NCAC 2020

[oldtimelax]

Congrats to OWU's Max Tennant who scored his first professional goal playing for MLL Denver Outlaws vs. Chesapeake in a 14-13 win on the July 4th at Mile High Stadium in front of 26,000+ fans....

[Nosey Ned]

It looks like the Denison staff was working the summer circuit very hard this year! And apparently it has paid off. According to Inside Lacrosse the Big Red have secured 13 commits already from the 2020 HS graduating class! Many more than any other NCAC team listed. Most dont list a single recruit... though I'm sure they have them. And as always, the Big Red has appealed to student athletes from every part of the country ... Washington to Florida but very heavy from the East Coast ... MA CT PA MD VA . These young men won't compete until the 2021 season but good to see Coach C and his Assistants have insured the competition for playing time will remain fierce. That's good news because a lot of talent has graduated the past few years! However I'm sure the success those graduates brought the program these past several years (70-11 with 4 NCAA bids the past 4 years) that has helped the coaches sell the Denison Experience! Well done coaches and graduates!

[seacoaster]

Denison traveling Saturday 10/5 for scrimmages. Anyone there to report?

[Cheeseandcrackers]

OWU's annual battle with the Seagulls is at the US Lacrosse HQ this year. That's a nice little venue to watch a game plus the opportunity to check out the Lacrosse HOF.

[Nosey Ned]

Pretty light on the NCAC banter so far so I'll try and spark the discussion....

Gotta believe we'll see OWU v Denison in the NCAC Conference Tournament Final - yet again. Until one of the other teams in the NCAC can finally show enough improvement to seriously challenge one or both of these teams - that call is a safe bet and certainly not controversial enough to elicit much response.

What I'm hoping to get some insight on however is how these 2 teams are positioned to replace the quality of the senior classes each graduated in 2019. Denison lost a ton on the offensive side of the ball with the graduation #1 Waxter, #2 Butler, #9 Armstrong, #11 Davy (~ 58% of the goals scored in '19 in those 4 players alone) they along with #5 and #12 and AA FOGO #19 DeCamp means Denison had a lot of leadership and production walk at graduation last May. And I'm sure OWU will equally miss the likes of #1 Hildebrand, #11 Jeschke and #45 Tennant.

So anyone out there with insight on who steps in to the breech for these teams?

I'll start by taking a crack at the Denison outlook for 2020. First and foremost the Big Red return 2x 100 point scorer, #18 Peter Pittroff! That fact would help any offense get "right" quickly. In fact I predict he will run away with all the NCAC offensive awards for 2020. To support him on that side of the ball I expect he will be ably supported by the following young guys that showed great promise last year in the likes of #32 Godine (20pts), #48 Bowdy (27 pts). I don't have any insight yet on 1st year guys but I suspect there will be 1 or 2 that will "open some eyes". While the offense finds it's identity I expect Denison will be very stout on the defensive side of the ball as they are returning practically the entire close defense, starting goalie and 1st team rope unit! So I think Denison will actually do just fine this year and despite the loss of some of the best offensive players seen in Granville in many years, they again will simply be reloading this year, not rebuilding!

I'm not so sure about OWU though. I'll be the first to admit I am not as well versed in the OWU roster but I didn't see much from many Bishops last year outside of the 3 I mention above. What's the situation at OWU? Anyone have thoughts on what we can expect from the Bishops this year?

So, probably to no ones surprise, I am calling for Denison to sweep the games with OWU again this year and earn the automatic NCAA bid for the 5th straight year.

Now I hope that wakes some people up!!!!

[FannOLax]

Following up on Ned's recent post, until proven otherwise Denison and OWU in the conference-tourney final seems as safe a bet as there is in D3 lacrosse. I agree with Ned that heading into the season Denison will be favorites to take the NCAC; but then, Plantholt might be able to polish up some rough diamonds and surprise Caravana as he did in 2018. A Gettsysburg classmate of Plantholt, Tommy Pearce leads Allegheny into its inaugural year of varsity lacrosse. Pearce has also been Head Coach of Frostburg State in Maryland; here is Pearce's bio on the Allegheny website: https://alleghenygators.com/sports/mens ... earce/1022 You can click over and see that the Gators have already posted their 2020 roster, including one player from Hawaii.

[MrLax2U]

Greetings Ned & Fann,
Glad to see you back on the Board. Hope all is well with you and yours.
Took a quick glance and didn't see a 2020 schedule for either Big Red or the Bishops. When they're posted we look forward to some insights and previews from both of you.
Gulls' 2020 schedule is up with some additions; Coast Guard, @Stevens, Rhodes and Cortland St. after a hiatus of a few years.

[Nosey Ned]

Hi MrLax,

Thanks for the good wishes ... my best to you and yours as well!

We typically have to wait until the holidays to get the Denisn schedule posted on the website and the roster shortly after that. The Big Red are at the Mustang again this year that's the best I can do for now.

Looked at the Salisbury schedule ... impressive as always. I also like how Coach B schedules recent up and coming teams like Coast Guard, Rhodes... gives those programs a boost in recruiting. The OWU game going to "neutral" site at US Lacrosse Center nice touch... GREAT VENUE.

What's not on DU or SU schedule yet is what has almost become an "annual" .... the May meeting between these 2 teams! Haha. Here's hoping we get that matchup again this year!

All the best to the Gulls in 2020.

[Nosey Ned]

I see over on the York thread that OWU heading to the Mustang Classic this year! They get York for their Friday game. That's good exposure for midwest lacrosse... congrats to the Bishops for securing a spot. Great weekend!

So piecing together the different threads the teams I've seen specifically mentioned being involved this year are now Stevenson, F&M, Chris Newport, Lynchburg, SLU, Denison, York, RIT and now OWU. That leaves 1 spot and I would imagine that will be Dickenson as they been there the last 5 or so years. Can anyone confirm these are indeed the 10 teams and what some of the matchups will be? Not all of them have posted their schedules yet so hard to confirm. If this indeed is the lineup it means there are no NESCAC schools attending! That surprises me, anyone with insight on why that is ... if true of course.

[boredatwork]

I see over on the York thread that OWU heading to the Mustang Classic this year! They get York for their Friday game. That's good exposure for midwest lacrosse... congrats to the Bishops for securing a spot. Great weekend!

So piecing together the different threads the teams I've seen specifically mentioned being involved this year are now Stevenson, F&M, Chris Newport, Lynchburg, SLU, Denison, York, RIT and now OWU. That leaves 1 spot and I would imagine that will be Dickenson as they been there the last 5 or so years. Can anyone confirm these are indeed the 10 teams and what some of the matchups will be? Not all of them have posted their schedules yet so hard to confirm. If this indeed is the lineup it means there are no NESCAC schools attending! That surprises me, anyone with insight on why that is ... if true of course.

Dickinson is the 10th team per Christopher Newports Schedule. By piecing some schedules together, and seeing that in the Liberty League thread SLU and RIT are playing a conference game there, this is what I believe the schedule is:

York v Owu
Lynchburg v CNU
RIT v SLU
Denison v Dickinson
Stevenson v F&M

York v RIT
Lynchburg v SLU
CNU v Dickinson
OWU v F&M
Stevenson v Denison

OWU getting York and F&M and Denison getting Dickinson and Stevenson

[WhiteCarrera]

I'd suggest you not put much stock in the Inside Lacrosse recruiting lists.
Of the eight 2019 commitments listed for Denison, zero appear on their current roster.

[Nosey Ned]

I'd suggest you not put much stock in the Inside Lacrosse recruiting lists.
Of the eight 2019 commitments listed for Denison, zero appear on their current roster.

Fair enough ... I can see IL list as not being 100% accurate. But 100% inaccurate... that's troubling!

BTW ... where are you seeing the new roster?

[Deacs24]

The 2020 Denison roster is not up yet. Thus, no current freshmen are listed.

[Nosey Ned]

I was assuming White C wasn't sourcing last year's roster when he made his claim .... that's why I asked where he found the as yet published roster. I know they do print out a fall ball roster at one of the big Fall scrimmages.

White Carrera can you help us out here? Please tell me you didn't use last year's roster when determining which IL listed 2019 recruits actually landed on campus this fall.

[Deacs24]

I was assuming White C wasn't sourcing last year's roster when he made his claim .... that's why I asked where he found the as yet published roster. I know they do print out a fall ball roster at one of the big Fall scrimmages.

White Carrera can you help us out here? Please tell me you didn't use last year's roster when determining which IL listed 2019 recruits actually landed on campus this fall.

Fall ball roster included all of the guys listed on IL as 2019 commits.

[WhiteCarrera]

My bad -- I knew I only had last year's roster, but was thinking I'd linked to the '18 recruits .... a complete brain fart.

[Nosey Ned]

Denison schedule is posted ... quick and dirty is Centennial Conference regular season champs F&M replaced by Empire 8 tournament champs St John Fisher; SAA Champs Rhodes replaced with MAC Freedom Champs DeSales and independent Whittier replaced by new conference foe Allegheny. Net net I guess you'd have to rate it a "softer" OOC schedule due to the mandatory addition of new NCAC conference program Allegheny.

That said, the marquee match up with Stevenson at 8pm Saturday night at the Mustang Classic will definitely get the adrenaline flowing what with the pyrotechnics and all - so maybe in the in end probably a wash in difficulty vs last year.

GO BIG RED!

[LibertyL]

I like the Red this year

[oldtimelax]

OWU is still working on putting the finishing touches on their complete schedule but the out of conference schedule is going to be very, very tough including RIT, Salisbury, York, Franklin & Marshall and Illinois Wesleyan -- three teams in the Top 5.

[Nosey Ned]

Agreed. OWU does a nice job every year putting together a very tough OOC schedule. The RIT and Salisbury annual matchups alone would be enough but adding York at the Mustang Classic is big for sure. Congratulations to the Bishops for getting the MC weekend on their schedule. Lots of fun! But on the other hand I'm not so sure I'd list the IWU game with the others .... IMHO that's a game OWU should win every year ( tho I'll grant you they've inexplicably had trouble with them I think 2 of the last 3 years). But I digress ... very good OOC schedule for sure.

Oldtime .... what can you tell us about this year's squad? How do you see them handling this schedule they've comprised? Who are they looking to to replace #s 1, 11 and 45? How about FOGO ... what's the plan there? Would love to hear your thoughts on the 2020 Bishops!