2012 NCAA Lacrosse Open Thread

[Wolverine1997]

penn state leads ohio 2-1 in the 3rd. Good lord what a hard game that would be to watch. It's one thing to have a great defense but to have a soccer game break out at a lacrosse game isn't too thrilling.

 

[Wolverine1997]

Also a little interesting upset alert in the ECAC. Unranked bellarmine is leading #12 loyola 4-2 in the 3rd.

Michigan will play loyola in their first-ever home game next week on Wednesday at the crumbling old den known as Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.

 

[Wolverine1997]

penn state held on and won a 5-2 "thriller" to clinch the inaugural Creators Trophy. Michigan will play ohio on 4/14, but it won't matter in terms of the trophy since penn state beat both teams.

AFA is opening a can of whoop *** on quinnipiac and the suffering for them is almost over, as AFA leads 13-3.

#12 loyola is pulling away from bellarmine leading 11-6 with under 5 left to play. If they hang on, they will tie ohio atop the ECAC standings.

 

[IrishLax]

penn state leads ohio 2-1 in the 3rd. Good lord what a hard game that would be to watch. It's one thing to have a great defense but to have a soccer game break out at a lacrosse game isn't too thrilling.

I'm not a fan of Penn State. They don't quite "stall ball" and they have a GREAT goalie... but they also intentionally play a style of offense that struggles to produce goals but possesses the ball and won't give up any transition opportunities. They got so lucky to beat ND... not a single one of their goals came from good offense and ND took for granted that they would score goals running vanilla offense... which it turns out was a horrible assumption.

The way to light this team up is with good ball movement but they haven't played a single team besides UNC so far with creativity. Denver could blow them out or lose... I'm not sure... will depend on how much Denver's defense has grown up. I reallllly want to see game film of Michigan's 9 goals. Did they come from transition? Lack of slides? Hot shooting? Good ball movement?

In other news, ND just pulled out a BIG win in Philly over Drexel 6-5. Drexel got a man-up opportunity with a minute left to play but the defense held strong. This is the same Drexel team that held #1 Virginia to a season low and almost beat them... so it's a very good win. Corrigan lit a fire under the team at halftime and they responded with 5 second half goals.

Next we get a very winnable (not easy) game @Hofstra then play Denver at home in a game that will have serious seeding consequences and then we play at Ohio State before entering the "easy" part of our schedule before closing with tough games against Villanova and Syracuse.

 

[Wolverine1997]

#12 loyola held on a beat bellarmine 11-8, and now is tied for first place in the ECAC.

I'm feeling very anxious for tomorrow to come. For many reasons. Michigan has a shot to win their first B1G Championship in Mens Basketball since 1985-86. Not only that but I'm also anxious for Michigan's game tomorrow with mercer.

I just hope Michigan plays like they did yesterday, tightens up the defense and gets their first win. I think Michigan will win tomorrow but the horror of losing that game tomorrow would be devastating. I'd be crushed.

Will ND ever do a lax game at ND Stadium? They have a good following and are an established program so IMO it would be a hit. Especially if you would have it before or after the ND football spring game. If NBCS airs the ND spring game like last year, they would also get a lot of viewers for the lax game from ND fans who can't make it. ohio is doing their annual showdown in the shoe the week after Michigan's game so they can showcase their team on BTN.

 

[IrishLax]

#12 loyola held on a beat bellarmine 11-8, and now is tied for first place in the ECAC.

I'm feeling very anxious for tomorrow to come. For many reasons. Michigan has a shot to win their first B1G Championship in Mens Basketball since 1985-86. Not only that but I'm also anxious for Michigan's game tomorrow with mercer.

I just hope Michigan plays like they did yesterday, tightens up the defense and gets their first win. I think Michigan will win tomorrow but the horror of losing that game tomorrow would be devastating. I'd be crushed.

Will ND ever do a lax game at ND Stadium? They have a good following and are an established program so IMO it would be a hit. Especially if you would have it before or after the ND football spring game. If NBCS airs the ND spring game like last year, they would also get a lot of viewers for the lax game from ND fans who can't make it. ohio is doing their annual showdown in the shoe the week after Michigan's game so they can showcase their team on BTN.

Only if we put in turf.

I think you posted it earlier, but is the Michigan vs. Mercer game be streamed anywhere? Didn't you say laxx.tv or something? I think you guys will take Mercer... that result against Jacksonville shows you can tighten up enough defensively to get the W.

Thinking about making tomorrow a full lacrosse day with with the Virginia vs. Syracuse game on later in the day. That game will be fun. Syracuse lacks offense firepower right now but they've got some really talented young guys and a better defense than Virginia so they can definitely pull out the win if things click. It's weird because I'm from Virginia... but the only kids I know personally in the game all play for 'Cuse... so I will be rooting against the Cavaliers accordingly. Robert E. Lee would be ashamed at my lack of loyalty to the Commonwealth.

 

[Wolverine1997]

Only if we put in turf.

I think you posted it earlier, but is the Michigan vs. Mercer game be streamed anywhere? Didn't you say laxx.tv or something? I think you guys will take Mercer... that result against Jacksonville shows you can tighten up enough defensively to get the W.

Thinking about making tomorrow a full lacrosse day with with the Virginia vs. Syracuse game on later in the day. That game will be fun. Syracuse lacks offense firepower right now but they've got some really talented young guys and a better defense than Virginia so they can definitely pull out the win if things click. It's weird because I'm from Virginia... but the only kids I know personally in the game all play for 'Cuse... so I will be rooting against the Cavaliers accordingly. Robert E. Lee would be ashamed at my lack of loyalty to the Commonwealth.

Yes LaxxTv will be broadcasting it. Game is at 10am EST.

 

[Wolverine1997]

ECAC Scores today.

#11 loyola beat bellarmine 11-8 on the road for their first conference win of the year.
#17 ohio lost 5-2 to #12 penn state at the horseshoe.
#20 fairfield beat UMBC 10-9 in overtime at home.
air force lit up quinnipiac 13-3 at home.
hobart beat binghamton 15-10 at home.
#14 denver hung on to beat pesky hartford at home, 11-10.

If anything, denver looks very beatable from what I can tell so far. For ND and better teams in the Top-10 at least. This conference will be closer than people think but ultimately I think denver will win it.

 

[IrishLax]

ECAC Scores today.

#11 loyola beat bellarmine 11-8 on the road for their first conference win of the year.
#17 ohio lost 5-2 to #12 penn state at the horseshoe.
#20 fairfield beat UMBC 10-9 in overtime at home.
air force lit up quinnipiac 13-3 at home.
hobart beat binghamton 15-10 at home.
#14 denver hung on to beat pesky hartford at home, 11-10.

If anything, denver looks very beatable from what I can tell so far. For ND and better teams in the Top-10 at least. This conference will be closer than people think but ultimately I think denver will win it.

They are the bizzaro Notre Dame. Tons of offense, absolutely no defense. They got up 10-4 heading into the 4th but because they have seriously awful defense they let Hartford put up SIX in one period on them. Their success is entirely dependent on winning faceoffs to dominate possession and keep the ball out of the other team's hands.

In progress right now, Lehigh is up on UNC in the second half. It is hard to figure out the Tarheels as they have oodles of offense but have really struggled to put away some bad/average teams... namely Navy and now Lehigh back to back.

 

[IrishLax]

Lehigh up 1 with 2 to go.... could this be the one UNC doesn't miraculously pull out?

EDIT: And UNC goes down to Lehigh. HUGE upset. The ACC is clearly weaker than usual this year... if only Drexel had beaten Virginia.... tomorrow's game against Syracuse will have huge seeding implications. Maryland may be the team to beat in the ACC all things considered.

 

[Wolverine1997]

Michigan got their first win in program history in style, double digit 14-4 beatdown of mercer.

Feels great.

 

[IrishLax]

Congrats on your win.

Virginia vs. Syracuse getting going now on ESPN.

 

[Wolverine1997]

Such a historic day.

First Michigan Lacrosse win and the Michigan won their first B1G Championship in Basketball since 1985-86.

 

[IrishLax]

Such a historic day.

First Michigan Lacrosse win and the Michigan won their first B1G Championship in Basketball since 1985-86.

Hardly.... 3 way tie... you won your first 1/3 of a (regular season) championship in ~30 years. You also don't hold a tiebreaker over MSU and go into your Big Ten tournament as the #2 seed.

Wake me up if/when you win the conference tournament. That's what counts.

And now back to lacrosse. Will be interesting to see what happens in the polls tomorrow... ND could move up as high as #6 or not budge at all. UVa, Hopkins, Cornell, Maryland are your clear top 4... and UMASS is probably a lock for #5.

 

[clashmore_mike]

Such a historic day.

First Michigan Lacrosse win and the Michigan won their first B1G Championship in Basketball since 1985-86.

Mgoblog.com is where you want to be

 

[Wolverine1997]

Hardly.... 3 way tie... you won your first 1/3 of a (regular season) championship in ~30 years. You also don't hold a tiebreaker over MSU and go into your Big Ten tournament as the #2 seed.

Wake me up if/when you win the conference tournament. That's what counts.

And now back to lacrosse. Will be interesting to see what happens in the polls tomorrow... ND could move up as high as #6 or not budge at all. UVa, Hopkins, Cornell, Maryland are your clear top 4... and UMASS is probably a lock for #5.

Conference tournaments are for fun and for teams who stink it up in the regular season and need a way into the NCAA Tournament. (See Michigan winning the 1998 Big Ten Tournament*)

To me at least, the regular season championship symbolizes the best team all year. Michigan, state and ohio are all even. Michigan is 1-1 against state, Michigan is 1-1 against ohio, and ohio and state are 1-1 against one another. Dead even.

I think that Michigan has a pretty good shot at making the Finals if things fall their way. I think that indiana will beat penn state (obviously), beat wisconsin in the quarters and upset state in the semis and make their way to the finals. It's in their backyard. I also think purdue has a good shot to upset ohio. What scares me is the fact that northwestern is staring Michigan right in the face. Both meetings this season were nail biters.

As for the 1/3 thing, I could really care less and I'm the huge crowd of fans waiting to greet the team at Crisler when they arrived back from penn state don't either. It won't say it on the banner, it doesn't say it on the Championship t-shirts. Plus it's not like Michigan didn't beat the two other champions.

Also if you're a hockey fan, 2 Michigan vs 8 ND at Yost next weekend in the CCHA Playoff Quarterfinals. It's on, oh it is SO on!

Onto lacrosse: Michigan welcomes loyola into the crumbling den known as Oosterbaan Wednesday night. Place is seriously a dangerous place to watch a game. They put nets all around the crowd since the crowd is literally 10 feet away from the field and there are people sitting around the outside of the field on the ground. Oy. Loyola is gonna be in the Top-10 most likely since UNC lost.

 

[jjsccer2]

Michigan is an embarrassment to the USA

 

[IrishLax]

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease keep sports besides lacrosse and all other off topic talk out of this thread. I already regret even responding to the first OT post.

 

[IrishLax]

ND has bumped up to #7 in both major polls and is #4 in Quint's poll. Our defense is #1 in the country and all things considered we are ranked 2/3 spots higher than where we were to start the year.

Big game @ #19 Hofstra this week... these next 3 games against ranked teams are all must wins if we want a good seed in May.

 

[Wolverine1997]

ECAC teams in USILA Poll

#8 Loyola
#21 Fairfield
#26 Hobart
#32 Denver
#43 Air Force
#44 Ohio
#50 Bellarmine
#56 Michigan

Hobart ranked ahead of Denver. Unreal. Michigan welcomes a Top-10 in loyola team for their first game at home Wednesday night. Any insight you could offer on them? They were in a close game with bellarmine Saturday which ended 11-8 in LU's favor.

 

[IrishLax]

ECAC teams in USILA Poll

#8 Loyola
#21 Fairfield
#26 Hobart
#32 Denver
#43 Air Force
#44 Ohio
#50 Bellarmine
#56 Michigan

Hobart ranked ahead of Denver. Unreal. Michigan welcomes a Top-10 in loyola team for their first game at home Wednesday night. Any insight you could offer on them? They were in a close game with bellarmine Saturday which ended 11-8 in LU's favor.

What are you talking about? This is the USILA poll. Denver checks in at #13.

What are you looking at? Can you link?

 

[Wolverine1997]

What are you talking about? This is the USILA poll. Denver checks in at #13.

What are you looking at? Can you link?

Computer Rating

I just realized the poll ranking part on the side though.

 

[IrishLax]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

yeah... laxpower is a complete joke and not an official poll in the least... I remember when my HS team was once top 10 because we won our opening game 22-0.

Their computer ratings don't normalize until ~6 games into the season either... and even at that point their horribly flawed on sooooo many levels. Stick to Inside Lacrosse for your polls/live blogs/expert picks and the like. I've done work for every major lacrosse media outlet and they're by far the best.

 

[Wolverine1997]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

yeah... laxpower is a complete joke and not an official poll in the least... I remember when my HS team was once top 10 because we won our opening game 22-0.

Their computer ratings don't normalize until ~6 games into the season either... and even at that point their horribly flawed on sooooo many levels. Stick to Inside Lacrosse for your polls/live blogs/expert picks and the like. I've done work for every major lacrosse media outlet and they're by far the best.

Yeah seeing penn state so far towards the bottom made me scratch my head.

 

[IrishLax]

Breaking news..... Rob Pannell (by most experts the #1 player in the country) will miss at least 6 weeks after breaking a bone in his foot.

Cornell was already incredibly overrated (good offense, soft defense and VERY soft schedule) and this injury likely means they'll drop games against Virginia and maybe Denver while he's out. What will be most interesting to see is if he is healthy for the Syracuse game which is right at the 6 week mark... if Cornell goes 0-3 against their 3 toughest opponents it'll likely mean no seed for them and they will be a very dangerous at large team.

 

[Wolverine1997]

ECAC Update: bellarmine got the win at dartmouth today, 12-10.

Right now colgate currently leads hobart 16-7 in the 4th quarter.

 

[Wolverine1997]

hobart got dropped like a bad habit. 18-8.

 

[Wolverine1997]

IL, for the teams who do not get any auto-bids, is there some kind of way you can stack them up and have a good idea of who will get in?

Is there RPI or a bracketology type deal like basketball has, or a PWR computer formula hockey uses to seed the teams?

I'm pretty curious.

 

[IrishLax]

IL, for the teams who do not get any auto-bids, is there some kind of way you can stack them up and have a good idea of who will get in?

Is there RPI or a bracketology type deal like basketball has, or a PWR computer formula hockey uses to seed the teams?

I'm pretty curious.

Absolutely. NCAA lacrosse has the best selection criteria of any of the sports, IMO. It's all based on RPI, SOS, and "quality wins" in the sense that you get zero credit for a good record against an easy schedule but get lots of credit for an OK record against a tough schedule.

MD1 NCAA Tournament Selection Criteria

 

[IrishLax]

Also... two absolutely shocking results tonight plus one surprising result.

North Carolina got blasted by 0-2 Penn by the score of 10-6. UNC's offense is loaded with stars but is playing horrible so far and their defense is so soft.

1-2 UMBC picked up a win against top 5 Maryland... which is the equivalent of Western Michigan beating Michigan, Tulsa beating Oklahoma, Texas Tech beating Texas, etc. It's just not supposed to happen and it's especially not supposed to happen when Maryland is ranked that high and UMBC is having a bad year.

And then undefeated #15 Yale went down to really super crappy and 0-3 Sacred Heart... which really says more about the incredibly weak ivy league than anything else.

The ECAC and Big East might be the two best leagues this year when all is said and done. ACC is down. Ivy is REALLY down. CAA is even stronger than the Ivy this year... there isn't one legitimate top 20 team there besides Cornell and maybe Princeton.