Lacrosse

[PolarCat]

Some incredible sweet sixteen matchups next Saturday:

• Cortland vs. Augustana, Mt. Union vs. Catholic and Pomona Pitzer vs. Trinity: Fans of underdogs everywhere will be waiting to see if the new kids on the block are ready to challenge the old guard?
• Bowdoin vs. TCNJ should be a tough match up, and the winner will almost certainly face Trinity the next day.
• Gettysburg vs. York.  The Spartans know how to play defense, and made it easy today, jumping out to a 6-0 lead over Union, then holding on to cruise to the win.  Can they deflect the Bullets?
• Middlebury vs. Hamilton.  Missy Foote's Panthers are a team on a mission, but Patty Kloidt has a young team on the ascendency.  Who wants it more?
• Freedonia v. Washington & Lee.  Both teams need to make a statement.  Each is capable of the W.
• F&M vs. Tufts.  Mike Faith has a big, talented squad.  But the Jumbo's have faced off against some of the best teams in the country, week in and week out.  They won't be intimidated, and Courtney Farrell has shown she can get the most out of her players.  My pick for the game of the day.

[Vandy74]

Some incredible sweet sixteen matchups next Saturday:

• Cortland vs. Augustana, Mt. Union vs. Catholic and Pomona Pitzer vs. Trinity: Fans of underdogs everywhere will be waiting to see if the new kids on the block are ready to challenge the old guard?
• Bowdoin vs. TCNJ should be a tough match up, and the winner will almost certainly face Trinity the next day.
• Gettysburg vs. York.  The Spartans know how to play defense, and made it easy today, jumping out to a 6-0 lead over Union, then holding on to cruise to the win.  Can they deflect the Bullets?
• Middlebury vs. Hamilton.  Missy Foote's Panthers are a team on a mission, but Patty Kloidt has a young team on the ascendency.  Who wants it more?
• Freedonia v. Washington & Lee.  Both teams need to make a statement.  Each is capable of the W.
• F&M vs. Tufts.  Mike Faith has a big, talented squad.  But the Jumbo's have faced off against some of the best teams in the country, week in and week out.  They won't be intimidated, and Courtney Farrell has shown she can get the most out of her players.  My pick for the game of the day.

I am in agreement with most of what you say here PolarCat.  Only Mt. Union, among the "new kids" is in a position to make a statement, however.  In Augustana's case it is a bit unfair.  They are a young program that has steadily improved and rather than be matched up against the #2 team in the country they have earned the right to show how credible a performance they are capable of giving a York or a Fredonia.  They wouldn't win those games but they wouldn't embarrass themselves either.  Pomona-Pitzer is no new kid.  They are the beneficiaries of being in the SCIAC which has no other conference allowed into the tournament closer to them than @ 1500 miles.  Two seasons back Augustana was sent out to lose to Redlands.  They didn't.  Other than that year the conference has been given it's own 1st round game between it's two best members.  They therefore automatically have a representative in the 2nd round.  They will give Trinity no problems.  Wesleyan beat them.  Use that as your yardstick.

I agree that Middlebury-Hamilton is an intriguing match up.  While I don't think Salisbury is as good as they have been in recent years they certainly weren't expected to lose to the Continentals, especially at home.  In the talent deep NESCAC Hamilton flies under the radar but it should be remembered they won the national championship while representing the Liberty Conference in 2008 and in 2010 lost the championship game by a single goal, to Salisbury btw.  This is the first time they have played at that level since joining the 'CAC but the program is no stranger to the competition. 

[amh63]

Vandy....still keeping those unique hours.  Concerned a bit.
Where can I find out where those games are being held?  May drop in on the Hamilton vs Middlebury game in Gettysburg.  Need to check the time and my calendar.  See if the wife wants to drive up...depends on her schedule...and the weather....only about 50 miles North.  We did go up when Amherst was playing...like last season in the Final 4 against the SeaGulls.

[PolarCat]

Why not drive up for the weekend  The NCAA bracket (http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/lacrosse-women/d3) indicates that Gettysburg is playing York at 11:30, while Midd and Hamilton follow at 2:30.  All games will be held at Gettysburg's Clark Field.

And pack an overnight bag, because the Elite Eight battle between the winners at 2:30 Sunday will be a doozie. And there are worse ways to spend a Sunday morning than driving through the battlefield - I get chills every time I do.

[amh63]

PolarCat.....thanks for the link.  No overnight...Sunday, has my wife and her church friends' picnic.  Gettysburg is a nice drive.  Town is great...had thoughts of retiring there...tax benefits in Pa.  Been there many times...am aware of the Civil War sights, etc. and Prez Ike's farm.  Interesting connection with Eisenhower and Amherst.  The former General of the War in Europe came to Amherst with his aide who was the official recorder of his war efforts.  That aide was my history professor on WW 2.  The War Memorial at Amherst  overlooking the playing fields was one impact of the visit.  The other was his grandson David,  an Amherst grad ...married Julie Nixon, a Smithie...who wrote about his grandfather.  I digress...but am a fan of the Civil War and several of its' generals as are many of the Bowdoin alums.

[Dr. Acula]

I know nothing about D3 lacrosse.  Does Mount Union have any chance to beat Catholic or no?  I am aware that there is a large gap between the top programs and the rest and I know Mount isn't one of those top programs.  But I don't know if Catholic is usually one of them.  The problem is that playing largely other young programs we get no sense of where the Mount program is.  The only team from the east that they played was Fredonia.  Most of the rest were closer to home.

[Vandy74]

I know nothing about D3 lacrosse.  Does Mount Union have any chance to beat Catholic or no?  I am aware that there is a large gap between the top programs and the rest and I know Mount isn't one of those top programs.  But I don't know if Catholic is usually one of them.  The problem is that playing largely other young programs we get no sense of where the Mount program is.  The only team from the east that they played was Fredonia.  Most of the rest were closer to home.

Mount Union is capable of beating Catholic.  I would be surprised if the Raiders didn't at least test them well into the second half.  Mt. Union beat Fredonia early in the season by a score of 9-7.  Fredonia is ranked #17.  They were beaten by #2 Cortland in the final round of the SUNYAC tournament 15-6.  Their only other loss was also to Cortland in the regular season and only by a 4 goal margin.  Fredonia twice defeated SUNYAC rival Geneseo who is ranked #18.  On paper, at least, Mt Union is capable of beating teams ranked at the bottom end of the Top 20.  Considering they have been the first team listed among those "also receiving votes" Mt Union most likely ranks #21 in the coaches' poll I refer to.  Catholic is ranked 10th or 11th but they did lose to Williams.  Williams has 8 losses but all were to ranked teams and all but one to a team in the NCAA tournament.  I believe the Ephs are still ranked #20.  Mt. Union vs Catholic is a very intriguing match up. 

[PolarCat]

Without much fanfare, the IWLCA All Region honors were announced yesterday.  Congratulations to all the girls who were honored, and all the teammates that helped them shine:

http://www.iwlca.org/information/SA_Awards/2015/2015_Division_I-_II-_III_All_Region

[PolarCat]

I just learned Trinity's graduation is this weekend - Baccalaureate on Saturday, graduation on Sunday.  And on top of that, the Trinity Football coaches are hosting a HS recruiting event on Saturday.  What were they thinking?

For a campus in a horrible neighborhood with very limited parking, I'm not sure where they will put the buses, cars and tailgates from three visiting lacrosse teams.  Despite Trinity's #1 ranking, I can't help but wonder if the NCAA couldn't have found a better venue.

[Dr. Acula]

Thanks for the response, Vandy.  +k

Hopefully the Raiders can play well and continue to build the program up.  I noticed from a scan of the roster that they are not nearly as Ohio/western PA centric as most Mount teams.  That's good.

[Vandy74]

Congratulations to the Tufts men's team who advanced to the Final Four this afternoon with their 17-10 victory over the Lord Jeffs of Amherst.   Amherst had won the regular season in the NESCAC.  Nobody was playing better than Bates when it ended and Middlebury had a fine season as well.  But in the end nothing has changed.  Tufts remains the class of the 'CAC and good luck to them the rest of the way.

Just a personal aside.  Last Saturday evening I was shopping for a few groceries and found myself standing behind a Middlebury player in the check out line.  I gently brought up the disappointment of that afternoon and he replied that although it would hurt for a while the Panthers had exceeded the team's expectations going into the season. 

Again, best of luck and Go Jumbos!

[magicman]

Cortland men fall to #1 RIT 18-7 in the NCAA Quarterfinals. 1st half was a tightly contested affair as the teams took turns gaining the lead on 4 different occasions with RIT ending up with a 6-5 halftime edge. The Tigers extended their lead to 9-5 in the 3rd before Cortland scored twice to make it 9-7. That would be the Red Dragons last hurrah however as RIT got one more in the 3rd and scored 8 unanswered goals in the 4th quarter to win going away. Cortland ends up with a 16-5 final record and tied for 5th place nationally. RIT will now face Tufts in the National Semifinals on Sunday.

[amh63]

Though I am not as comfy as Vandy insupporting the Jumbos advancement to the Final 4...too soon. I will admit that Tufts was the better team this season.  Amherst did overcome their weakness but the stats showed the Tufts' better team effort.  Amherst graduates 12 seniors...my congrats to them and all the other CAC seniors in the Lax programs!
What the heck....Go Jumbos!!
Any visit to the Gettysburg " battlegrounds" on Sat. Will be stag....wife has other plans...even some for me...But.

[amh63]

An interesting piece of info....to me...found on the CAC board.  Seems that both the men's and women's seniors Lax players on the Tufts teams had an early graduation event.  Both teams play on when the main graduation event is held.  Guess each CAC school makes their own arrangements.  Last year, several Amherst senior tennis players flew from California...location of the NCAA...the night before graduation at Amherst.  Last season several players on the baseball team at Auburn, NY were driven back to Amherst to take exams.
In my days...the dark ages...but fun era ...if you did not have a shirt and tie on under the black gown, your sheepskin diploma...in Latin...was pulled and you would get a blank one.  Have to apologize to the Prez before getting a real one.  I believe the diploma is still a "sheepskin" and in Latin.  My kids' diplomas were when the 21th century rolled around...long after Harvard went to English.  Small things matter to parents....my father was disappointed when my older brother did not receive his diploma from the Prez....separate ceremony held at his House.  One reason my late father never donated any money to Harvard.   Yes, I am digressing.

[PolarCat]

Fun stuff to digress about.  Couple of tidbits to add on a slow news Friday:

8 seniors at a certain NESCAC school will walk across the stage on graduation day, but will not get diplomas.  Not because they flunked a course, or made politically incorrect cucumber jokes to Dean Wormer's wife, but because said school did not have enough classes / professors to allow these 8 to take one of the courses required for their major.  Proving that there is a dark underbelly to the highly touted "small class size."  Presumably, after spending a quarter million on their education, these 8 will have to attend summer school to "graduate."  The parents must be livid.

Graduation Day may be the best of times and the worst of times for the Trinity WLAX seniors.  They graduate this Sunday between 11:00 and 1:30, then trade their caps and gowns for their cleats and goggles, facing the winner of the Bowdoin - TCNJ game at 3:30.  The Polar Bears are hoping to ruin the Bantams' day, even though the Polar Bear seniors would miss their own graduation the following weekend.