2012 NCAA Lacrosse Open Thread

[IrishLax]

Tickets sold out early this morning for the Syracuse game tomorrow at 5 PM. But you can still catch it on ESPNU.

Strange world we live in when you have to line up before the box office opens to score lacrosse tickets in Indiana.

 

[Downinthebend]

Really, F...

I should have checked that woops. Ugh. I'll have to be more creative I guess.

 

[IrishLax]

Denver beats Duke 15-9 giving ND the inside track for the #1 seed if we win out and Johns Hopkins beats Loyola today. If not and we win out, we probably get #2 seed.

Syracuse game on in 2.5 hours on ESPNU.... will be a very tough game for us. I can't watch since im out of town but I hope you all tune in and GO IRISH!

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

I have to hand it to you for being so dedicated to your sport. I don't know a thing about Lacrosse, but I check this thread here and there.

Thanks for keeping us informed on the Irish LAX team.

 

[Downinthebend]

I think you can watch the game from UND (They sold out Arlotta >.<).

University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site

 

[micks60]

Irish look really good. 3-0 after the first.

 

[Wolverine1997]

#1 loyola falls in OT at home to #10 johns hopkins, 10-9.
In an upset, ohio has shocked #14 fairfield blowing them out 8-3.
#16 denver upset #4 duke 15-9 yesterday.

ECAC Tournament Semifinals (Thursday)
1 loyola vs 4 denver
2 ohio vs 3 fairfield

Very possible though that fairfield was resting up for the tournament game against ohio next week. It was a lock that the two were going to play in the tourney anyways so the more I think about it, the less of a shock it is.

 

[Downinthebend]

Now that the regular season for ND is over, are any of the Ncaa Tournament games likely to be hosted at ND (how are the games bid out?)

 

[Wolverine1997]

hobart knocks off air force 12-8 and the 2012 ECAC Regular Season has come to a conclusion.

 

[AllGoldEverything]

Made the trip from Ohio to the bend today to watch the lacrosse game, didnt know they were sold out but we still got tickets. The team looks GREAT and I think we have a good shot to make a run for the big game. Also it was great to see such a big crowd come out to support the team.

It was great to get back to campus cause I havent been there in long time. Cant wait till football season and looking forward to following ND LAX as they head toward a Championship!

 

[Downinthebend]

How did you get tickets? I didn't try to go to the game because it was sold out.

 

[AllGoldEverything]

How did you get tickets? I didn't try to go to the game because it was sold out.

Stood in line till 5 to wait and see if theyd have any tickets left, turns out they did and we got in after standing in line for a little bit.

 

[IrishLax]

Really pumped to see us handle business and finish the season 11-1 with a Big East championship. Just saw a pic of the trophy.

Will have to watch the game on my DVR when I get home from San Fran... with the win and Loyola's loss ND moves to #1 in the RPI. We're in a very good position to land the #1 seed as long as Drexel, Syracuse and Villanova all stay within the top 20.

 

[Wolverine1997]

Official ECAC Tournament Match-ups-

Semifinals: Wednesday, May 2nd
1 Loyola (12-1) vs 4 Denver (8-5) 8pm EST
2 Ohio (8-6) vs 3 Fairfield (11-3) 11pm EST

Championship Game: Friday, May 4th
Semifinal 1 winner vs Semifinal 2 winner 7pm/ESPNU


Official Release
ECAC Tournament Central - Denver Pioneers Official Athletics Site

 

[IrishLax]

Been on vacation.... time for a big update!

ND has taken over the #1 spot in the RPI and is #2 in both the coaches/media poll while receiving first place votes in each. ND is also projected as the #1 seed in the latest bracketology. AND we won the Big East championship in the first "official" year of Big East play. Pretty darn good so far for a "rebuilding year!"

Also... in last week's victory over Syracuse, ND shut out Syracuse in a half of lacrosse for the first time ever in their history.

 

[IrishLax]

ND takes on St. Johns tomorrow in the first round of the Big East tournament and if we win we will play the winner of Villanova/Syracuse. What sucks is that playing these games can likely only hurt our RPI and we can't pick an extra quality win because the loser of Syracuse/Villanova likely drops out of the top 20.

Denver lost in OT today to Loyola... had they won that would've been a top 10 win for us. OSU also lost to Fairfield by 1 goal but it appears they'll stay in the top 20 no matter what happens with other teams.

If we win out, we likely get the #1 seed... but it is very possible that Loyola could jump us IF they beat Fairfield in the ECAC championship and pick up another quality win. They'll be net +2 quality wins from their conference tourney and we'll be net +0.

I think our dream scenario has either Loyola losing to Fairfield... or if that doesn't happen, we need Cornell to beat Yale and Syracuse to beat Villanova... at which point both Villanova and Syracuse likely stay in the top 20.

 

[DomeX2 eNVy]

Hey LAX,
Sorry for the ignorance, but how does the NCAA tournament work? How many teams get invited, and is there only one #1 seed, or is it like basketball with multiple #1 regional seeds?
Thanks

 

[IrishLax]

Hey LAX,
Sorry for the ignorance, but how does the NCAA tournament work? How many teams get invited, and is there only one #1 seed, or is it like basketball with multiple #1 regional seeds?
Thanks

16 teams invited, teams #1 through #8 are seeded and the other 8 are "unseeded" but largely matched up according to their resume with exceptions made to avoid too much travel and repeat matchups in the first round. So, for example, the team seeded #8 is likely to play the team that would've been seeded #9 unless they've already played that team in the regular season or the team to be seeded #10 is much closer geographically. There are 7 automatic qualifiers (conference champions) and 9 at-large teams.

A good breakdown of selection criteria can be found here. This year, I think the best seed for us to have is #2 because the likely #8 seed (UNC) is probably the most dangerous team to ND out there as we simply don't match up well with them... whereas we match up VERY well with Maryland (the likely #7 seed assuming they beat Colgate). Both the #1 and #2 seeds effectively get first round byes playing the conference champs out of the MAAC and AE conferences.

 

[IrishLax]

ND vs. St Johns underway now on ESPNU... St. Johns leads 2-1 after the first quarter... Red Storm doing a good job of possessing the ball and playing slow... whereas we have a bunch of turnovers and have missed a couple layups.

Nick Beatie back in action full time for ND... and the attack looks way worse without Conor Doyle.

 

[IrishLax]

St. John's = owning us. They want this game so, so much more than we do. Their defensive/riding gameplan is working like a charm.... and Westy Hopkins has missed 3 EASY goals.

They're also playing "possession" ball and strangling the life out of the game. This last possession before halftime is going to last over 3 minutes... which is just unreal.

Hopefully ND gets it together in the second half... but I fear the damage may be done... especially if St. John's is committed to playing slow.

 

[95NDAlumNM]

What is the score IrishLax?

 

[IrishLax]

What is the score IrishLax?

7-3 St. John's.... this is just a laughably bad performance on all fronts. We can't get a ground ball to save our lives and, because of that, St. Johns continues to have ridiculously long possessions and then convert for goals.

On the offensive end, we've had numerous opportunities to score and just miss wide open shots or their goalie makes a sick save. Just a thorough beatdown.

 

[IrishLax]

8-3 St. John's heading into the 4th..... game over. This is a carbon copy of the Penn State game. We come in off a big win (Syracuse) and without any fire. They slide super early to our midfielders and our attack shoot like crap.

Looks like we'll have something around a #4-#6 seed if this all holds up.

 

[IrishLax]

Don't look now..... ND scores 3 unanswered goals and has the ball with ~4:30 to play.

 

[95NDAlumNM]

Lets' go ND.

 

[IrishLax]

St. John's wins 8-7.... we got absolutely hosed at the end of the game..... had the ball on an odd-man fast break and the refs blow the play dead to call offsides on ST. JOHNS!! Which lets them get back and reset and then the game ends with us hitting a pipe.

Disappointing. Can't wait that long to start the comeback.

 

[IrishLax]

ND drops down to #5 in the RPI with the loss... playing St. Johns also hurts our SOS.... boy do we wish there was no conference tourney this year LOL! This loss has taken us from likely #1 seed to hypothetically not hosting a first round game.

ND appears to be headed for a #6 seed by my measure unless UMASS loses to Drexel. St. Johns and Villanova are sitting out at #21 and #23 in the RPI which totally screws us as neither counts as a "ranked" team now. ND will likely be seeded behind Loyola (assuming they handle Fairfield), Duke, Hopkins, UVA, and UMASS. We will have a tough first round game against somebody... maybe Cornell? Princeton? Denver? Colgate? Hopefully we get a team like Penn State.

At worst, ND could slide behind Lehigh, Maryland and UNC... and end up not hosting a game/playing either Maryland or UNC in the first round PLUS Loyola/Duke in the quarterfinals. That would be hell. All things considered though that is unlikely as UNC lost to last place Penn, Lehigh lacks the quality wins of Notre Dame, and Maryland lost to UMBC. But weirder things have been known to happen.........

 

[Wolverine1997]

#3 loyola wins the second ECAC Tournament, beating #16 fairfield in the championship game 14-7.

loyola gets the ECAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

 

[Wolverine1997]

ECAC Member's RPI Place

Loyola- #1
Denver- #13
Fairfield- #14
ohio- #18
Hobart- #32
Air Force #40
Bellarmine #42
Michigan- #59

 

[IrishLax]

ND projected #3 seed right now. Could be as high as a #2 seed still (which is crazy) or as low as the #8 seed. #3 seed is a bad one to have... all things considered... top 2 teams basically get byes and UNC might slide into the #6 spot and they're possibly the most dangerous team in the whole tournament. Another potential #6 is UMASS.