Wednesday recap!

Here is a little midweek food for thought:

-OWU looks like the class of the NCAC this year but they just lost to Gettysburg who lost to Stevenson and Cortland last week. I'm not a huge fan of comparative scoring but this does lead me to believe that there will be outrage if 3 NCAC teams make the tourney and deserving others are left out. The NCAC is good lacrosse but clearly not a conference putting forth teams in contention for the NC. Dickinson beat Kenyon by 1 and Dickinson isn't even on most people's Centennial radar.

-Bryant has shown that they have really arrived on the D1 lax scene. They lost to Loyola this week but kept it competitive. Any time you can play a top 20 team to a 15-11 loss in your first year is a good sign. Pressler will stick around for a while and Greer only went 2g, 1a so the future looks bright for the Bulldogs.

-Albany beat Umass yesterday. The Danes are up and down this year as are the Minutemen. Umass could put together a run at the end on the back of Connolly but even with the win yesterday, I still think Albany is a year away at least.

-UVA kept rolling as they easily bested the Catamounts of Vermont. UVA is clearly a top contender but what is going on with Ryan Curtis' UVM squad and its small roster? 20-something guys won't get you wins at the Division One level. As stupid as this may sound, I believe the problems start with their mascot. Question: what is the only difference between a catamount and a cougar? Answer: the prior is the mascot for Universitas Viridis Montis, the latter is not. Now is it silly to have two names for one cat?

side note: my uncle used to skate around the rink at intermission for UVM hockey games wearing the old Cat suit. Back then he was called Charlie, now they call him Rally. The latter is a step down considering it isn't even an alliteration. Also Rally connotes that the team is already losing. Is that really the attitude you want, UVM? Both of my parents went there so I would desperately love to see them succeed.

LAX MATH!

http://www.laxpower.com/common/participation08.php
check out the link above for participation, roster size and other numbers related to lacrosse in the college ranks, specifically at the NCAA level. Unfortunately, I have not yet found similar numbers for the MCLA.

Wagner WINS! Blue Hose lose... again

Everywhere you look online, someone is congratulating Wagner on their "great" win to snap their 48 game losing streak. While I agree that it is nice for a team to win one once in a while, Wagner did so against the team that will likely replace them as the longest losing steak in NCAA division 1 lacrsosse, the Presbyterian Blue Hose of South Carolina. At this point, PC hasn't won a game and doesn't look like it is going to. They finished 2008 at 0-11 and are o-5 so far in 2009. A win is great and I truly hope Wagner can build on it but until the wins start to come against decent opponents, I don't think all this celebrating is really needed.

It is one thing when a Div 3 team pulls of something like this [see Hood as a perfect example] because Division 3 sports are a little more laid back focusing on participation but Division 1 teams should always be looking to win and improve. If sports aren't that important that the school can dedicate the appropriate resources, then the institution in question should move to a different division, reduce costs and increase their academic priorities.

I'll be pulling for both Wagner and Presbyterian to improve but if they don't I would hope that their respective administrations would address why exactly they need to be Division 1 schools.

weekend review

What a weekend! Princeton beat the Hop liked I said they would. Cornell bested Army in the final minute on a Max Siebald goal. He doesn't get as much hype as some others in the college game but he is as good as or better than any middie in the college game right now. His swim move is evocative of Rabil, just a couple inches lower. UMd looked solid against Duke but their offense is a little stagnant for a team that is supposedly loaded with talent. Both Catalino and Yeatman tend to hold the ball a lot and post up which really slows the game down. None of the Terp first line middies are that impressive although they are all fast and play well together. This team needs something additional if they are going to be contenders. Gtown lost to St. John's in Queens and it was the first major win for this 5 year old iteration of the SJU program.

There weren't any major upsets in the D3 or D2 ranks and my call that Colorado College would beat Lynchburg was embarassingly wrong considering CC lost by 15! All of the typical players kept rolling although the NESCAC teams won't really start playing real games for another week. Montclair State came back from a 6-4 deficit in the 4th to beat Hartwick 7-6 in Jersey. Big win for the MSU squad. Merrimack scrimmaged Weselyan and Merrimack could really be the surprise team of D2 this year. They have an experienced bunch of kids, the coach believes in them and they were able to solve Wesleyan's zone which speaks to their ball movement and unselfishness. Look for Merrimack to do well this year. RIT beat Adelphi by one showing the difference between the 2 divisions is, as usual, not that much.

On a side note, I played in my alumni game on Saturday in 3 inches of snow and had a great time out there. We lost 9-7 with only 16 players to a bunch of kids who are actually in shape. If there is one thing I learned, it is that I simply do not recover the way I used to... ah, getting old!

Photo of Wick-MSU game.

Great success in Boston for new NLL franchise

Gone are the days of the Green, Black and Orange, gone are the days of spandex shorts and huge hockey jerseys yet the Boston Blazers are back and showing the rest of the league how to do things right. Considering the economy and their expansion status, the Blazers are drawing good numbers and winning games. They are doing so by asking their players to make a real commitment. A lot of players in the NLL and MLL don't live where they play, show up for games and are on the first plane out of town after the game is over. Not so in Beantown. The players live near one another, hang out off the field, play a lot of lax and are really trying to get the larger Boston community interested. Read the whole article to hear the whole story:

http://www.laxmagazine.com/nll/2008-09/news/022509_blazers

An approving nod of the head to NESCAC legend, NLL legend and Dreadlock legend[even if he eventually cut them off], Tom Ryan, for leading this team to success both on and off the "box".

Re-birth of the bag!

Earlier this week, I said that the bagged out lacrosse pockets were dead. This picture of Boston Blazer Dan Dawson says, "we aren't done with bags in the NLL, homes!"

Hood's first win in FIVE YEARS... that much sweeter!

Check out this article from Lacrosse Magazine about Hood's first win in 5 years:

http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DIII/2008-09/news/022509_hood

HeyLaxMan's most sincere well wishes go out to Dan Rocker, his family and the entire Hood lacrosse program in hopes of a full recovery and return to action for the Junior LSM.

Bryant proving they belong immediately

Bryant has done a great job early on this season after making the jump from Division 2 to Division 1. They have started the season at 2-1 by losing to UVA, crushing Sacred Heart and with a win over Dartmouth in NH. Mike Pressler has obviously done a great job at Bryant and he is an outstanding coach but the real man behind Bryant's early success is Zach Greer. He will only play there for one year but it is the most important; the first year as a Division 1 team.

Now, Pressler will lead the team for years to come and is leading the team now but the impact that a player like Greer can have on a team can not be underestimated. When Greer practices, he practices hard and sets an example as to what a Division 1 practice should look like and how high the intensity level has to be. He showcases what kind of athlete you need to be, he has experienced the best the college lacrosse world has to offer and knows what it takes to reach that level. Coaches always say to lead by example and Pressler has to be thrilled to have a guy like Greer doing just that.

ZG is putting up points when the team needs them most [as evidenced by his run-squelching goals against Dartmouth], keeping Bryant competitive in big games while being unselfish [against Virginia] or lighting it up [against Sacred Heart] when playing an opponent Bryant feels it should best. http://insidelacrosse.com/page.cfm?pagerid=2&news=fdetail&storyid=198213

Bryant won't make the tourney this year no matter what because of their D1 probationary period but Greer has to be in the running for PoY regardless because without him, I sincerely doubt Bryant would be doing nearly as well as they are now. On a side note, it seems like Greer is still using the Gait Triton even with Bryant Lacrosse being sponsored by Brine.

Oglethorpe to add lacrosse!

No, Oggie Oglethorpe is not quitting hockey and moving to lacrosse. Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, GA is adding lacrosse in 2010 for the 2011 season. They will join Colorado College, Hendrix, Sewannee, Southwestern [2010 season] and Birmingham Southern in the SCAC [Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference]. One more team and the conference will start receiving an AQ at some point! It is an exciting moment in time when our great sport is expanding so quickly to areas that 10 years ago had never even heard of lacrosse.
For now, the coach will be the schools's Athletic Director, Jay Gardiner, who played lacrosse at McDaniel College and graduated in 1979.
http://www.theweekly.com/news/2009/February/23/Lacrosse.html
Oglethorpe's mascot is the Stormy Petrel. That's almost as cool as the Power Gulls of Endicott or the Polar Bears of Bowdoin!
http://www.oglethorpe.edu/athletics/Petey/

Florida Southern and the Wick!

Today is the Florida Southern College lacrosse team's first NCAA game as a varsity team. They defeated SCAD, the Svannah College of Art and Design which is an NAIA school [with possibly the coolest team bus ever], in a scrimmage but this will be there first official test ever. It could be a tough test as they face Hartwick College from New York state. Hartwick has been around for a long time, has seen some amazing players come and go through its doors and has a roster filled with kids who can really play, including their keeper, John Meade who originally played at Division 1 Sacred Heart. I don't expect FSC to actually win this game but I wish them the best of luck and applaud the school for sponsoring a lacrosse team and applaud their coach, Rory Whipple [yes, THE Rory Whipple] for seeking out good competition. For more info, see below:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20090203/NEWS/902030356/1002/SPORTS?Title=Starting_Up

UPDATE: Hartwick won the scrimmage/game/whatever it was [it appears on FSC's Div 2 schedule but not D3 Hartwick's] 7-6. Johnny Meade did not play as many of the 'wick Vets sat this one out. Congrats to FSC for making it through their first NCAA game. next up? their first win! Good luck Mocs!