SAA 2019

[ManFeelings]

Picking up where the LaxPower thread died:

Besides a handful of Twitter posts from Rhodes and Hendrix, there hasn't been much noise on incoming recruiting classes. Any word on everyone else?

Good pick up by Centre to land Zimmerman from Denison as their new HC.

Will Rhodes make it two in a row or will Berry get over the hump and win it all?

[FriedSquirrel]

Any updates in the conference?

[laxmarmot]

Not to mention the overall health of the entire SAA, has Oglethorpe turned the corner at all ? It is a tuff sell to recruits, not cheap come tuition time, and in an expensive part of Atlanta to live. The school gave the new HC, the Asst. that has been needed for years so hopefully that will increase the recruiting. I saw them play a few games and there was no quit in them, they just need a few more bodies that can play. Will Millsaps ever start up again ?

[FriedSquirrel]

Says 11 freshmen expected.

https://twitter.com/Petrels_MLax/status ... 16801?s=09

[laxmarmot]

Well I guess that the school has had a change of heart. That is nothing but great news. I wish the Petrels well this season, but they still have a hill to climb. Just so the SAA lay's the lumber to the USA Conference, all is right with the world.

[parallax]

Great news about Oglethorpe. As SAA gets stronger at the top, hopefully current lower tier programs will benefit from better recruiting and we see over time a more competitive conference. No disrespect to BSC and Centre, but its shaping up to be a 3-way race in 2019 between Rhodes, Berry and Sewanee for conference champion. Berry has 11 seniors returning but only 5 freshman on the roster and senior all-conference, scoring-leading attack-man returning. Rhodes has 9 seniors returning (including 3x All-conference senior attackman, 2x All-conference senior goalie and 2x all-conference senior defender) and 17 freshmen on roster. Sewanee's roster has not been posted, but their recruiting is always solid. They have the conference-best FOGO returning and are always deep. All that said, I think its going to be hard to de-thrown Rhodes and they have the advantage.

[Ps5fan]

The 3x all-conference player on Rhodes' roster (#5) is actually not an attackman anymore. As a Freshman he made All-Conference at attack, mid-way through his Sophomore season he was moved to the midfield and a first team all-conference selection. Last season he was a second team all-conference middie. He will start the 2019 campaign as a midfielder. In 2019 Rhodes will have its biggest senior class in its short history.

[ManFeelings]

What a statement performance by Berry up at Salisbury yesterday. It's safe to assume that most everyone in the country will look at that game as Salisbury starting slow, but, for those of us that have seen Berry play under Coach Gilbert the last few years, Sunday's game wasn't a massive surprise. They were the more physical and athletic team and, aside from poor shot selection on a few possessions, looked to be the better team for the majority of the game. Second year in a row (CNU in 2018) that this Berry squad has gone toe to toe with one of the top teams in the country.

While Rhodes might be the favorite in 2019 as the defending champ, I think this year's title is Berry's to lose. If Rhodes puts in good performances against Illinois Wesleyan and Denison, there might even be a chance that the conference grabs two bids this year. Exciting times for lacrosse down south.

[ergit]

No chance SAA gets two berths in tournament. Schedules are too weak overall.
Good effort on Berry’s part and something to build on moving forward.

[Lacrosse22]

Not necessarily true. Last year Berry was the second team out of the tournament. The top teams in the SAA play pretty tough schedules with Rhodes playing Denison and Sewanee playing Roanoke. Not crazy to think of the SAA picking up an at large bid.

[ergit]

At the risk of being argumentative...
A cut and paste of Pool C teams last year:
Amherst (14-3)
Christopher Newport (14-4)
Gettysburg (16-2)
Ithaca (15-3)
Ohio Wesleyan (15-3)
Roanoke (14-5)
Washington & Lee (14-4)
Wesleyan (CT) (14-3)
York (PA) (17-2)
Compare schedules and results.
Sorry, Berry wasn’t the second team out of the tournament last year. It’s just not true.
But I’d Love to hear you try and make the argument.

[ergit]

...and BTW, not trying to take anything away from Berry.
I saw some highlights of the Salisbury game and it looked like they played hard and fast.

[MrLax2U]

.... they played hard and fast.

Salisbury fan here. The Vikings are well coached, fast, tough and have high lacrosse IQs. Excellent stick work. Late in the game they tied it. And they stymied an offense that last year missed a three peat by a couple goals. Before and after the game Coach Berkman gave them credit. Their goalie was excellent. Switch goalies and I think you'd get the same result.

Coach Gilbert has done a masterful job with his men. Look for them to continue making waves.

Good luck against WAC.

[Lacrosse22]

At the risk of being argumentative...
A cut and paste of Pool C teams last year:
Amherst (14-3)
Christopher Newport (14-4)
Gettysburg (16-2)
Ithaca (15-3)
Ohio Wesleyan (15-3)
Roanoke (14-5)
Washington & Lee (14-4)
Wesleyan (CT) (14-3)
York (PA) (17-2)
Compare schedules and results.
Sorry, Berry wasn’t the second team out of the tournament last year. It’s just not true.
But I’d Love to hear you try and make the argument.

Like I stated Berry was second out. If you look at the entire pool C rankings Berry should be 2 behind Christopher Newport and Rensselaer was 1 behind. This isn’t my opinion just facts. Not a Berry fan but just calling it now I see it. If you look at the entirety of the rankings Berry is actually 2 away.

[boredatwork]

At the risk of being argumentative...
A cut and paste of Pool C teams last year:
Amherst (14-3)
Christopher Newport (14-4)
Gettysburg (16-2)
Ithaca (15-3)
Ohio Wesleyan (15-3)
Roanoke (14-5)
Washington & Lee (14-4)
Wesleyan (CT) (14-3)
York (PA) (17-2)
Compare schedules and results.
Sorry, Berry wasn’t the second team out of the tournament last year. It’s just not true.
But I’d Love to hear you try and make the argument.

Like I stated Berry was second out. If you look at the entire pool C rankings Berry should be 2 behind Christopher Newport and Rensselaer was 1 behind. This isn’t my opinion just facts. Not a Berry fan but just calling it now I see it. If you look at the entirety of the rankings Berry is actually 2 away.

I believe you are going strictly off the fact of Regional Ranking being the only factor in the NCAA selection process...If that were the case then Berry (regionally rated at #17 in the south) would be sitting behind:

South:
11. Franklin & Marshall
14. Hampden Sydney

Not to mention the teams in the North of:
7. RPI
8. Williams
10. Conn College
11. MIddlebury
12. Coast Guard
13. St. Lawrence
14. Union
15. Bowdoin
16. Bates

Berry also only had one regionally ranked win last season (over south #18 Aurora) which I think they look at as well.

The committee obviously does not stick strictly to Regions/rankings as we saw both #5 and #7 from the south be placed in the north bracket.

The problem for the SAA is SOS and location. The sad reality is the travel costs for the NCAA dictate way more than anyone really wants when it comes to the NCAA tournament, which is why Rhodes hosted Huntingdon last year (saved the NCAA from having to do 2 team flights for both, ending up only having one team flight for the winner).

Unless you have information that is not pretty public knowledge of why Berry was edging out a lot of the teams regionally ranked higher them, I am not sure how a team that didn't make the SAA Championship game were the second team out.

[HornsLax]

Solid showing by the Vikings against a premier program in Salisbury. Viks played their game, physical and tough, and hung around until the final period. Berry has to be extremely pleased with the result, minus the loss.
That being said, lets not rush to say the conference is "theirs to lose". Berry has struggled with Sewanee and Rhodes since 2016 (current class of 2019 freshman year). Berry is 1-7 in those games with the only win coming in a regular season matchup with the tigers last year, and failed to reach the championship game in those three years.

Ive followed this thread for a few years (my last one is a senior this year), and there is an obvious slew of Viking parents and supporters that like to push the narrative, as any fan base does. Conference has gotten more and more competitive and our top three look like they could give a lot of good teams a close game, with Centre looking to rebound with their new Denison hire. Looking forward one final year of great conversation here and to March and April conference ball.

[Lacrosse22]

Solid showing by the Vikings against a premier program in Salisbury. Viks played their game, physical and tough, and hung around until the final period. Berry has to be extremely pleased with the result, minus the loss.
That being said, lets not rush to say the conference is "theirs to lose". Berry has struggled with Sewanee and Rhodes since 2016 (current class of 2019 freshman year). Berry is 1-7 in those games with the only win coming in a regular season matchup with the tigers last year, and failed to reach the championship game in those three years.

Ive followed this thread for a few years (my last one is a senior this year), and there is an obvious slew of Viking parents and supporters that like to push the narrative, as any fan base does. Conference has gotten more and more competitive and our top three look like they could give a lot of good teams a close game, with Centre looking to rebound with their new Denison hire. Looking forward one final year of great conversation here and to March and April conference ball.

Completely agree that it isn’t theirs to lose, they just happened to play the first game and that is who we can look at currently. I would have to go with Rhodes being the favorite considering they won it last year, even with key departures they still have loads of talent and they are well coached.

Sewanee, Rhodes, and Berry are the top three yet again with BSC at 4. Would like to see BSC turn some heads and maybe get a few upsets this year. They return a lot of their offensive firepower. Going to be an exciting year to say the least. Here’s hoping the teams can play well out of conference and make a name for the SAA.

[southlaxfacts]

Last year Berry was the second team out of the tournament.

Reckless statement.

The top teams in the SAA have done a great job in increasing their SOS, however the only way they stand a chance at getting a pool C bid is by
winning those games, and going close to undefeated. You're not going to get a pool C bid just by putting those teams on your schedule, losing all of them and doing well in conference play.

With a 2 goal loss to Salisbury, Berry would have to go undefeated in the rest of their out of conference games, and only lose to Rhodes in conference to have a shot at a pool C bid.

Or they could just win the conference championship and not worry about that pool C junk, because the SAA and USA South will only get their conference champion into the tournament for the foreseeable future.

[HornsLax]

Looks like Rhodes and BSC and Hendrix are the only SAA teams in action this weekend. Looks like Rhodes has scheduled a scrimmage against Georgia Tech's club team, but has not listed the scrimmage on the College's website. Any word on what the lynx will be like this year? Hoping that Hendrix and BSC cruise over weaker opponents with Dallas and Brevard respectively.

[CapitanFan]

Berry had a great early season showing against CNU last year and I think should have won the game, although CNU was missing a couple of key players to injury. Berry was/is aggressive and very physical. Best check by #22 I have seen in years vs. Gulls. Credit to Stripes for not calling a knee-jerk reaction roughing. Noticed #22 was a little woozy himself shortly thereafter.

Was surprised last season at the Berry losses and hope they do not have a lull this year.