Friday, January 30, 2009

Laxpower Div 3 Poll

Entering my second year as a member of Laxpower.com's Division Three Forum Poll, I try to be as unbiased as possible yet I find it harder than ever could have been imagined. I find myself ranking teams and believe that I am doing so fairly yet when I post my poll entry, I find myself questioning almost every selection save for Salisbury at number One.

Beyond the first place nod little else is easy. The level of parity that exists at the Division Three level of college lacrosse makes for exciting seasons year in and year out. Hobart was the king of the division before moving to Division One and Salisbury has certainly picked up that mantle. Playing for the chance to knock off a dynastic team makes any championship that much sweeter [not that I know but it's my best guess] and seems to elevate the level of play in the division overall.

There are teams that can challenge Salisbury every year and come out on top like Nazareth and Washington College did in the 90's, the Middlebury three-peat and Cortland's victory in 2006. Gettysburg is a perennial contender and often regarded as the number two team in the country.

The beginning of the season is an exciting time because there are probably 8 teams that I really think could win it all [and they're not necessarily my top eight right now] and whether a new name is added to the list, a usual suspect wins it all or the guys on the Eastern Shore take home another one you just know it's going to be a great year.

To see what the Laxpower Poll resulted in go to:
http://www.laxpower.com/polls/MD3Poll-2009-0204.php

My personal poll can be found below:

Salisbury #1
Gettysburg #2
Cortland #3
Middlebury #4
Ithaca #5

Cabrini #6
Stevenson #7
Lynchburg #8
Endicott #9
Haverford #10

Western New England #11
Springfield #12
Wesleyan #13
WAC #14
St. Lawrence #15

Bowdoin #16
Roanoke #17
Denison #18
Tufts #19
Geneseo #20

Also considered: Whittier, Nazareth, Stevens, Williams, Connecticut College