The NESCAC Women’s Soccer regular season wrapped up on Tuesday leaving some teams jumping for joy, and others with that familiar sinking feeling that come with having to clean out one’s locker too early in the year. Since I know you all just want to hear my predictions for the upcoming PLAYOFFS!!!! I’ll just go through the scores from this last weekend of NESCAC play as quickly as possible.
Saturday, October 22nd
Hamilton @ Colby, Final Score: 1-0 Hamilton
Hamilton defeated Colby by a score of 1-0. The only goal was scored by Amanda Becker (’18) with less than five minutes to go in the game.
Williams @ Tufts, Final Score: 2-1 Williams
Williams beat Tufts on this road trip by a score of 2-1. Sarah Pykkonen (’17) scored for the home team while Kristi Kirshe (’17) and Sarah Scire (’20) scored for the visitors.
Amherst @ Wesleyan, Final Score: 2-0 Amherst
The visiting Amherst women defeated the Wesleyan Cardinals 2-0. Emily Hester (’17) and Hannah Guzzi (’18) scored for the winners.
Conn College @ Bowdoin, Final Score: 0-0 tie
This tightly contested battle ended in an inconclusive 0-0 draw.
Bates @ Middlebury, Final Score: 0-3 Middlebury
The Panthers blanked the Bobcats, winning 3-0. Amanda Dafonte (’19), Adrianna Gilder (’17), and Rebecca Palacios (’18) scored for Middlebury.
Tuesday, October 25th
Middlebury @ Williams, Final Score: 0-1 Williams
Williams held service, defeating the Panthers 1-0. Audrey Thomas (’17) scored for the victorious Ephs.
Tufts @ Bowdoin, Final Score: 1-0 Tufts
The visiting Jumbos defeated the hosting Polar Bears 1-0. Jess Capone (’17) scored the only goal of the game.
Bates @ Colby, Final Score: 2-1 Bates
In a battle for the state of Maine, Bates defeated Colby 2-1. Hannah Behringer (’18) and Hannah Graves (’17) scored for Bates, and Aliza Van Leesten (’17) scored for the Mules.
Conn College @ Wesleyan, Final Score: 2-0 Conn College
The Camels picked up a much needed win, besting Wesleyan 2-0. Michelle Medina (’18) and Alex Baltazar (’19) scored for the Camels.
Trinity @ Amherst, Final Score: 2-3 Amherst
The second-place team in the conference bested the fourth-place Bantams as Amherst beat Trinity 3-2. The scorers for Trinity were Andi Nicholson (’17) and Taylor Kirchgessner (’19). Amherst received goals from Emily Masten (’17), Hannah Guzzi (’18), and Emily Hester (’17).
That’s the wrap up of the last week of the regular season, and it left us with a clear playoff picture. The top-seeded Williams Ephs (9-0-1) will play the 8-seeded Hamilton Continentals (2-7-1). Amherst (8-1-1) as the 2-seed will play the 7-seeded Conn College Camels (5-4-1). The 3-seeded Middlebury Panthers (7-3-0) will battle the 6-seeded Bowdoin Polar Bears (5-4-1). And the 4-seeded Trinity Bantams (7-3-0) will take on the 5-seeded Tufts Jumbos (5-4-1).
Playoff Predictions
Williams (9-0-1) vs. Hamilton (2-7-1)
Prediction: Williams wins 3-0
Sorry Hamilton, I love the spunk that got you the playoff clinching win this past weekend, but Williams is just too strong. I’m picking a repeat score from the season opener for these two teams that saw Williams run away with a 3-0 win. Hamilton’s only 2 conference wins this year have been against teams that didn’t make the playoffs and Williams is just too good on both sides of the ball to really face much of a threat here.
Amherst (8-1-1) vs. Conn College (5-4-1)
Prediction: Amherst wins 2-0
Amherst hasn’t lost since September 17th. They’ve won 10 games since then and only tied 1. Conn College, conversely, had lost 3 straight until a tie against Bowdoin and a win against last place Wesleyan this past weekend got them back in the win column. Conn College won a ton of games early but you have to question their strength of schedule – of Conn’s 5 conference wins, only 1 came against a team who will be hosting a NESCAC quarterfinal. Conn College is 3rd in the conference in goals allowed per game, but their offensive attack has been anemic at times and will struggle against the fourth best defense in the conference in terms of goals allowed per game.
Middlebury (7-3-0) vs. Bowdoin (5-4-1)
Prediction: Middlebury wins 2-1
This game will be close, I guarantee that. Bowdoin beat Middlebury earlier in the season and has played every top team in the league closely. Meanwhile, they have taken care of business against lower class teams, beating them easily for the most part. On the other hand, Middlebury has seemed dominant for stretches of their schedule and is 2nd in the league in goals per game. On the other, other hand, Bowdoin is second in goals allowed per game, relinquishing a stingy 0.52 goals a game. On the other, other, other hand, Middlebury just narrowly lost to the best team in the conference and before that had won eight straight. I’m picking Middlebury due to home field advantage but this will be a really close game.
Trinity vs. Tufts
Prediction: Trinity wins 2-0
Tufts is much like Conn College in that they beat up on the weaker teams on their schedule, while looking relatively toothless against teams further up the standings. Tufts even tied with the worst team in the conference earlier this year, and is ranked in the bottom half of the conference in both goals per game and goals allowed per game. However, they did put up a very good fight against Williams this past weekend, taking advantage of the monsoon in Somerville. Trinity, meanwhile, has been consistent all year and even handily beat the Jumbos 2-0 about 10 days ago. Look for the Bantams to repeat this success in the quarterfinals.
I know, I know! I didn’t pick a single upset in this entire prediction and I’m sorry for that. But there really is a defined tier structure in this year’s conference. Williams and Amherst have been dominant all year with Middlebury and Trinity hot on their heels. Tufts, Conn, and Bowdoin, are all extremely similar in outcomes this year and Hamilton just barely snuck into the playoffs at all. The Middlebury v. Bowdoin game will be tight, and honestly it could go either way, but that’s really the only game I see providing major upset material. Regardless, I’m looking forward to all these games and hope to be back Sunday to write about the semi-finals!