost unbeatable at the moment and playing on their home field will be a big advantage as well. In the other semifinal, second-seeded RPI takes on St. Lawrence. RPI was the surprise team this season, after not making the league playoffs last year they have risen to second place in the league and are ranked #25 in the country. St. Lawrence is a consistent contender, having won the Liberty League championship in 2005 and 2006 before finishing second last season. My prediction is that Hobart takes the title over St. Lawrence in the final, but we’ve learned that anything can happen in Liberty League action.
There are other results for us to watch this weekend, as teams on the ECAC selection list have an opportunity to win automatic bids to the NCAA tournament and leave more spots open in the ECAC tourney. There are three teams in the Empire 8 final four that have also applied to ECACs. However, the final team in the tournament is powerhouse Stevens Tech, so it will be very difficult for one of these squads to emerge victorious. Stevens takes on Utica in one semifinal, while St. John Fischer plays league-leader Ithaca (who upset Stevens in the regular season to grab the top seed). A win by anyone but Stevens in the Empire 8 will help us out, although Ithaca, currently ranked #23 in the country, could also claim an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament if they fall short of an automatic qualifier. Elsewhere, Medaille is in the AMCC championship game against Penn State-Behrend, while Brockport will be playing in the SUNYAC semifinals tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Tradition of the Plastic Necklace
November 5
A tradition on our team in recent years has been to hold a series of competitions in practice, both during the fall season and in spring training sessions, with the winner awarded a plastic necklace that has been passed down within the team for several seasons (although it had to be replaced last year as the original broke).
This year, we’ve done three competitions for the prize. Earlier in the season, we had an intra-squad scrimmage with each captain taking control of one team. The winning coach would gain control of the necklace and captain Kevin Goldberg was victorious as his team ran away with an easy victory. Then, over October break I earned my first winner’s medal when we conducted our annual 6-on-6 tournament. The team is split into random groups and we play eight 10-minute games, with the teams rotating each time. At the end, individual records are tallied and this year I was in first place at 6-2 along with sophomore Jimmy Worboys and freshman Brett Anker. We went into a sudden death penalty shootout which turned into a marathon tie-breaker, with Worboys and I taking over ten kicks each before I finally won the competition. The third challenge (also held over October break) was a golf tournament, with the pairing of Brian Bianchetti and Jason Cetel emerging victorious by one stroke. This was very exciting for my senior house, as I live with Kevin and Jason and we were able to keep control of the necklace for our entire senior season, with each player contributing a victory.
As a team, we are still practicing this week in case we are awarded an ECAC bid, which should be announced next Monday. If selected, we’ll play a first-round game a week from today. This weekend’s conference tournaments will have an impact on our potential seeding in the ECAC tournament, as tournament winners will be awarded automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, making them ineligible for ECACs.
A tradition on our team in recent years has been to hold a series of competitions in practice, both during the fall season and in spring training sessions, with the winner awarded a plastic necklace that has been passed down within the team for several seasons (although it had to be replaced last year as the original broke).
This year, we’ve done three competitions for the prize. Earlier in the season, we had an intra-squad scrimmage with each captain taking control of one team. The winning coach would gain control of the necklace and captain Kevin Goldberg was victorious as his team ran away with an easy victory. Then, over October break I earned my first winner’s medal when we conducted our annual 6-on-6 tournament. The team is split into random groups and we play eight 10-minute games, with the teams rotating each time. At the end, individual records are tallied and this year I was in first place at 6-2 along with sophomore Jimmy Worboys and freshman Brett Anker. We went into a sudden death penalty shootout which turned into a marathon tie-breaker, with Worboys and I taking over ten kicks each before I finally won the competition. The third challenge (also held over October break) was a golf tournament, with the pairing of Brian Bianchetti and Jason Cetel emerging victorious by one stroke. This was very exciting for my senior house, as I live with Kevin and Jason and we were able to keep control of the necklace for our entire senior season, with each player contributing a victory.
As a team, we are still practicing this week in case we are awarded an ECAC bid, which should be announced next Monday. If selected, we’ll play a first-round game a week from today. This weekend’s conference tournaments will have an impact on our potential seeding in the ECAC tournament, as tournament winners will be awarded automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, making them ineligible for ECACs.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Going Out On a High Note
November 2
Yesterday was our Senior Day against SUNY Cortland and our 3-2 overtime victory was a perfect ending to my career - although with the win, it is possible that the season might not be over. In my four years at Vassar, we have emerged from overtime games with some heartbreaking losses and ties, so to finally get an overtime win on Senior Day was incredibly redeeming. In my career here, we have also never made the playoffs, but one strike from Brian Bianchetti in the first overtime period of yesterday’s game may have changed that. Bianchetti’s goal off a perfect flick-on from Jon Hootnick gave us our first overtime victory in 10 tries and also qualified us for the ECAC playoffs with an 8-8 overall record. While we will not hear until after next weekend’s conference tournaments whether we have been selected, Saturday’s win kept alive our hopes of playing a first-round playoff game next Wednesday.
Yesterday’s game was the final home game for myself and our five other seniors (Jason Cetel, Kevin Goldberg, Danny Kadishson, Matt Belli and Jon Hootnick). We were all in the starting line-up for the game, and I made my first-ever start up top since Cetel is also a goalkeeper. It has been a tough season for Jason but he saved one of his best performances for last as he made a handful of difficult saves to keep us in the game. While we fell behind late in the first half, we came out firing in the second half and grabbed two quick goals- the first a difficult chip shot by Hootnick and the second a finish from sophomore Ben Scaglione after a great combination from Hootnick and Ross Macklin. Still, we could not hold onto the lead, as Cortland answered through striker Bryan Patterson, who has scored three goals against us in two games. Patterson sprinted past our defense for an easy breakaway goal, setting up Bianchetti’s overtime heroics.
After four years of ups and downs, it was really important for our class to go out on a high note, and we certainly did that on Saturday. Games like that one remind you why you play college athletics; all the difficult practices and heart-breaking losses never hurt as much as the exciting victories feel good. Now we need to hope we are selected for the ECAC tournament, and if we are, hopefully we can build off of this performance. We needed to rebound from a disappointing loss to New Paltz on Wednesday and I think we played more relaxed on Saturday and had fun defeating a very strong team from Cortland. We will surely be underdogs if we advance to the ECAC tournament but this could be an advantage as I think we can surprise some teams.
Yesterday was our Senior Day against SUNY Cortland and our 3-2 overtime victory was a perfect ending to my career - although with the win, it is possible that the season might not be over. In my four years at Vassar, we have emerged from overtime games with some heartbreaking losses and ties, so to finally get an overtime win on Senior Day was incredibly redeeming. In my career here, we have also never made the playoffs, but one strike from Brian Bianchetti in the first overtime period of yesterday’s game may have changed that. Bianchetti’s goal off a perfect flick-on from Jon Hootnick gave us our first overtime victory in 10 tries and also qualified us for the ECAC playoffs with an 8-8 overall record. While we will not hear until after next weekend’s conference tournaments whether we have been selected, Saturday’s win kept alive our hopes of playing a first-round playoff game next Wednesday.
Yesterday’s game was the final home game for myself and our five other seniors (Jason Cetel, Kevin Goldberg, Danny Kadishson, Matt Belli and Jon Hootnick). We were all in the starting line-up for the game, and I made my first-ever start up top since Cetel is also a goalkeeper. It has been a tough season for Jason but he saved one of his best performances for last as he made a handful of difficult saves to keep us in the game. While we fell behind late in the first half, we came out firing in the second half and grabbed two quick goals- the first a difficult chip shot by Hootnick and the second a finish from sophomore Ben Scaglione after a great combination from Hootnick and Ross Macklin. Still, we could not hold onto the lead, as Cortland answered through striker Bryan Patterson, who has scored three goals against us in two games. Patterson sprinted past our defense for an easy breakaway goal, setting up Bianchetti’s overtime heroics.
After four years of ups and downs, it was really important for our class to go out on a high note, and we certainly did that on Saturday. Games like that one remind you why you play college athletics; all the difficult practices and heart-breaking losses never hurt as much as the exciting victories feel good. Now we need to hope we are selected for the ECAC tournament, and if we are, hopefully we can build off of this performance. We needed to rebound from a disappointing loss to New Paltz on Wednesday and I think we played more relaxed on Saturday and had fun defeating a very strong team from Cortland. We will surely be underdogs if we advance to the ECAC tournament but this could be an advantage as I think we can surprise some teams.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween Community Service
October 31
Each year our team does several community service projects around Poughkeepsie. Yesterday, for the second time we helped construct and run a Halloween “haunted house” for young children in the area. The haunted house actually consisted of part of a cafeteria, where we used tarps to construct dark hallways. The players then dressed up and hid in different parts of the set-up, either jumping out at people or playing some role in the storyline. Brian Bianchetti led groups of children through the house, telling a story of a haunted school that included a crazy music teacher and a student who had been stuck in detention for anywhere from 40 to 200 years, depending on how Brian was telling it. My job was to be a zombie gym teacher. Other Vassar students were helping outside, organizing Halloween games and activities with the kids.
We got involved in this project through John Flowers, a local resident who conducts a wide variety of community service projects around Poughkeepsie. Every year around Christmas time we work with Mr. Flowers to bring gifts to all the area nursing homes. Our coach has always stressed to us the importance of giving back to the community, and with John Flowers’ organization there are always projects that we can help out with.
Each year our team does several community service projects around Poughkeepsie. Yesterday, for the second time we helped construct and run a Halloween “haunted house” for young children in the area. The haunted house actually consisted of part of a cafeteria, where we used tarps to construct dark hallways. The players then dressed up and hid in different parts of the set-up, either jumping out at people or playing some role in the storyline. Brian Bianchetti led groups of children through the house, telling a story of a haunted school that included a crazy music teacher and a student who had been stuck in detention for anywhere from 40 to 200 years, depending on how Brian was telling it. My job was to be a zombie gym teacher. Other Vassar students were helping outside, organizing Halloween games and activities with the kids.
We got involved in this project through John Flowers, a local resident who conducts a wide variety of community service projects around Poughkeepsie. Every year around Christmas time we work with Mr. Flowers to bring gifts to all the area nursing homes. Our coach has always stressed to us the importance of giving back to the community, and with John Flowers’ organization there are always projects that we can help out with.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Final Home Game, Senior Day
October 31
Tomorrow’s game against Cortland will be our “Senior Day,” where the other seniors and I will play our final home game at Vassar. Our class started with ten players but that number has dropped down to six going into what will be our final game together unless we win and get selected for the ECAC tournament.
Kevin Goldberg, in his second year as captain, has been a four-year starter for us. He originally played outside back and defensive center-midfield, but has started the last two seasons at center back. His importance to our back-line has been greatly underestimated as he rarely stands out in games, but this is because he never makes mistakes at the back. Kevin has not yet been selected for the All-Liberty League team but if he does not get picked this year it will be a huge oversight by the other Liberty League coaches.
Our other captain is Danny Kadishson, who has played all over the field for us, beginning as a winger, then starting last season as a defensive center-midfielder, then moving to outside back this year before starting at center back in our last game against New Paltz. Danny has been hampered by injuries this season but has still provided the energy and tough, physical play that this team sorely needed at times.
Jason Cetel was our starting goalkeeper since we arrived here at Vassar. Though he was beaten out for the number one job this season by junior Jake London (who worked extremely hard all year to put himself in that position), he leaves Vassar on the all-time records lists in multiple goalkeeping categories. His biggest strength has been his acrobatic saves, which have kept us in many big games over the past four years (such as a 1-1 draw with Merchant Marine when we were freshmen, and 1-1 and 0-0 draws with Liberty League powerhouses Hobart and Union last year).
Jon Hootnick has been our top striker this year, and has been playing up top since freshmen year. In past years, he was a very complete player who just couldn’t translate his ability into goals. That has changed dramatically this season, as he is currently tied for second in the Liberty League with 8 goals. A strong, fast striker, Jon has been a good target man this season which has allowed us to run our offense through him.
Matt Belli has been a wild-card player for us over the past four years, a guy who can line up in almost any position on the field and routinely switches around between outside back, center midfield, and wing, often within the same game. He is lightning quick and has the rare ability to control the ball at speed, making him one of the most difficult players in the league to mark. He also has a cannon long-range shot, and has scored multiple goals from 40+ yards out over his career, while also tallying two Liberty League goals this season.
Tomorrow’s game against Cortland will be our “Senior Day,” where the other seniors and I will play our final home game at Vassar. Our class started with ten players but that number has dropped down to six going into what will be our final game together unless we win and get selected for the ECAC tournament.
Kevin Goldberg, in his second year as captain, has been a four-year starter for us. He originally played outside back and defensive center-midfield, but has started the last two seasons at center back. His importance to our back-line has been greatly underestimated as he rarely stands out in games, but this is because he never makes mistakes at the back. Kevin has not yet been selected for the All-Liberty League team but if he does not get picked this year it will be a huge oversight by the other Liberty League coaches.
Our other captain is Danny Kadishson, who has played all over the field for us, beginning as a winger, then starting last season as a defensive center-midfielder, then moving to outside back this year before starting at center back in our last game against New Paltz. Danny has been hampered by injuries this season but has still provided the energy and tough, physical play that this team sorely needed at times.
Jason Cetel was our starting goalkeeper since we arrived here at Vassar. Though he was beaten out for the number one job this season by junior Jake London (who worked extremely hard all year to put himself in that position), he leaves Vassar on the all-time records lists in multiple goalkeeping categories. His biggest strength has been his acrobatic saves, which have kept us in many big games over the past four years (such as a 1-1 draw with Merchant Marine when we were freshmen, and 1-1 and 0-0 draws with Liberty League powerhouses Hobart and Union last year).
Jon Hootnick has been our top striker this year, and has been playing up top since freshmen year. In past years, he was a very complete player who just couldn’t translate his ability into goals. That has changed dramatically this season, as he is currently tied for second in the Liberty League with 8 goals. A strong, fast striker, Jon has been a good target man this season which has allowed us to run our offense through him.
Matt Belli has been a wild-card player for us over the past four years, a guy who can line up in almost any position on the field and routinely switches around between outside back, center midfield, and wing, often within the same game. He is lightning quick and has the rare ability to control the ball at speed, making him one of the most difficult players in the league to mark. He also has a cannon long-range shot, and has scored multiple goals from 40+ yards out over his career, while also tallying two Liberty League goals this season.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tough Loss in League Finale
We lost 5-1 to Hobart on Sunday, eliminating us from Liberty League playoff contention, although we would have been out anyway due to RPI defeating Hamilton and Union beating Clarkson. It is still disappointing for the senior class to end our Liberty League careers like that, along with the fact that a victory over Hobart would have given us a very convincing profile for ECAC selection. The game was a disaster from the start, as Hobart's early 3-goal barrage was followed by a scary injury to our captain Kevin Goldberg that delayed the game for over twenty minutes (luckily he’s doing better now and can hopefully play this week). We briefly made a game of it when Matt Belli scored early in the second-half, but Hobart responded right away with a fourth goal and was able to cruise to an easy victory.
This year’s Hobart squad was probably the strongest Liberty League team in my four-year career and it would not surprise me if they won the National Championship this year. I thought they were stronger than defending National Champions Middlebury (although we played them in pre-season), and they are currently ranked 4th in the nation. I saw the nation’s #1 team (Trinity, TX) on television in the national championship game last year and their standard of play was on another level, but Middlebury was still able to shut them out and win in a shootout, so you never know what will happen in this year’s knockout tournament.
Tomorrow we take on New Paltz, a team that has given us a lot of trouble in recent years. While not traditionally one of the stronger teams in the area, they had a run of four straight victories over us, including a 3-2 overtime victory my freshman year and a disastrous 5-4 overtime win in 2006 when they played down a man the entire game after an early red card. We broke that streak last season, but it wasn’t easy, as we scraped out a 3-2 victory. New Paltz is also much stronger this season than they have been in the past. They defeated Bard 4-0 (a team we beat by five goals), beat a good Fredonia team 2-1, and only lost 1-0 to nationally-ranked Stevens Tech (who beat us 3-0). It will be a very tough match-up for us. A win will make us eligible to be selected for the ECAC playoffs, but we’ll probably need to win both of our remaining games to be chosen.
This year’s Hobart squad was probably the strongest Liberty League team in my four-year career and it would not surprise me if they won the National Championship this year. I thought they were stronger than defending National Champions Middlebury (although we played them in pre-season), and they are currently ranked 4th in the nation. I saw the nation’s #1 team (Trinity, TX) on television in the national championship game last year and their standard of play was on another level, but Middlebury was still able to shut them out and win in a shootout, so you never know what will happen in this year’s knockout tournament.
Tomorrow we take on New Paltz, a team that has given us a lot of trouble in recent years. While not traditionally one of the stronger teams in the area, they had a run of four straight victories over us, including a 3-2 overtime victory my freshman year and a disastrous 5-4 overtime win in 2006 when they played down a man the entire game after an early red card. We broke that streak last season, but it wasn’t easy, as we scraped out a 3-2 victory. New Paltz is also much stronger this season than they have been in the past. They defeated Bard 4-0 (a team we beat by five goals), beat a good Fredonia team 2-1, and only lost 1-0 to nationally-ranked Stevens Tech (who beat us 3-0). It will be a very tough match-up for us. A win will make us eligible to be selected for the ECAC playoffs, but we’ll probably need to win both of our remaining games to be chosen.
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