Lacrosse

[amh63]

Apologies for an error..in my previous post.  Guess it is not surprising .  Anyway, Colby does/did not meet Gettyburgh.  They met no 1 Cortland State and fell hard.   Trinity sort of dominated Gettysburg and goes to the Final 4.  Fourth ranked TCNJ fell to the fifth ranked Lady Jeffs on Pratt Field.  It was 3-3 at the half.  TCNJ took leads of 4-3 and 5-4, only to have Amherst come back.  Amherst went up 6-5 with about 7 minutes to go and used a tough defense and a steady offense to go up by two goals....then slowed the game down and finally won 8-5.  Go Jeff's!
Conference has two teams in the Final 4

On the men side, Tufts won surprisingly easy over RIT.....11-5, I believe.

[Vandy74]

Apologies for an error..in my previous post.  Guess it is not surprising .  Anyway, Colby does/did not meet Gettyburgh.  They met no 1 Cortland State and fell hard.   Trinity sort of dominated Gettysburg and goes to the Final 4.  Fourth ranked TCNJ fell to the fifth ranked Lady Jeffs on Pratt Field.  It was 3-3 at the half.  TCNJ took leads of 4-3 and 5-4, only to have Amherst come back.  Amherst went up 6-5 with about 7 minutes to go and used a tough defense and a steady offense to go up by two goals....then slowed the game down and finally won 8-5.  Go Jeff's!
Conference as two teams in the Final 4

On the men side, Tufts won surprisingly easy over RIT.....11-5, I believe.

Amh63.....You are not alone in being confused as to how the winners match up in the following rounds.  Very confusing bracket design.   Cortland, Salisbury, Trinity and Amherst in the women's Final Four.  No surprises.  I wasn't certain Amherst would prevail simply because like Williams they were never tested out of conference during the season and had been considerabe favorites in the tournament before meeting TCNJ.  But unlike the Ephs who really did not finished the season well the Lady Jeffs had won by respectable margins against their strongest opposition.  I remain of the opinion that Cortland is the best team I've seen play this season but Trinity really impressed me today and of course an all NESCAC championship game would be interesting.  It'll be tough for a Middlebury fan to watch.  The Panthers lost 11-10 to Amherst, 10-9 to Trinity and 12-10 to Cortland, but lose they did and that's why their seniors have nothing to keep them from attending their commencement ceremonies.    Good luck next Saturday to the Lady Jeffs and  the Bantams......And to the Tufts men as well.

[Vandy74]

On the men side, Tufts won surprisingly easy over RIT.....11-5, I believe.

Holy Crap.   That must have been the halftime score amh63.  Tufts won 21-11.  They started Middlebury's season off with a 24-6 whuppin' and I never really got very interested in the Panther men's team although they did right the ship eventually and even upset Amherst as I recall.  I might have to watch that game on Sunday. 

[magicman]

The Cortland Women really do seem to be a juggernaut. Other than the 12-10 win over Middlebury, a 15-12 win over St John Fisher and a 12-8 win over Salisbury the Red Dragons have defeated their other 19 opponents by an average of 11.6 goals per game. Their 3 tournament games so far have been won by margins of 15, 16 and 9 goals. After coming so close in the past couple of years maybe this is their year. I expect the other 3 Final Four teams will be no pushovers however and anything can happen. Hope the Red Dragon Ladies can bring home the hardware for the SUNYAC.

[amh63]

The Cortland Red Dragons...I'm getting good at mascots...are considered as the "Jock" school by the locals.  Sorry but that expression does not appear correct to women sports, IMO.
Anyway,   The contests were held at a local Community ColleGe facility about two miles from my daughter's home.  Surprising in that the Cortland football field is available and is the one used by the NFL  Jets for training camp.
I believe that Cortland  should be made to play fair against Nescac schools.  Suggest that SUNY take some funding and ship it up to Plattsburgh.  That is for you Magicman.  Heck, I think if Cortland sends half it's women's team up North, both schools would have competitive teams in lacrosse.
Yes, the Final Four has the no. 1, no.2, no.3 and the no. 5 ranked Amherst teams.
Going up next weekend to Gettysburg.   Wish I could remember the Salisbury's mascot...been on their campus...SeaGulls?

[amh63]

Vandy....the 11-5 score was the goals scored in the second half by Trinity against the No.1 RIT team!
Title game will be in Baltimore in the NFL Ravens' stadium.

[magicman]

amh63...your memory is working just fine....Salisbury's nickname is the Sea Gulls. And Cortland has long been known as the "jock school" not just by the locals but by all the other State Universities. This is due in part because so many of their graduates go into Physical Education teaching positions. Potsdam State produces music teachers, Cortland State produces gym teachers (and coaches). With so many "jocks" choosing Cortland because their livelihood will end up being in the world of athletics, it's easy to see why they always have good or great teams in everything. Especially the spring sports. The Men's and Women's Lacrosse teams are usually conference champs and the Baseball team is in the College World Series this week for the 12th time. The Women's softball team usually makes it into the NCAA tournament as well. Men's and Women's track teams are among the best in the conference also.   

The Cortland State Women's Lacrosse team is not only loaded, they appear to be loaded with outstanding Freshmen and Sophomores. I think you're right, they could split that team right down the middle and give half to Plattsburgh and there would still be enough talent to make 2 good teams. 

[amh63]

Read an interesting lacrosse article today in the Wash. Post...at the barber..  The U. of MD Terps have both their teams in the Final 4 ...playing in venues in their backyard, so to speak.  This is their last year in the ACC, one of the top if not the strongest lacrosse conferences.  Next year , the Terps play in the Big Ten, a conference that starts their first lacrosse season...a novice lacrosse conference.  NOtre Dame is now in the ACC, except for football.  Yes the sports world in Div1 is in flux....following the money.

[Vandy74]

Some great women's lacrosse being played this afternoon.  Trinity edging #1 Cortland 8-7 in the earlier contest while Amherst trails #2 Salisbury 3-2 at the half.  I fear Amherst has lost key defensive player Kerry Fusco to a serious knee injury but it has not yet been decided that she can't return in the second half.  Very possibly a torn acl which would be a shame since the junior would in all likelihood miss her senior season.  Hoping that I'm wrong on what the injury is.

[Vandy74]

Salisbury an 8-4 winner over the LJs.  It will be Trinity against Salisbury in the championship game for the 3rd straight year tomorrow with each having won it once against the other.  Trinity will also be looking to avenge a loss to the Sea Gulls in a Florida Spring Break tournament earlier this season.  Good luck to the Bantams!

[amh63]

Vandy....thanks for covering the games yesterday.
Got to the games as the Trinity match was coming to a close.   Good crowd on hand for both games.
In the Amherst game, the deeper and better team won.  I told some of the Sea Gull crowd that point as I left with a minute to go.  Amherst seem to lose some of its energy when Fusco went down.  She was on crutches on the sidelines.
Salisbury would substitute throughout the game...a little like the way the men's game has become...different lines as seen in ice hockey.  Amherst did not have the experienced depth to do likewise.
For me, the good news was seeing several Senior players attend Graduation this morning on a bright NE day.
The  sad thing for all teams was the poor condition of the playing field.  Players on both sides and in both games seem to be falling and slipping.  Spoke to fans of the four teams...all agree that the carpet was terrible, especially for a Final Four event.
Other than the high cost...10 bucks for an adult with no senior discount and the unavailablility of drinks to purchase, I had a good time.

[Vandy74]

Congratulations to the Tufts men's team winning the D3 national championship 12-9 over Salisbury.  I only saw some of the 1st half which ended in a 5-5 tie score.  On the women's side the Lady Sea Gulls are controlling things at the half leading 5-0 over a clearly tired Trinity team.  Salisbury plays some of the best defense I've ever seen and it will take a great effort on the Bantams part to come back in the 2nd half.  Not to take anything away from the superb over-all game being played by Salisbury but their 5th goal via a free position when shooting space was determined by the official on a foul several feet outside the 12 meter arc was ludicrous.  But there is no doubt that Salisbury has significantly out-played Trinity so far this afternoon.

[Vandy74]

Congratulations to Salisbury, D3 national champs for the second straight season.  9-6 the final score.  Trinity was game, finally getting some offense going but the Sea Gulls were too good to come back from a 5 goal deficit against.  Congratulations to Trinity on another fine season.  Still the class of the NESCAC.

[amh63]

Vandy....just read on the conference website that the Middlebury lacrosse coach...Missy Foote is planning to retire next year!  Good for her!  Now what are you going to do with your extra time?

[Vandy74]

Vandy....just read on the conference website that the Middlebury lacrosse coach...Missy Foote is planning to retire next year!  Good for her!  Now what are you going to do with your extra time?

I'm a bit surprised Amh63.  Missy has been considering it off and on for a year or two from what other family members have been telling me but I thought she would continue for two more seasons rather than one.  I've become hooked on the game since she drafted me to run the time clock for her 8-9 years ago.  I'll continue going to the games after she retires.  I just won't have to worry about my brother's home life if the Panthers lose.