weekend PREview!

And the laxiest weekend of the year yet is upon us!

Maryland heads to Navy tonight for an all MD match up. Should be a good game with Navy's disciplined Defense and Maryland's over sized offense. The difference in this game will come from Maryland's offensive middies. If they can pop in a couple extra goals, I like the Terps. On Saturday, Albany visits the Hop where the Jays should cruise to at least a 4 goal win, likely more. Colgate and Lehigh do battle in PA. I like the Mountain Hawks in a close one at home. This could be one of the best match ups this weekend yet it gets absolutely no press, which is a shame. Princeton Plays Cuse at Giants Stadium in Jersey and Princeton could upset the Orange in this match up, I think Syracuse will rise to the occasion as they often do on the biggest stages and wins in a one or two goal thriller. UVA and UNC also face off at Giants Stadium and until UNC wins an ACC game, I'm going to continue picking against them. 5 years, no conference wins. WOW. Hofstra also plays Delaware at Giants Stadium but I like Hofstra by a bunch after a close first half.

Tonight NDNU from Cali heads to LI to face Merrimack of Massachusetts. NDNU is competitive but I can't see them hanging with 'Mack. Merrimack is a really good team this year and could really compete for the NCAA Div 2 NC assuming they keep it up. I can't see them tripping against NDNU though. On Saturday, Bentley travels to LeMoyne and Bentley is better than some think so if I were going to pick a major upset in Div 2 this weekend, this would be the game. However, I am NOT picking an upset this weekend and I think the Dolphins will take this one by a couple. NY Tech heads to CW Post to take on the Pioneers. I will take the reigning champs, Tech, in this one hands down. Unless Post's FOGO paints his face like Lattimer from The Program again... in that case, it is anyone's game. Also Post players love neon lax heads so... respek.

The NESCAC games in Div 3 will provide some great action... check out this link to see a ton of predictions and insider info: http://network.laxpower.com/laxforum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=32627&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=480

Endicott and WNEC could be an AWESOME game... it will decided the Commonwealth Tourney seeding for one thing and could preview the Conference championship game. Both of these teams could be Pool C bids if the lose the AQ Pool A bid. Hampden-Sydney v. Roanoke and Ithaca at RIT will be really big games with big time In-Region consequences. I think Ithaca will remain undefeated at this point but RIT will definitely show us just how good the Bombers really are. I think Noke will keep its winning ways as well. WAC travels to Gburg in what should turn out to be a fantastic game. Both of these teams have won and lost games to good teams and it should be a really emotional tilt. I like WAC by 1 or two in PA.

On the MCLA tip, Michigan faces off against TWO top 10 teams in 2 days. Friday they take on #7 Minnesota-Duluth and then on Saturday they take on #8 Colorado State. Gotta love the fearlessness of MCLA teams... they will take on anyone, anywhere at any time. Michigan just beat #4 BYU so I expect them to take both of these teams down but it won't be easy. Simon Fraser [that undefeated Canadian team in the MCLA] heads South to #11 Oregon on Friday and then plays unranked Oregon State on Sunday. The Clansmen are true contenders this season and having a Canadian national champion [I guess they would actually be an INTERnational champion but whatever] would be great for the MCLA and college lacrosse in general. #4 BYU takes on #17 Colorado at home. I like BYU easily against the Buffs. On the Div 2 side of the MCLA the best game of the week looks to be Kennesaw State - Tennessee Wesleyan. TW is 5-6 but ranked at #9 while KS is #15 in the poll. TW has some sweet uniforms with the white and gold while KS has something else... an undefeated 11-0 season to protect. I like the visitors in this one to keep it going.

April Fool's Day - we get it.

April Fool's Day is over. Over in the sense that few are fooled anymore because everyone is so darn clever and snarky. People still try though and sometimes it pays off. In response to the recent season cancellations and suspensions www.lacrosseallstars.com has provided us with this post to lighten the mood: http://www.lacrosseallstars.com/blog/2009/4/1/breaking-news-uc-santa-cruz-banana-slugs-forfeit-season.html

Priorities... get em straight or face the music!

On the field, it has been an interesting year to say the least, but there is an interesting non-playing trend afoot and it is more disturbing than anything.

Lacrosse players have always been regarded as party-animals and wild-children/men/man-children but the day has come where that behavior absolutely needs to be modified. Colleges have made that clear this year with a number of season cancellations, firings and suspensions. Now, I don't miss the days where college administrators looked the other way for athletes, especially since the preferential treatment got SO out of hand in many sports [Division 1 football and basketball in particular] but I could see how a lot of people would be surprised. The surprise comes from the change inherent in years of people looking the other way and now refusing to do so.

College lacrosse players and college athletes in general need to realize this and make a declaration about why they are at school in the first place. Is it to play sports, skip class and drink all day? My advice to you would be to drop out. Is it to get a good education, grow as an individual and play a little lax? My advice there is to keep at it because you have it nailed! I personally tried to be the latter but feel like most people regarded me as the former. So as a former meat head drunk I can honestly say I made the wrong decisions and should have focused on my academics and growth as a person much more than I did. I probably could have drank a lot less too.

Arizona State's club lacrosse team had its season cancelled. Denver just kicked 3 kids off of their D1 team [for reasons unknown at this time] Ursinus' coaching staff was fired and Curry has now cancelled the rest of their season. Some of these penalties were levied for reasons beyond just drinking but it all plays into the commitment needed to be a college athlete. Not everyone can handle the responsibility and that is becoming more clear every single day. However, don't expect the rules to bend for you because you're a jock since it looks like they are being enforced more strictly... and I believe that is a good and much needed change.

weekend PREview!

As usual, there are some BIG games this weekend. I'll highlight a few of them and even make some predictions because why not? Bryant at Lehigh could be a great game as Lehigh is really stepping up this season and Bryant has already made a splash in the D1 pool of talent. Greer is always fun to watch but I like Lehigh by a couple in this home game for the Mountain Hawks. Hopkins is looking better and better every week and faces off with UNC this weekend. UNC could win the game as Hopkins is not an ACC team. I still like the Blue Jays by 3. UMD takes on UVA and I really don't think the Terps can hang with the Wahoos. Virginia is LOADED at attack, they are LOADED at midfield and their defense is very strong. Chad Gaudet, #7 LSM who faces off for the Hoos, is the real deal. He's a Massachusetts product who started out at Dartmouth and is doing some grad work at UVA. Ivy league schools do not allow kids who graduated from continuing to play as grad students from what I can tell even if they have an extra year of eligibility. Dartmouth's loss is UVA's gain. I see UVA winning by 5... or more. There are a bunch of other games this weekend but none will have national championship implications. Georgetown plays Navy, Cuse visits Loyola and Princeton visits Yale. The latter two should be won by Cuse and Princeton while the Navy-Georgetown game is anyone's guess. Both teams are doing well this year but neither is really a contender in this blogger's opinion. On Sunday, Army plays at Colgate and I expect a good game but again, neither of these teams can be considered a favorite although they both have a lot to prove. Look for Army to ride their young goalie to a close win unless Corp can get 'Gate going early and often.

The best games on the Div 2 side of things will be the NYIT-Molloy match up, St. Mike's at Bentley and Assumption at Merrimack. I think Merrimack will roll AC while the St. Mike's-Bentley game could go either way. I expect Tech to best Molloy but it may be a little closer than some would expect. On Sunday, Dowling visits Mercyhurst in the game of the week. I like the Hurst to prevail but a win the other way is always possible.

Division 3 has a host of great games coming up this weekend. Colby just beat up on #5 Endicott and now they play #11 Middlebury. I like the Panthers in this game by 2 or more but I expect it to be a battle for most of the time. Gburg visits Salisbury and earlier in the season I would have said this game would be a battle. A couple of weeks ago, I would say blow out in favor of the Gulls and now I'm back to the battle scenario. Gburg experienced some bumps early on but Salisbury hasn't been DESTROYING people like they usually do. I still think the Gulls will win but the score could be in the 15-12 range. Haverford and WAC tangle at 7pm in Chestertown. Should be a great game and I like WAC by 1. RIT travels to Cortland where the Dragons should win easily. #12 Wesleyan visits #9 Tufts in what could be the game of the week regardless of division. When you take into account Ian Applegate as an assistant at Tufts after playing at Wesleyan until he graduated in 2004, the match up just gets even more interesting. I've got my Alma mater, Wesleyan, winning by 1, possibly in OT.

Should be an exciting weekend where we learn a lot more and see some great lax. Next weekend looks even better, the weather keeps improving up North and the lacrosse action rolls on... Spring time sure is great!

midweek review - why not?

Lots of games were played on Wed in Division 3 and a few big Division 1 contests were decided on Tuesday. Duke lost to Cornell 10-6 on Tuesday but the story of the day had to be Lehigh coming back when they were down 11-3 to beat Army 13-12 in OT. Cassesse is doing well with the Mountain Hawks and I expect them to be a legit top 20 team within 2-3 more seasons. Making the transition from mid-level team to top 20 is difficult at the D1 level, especially when you play in a conference like the Patriot league which does not allow athletic scholarships and you have to compete against history-laden top 20 teams like Army or Hobart.

On the Division 3 side of things, Bowdoin beat St. Lawrence 10-6. Endicott continued to roll with a solid 11-9 win over Stevens. Stevens is a dangerous team that can beat anyone on any given day. Endicott did well to put 11 by the SIT keeper and the EC Defense really stepped up as they limited pre-season attackman of the year, JR Oreskovich to 2 goals and an assist. The "Northern Gulls" of Endicott aren't blowing people out like the "Southern Gulls" of Salisbury but don't be surprised to see the two match up head to head in the NC game. Dube had a big day for Endicott putting up 2 goals and helping on 4 others for 6 points on the day.

Wesleyan easily beat Farmingdale State on LI Wednesday afternoon 16-7. The game was never in question but it is interesting to note that the game began on Russ Follansbee's [#15, pictured] hat trick for a 3-0 Wesleyan lead. Farmingdale then scored a goal which was followed up by Jason Ben-Eliyahu's [#27, pictured] hat trick to make the score 6-1. you don't see that every day.

Gettysburg has rebounded nicely with a home win over Cabrini. Gburg is undefeated at home this season but hasn't won a big game on the road yet. That is no way to make it deep into ANY tournament.

In big time MCLA action, my personal favorite team, Chapman out in Cali, beat Colorado State 15-5. Both of these teams are top-level club programs that can and do compete with some of the best programs at the Division 3 level. On Sunday, Michigan beat up on Minnesota pretty badly. I believe the championship game will be a rematch of Michigan-Chapman from earlier in the year. Who will win is anyone's guess.

Week review, Weekend Preview all in one!

UNC, Notre Dame and Georgetown all won this week. Bucknell put up a decent fight against ND after getting dominated by Hobart. The Statesmen clearly have some talent but will need to keep winning for their stock to improve further. Vermont rebounded to beat Bellarmine after losing to UVA and they didn't even have to change their mascot's name!

Mel McKee and Assumption picked up their first win of their career and season respectively over Division 3 MIT. MIT offers more varsity NCAA sports than any other college in the country which is an interesting tidbit considering their top flight academic standing. The brains at MIT put NESCAC, Centennial and ODAC brains to shame.

Ithaca lost to MCLA Chapman, barely beat Whittier and now barely beat Drew. I expect the Bombers to get BLOWN OUT by Cortland when they meet. It could get ugly in this rivalry game.

Bates stuck with Middlebury last weekend til the end and then went on to lose to WNEC 6-4 this week. They won't win the NESCAC; heck, they might not even win a game in the NESCAC but it shows that the talent from top to bottom in that conference is very even and no win comes easy.

Colorado State beat Florida handily in MCLA action without Coach Flip Naumberg who has taken what is believed to be a temporary leave from the team. Are the Rams getting back to their top level form? The easy home win over UF leads me to believe they are.

Some games to look out for this weekend are: Kenyon v. Stevens and Conn College v. McDaniel. Both of these games will be played at neutral sites. Dickinson v. Noke could be a good game, as could Cabrini v. Hampden-Sydney. Cortland Clarkson could be good although I bet Cortland wins by at least 6. Wesleyan v. Middlebury should be a GREAT NESCAC match-up. The birds really need this one even though it is early. W&L plays F&M in the ampersand tilt of the week. If the Generals win big, they could be a top 10 team.

On the Division 1/2 side of things: Hobart v. Georgetown will be huge for whoever takes that one. My gut says Georgetown but it seems like that program is always ready to lose just when you start to believe in them. Princeton looks to keep rolling against Hofstra, Umass takes on Brown for a public-private, Mass-RI brawl. UMD v. UMBC should be a great intrastate-school game with both teams looking to impress. Another match-up within the same state is UNC-Duke. Any game between these two NC schools is guaranteed to get heated and UNC is clearly on the upswing as Duke tries to find some stability and direction. UNC has not done well in the ACC for the past couple of years and you just know they would love to get a win over the Dukies to prove they have arrived back on the contender scene.

OUTRAGE!

Read this: http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/club/2008-09/news/022009_asu

then read this: http://deadspin.com/5166103/florida-state-punished-for-cheating-scandal-but-not-really

so basically these schools and by extension, the NCAA are saying:

a)wrongs perpetrated by college students [just the kids] are worse than wrongs by YOUR OWN ATHLETIC DEPT/STAFF[PAID ADULTS, KIDS AND COACHES!].

b)drinking alcohol is bad, even though [at 21 years of age] it is legal.

c)cheating is kind of bad but really not that bad. next time, just don't get caught! tsk, tsk, slap on the wrist.

d)The NCAA has no teeth and is a slave to the money-earning sports and "academic" institutions.

So... WOW. I am appalled at FSU, the NCAA and Division 1 sports in general. The point of college is academics. PERIOD. Therefore, when serious academic violations are reported the response should be swift and meaningful, unlike what happened with FSU. These "students" should be suspended or even expelled and the tutors, coaches and administrators should be fired. Conduct violations [like what happened at ASU] are embarrassing for the University and the students involved and are quickly remedied by the suspension of the team but cheating scandals are far worse because they bring in to question why the students-athletes are even called students in the first place.

Duke's lacrosse season was cancelled by the school because of an off-campus party and allegations that in the end proved to be false. ASU's season was cancelled due to hazing and drinking. If this thinking continues logically, FSU's entire athletics department should be suspended for a year because the problems there are clearly systematic and widespread, yet the school did very little on top of the pathetic NCAA penalties.

weekend review II

Maryland won. Catalino scored 4 goals but I still think he slows down their offense and the game and is a pretty boring player to watch. He also made some questionable hits, of course he is also just bigger than everyone else so I could just be feeling bad for them.

Cornell lost as I thought they would but were competitive. UVA is just too deep this year for many to run with.

Hopkins impressed with their win over Hofstra. Defensively they looked comfortable and were playing like a team. Hofstra just didn't bring it to the same level. Both Gvozden brothers looked pretty good in goal for both teams. Older Brother, Michael, was a difference maker.

Umass took out Harvard. Lynchburg knocked of Cabrini in a surprise win. Lburg could be the class of the ODAC although W&L looks to be a challenger this year and Roanoke is off to a quick start. The top of this conference and the top of the CAC is looking even better than the Centennial or the NESCAC.

Cortland proved they are the real deal with a big win on LI against Gburg. the Bullets keep slipping and although I believe they are a top 20 team, they have a lot to prove. Bowdoin took the one goal win over Wesleyan with less than 30 seconds left in a 4-3 barn burner.

MCLA Chapman bested D3 Ithaca by a score of 14-11. I think this score pretty much proves Chapman could easily play at the top of Division 3 lacrosse. I would go out there and play lax in Cali if I could!

BYU topped FSU... I wish both of these schools would add men's lacrosse to their NCAA offered sports. When that happens, lacrosse will be unstoppable but in the meantime, it is great to see the club guys balling at a really high level and filling the gap until those schools take up the mantle of lacrosse themselves.