NCAC 2019

[LordRaider]

I think what the original poster meant was that IF they were members of the NCAC, John Carroll and Otterbein would likely finish 3rd and 4th behind Denison and OWU, and ahead of Kenyon, Witt, Wooster, and the rest of the pack.

It looks like Otterbein will have their chances against NCAC teams shortly- they face Oberlin, Wittenberg, and Kenyon in a 7-day stretch starting next week (3/13-3/20).

Kenyon vs Otterbein (3/20 in Westerville) and Kenyon vs OWU (3/23 in Gambier) could be close games.

[Clambake]

I think what the original poster meant was that IF they were members of the NCAC, John Carroll and Otterbein would likely finish 3rd and 4th behind Denison and OWU, and ahead of Kenyon, Witt, Wooster, and the rest of the pack.

It looks like Otterbein will have their chances against NCAC teams shortly- they face Oberlin, Wittenberg, and Kenyon in a 7-day stretch starting next week (3/13-3/20).

Kenyon vs Otterbein (3/20 in Westerville) and Kenyon vs OWU (3/23 in Gambier) could be close games.

Thanks for clarifaction and information. Lax in Ohio? Emerging, expanding and exciting! Who would have thunk it. Love it!

[LordRaider]

Kenyon is in an uncomfortably close game with Baldwin-Wallace at home. After going up 5-1, B-W climbed back in to tie the game at the half. It's currently 10-9 Lords with 10 minutes left in the third. This is one they should win if they want to be competitive with Roanoke and OWU later on.

UPDATE- Baldwin-Wallace wins 17-16. Lords had late possession but couldn't get a good shot. It looked like thought they scored on a long shot as time expired but hard to tell what really happened on the stream. There was a few minutes of officials conferencing and then the teams shook hands.

[SureShot]

Nice win by Oberlin over John Carroll 13-11.

[MGLax-OCLax Fan]

Nice win by Oberlin over John Carroll 13-11.

Amen to that! The youthful Yeomen team will be competitive this year.

[OTTOLAX66]

Yes, that is what I meant! Thanks for clarifying. Looking like several Ohio teams are improving, which is great to see.

[Cnoll]

Denison at DePauw in a weather delay. Scheduled to start around 5:30pm

[LordRaider]

Kenyon was defeated by Haverford 10-9 in OT.

[oldtimelax]

Not a good day for NCAC....Kenyon loses in 2OTs to 0-4 Haverford, 0-4 Wooster thumped by Albion 13-9, and Whittier takes down Wittenberg 13-12...

[FannOLax]

Roanoke 17 Kenyon 10 final from Virginia. Was 10-6 at HT, 12-8 after 3q, so Kenyon hung around for a while. Not sure that OWU will be able to stay in the game as long tomorrow at Cabrini. I know very little about Elmhurst College, but they lost to Aurora at Aurora by a goal earlier this season, and lost at home 8-4 to DePauw today. Hmmmmaybe DePauw could be shaping into a good lacrosse program.

[lordslaxfan]

I keep hoping Kenyon is able to turn the corner, compete with more east coast teams, become the clear 3rd best team in the NCAC, and compete with OWU and Denison. Its feels like they have been close to turning the corner for a while, but it also feels like Witt, and Wooster fans have the same thoughts.

What can these programs do to take the next steps?

[Clambake]

I keep hoping Kenyon is able to turn the corner, compete with more east coast teams, become the clear 3rd best team in the NCAC, and compete with OWU and Denison. Its feels like they have been close to turning the corner for a while, but it also feels like Witt, and Wooster fans have the same thoughts.

What can these programs do to take the next steps?

It's still all about recruitment. The Midwest only has small pockets of recruitable talent. The pockets are expanding and multiplying. But for the foreseeable future, it's still about recruitment from the NE and MidAtlantic. Places like Kenyon and Wooster sell their strong academics to prospective recruits. Still, let's face it, there are dozens of SLACs just like them, closer to home in the NE, playing some high level lacrosse. One thing Kenyon has done to help sell its program is to secure a near-dedicated lacrosse field/stadium. I know for sure it's something they've been touting when trying to woo potential recruits away from SLACs in the NE/MidAtlantic. Check out the link. Quite impressive.

https://www.msaarch.com/markets/sport/k ... nson-field

[Cheeseandcrackers]

Kenyon has fantastic facilities - no question. What they don't have is a D3 lax pedigree. If you ask a relatively well informed lacrosse person on the east coast about good midwest D3 programs they are going to know Denison and OWU but not Kenyon or the rest of the NCAC. So ... Kenyon has to overcome that with facilities, academics, etc. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's not an easy task. I think Coach Misarti (and the rest of the NCAC coaches) have been smart to extend their recruiting beyond the hot beds, but it's going to be tough to attract top notch lax talent to that hilltop in Gambier, OH. Pure and simple.

[lordslaxfan]

It looks like the NCAC is having a down year overall. Witt, and Wooster are underperforming, OWU does not look great, Kenyon has lost some winnable games and, Denison is the best team in the conference, but is not the machine that they have been out of conference the last couple of years.

Denison is the clear conference favorite. OWU is probably the second best team in the NCAC, but as Lords fan this is the first year that we may be a real contender for second in the conference. I was happy with the win against Albion, but we will know a lot more after they play Otterbein.

[OTTOLAX66]

It looks like the NCAC is having a down year overall. Witt, and Wooster are underperforming, OWU does not look great, Kenyon has lost some winnable games and, Denison is the best team in the conference, but is not the machine that they have been out of conference the last couple of years.

Denison is the clear conference favorite. OWU is probably the second best team in the NCAC, but as Lords fan this is the first year that we may be a real contender for second in the conference. I was happy with the win against Albion, but we will know a lot more after they play Otterbein.

As an Otterbein fan, I agree that we will both know a lot more about our respective clubs after Wednesday night's game. The Cards did not play well in a 2 goal win at Witt on Saturday- they just seemed flat and uninterested until they were down by three goals. The defense continues to play well, however, and have not allowed opposing teams' attackmen to control the games. Hopefully, Sosa doesn't go off on us like he has the last two years.

Hopefully, the weather will hold out and we will have a good contest. At this point, Otterbein has wins over Wooster, Oberlin, and Witt with an OT loss at OWU. Pretty happy with the results this far and would be thrilled with a 4-1 record against the NCAC.

[SureShot]

I'm not so sure that the NCAC is experiencing a down year. I think other teams are getting better. I'll state what many have stated before. It may be that an inevitable lacrosse participation math equation is taking root. More people playing=better chance of more great players. The sport continues to experience increased penetration based on states that are sanctioned/will be sanctioned at the HS level. 25 that are official.
HIGH SCHOOL LACROSSE SANCTIONING
California *
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri (girls only)**
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee (beginning in 2021)
Utah (beginning in 2020)
Vermont
Virginia

I've read there are 4 more about to be recognized officially very shortly. (WA, KY, IN, OR) . TEXAS will be there before we know it. They already seem to be on their way with "Friday Night Lights" Lax games. No data, just opinion- but on the men's side-as football power states continue to accelerate lacrosse, vs the old guard states, get ready for more influx of talent. (CA, OH,FL GA in particular). Football and lacrosse-no surprise are complementary sports.

Player growth continues to accelerate with close to 900K participating annually across all levels, (both M/F) It will be over 1MM in 3 years. Players ARE getting better from all over. Club teams are proliferating. There are still only 71 D1, 61 D2 and 236 D3 teams on the mens side. That's more players fighting for a relatively static piece of the pie. The original 13 colonies no longer have a monopoly on lacrosse talent. (And I grew up in and live in one of them) Throw in Canada and the talent level continues to increase. As you know colleges are expanding recruiting while coaching becomes more experienced. The bar has been raised. The NCAC is a great conference and I'm a big fan. But the reality is there are many conferences and schools improving each year and they have the records and the players to prove it. Strap in. Competition is a wonderful thing. Hoping to see more stereotypical lacrosse "powers" get a reality check.

[Clambake]

The NCAC, along with the Centenial conference, offer another option for those types of students who are looking for a NESCAC academic and lacrosse experience. Places like Oberlin and Kenyon have always had academic name recognition back east. But now you see schools like Wooster and Denison becoming incredibly popular as first-choice schools for many in the mid-Atlantic and NE. As its academic cache continues to rise, what I think these schools' lacrosse programs need to do more often to raise its lacrosse profile is play more east coast schools, start out with lower NESCAC and include regular stops with Centential conference teams. When we start playing more in the hotbed's backyard, the more everyone will take notice, and the more the programs will continue their ascent.

[Cheeseandcrackers]

"I'm not so sure that the NCAC is experiencing a down year."

Can we agree OWU is having a down year?

[SureShot]

Yep- I would agree. Pretty tough start for sure but they did lose a lot of senior talent from last year's squad. Let's see how they do against a very good John Carroll team tomorrow. Not ready to write off the NCAC or any team just yet. (Although I did see that Witt had a loss tonight against a well coached and talented Ohio Northern team. They only launched the program in the Spring of 2014) . The lax world is spinning off its axis.

[Clambake]

Big NCAC game this evening, Kenyon at Otterbein. Predictions? Pre-game analysis?