Lacrosse

[Bombers798891]

Bombers ranked #1!

Now onto the conference tournament, hopefully avoiding the fate of the 2009 squad, which was ranked third and 14-1 prior to an upset loss in the conference tournament and missed the NCAAs entirely.

Also, congrats to the Ithaca women, who secured the top spot in the the E8 tourney and have a good chance to win it

[Bombers798891]

Ithaca takes on St. John Fisher in the E8 semifinals today. So, I'm just going to say it now, so people don't think it's sour grapes if Ithaca loses in the tournament: I really, really, hate conference tournaments.

Look, I get that the D-III model is about access to the postseason, and that when you introduce a conference tournament, you increase that access for teams. But I think it's stupid that we take the results of, in the E8's case, 36 conference games and let three games potentially overturn them.*

*It's even dumber in basketball, where the teams play each other twice, and the three games can overturn the results of 72 games

Just to be clear, Ithaca's made the NCAAs by winning conference tournaments after not winning the regular season title. In fact, the best men's basketball team in school history did it. Did I enjoy the ride? Absolutely, just like the Fisher, Stevens, or Naz fans should enjoy it if they win this one. We support our teams with the system we have, not the system we want. But that doesn't make the system less ridiculous, now or then.

I've generally come around on the autobid model D-III has embraced. (I still think some sort of hybrid "earned autobid" would be better, but that's another story). But I think you should only get one bite at that apple. If you haven't proven yourself throughout the course of 8, or 16, or however many games, well, that's on you.

[amh63]

Bomber798891....see you are all in now that Ithaca is so highly ranked. .  Tournaments are always a double edged sword wrt a possible road to a Nat. Title.  Amherst is out of its conf tourney after being upset in the quarterfinal by its arch rival Williams....7th seed beating the 2nd seed.  I'm hoping the Nescac's high ranking will allow Amherst to get an at large NCAA bid.

[Bombers798891]

Bomber798891....see you are all in now that Ithaca is so highly ranked. .  Tournaments are always a double edged sword wrt a possible road to a Nat. Title.  Amherst is out of its conf tourney after being upset in the quarterfinal by its arch rival Williams....7th seed beating the 2nd seed.  I'm hoping the Nescac's high ranking will allow Amherst to get an at large NCAA bid.

That happened to Ithaca one year. Ranked 3rd in the country heading into the conference tournament, with an 11-8 road win over Cortland (who would eventually win the Nat. Title). Missed the NCAA's completely despite a 14-2 record thanks to a one-goal loss in the E8 title game. I just remember wondering why there was a regular season at all.

Thankfully, I'd hope their top ranking this year makes such a hiccup not an issue were it to happen again, but I wanted to get my thoughts in before any possible upset

[Bombers798891]

Slow start for Ithaca, which led 2-0 after the 1st, but the Bombers now dominating, up 9-2, and leading in shots 28-10

[PolarCat]

Nice feature on the Bates WLAX team.  (Bates may not always field the most competitive teams, but their SIO is world class. The write-ups for most home games are accompanies by photos of Sports Illustrated quality, and the periodic "Bates Bobcast" is really well done):

https://www.facebook.com/BatesCollegeAthletics/videos/586487398177541/

And at the risk of confirming I am a dirty old man....  When she takes off the GK helmet, Hannah Jeffrey is really cute!  (That comment  is probably a micro-aggression to some college constituency, but I am too old to care).

[NCF]

The North Central women lost their semi-final match with IWU yesterday by a score of 9-6. IWU moves on to the championship game of the CCIW tournament against Augustana on Saturday at 1 pm.

[magicman]

Cortland State once again trying for a stranglehold on the spring sports championships. Men's Lacrosse team won the SUNYAC title today beating Brockport 7-6.

The Women's Lacrosse team won their 37th straight game over the past two years defeating Brockport today 16-11 to win the SUNYAC championship again. The Red Dragons are the top ranked team in the nation and will be looking to defend their National Championship they won last year.

The Red Dragon softball team remains undefeated in the YAC tournament and will face Buffalo State on Sunday for the championship. The Bengals will have to defeat Cortland twice to claim the title. Good luck with that.

And that brings us to the defending National Champion baseball team who is undefeated in the SUNYAC championship after today's games. The Red Dragon's will face Oswego on Sunday for the title. THe Lakers will have to win 2 games to dethrone the Red Dragons. 

[amh63]

Magicman.....how does one stop a RED Dragon?

[Vandy74]

Both Middlebury teams advanced to the NESCAC final game on Saturday.  The men as usual made it more exciting than it needed to be but this is a good team and it will be interesting to see what they can bring to Tufts this afternoon.  The Panthers were up 5-1 in the 2nd Q.  Bowdoin closed the gap to one making it 9-8 at 6:56 of the 4th and at 4:22 the Polar Bears earned the game's final tally giving Middlebury a 10-9 lead they were able to preserve by controlling most of the remaining minutes.  Bowdoin had prevailed 9-8 OT in regular season action.

The Middlebury women put on a clinic in the 1st half against an Amherst team they had needed OT themselves to defeat just over a month ago.  The Panthers led 9-0 at the half.  Amherst took only 9 shots on goal the entire game.  The Middlebury defense limited the Purple and White to just three shots in the opening half while the team committed only three turnovers.

[amh63]

Yelp....Amherst has been anemic on offense lately with no go to player in my opinion.  Defensively they seemed lost during the periods I watched. 
Actually, the Panthers clawed a number of teams yesterday including the Amherst women's tennis team . 
Meanwhile the rains have delayed my gardening chores and I'm posting on football recruits and watching too much " stickball " games  .

[magicman]

Magicman.....how does one stop a RED Dragon?

amh63,

Need to find St. George and then I'm not even sure if he could do the job. 

On Sunday the Red Dragon Ladies won the SUNYAC Championship in softball without suffering a defeat in the playoffs.

Also on Sunday the Red Dragon Men won the SUNYAC Championship in baseball and were undefeated in tournament play as well. Cortland will undoubtedly retain their #1 ranking in the country and will host the upcoming NCAA NY Regional.   

[Vandy74]

Magicman.....how does one stop a RED Dragon?

magicman,

What in 'ell are you doing still up at this hour.   Yeah, me too.   Middlebury had a rather successful weekend as well although success on the baseball diamond isn't included on the resumé.  Both lacrosse squads made it to the NCAA bracket, the women snapping a 10 game losing streak to Trinity in the process. The men's tennis team also won the NESCAC title while the women had to settle for 2nd place to Williams.  I expect as the #5 ranked team they will join the #2 Ephs playing at the next level of post season competition.  I also believe amh63 is happy enough, for the moment, as well.  Both Amherst lacrosse teams are invited to the party.  Each will be more than willing to slay a Red Dragon if necessary.  On the women's side the Purple & White could face Middlebury a third time if both advance to the round of 8.   Amherst baseball is still alive as well making the championship series.  The past two days have even felt like spring.


amh63,

Need to find St. George and then I'm not even sure if he could do the job. 

On Sunday the Red Dragon Ladies won the SUNYAC Championship in softball without suffering a defeat in the playoffs.

Also on Sunday the Red Dragon Men won the SUNYAC Championship in baseball and were undefeated in tournament play as well. Cortland will undoubtedly retain their #1 ranking in the country and will host the upcoming NCAA NY Regional.

[jknezek]

Pretty pleased with the W&L men this season. That was a rough start, some big injuries, but the team pulled together. Hard to believe it's been 7 years since our last ODAC championship. Pleased to get this one on the books and a winnable first round match up at home with Sewanee. After that, what a lopsided South bracket half!

As for the women, ODAC dominance continues, but I'm not sure they are anywhere near being a player on the national scene. Tough OOC should have them prepared but, like the men, their OOC record doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Still, a winnable first round game and then maybe a rematch against a team that held W&L to a season low 1 goal. On the upside we held F&M to their season low (tie) of 5 goals.

Either way, proud of both conference championships and wishing my Generals the best.

[amh63]

Checked the NCAA lacrosse brackets late last night......though not as late as Magicman and Vandy74 .  Come to think on the topic...they are just VERY early morning people!
Back to the topic.   Yes, the Nescac picks for the post season on both the men and women brackets were both expected AND unexpected.  The number of picks from the conference were lower than suggested from announcers of games yesterday....yes, I watched them.  First, Congrats to the Panther ladies for their title win.  On the Trinity field no less.  First time in lax history that a two seed beat a one seed in a title game!   Guess that is a reason to win the regular season.  Amherst's only women's  national title was in a year it did not win the conference title.
Need to point out that both Amherst's tennis teams will be in the hunt in the post season though both have been lower ranked this season....in part to the the rise of the Panthers and the Polerbears.
oops...women's tennis team to host, but the men's team missed out.  Expect some individual players to be invited.
The brackets are most interesting to me.....maybe a trip up to nearby Gettysburg in the near future to see a lax game live.