NESCAC '12 to '13

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Current Rutter has 4 NESCAC teams in the top 10:
http://math.bd.psu.edu/faculty/rutter/D3_Rankings.html
Some non-conference action tomorrow night. Bowdoin visits St. Anselm, Williams visits NEC, Hamilton visits Cortland and Conn College goes to Stamford to play Manhattanville. I think it is a 3/4 NESCAC night.
Looking forward to the Lord Jeffs visit to Kenyon next weekend.

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Polar Bears up 2-0 on St Anselm; goals by Tess-Wanat (did not get the assist) and Nardelli (from Novak).

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Kazmer (assists to Herron and Winters) scores off a D turnover handling the puck behind the Bowdoin net with :40.6 in the period to make it 2-1 after 1. Bad goal to give up for the PB after a solid 1st period of play!

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Ludy scores a pp goal, assists to Novak and Kennedy to make it 3-1. Bowdoin wasted several pp chances with very sloppy puck handling and general failure to get things set up

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Kennedy makes it 4-1 with :49.2 left in the 2nd when she takes a loose puck out of center and schools St A goalie on the breakaway.

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Kennedy makes it 4-1 with :49.2 left in the 2nd when she takes a loose puck out of center and schools St A goalie on the breakaway.

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Lost the thread...and come back to see the Hawks score with less than a minute to go to make it 4-3??? However, that is final and I guess a win is a win.

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

It was just like old times at Kenyon this evening with two top NESCAC squads going toe to toe and ending in a thrilling 1-1 tie. I honestly did not anticipate the outcome and if admitting my inner thoughts probably expected to watch Midd spank the Lord Jeffs for their pretensions and play of recent seasons. The 1st period was pretty much what I expected with the Panthers flying around the big ice, Greer back in action 6 weeks after surgery for a broken leg and shots 15-4 in Midd's favor. Evidently no one told Lord Jeff goalie Stuart of my expectations and she was holding the fort through the 1st. Stuart opened the 2nd with a great glove stop on a re-direct by Joyce from the top of the crease on a drive by Fluke from the left point. Middlebury goalie Jones was flashing some leather of her own late in the 2nd denying Salerno's shot from right point with less than 2 minutes in the period. Amherst was called for a fierce body check with :29.1 to go and the carry over penalty time opening the 3rd enabled the Panthers to cash in. Fluke won a battle on the boards in the left corner and fed Bielawski on the left half boards; she had space and walked into the left circle, ripping a shot off Stuart that Sullivan found at her feet and parked in the twine. This is the point I have to take my Bowdoin hat off to the Amherst squad: they had played hard, Midd had broken through and they could have dialed it in but they kept on coming and did outshoot the Panthers 10-5 for the 3rd! Amherst had a powerplay opportunity only to see Jones make nice saves on Salerno and Oppermann. The Panthers Wardwell got off on a semi breakaway coming out of the penalty box, was taken wide by Salerno, but Wardwell still got off a nice backhand on net. Amherst Coach Matthews rolled the dice with less than a minute remaining and pulled his goalie and was rewarded with McBride winning a puck on the left half boards and feeding down low to Salmon; she had space and time to move the puck on her forehand and spotted Martin in the slot; Martin buried her shot to tie the game with :31 remaining. OT saw Lloyd challege Jones with a high blast following the opening faceoff and Ugalde get a backhand on Stuart with :44 to go that the Amherst goalie controlled. As someone said after the game, we certainly got our money's worth tonight!

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Rutter: http://math.bd.psu.edu/faculty/rutter/D3_Rankings.html
KRACH: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/krach/d-iii-women/

Interesting to see the love the computers have for the NESCAC with Bowdoin, Middlebury, Amherst and Hamilton all solid in the 4/5 to 8 spots! GO U SMART GIRLS!!!

This afternoon repeats the pairing of last evening (does anyone know if the NESCAC will continue the "experimental" non travel partner schedule in years to come?).
Hamilton held Williams to a mere 10 shots on the Ephs' home ice; I'll buy that cup of Continental kool-aide (and go with the computers) and figure it is a sweep
Lessard is no longer in danger of shutting out the NESCAC for the season, surrendering her 1st conference goal (and seeing her NESCAC saves % fall to .989) in the Polar Bear win in Middletown; Bowdoin sweep
Pretty even contest in New London? Colby just has a hard time winning with that 0 goals thing, so Camel sweep
The game at Kenyon will be fun to watch. I imagine it hard for the Lord Jeffs and their short bench to play with the same energy
as last night. The Panthers need to make a statement before heading over the mountains for their date at Watson next weekend.

[NESCAC alum12]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

The parity in the NESCAC between the middle 6 teams is striking.

Each team listed has beat the team next to them (clockwise).

Amherst --------> Wesleyan
___/\ _____________||
___||_____________ \/
__Hamilton______Williams
___/\______________||
___||______________\/
___Conn <--------- Trinity

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Back from Kenyon through some fog, but at least no ice!
Some kind of strange 3rd period action in the Panther's 5-2 win!!! I need to sleep on it to sort it out in my mind, but, as always, would love to hear what other observers at the scene of the crimes thought?
Looks like next weekend at Watson is for the NESCAC regular season top seed. Should be worth the trip (probably even the money)!

[dgrand]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Just looked at the D-III women's rankings and am curious how WI River Falls can be ranked 6th with 4 losses and 2 ties while Numerous teams with better records against stronger competition are ranked below them? Cross referencing with Krach I see UWRF is 10th while Bowdoin is 4th for example. Thoughts?

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Just looked at the D-III women's rankings and am curious how WI River Falls can be ranked 6th with 4 losses and 2 ties while Numerous teams with better records against stronger competition are ranked below them? Cross referencing with Krach I see UWRF is 10th while Bowdoin is 4th for example. Thoughts?

Current KRACH strength of schedule has the Polar Bears at 5th and River Falls at 6th. While Bowdoin sports the 11-1-1 record, they have their loss (Plattsburgh 4-1 in the PB's 1st game) and tie (against Norwich 1-1) as their only results against teams in the top 10.
River Falls, at 9-4-2, came into the season as the favorite in the NCHA, and while their ties with Eau-Clair are difficult to factor in, their losses are to Gustavus (twice by a goal each game) and arch rivals in NCHA Superior and Stevens Point (over each of whom they own a win). The NCHA is a very competitive conference (not at all unlike the NESCAC in that regard) and you need to play your "A" game every time on ice and, I imagine, many games are of the blood feud variety. There have to be good, ranked teams in each of these conferences. I am happy to see the Polar Bears earning their way back into and up the poll. It would have been nice to hang on and beat Norwich, but the fact is it was a tie. The Polar Bears have to earn poll respect on ice, win some NESCAC blood feud contests and they have their chance to start this weekend at Watson.

[polarbear2]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

bump

[obserbear]

Re: NESCAC '12 to '13

Some key contests tonight and tomorrow:

Williams travels to Colby: the Ephs had a nice season going, but have been offensively challenged (and played some stiff competition) in dropping 4 straight; a trip to Alfond may help, although the White Mules did pick up a NESCAC win against Conn last weekend; Williams sweep

Trinity at Hamilton: the Bantams sit at 1-3-2 in conference, and while their offensive stats have fattened against non-conference foes, they need to put some points on the board and it is hard to see Russell Sage as the place to do it; the Continentals are playing with house money and can run their NESCAC record to 6-2 with a sweep

Middlebury goes over the mountains to Bowdoin: it has been years since these two have gone into a series so evenly matched and this fact is reflected in the various computer assessments as well as a glance at the stat sheet (surprised neither has been more effective killing penalties this season); I think the Panther D corps is a bit stronger than the Polar Bear's; the Bowdoin line of MacNeil-Holtz-Tess-Wanat is probably the best I have watched in years, but the Polar Bears have two other lines that have made major contributions; Midd has gotten a boost having Greer comeback for the stretch run, but their offense is typically balanced (and I can never figure out the Panther concept of "lines" anyway); Lessard showed she is actually mortal against Wesleyan, but I think Bowdoin has an edge in net this time around; a sweep by either team will make it easy to determine where to make reservations for the NESCAC finals, but I have to feel it comes out a split.

The Editor has deemed this a watch-worthy event (although I am suspicious of the destination's proximity to Halcyon Yard) and we are off to Brunswick, together!!! OMG!