LIBERTY LEAGUE 2019

[richard]

SLU will have to beat RPI regular season and RIT either regular season or Liberty tournament to have a chance. Otherwise The loss to Ithaca is the killer. They are not in good shape.

[ICGrad]

Another terrible second half for Ithaca, another big loss - this time to arch-rival Cortland.

IC has some offensive firepower, but their pattern of going silent in the second half has doomed them this season. Overall, a frustrating and disappointing season.

[TopShelf585]

RIT v SLU was a great battle. 11-7 Tigers take it with an empty netter late. Saints had a nice four goal run in the 3rd to pull within 1. Difference was EMO and RIT goalie.- Tigers were 1-2 Saints were 0-5 in man up opps. SLU has struggled all season and rank in the basement in D3 in EMO. Both goalies played great but Hare had 14 saves.

Saints are a dangerous team in LL Tourney.

Vassar loses to RPI 8-5. Aside from a 17 goal loss to RIT and a 9 goal loss to SLU the Brewers have played everybody else in the top of the LL to within 3 goals. They are sneaky.

[ICGrad]

Could you ask for a better last day of the regular season than SLU/RPI and Union/RIT? Throw in what should be a good IC/Clarkson game, and you've got the makings for a great night of lacrosse.

So how is this tiebreaker thing going to work? If SLU beats RPI, both teams + IC will end up with 3 losses. Who gets the 3 seed?

As for the tourney, I think RIT (obviously) and Union have punched their tickets, though I haven't seen the regional rankings yet. I think if SLU beats RPI and makes it to the semis, they might be in too. Good year for the LL lacrosse-wise.

[laxrules]

RIT and Union are shoe-ins for NCAA Tourny. I highly doubt ST Lawrence will make it as a pool c.
RPI could have a shot but not sure they have enough. Especially if there are upsets.

I would say 4 pool c Nescac teams before I would say 2 pool c Liberty teams.

pool c allotments
Nescac - 3 (tufts,amherst williams, wesleyan - whatever 3 do not win AQ)
cac - 1 (York/Sals loser)
cent - 1 (It will be only Gburg or F&M if they dont win the AQ, haverford decimated dickinson and ursinus chances)
liberty - 1 (union)

that leaves 2
1. Denison if they lose the AQ,
2a. Empire 8 if Stevens loses - Stevens probably played good enough ooc to get considered. Fisher did not.
2b. ODAC may be an AQ only - but possibly if W&L loses they can get a pool c nod.
4. 4th NESCAC took a hit with bates this week.
5. SUNYAC if cortland loses - not sure if loss to another SUNYAC will allow them a shot if they lose AQ

[ICGrad]

I can't imagine Cortland getting in non-AQ.

If SLU beats RPI, then makes it to the LL finals, I think they're in...which is why I was asking about the tie breaker. Could be a big difference between being the 3 seed and being the 4/5 seed.

[LibertyL]

Agree. I think St. Lawrence has a chance if they beat RPI and beat Union in LL tournament
but we are talking about convincing wins

[TopShelf585]

If the lacrosse gods could make it happen and I think they could-
SLU v IC in qtrs and if they get by Bombers they get Union in Semis.
The two games the Saints wish they had back- they may get a second chance at redemption.

In 2016 the tie-breaker for seeding was based on record vs .500% teams.

Anything can happen this time of year but if all the higher seeds across D3 do their job in conference tournaments and claim their AQs only keeping the at large bids in play- LL could get three.

[LibertyL]

St. Lawrence could be dangerous to both IC and Union. In hockey it's really hard to beat
a team 3 times in a season; in lax sometimes just twice is hard and especially when
you went to OT the time before.

There is always a little magic. Maybe within the LL but certainly this year in the NCAA
between LL and NESCAC

[SlideEarly28]

Huge day today for the Larrys and Engineers, both teams in do or die mode in terms of an AQ (that is if one of them manages to squeak by Union) do we have any predictions? If I remember correctly an under dog RPI team came in and put a whooping on SLU in a LL Semi final a few years back in late April. Will be fun to watch. My gut is Larrys 11-9. I believe the battle at the X will have huge implications. Best of luck to both teams.

[TopShelf585]

Huge day today for the Larrys and Engineers, both teams in do or die mode in terms of an AQ (that is if one of them manages to squeak by Union) do we have any predictions?

On paper two equal teams but very different styles.
This should be a good game- RPI can score in buckets and SLU has a goalie and defense that has held opponents to 12 or less all season. At this time of the season a lot depends on who is healthiest. If the Saints can stay out of the penalty box- I give the advantage to them at home.

[sguy9]

Larry's by 3

[SlideEarly28]

Huge day today for the Larrys and Engineers, both teams in do or die mode in terms of an AQ (that is if one of them manages to squeak by Union) do we have any predictions?

On paper two equal teams but very different styles.
This should be a good game- RPI can score in buckets and SLU has a goalie and defense that has held opponents to 12 or less all season. At this time of the season a lot depends on who is healthiest. If the Saints can stay out of the penalty box- I give the advantage to them at home.

I like your analysis, another thing I'd like to see out of the saints is limited unforced turnovers. In the games I've been able to see this year, I've seen a lot of errant passes, sloppy ball control. Townsend isn't at RPI anymore but he was able to really enforce a smart and efficient clock managed tempo in his players. If they win the faceoff battle and maintain those tendencies it will be tough.

Catalyst of today's game in my opinion is Slu's Donnelly and Terry, two New Hampton products at two different ends of the field, Terry has been a brick wall all year and this year seems to be Donnellys coming out party.

[ICGrad]

SLU pulling away from RPI late, and Ithaca absolutely rolled Clarkson. Must say I'm a bit surprised by how lopsided that game was; where the hell has that been all year?

Interested to see what the tiebreaker will be.

Meanwhile, watching the stream of the RIT/Union game. Union hanging tough, down 4-3 at the half. A couple of turnovers in their end have really hurt them.

EDIT: SLU 11 - RPI 6. St Lawrence scored the last 5 goals, I think. (It was 6-6 when I left to walk the dog, 10-6 by the time I got back). Nice win for St Lawrence, a team deserving of a tourney bid, IMO.

[TopShelf585]

1 RIT
2 Union
3 Ithaca
4 RPI
5 SLU
6 Clarkson

Three way tie for 3-5 seeds. Best record vs .500 teams

The lax gods came through & SLU got their wish- IC & Union side of the bracket.

[billyosier]

1 RIT
2 Union
3 Ithaca
4 RPI
5 SLU
6 Clarkson

Three way tie for 3-5 seeds. Best record vs .500 teams

The lax gods came through & SLU got their wish- IC & Union side of the bracket.

Looks like RPI will actually be the 3 seed and SLU will have to play through IC and RIT, not Union.

[LibertyL]

This is correct. RPI #3 and IC #4

[TopShelf585]

Yep- my bad.

[LibertyL]

The left side of the bracket is really the only place for some crazy lax gods stuff IMO

[ICGrad]

Probably about the worst-case scenario for St Lawrence here. First they get to travel to Ithaca, who has really had their number over the past couple of years and who just played probably their best game of the season against Clarkson...and who, thanks to last week's loss to Cortland, probably won't be regionally ranked and thus won't really boost SLU's at-large chances should they beat the Bombers.

Win that game, and they get to travel to RIT.

Tiebreaker should have been total goal differential between the 3 tied teams, which would have given SLU Clarkson and then Union, and a better chance at playing their way in. Oh well.

Not sure RPI gets in with 5 losses, which means that they need to grab the AQ. SLU is probably in with a win in the semis against RIT, and they went toe-to-toe with them last time, so here's hoping. RIT v. Union was a good game, and I look forward to the rematch, should it come to that.

If Ithaca plays as well as they did against Clarkson, where they had a 17-2 lead early the 4th, they could make some noise.

Also, congrats to RIT. Another undefeated regular season in a tough conference.