D3 All Americans

[Bystanders]

I have to ask: no 1st team shot for Bates' Matt Chlastawa? Second in the country in points per game (6.13) while facing the nation's eighth-toughest schedule and carrying a huge workload every game in Bates' offense (involved in 43% of Bates' goals this year, compared to 39% for Keating/F&M, 31% for Pfeiffer/York and Wolf/Amherst, and 22% for Nally/RIT).

--Completely agree. One man wrecking crew. The only attack in the NESCAC with a perfect scouting report from the coaches "he has no discernible flaws". Chlastawa and Knaus on Trinity (before he was hurt) were the best two pure dodgers at attack in the NESCAC. In his spare time while not dodging, Chlastawa also dished 53 assists

I have a problem with multiple postseason awards on one unit for the same team. It's like giving the entire Dallas Cowboys Offensive Line a trip to the pro-bowl, or calling Scottie Pippen one of the best players of all time. Invariably it's a superstar making others look great.

Also - btw - if a defender got beat on 3 unassisted dodges in A SEASON I'm not sure that is an appropriate All American prospect either. Even against the best.

[ergit]

There are probably a couple dozen attack that could make a legitimate case as an AA.

In reference to ‘The only attack in the NESCAC with a perfect scouting report from the coaches "he has no discernible flaws".’

Ahhhh, he turned the ball over 48 times in 15 games...
Not saying he’s not AA worthy, you can pick apart anyone’s statistics. Your argument would have more credibility if you didn’t make things up.

[ergit]

And BTW, even the best defenders get beat three times a year.

[Boomakegga]

I know it doesn’t work this way, but I have always felt that decision for 1st team AA should be who I would pick first if I had to field a team that had to win and play the 2nd team Aa who picked after me with the same logic. I don’t believe turn overs are even on the form the coaches submit. I know some coaches submit stats for top 20 opponents separately which seems smart for those in a weak league. Anyway, this logic spreads the honor for role players devalues pure stats a bit and rewards glue guys. Who is the best player is different from who had the best season or helped there team the most.

[PicLax]

My view is the AA team should consist of the same number of players and positions as on a starting face off, offensive and defensive set. 1 FOGO, 1 LSM, 1 goalie, 2 SSDM, 3 offensive middies, 3 attack, 3 defenders. Seems most lists plus up number of attack, offensive middies and defenders, discount SSDMs.

[GoldStar28]

Smyth, LSM for RIT, will end up on one of the teams as a pole. DPOY for Liberty League, talented player. Who gets OPOY and DPOY for the nation?

OPOY Candidates:
Nally (RIT)
Wolf (Amherst)
Gwin (Salisbury)

DPOY Candidates:
Usich (Dickinson)
Brokmate (Tufts)
Wycoff (GBurg)
One of the two York Defenders

Would love some input!

[ah23]

Smyth, LSM for RIT, will end up on one of the teams as a pole. DPOY for Liberty League, talented player. Who gets OPOY and DPOY for the nation?

OPOY Candidates:
Nally (RIT)
Wolf (Amherst)
Gwin (Salisbury)

DPOY Candidates:
Usich (Dickinson)
Brokmate (Tufts)
Wycoff (GBurg)
One of the two York Defenders

Would love some input!

Can someone explain why Arend Broekmate is on this DPOY list aside from playing for Tufts? I understand that coaches
a) don't get to watch OOC players very much and tend to be swayed by the name on the front of the jersey (ex. in 2018 the Jumbos' own Nick Shanks was voted a second team All-NESCAC middie yet was somehow also voted first team All American)
b) love to award seniors at the expense of underclassmen

...but still. There's a big difference between being a really good player who deserves 2nd/3rd/HM AA recognition and being an elite game changer who deserves recognition as the best in the country.

Just to be clear, he is obviously a very good defenseman and deserves to be on the postseason teams in some way. However, his turnover numbers are way down - just 12 all year, compared to other NESCAC defensemen like Wesleyan's Colin Malarchuk (45) or Amherst's Rod Castro (36)/James Crovatto (31) - and the Tufts defense as a whole is solid but unspectacular (190th in the nation in CTpg, 93rd in scoring defense).

Am I missing something?

[GoldStar28]

Smyth, LSM for RIT, will end up on one of the teams as a pole. DPOY for Liberty League, talented player. Who gets OPOY and DPOY for the nation?

OPOY Candidates:
Nally (RIT)
Wolf (Amherst)
Gwin (Salisbury)

DPOY Candidates:
Usich (Dickinson)
Brokmate (Tufts)
Wycoff (GBurg)
One of the two York Defenders

Would love some input!

Can someone explain why Arend Broekmate is on this DPOY list aside from playing for Tufts? I understand that coaches
a) don't get to watch OOC players very much and tend to be swayed by the name on the front of the jersey (ex. in 2018 the Jumbos' own Nick Shanks was voted a second team All-NESCAC middie yet was somehow also voted first team All American)
b) love to award seniors at the expense of underclassmen

...but still. There's a big difference between being a really good player who deserves 2nd/3rd/HM AA recognition and being an elite game changer who deserves recognition as the best in the country.

Just to be clear, he is obviously a very good defenseman and deserves to be on the postseason teams in some way. However, his turnover numbers are way down - just 12 all year, compared to other NESCAC defensemen like Wesleyan's Colin Malarchuk (45) or Amherst's Rod Castro (36)/James Crovatto (31) - and the Tufts defense as a whole is solid but unspectacular (190th in the nation in CTpg, 93rd in scoring defense).

Am I missing something?

Its all about hype. You gave a perfect example with Shanks. Not about numbers, its about presence. He was voted mid team AA by InsideLacrosse and it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. Not disagreeing with you. Numbers should hold more weight.

[ah23]

You mean the kind of hype that comes from "articles" like this ? Hilarious timing aside, D'Annolfo's argument is a pretty common one; that because Team X plays such a fast pace, their defensive numbers will naturally look worse and therefore doesn't tell the story of how good their defense is.

For something like GAA, that checks out: faster pace of play = more possessions = more goals allowed. It therefore makes sense that teams like Amherst and Tufts rank 3rd and 6th in scoring offense but 83rd and 93rd in scoring defense, and it would be silly to evaluate those defenses on GAA alone.

By that same logic, faster pace of play also = more opportunities for takeaways. So why is it that out of the top twenty scoring offenses in the country, Tufts ranks ahead of only Illinois Wesleyan and Ohio Wesleyan in terms of caused turnovers per game? The Jumbos are 6th in scoring offense and 189th (out of 250) in CTpg. Meanwhile, contemporaries like Amherst (3rd/11th), Cabrini (9th/15th), Salisbury (11th/55th), and RIT (13th/40th) have high-powered offenses and also generate lots of turnovers. Even within the NESCAC, Tufts was 8th of 11 teams in CTpg. Why is that? It certainly isn't because the Jumbos sit back and let the game come to them; D'Annolfo says himself in that article that Tufts is "going to play an aggressive style" and are probably "going to disrupt what the other team does". I'll let y'all decide.

Anyway...I don't think D'Annolfo is wrong about the Tufts defense being good. But it's simply not a ballhawking defense. They're good because they have six talented guys on the field who all play good individual and team defense. They rarely give up anything easy and make you work harder than you want to, and eventually frustrate teams into taking dumb shots and making silly mistakes (if you want an example of this, look at how many shots Stevenson took on Saturday and then look at how many were on cage. That's not an accident; that's frustration taking over and bad shot selection resulting).

[SixBySix]

I haven't seen enough teams play this year to have a very nuanced opinion on the topic of All Americans, but a related issue comes to bear here. I have minimal confidence in D3 ground ball and caused turnover statistics. There are huge discrepancies in how these are awarded to the point that individual defensive statistics are next to meaningless for comparing players across different teams. I don't think there is a good solution to this, as many stats spotters are part-time students (which is overall a good thing!), but I think it's important to keep in mind before going too far down a "player X is better than player Y because he has ten more CTs" type arguments.

[pcowlax]

I haven't seen enough teams play this year to have a very nuanced opinion on the topic of All Americans, but a related issue comes to bear here. I have minimal confidence in D3 ground ball and caused turnover statistics. There are huge discrepancies in how these are awarded to the point that individual defensive statistics are next to meaningless for comparing players across different teams. I don't think there is a good solution to this, as many stats spotters are part-time students (which is overall a good thing!), but I think it's important to keep in mind before going too far down a "player X is better than player Y because he has ten more CTs" type arguments.

+1000 to this. I fully admit I do not have a better solution to offer than rank subjectivity but it is insane to try to claim one D man is better than another in D3 based on number of turnovers. The recording of these, as well as ground balls, is at most schools an absolute joke. Even if not, it is often a worthless stat. Who were they guarding??? I can put a middling D man on 3rd attacks all year and he will have double the CT than an absolute stud playing all #1 attacks. It is an utterly worthless stat.

[Bystanders]

Totally agree on defensive stats. Ask the coaches - who did you put on the number 1 attack, and how did that attack perform against your team. Stats are for offensive players and FOGOS. Individual defensive performance is about making your team and goalie look better than what is obvious.

[Gullible]

Not sure if I'm missing something but I can't see why Josh Melton wouldn't be on anyone's list

Colonel - I'm not sure if you're not watching Salisbury or if you're lobbying for a son, nephew on one of these other teams....

Put this way, if you removed Josh Melton from the Salisbury offense, what would happen?

Bad things man... Bad things...

That's cherry-picking and to see how useful it is you would have to look at the same type of thing for every other attackmen being considered. It would be natural for proGduction to drop against better opponents. By a factor of 2 times? I have no how significant that is.

Apparently, you don't know because you'll find the same differential in production between over those games for Melton, Gwin & Pompea- The hard truth that you're omitting from your posts is that if you tally G's, A's & GB's and compare these three players over the Cabrini, "both" York games, Getty'sburg, Steveson & "both Lychburg games, Melton has the most goals, 2nd in assists and the most ground balls... So your argument that he doesn't perform well in bigger games doesn't hold water. The idea that Melton doesn't dodge against poles isn't accurate either - Check out his first goal from the Gull's last game against Lynchburg.

Fact is 63 G's - 49 A's & near 50%Shooting puts Melton in the discussion for 1st Team AA honors. Melton's versatility/ability to score goals and assist from both X and up top just strengthens the argument - Melton's vision, accuracy & ability to finish separate him from most. When you consider he'll be a 4 year starter at a school like Salisbury, selected as a captain by coaches and teammate in his Junior year & is competing to play in his third consecutive National Championship, I think it safe to say he'd be missed - Melton was scoring hat tricks and winning National Championships in his Freshman year and I'm not sure if Nally dressed for the game. I think Nally's a great player but he simply hasn't performed as well as Melton this year (no matter how great you think the Northern conferences are.

GOGULLS!!!

[cornfed]

Haase from Williams getting AA? the kid has 90+ points as a freshman.......

[masslax1032]

I have to completely agree with defensive statistics. It is not as reliable of a statistic as it is for offensive players. You can have a elite cover man with only about 15 CT's in a season and 30 GB's, therefore he isn't a great takeaway guy. But you don't need to be a great takeaway guy to be a great defensemen whatsoever. Also, as some mentioned, some schools have much better (or more generous) statisticians than others. GAA and offensive output by their matchup are key indicators of such.

However, when speaking about Broekmate, I don't believe he is not a 1st team AA worthy player, even if he is selected. I've tuned into games all year just to see he be run by. Obviously a talented defensemen who has been a starter for 3 years, but as someone mentioned, a first team AA defensemen should be able to count on one hand how many times they've been beat.

I personally think there are some defensemen on some middle tier teams who are highly overlooked. Some guys that I've been following that have been scored on maybe once or twice all year. But, AA's always are provided to the best performing teams. Interested to see how the awards unfold.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Matt Meadows from Lynchburg was outstanding in the 4 games I witnessed has to be a second teamer or better. Totally shut down AJ Witherell, held him to 1-2 in the first contest and blanked in the second game, only the second time he was shut out in his career....I’m a W&L fan .

[richard]

Matt Meadows from Lynchburg was outstanding in the 4 games I witnessed has to be a second teamer or better. Totally shut down AJ Witherell, held him to 1-2 in the first contest and blanked in the second game, only the second time he was shut out in his career....I’m a W&L fan .

Meadows is the best defender I saw all year. Not bad on the clearing game either. 1st teamer in my book.

[ah23]

Your 2019 All-American teams and individual award winners: https://www.uslaxmagazine.com/college/m ... er-of-year

[SidelineHorn]

I think there is something to be said about staying power for defensemen. To a be a three year starter at Tufts like Broekmate is no small thing. He's been very solid since he stepped on campus and sometimes these AA nods are a body of work. There are very few IMO who have his resume playing in big games over the last 3 years. Sour grapes if you are complaining what team he should be...that's all BS and I bet he doesn't care. I bet he and his teammates would trade it all in to be playing on Sunday.

IF we want to get really picky about AA Brian Powers should have been one. Kids a stud!

[ah23]

I think there is something to be said about staying power for defensemen. To a be a three year starter at Tufts like Broekmate is no small thing. He's been very solid since he stepped on campus and sometimes these AA nods are a body of work. There are very few IMO who have his resume playing in big games over the last 3 years. Sour grapes if you are complaining what team he should be...that's all BS and I bet he doesn't care. I bet he and his teammates would trade it all in to be playing on Sunday.

IF we want to get really picky about AA Brian Powers should have been one. Kids a stud!

I mean you're not wrong that AA is often something of a lifetime achievement award, but it is such a joke that All-American teams are sometimes decided as if they are participation ribbons. By that logic everyone on the Tufts (or York...RIT...Salisbury...etc) roster should be named AA as seniors so long as they’ve gotten playing time over their career. Like...should Donahue or Walton (the other two Tufts D starters) be 1TAAs next year because they’ll be multi-year starters at D for Tufts? Playing in a lot of games doesn’t mean jack unless the individual excellence is there as well.

I don’t want to pick on Broekmate - he’s just one player and is obviously a very good defenseman (who would certainly trade the individual stuff for one more game this Sunday). But your assessment of him is a great indicator of the general problem here. First Team All-Americans aren’t supposed to be “really solid” players on great teams. They’re supposed to be dominant, game-changing players you have to account for at all times. Being really solid for three years isn’t that.

Also, you’re right about Powers. Kid’s very good. Tufts has a whole dorm’s worth of shoes to fill next year.