Lacrosse

[Vandy74]

Links to the men's and women's brackets.

www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/lacrosse-men/d3

www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/lacrosse-women/d3

[amh63]

Amherst beats Colorado College on Pratt Field 13-10.  It was 8-4, Colorado.  Amherst changes it's goalie and ties it at the end of the 3rd quarter...and wins in the 4th, scoring 5 goals.
Amherst meets Union in the 2nd round.
Tufts also advances also by crushing Emmanual,  24-2.  Good day for the conference teams.

[amh63]

Two part post.
Tufts wins at home against Endicott...10-9!  Amherst loses to Union NY 17-11.  It was close at the half with Union leading 7-6.  In the 4th period, Amherst closes the lead to 2 goals...13-11....before Union scores the last 4 goals.  Amherst finish its season.

Om the women's side...all five conference teams wins big...except for Williams that had a single digit win.  Amherst wins at home against Bridgewater St....20-4.  Amherst shuts down Bridgewaters big scorers to 2 goals in each half.  It was Amherst 13-2 at the half, I believe.

Vandy can report on the other games....saw that The Panthers crushed their opponent at home.

[Vandy74]

On the women's side...all five conference teams wins big...except for Williams that had a single digit win.  Amherst wins at home against Bridgewater St....20-4.  Amherst shuts down Bridgewaters big scorers to 2 goals in each half.  It was Amherst 13-2 at the half, I believe.

Vandy can report on the other games....saw that The Panthers crushed their opponent at home.

No problem for the NESCAC in the 1st round.  No surprises.  Now it gets a bit tougher.  I expect Trinity and Amherst to advance once more.  Williams against Colby will test the mettle of both and Middlebury will need to stay very focused against Salisbury.  Both teams have Final Four talent.  One will not make the Elite Eight. 

Augustana beat Adrian rather handily as I expected they would.  Last year a victory over Redlands won them a chance to play defending champion Trinity.  I watched Augie play a few times this season and it was clear they learned from that experience.  It will be back to school for them again as they face this year's defending champ Salisbury.

If Middlebury beats Gettysburg, the best game in the next round with Colby-Williams a close 2nd, they will most likely gain a rematch with their nemesis of recent years Trinity.  The Colby-Williams winner will face #1 Cortland while Amherst with a win will probably face 13 time national champion TCNJ. 

A couple of toss-ups but no bold predictions here.  Most of the talent is still to be found in a small group of programs.  That said, the growth of the sport and the increasing talent level in the Midwest is impressive and fun to watch.  By the time Augustana's freshmen are seniors the team will be dangerous come tournament time.  The same can be said of several other rapidly improving programs.  I hope the fan base for this exciting sport will begin to grow rapidly as well.

[amh63]

A sort of follow up to Vandy's thoughts...but less "thoughtful" ....on my part.

Found out that Amherst will host one of the regionals on the woman's side.  Seems that Washington& Lee, York and TCNJ will travel up north and Play on Pratt field this weekend.
On the other side, Middlebury and Trinity will head South to Gettysbury, PA...the Title site...in a regional.  The panthers to meet the host. 
Meanwhile this weekend, Williams and Colby will head west to Cortland State.  Williams and Colby will have a rematch...I expect a battle since the first game went to 2OTs...a Colby lost.

On the Trinity website, there is a feature of the Bantams head lacrosse coach being featured on a local station...Vandy you maybe intereste.

I would normally be tempted to go up to Gettysburg and catch the Middlebury game...about a hour drive...50 miles.  However, I am committed to be in the Annapolis, MD area this weekend.  Need to head to a Starbucks to watch the Amherst game on a tablet.  Wife needs a private driver .
Think I got it right.

[Vandy74]

A sort of follow up to Vandy's thoughts...but less "thoughtful" ....on my part.

Found out that Amherst will host one of the regionals on the woman's side.  Seems that Washington& Lee, York and TCNJ will travel up north and Play on Pratt field this weekend.
On the other side, Middlebury and Trinity will head South to Gettysbury, PA...the Title site...in a regional.  The panthers to meet the host. 
Meanwhile this weekend, Williams and Colby will head west to Cortland State.  Williams and Colby will have a rematch...I expect a battle since the first game went to 2OTs...a Colby lost.

On the Trinity website, there is a feature of the Bantams head lacrosse coach being featured on a local station...Vandy you maybe interested.

I would normally be tempted to go up to Gettysburg and catch the Middlebury game...about a hour drive...50 miles.  However, I am committed to be in the Annapolis, MD area this weekend.  Need to head to a Starbucks to watch the Amherst game on a tablet.  Wife needs a private driver .
Think I got it right.

Amh63,

Thanks for bringing the interview link to my attention.  Have you listened to it yourself?  Coach Livesay is 8 months pregnant.    Looks like a bouncing baby Bantam is on the way.   I will be seeing the expectant grandparents very shortly.

Amherst should have no trouble with York, certainly not on their home turf.  Then  the fun begins.  As uneven as the level of competition in early round games can be, once the Elite Eight is established every game pits opponents who have championship game reaching ability.  It's too bad you will be unable to go to Gettysburg to watch the Panthers.  They will need all the fan support they can get and I know you to be a loyal rooter for NESCAC teams that aren't playing against your Lord Jeffs. (Well, perhaps not the Ephs. )  Middlebury has a history of scheduling Gettysburg as a regular season opponent and has gone 6-1 against them since 2004 losing in 2008 by a 19-17 OT score.  They have beaten the Bullets each of the last two seasons.  This time around it should be remembered that a second meeting in last season's regional finals at Middlebury was thwarted by #5 Gettysburg being upset by #14 RPI.  They have been waiting a year for this game.  RPI, btw, had All-American goalie, Allie Arnal.  Middlebury fans were very relieved when the final buzzer sounded the next day with the score 10-8 in their favor.

Well, there are still several games against quality opposition to be played but an Amherst-Middlebury championship match-up is a possibility at present.  Should we both be fortunate for that to occur I believe a gentlemanly wager of some sort would be in order.  We both could have some driving to do.  I expect I can convince Middhoops to chauffeur.  But regardless, best of luck to Amherst unless and/or until Middlebury stands in the way.    

[jknezek]

The W&L team is good but I'm not sure they are that good. They had a very favorable matchup in the first round and TCNJ will be a better test. I think Amherst has to be a prohibitive favorite to come out of this grouping.

[Vandy74]

The W&L team is good but I'm not sure they are that good. They had a very favorable matchup in the first round and TCNJ will be a better test. I think Amherst has to be a prohibitive favorite to come out of this grouping.

The W&L-Amherst game is an interesting match-up.  I agree that Amherst should be considered the favorite but the Generals' loss to #2 Salisbury by only two goals shows that the Lady Jeffs should not take them lightly.   

[amh63]

Vandy...I'm sure Amherst will be aware when the time comes.  Let Bucket know about the matchup if it occurs
Yes, I will be up for a wager of sorts if the Title game has our teams meeting .
Something of interest to you...another Amherst connection to a Middlebury football star player.  Was going to post it on the football board in the Fall, but it is Reunion time and someone I know mention the connection.  The Famous Football kicker from Middlebury who helped the NFL Seahawks win the Superball?...anyway, his father is a member of the Class of '64 at Amherst and is returning for his 50th at Amherst.  He remarked that he still suffers from the fact that his son's Panther team lost to Amherst in the '05 football game .  No sympathy here!

[amh63]

Tufts men's team wins over Cortland State...big tine and enters the semi- final round.  Will meet RIT.
I actually visited RIT's campus when I had some free time in the Rochester area.  Have a niece that went there...only child of my older brother that left the South to go to college.

[Vandy74]

Tufts men's team wins over Cortland State...big tine and enters the semi- final round.  Will meet RIT.
I actually visited RIT's campus when I had some free time in the Rochester area.  Have a niece that went there...only child of my older brother that left the South to go to college.

Tufts has been the Beast of the NESCAC in recent years, winning the DIII crown in 2010 and losing the title game in '11.  The only other NESCAC team to advance that far is Middlebury who played for the DIII championship every year except '04 from 1999-2005 going 3-3 in the process.  Good luck to Tufts against #1 RIT this Sunday.

[Vandy74]

Congratulations to Gettysburg as the Bullets came back from a 7-3 deficit early in the 2nd half to win 9-7.  Tough way to end the season for the Panthers.  A very evenly played game for the most part despite the way the scoring unfolded.  An 8-2 advantage for the host team in free position opportunities but only one tally to show for it.  A superb 2nd half performance from Gettysburg goalie Shannon Keeler who made 8 saves on 9 shots on goal.  As said in a previous post, two very good teams only one of which could win. 

[amh63]

Saw the score at halftime and expected a Panther win.  Looked at the stats and was again a little puzzled.  Guess our wager is just a wish
The rest of the conference reps remaining are Colby, Trinity and Amherst. Trinity was up 11-1 at the half against a very overmatched opponent...final score. 17-5 ...a Trinity win.  The Colby and Williams match was 3-2 at the half with Colby ahead...can not call the Colby women, the Mules...is there another name for them?.   In any case, Colby got a payback win over Williams...8-6?  The Stats was a little "strange" for me.  Colby had trouble in Clears, and was greatly out shot by the Ephs...in both periods.  Still, Williams got most of their points off of penalties..it seems to me.
Finally, Amherst wins over York of PA...12-3.  It was 7-1 after the the first period.
Three Nescac schools in the final 8 teams!

[Vandy74]

Saw the score at halftime and expected a Pather win.  Looked at the stats and was again a little puzzled.  Guess our wager is just a wish
The rest of the conference reps remaining are Colby, Trinity and Amherst. Trinity was up 11-1 at the half against an very overmatched opponent...final score. 17-5 ...a Trinity win.  The Colby and Williams match was 3-2 at the half with Colby ahead...can not call the Colby women, the Mules...is there another name for them?.   In any case, Colby got a payback win over Williams...8-6?  The Stats was a little "strange" for me.  Colby had trouble in Clears, and was greatly out shot by the Ephs...in both periods.  Still, Williams got most of their points off of penalties..it seem to me.
Finally, Amherst wins over York of PA...12-3.  It was 7-1 after the the first period.
Three Nescac schools in the final 8 teams!

Congratulations to the NESCAC winners.  I expected Colby to beat the Ephs.  I consider them the better team.  No surprises with Trinity and Amherst.  As for the Midd-Gettysburg game there was nothing lopsided about the second half except for the Bullet's goalie.  Eight saves on nine shots on goal.  I'm pretty sure that's against the rules.   And did I happen to mention she's a freshman?   Good point on what to call the Colby women.

[amh63]

Thought about going up to Gettysburg today to watch the game...wrong time and wrong schools.
Vandy....your post about the Gettysburg goalie peaked my interest.  It seems that both the goalies are FYs!  To make matters worst, so to speak, is that the new assistant coach was a former goalie for Hamilton and had been an assistant for two years at Conn Collegie.  I'm sure she had her "hand" in recruiting the goalies for Gettysburg...being active in lacrosse in the New Haven area and one of the goalies is from CT., etc.
While on the Gettysburg website....nice one,...saw that the lacrosse seniors had a special graduation ceremony since this weekend was their graduation time.  My interest?   It seems that if Amherst reaches the final four, it is the same weekend as graduation....next weekend.   Key players for Amherst are seniors, as usual.
Hard decision for them if the team reaches the Title game.
Seems that Colby won their game with two starters out.  expect a low scoring game between Colby and Gettysburg since both teams have fine goalies.