NCAC 2019

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Congrats Coach Caravana on joining to 300 club..always a competitive program under his leadership.

[COGULL]

Ditto - Caravana is a true class-act.

[Nosey Ned]

Congrats Coach Caravana on joining to 300 club..always a competitive program under his leadership.

Well said Dehunt. Congratulations Coach C, well done. Denison Proud!

[laxdudeguy43]

How about Whittier coming into town assuming they were going to beat up on Wooster to get their legs under them for a shot at the crown of OH with Dension. Whittier Beat all other NCAC schools they played this season, but apparently slept on Wooster. Maybe Woo has some in conference tricks up their sleeves? looking forward to their match up with kenyon/witt/oberlin/denison.

[oldtimelax]

Interesting last week in the NCAC season besides Denison @OWU....Wittenberg, Wooster and Kenyon battling it out for the last two spots in the conference tournament. It all comes down to 4/23 Wooster @Kenyon and 4/27 Wittenberg @Wooster. While Wooster is coming on after a disastrous start with a nice win over Whittier, I think Kenyon and Witt will prevail.

[seacoaster]

I was at the Denison-Whittier game Saturday. Whittier was really revved up for this game, and definitely came in thinking they could make Caravana wait another week. And Denison let them believe it by playing poorly and sloppily for most of the first two quarters. My daughter was sitting with me and said, "Geez, we might have a tough time today." I told her they would work through it and win by five or seven.

The kid who played FOGO most of the last three plus years is walking around with a knee brace and I don't think he'll return. Very tough break form him if he's played his final game. He put up a lot of good numbers over the last few years.

The team has a freshman taking the face-offs now, and he did well for the most part Saturday. He has talented wings; No. 24 for Denison is a very able pole and invaluable on the face-offs.

Denison's offense is just very good, when they are playing at their level of ability. No. 18 is just a pleasure to watch; the kid has excellent vision, is an exceptionally intelligent player, and really wants to put teammates in places to score. Denison is going to miss Nos. 1, 2 and 11 next year.

[Nosey Ned]

I was at the Denison-Whittier game Saturday. Whittier was really revved up for this game, and definitely came in thinking they could make Caravana wait another week. And Denison let them believe it by playing poorly and sloppily for most of the first two quarters. My daughter was sitting with me and said, "Geez, we might have a tough time today." I told her they would work through it and win by five or seven.

The kid who played FOGO most of the last three plus years is walking around with a knee brace and I don't think he'll return. Very tough break form him if he's played his final game. He put up a lot of good numbers over the last few years.

The team has a freshman taking the face-offs now, and he did well for the most part Saturday. He has talented wings; No. 24 for Denison is a very able pole and invaluable on the face-offs.

Denison's offense is just very good, when they are playing at their level of ability. No. 18 is just a pleasure to watch; the kid has excellent vision, is an exceptionally intelligent player, and really wants to put teammates in places to score. Denison is going to miss Nos. 1, 2 and 11 next year.

This is a very fair assessment of the game Saturday. The Big Red wasn't playing well offensively at the start but you could see they more than matched up talent wise and it was just a matter of time before they would settle in and start doing what they are capable of and win control of the game. That happened in the 3rd quarter which they won 5-0 and wrestled the game away from Whittier and quieted their bench. Whittier scored 3 first quarter goals but only 2 the rest of the way.

This Denison defense is relatively young compared to recent years, but they get after you and now that they have gotten the rotation set and have played together now a hand full of games, they clearly are hitting their stride at the right time! The goalie #50 is the real deal. Any face off unit would miss #19 but they may have caught lightning in a bottle with his replacement. The wing play has more than just helped him get "up to speed" - they have really stepped up! As noted above the offense is very experienced (all the key pieces played significant minutes in the 2017 NCAA Final Four against Salisbury) and when they start moving the ball as they are capable of, they are a fun bunch to watch! The attack unit is dangerous - #18 is a talent out of the Rooney mold (highest compliment I can pay him); #2 is a great shooter and finisher (160 odd goals and counting in just 2.5 seasons); #11 (64 goals last year) has such a heavy shot that it's near impossible to stop from 12 yards and in. The O mids are senior heavy and led by #1 a 2x AA along with #9 a strong dodger and #5 also a fine shooter. Add talented freshman #48 and #32 among others and the Big Red offense can more than handle their own.

So where is this version of the Big Red vulnerable? A look at Saturdays game will give a clue where I think they need to "clean things up" - this version of the Big Red has a tendency to take a quarter or so off during the course of any given game. Read Q1 vs Stevenson and Q2 vs Dickinson (their only 2 losses) those poor quarters put them in too deep a hole to dig out of against top 20 teams. On the other hand, when they do play a complete game they can run you off the field - Read Day 2 at the Mustang Classic vs F&M and the dismantling of Roanoke!

If Coach Caravana and his staff can get the 2019 Big Red to focus for 4 quarters the rest of the way, they have the talent to play at least a few games deep in he NCAAs (if not more) - if he can't, they're going to be fighting hard to get out of the NCAC conference tourney. Stay tuned - the real fun is just starting!

[cornfed44]

Denison 23, Wooster 9 last night. Game was close in the first, Wooster was down 3-2 and 5-3 before face-offs and inside finishes took over. After DePauw beats Witt, it is a four team race for 3 and 4 between Wooster, Kenyon, Witt, Depauw.

Wooster needs to win 2 of 3 to finish 4th, 3 of 3 to finish 3rd. Games vs Oberlin, Ken, Witt
Witt needs to win 2 of 3 to finish 4th, 3 of 3 to finish 3rd. They have Den, OWU, WOO
Kenyon needs to win 1 of 2 over either Wabash or Wooster.
Depauw is on the outside looking in. Will need some help to get in.

Witt @ Wooster on 4/27 is a huge one. Witt will most likely be on the outside looking in while Wooster will be battling for a playoff spot. Rivalry weekend.

[Nosey Ned]

Denison 23, Wooster 9 last night. Game was close in the first, Wooster was down 3-2 and 5-3 before face-offs and inside finishes took over. After DePauw beats Witt, it is a four team race for 3 and 4 between Wooster, Kenyon, Witt, Depauw.

Wooster needs to win 2 of 3 to finish 4th, 3 of 3 to finish 3rd. Games vs Oberlin, Ken, Witt
Witt needs to win 2 of 3 to finish 4th, 3 of 3 to finish 3rd. They have Den, OWU, WOO
Kenyon needs to win 1 of 2 over either Wabash or Wooster.
Depauw is on the outside looking in. Will need some help to get in.

Witt @ Wooster on 4/27 is a huge one. Witt will most likely be on the outside looking in while Wooster will be battling for a playoff spot. Rivalry weekend.

Corn - don't over sell it. Yes, Wooster won every statistical category in the 1st quarter (aside from goals scored) yet still did lose that 1st quarter 5-3! It was apparent from the get go that, in this game at least, the Wooster D didn't have an answer for Denison's offense. And yes the statistical advantage turned in DU's favor after the 1st Q as Denison scored 14 of the next 16 goals. But it wasn't just FO's and inside finishes that turned this game, I think saying so is more than a bit misleading. To that point I bet 6 of Davies 8 goals were lasers from 10 yards or more. My point is last nights game, with all due respect, never seemed in doubt and certainly didn't have the same feel as the DU vs Kenyon game where the Big Red was actually losing after 3 quarters. Denison never trailed Wooster in this game.

As far as playoffs - I think when OWU and DU play each other the last game of the season it will be for home field in the playoffs as they will both be undefeated in conference when they meet. The number 3 and 4 seeds will go to Kenyon and Wooster in that order because I see Kenyon beating Wooster and Wabash getting to 6-2 but Wooster beats Wittenberg and Oberlin to get to 5-3

[AllAboutTheD]

Well look at what we have here. Wittenberg is up 6 to 5 at the half vs Denison. Witt's goalie, Max Cavellier had a great first half. The offense has been patient and the defense doing enough to keep it close. And now it's 7-5, Witt. Let's go, Witt. TigerUp!

[AllAboutTheD]

Wittenberg falls to Denison 17 to 10. In the end, the athleticism of Denison was too much for Witt to handle. The Big Red defense found their rhythm and took away the quality shots Witt had in the first half. The Denison offense was methodical and kept the pressure on with multi-shot possessions. No one had this as a Wittenberg win heading into the game, but they played with a lot more energy and focus then they have for much of the season. They have two more games left vs OWU and then Wooster. I fully expect that they will come to play both games.

[oldtimelax]

OWU travels to Springfield today meet up with the Wittenberg Tigers for what is always a hard-fought intense contest....congrats to Coach Plantholt on becoming the winningest lacrosse coach at OWU.

https://battlingbishops.com/news/2019/4 ... fioNib7wFo

[Nosey Ned]

NCAC playoff picture will become a lot clearer after today's slate of games. Wittenberg may very well provide a tough game for the Bishops but in the end I expect OWU will take care of business. I also expect Denison will prevail against Hiram setting up a battle of the conference undefeated next Saturday in Delaware - with the winner having home field advantage in the quest for "all the marbles" and the conference AQ! Another big game today with big playoff ramifications is Kenyon hosting Wooster. I think Kenyon will win this game and in the process lock up the 3 seed in the tournament. As for the 4 seed, I'm already on record predicting Wooster will take it but after seeing Wittenberg in person this past weekend, I saw a team certainly capable of proving me wrong and besting Wooster. If that happens on the final day of the regular season, we will most likely be left with Wooster, Wittenberg and DePauw ending up 4-4 in conference play! Anyone know the tie breaker protocol in the NCAC? I'm not sure what it is because I don't think it's been needed recently as the conference has tended to shake out pretty linear the past several years.

[Clambake]

I watched the Kenyon-Wooster game online. I’m new to the NCAC scene. But I was totally at a loss after watching Kenyon trounce the Fighting Scots. Maybe it was a total off-day for Wooster. But if Wooster is really the 4th best team in the NCAC, the conference has a long way before it gets to NESCAC depth, and parity in the NCAC is not happening anytime soon...

[FannOLax]

I watched the Kenyon-Wooster game online. I’m new to the NCAC scene. But I was totally at a loss after watching Kenyon trounce the Fighting Scots. Maybe it was a total off-day for Wooster. But if Wooster is really the 4th best team in the NCAC, the conference has a long way before it gets to NESCAC depth, and parity in the NCAC is not happening anytime soon...

Whether Wooster or somebody else is the 4th best team, the NCAC isn't anywhere near NESCAC depth. No shame in that: top to bottom, the NESCAC is easily the best D3 men's lacrosse conference.
In 2017, Witt looked ready to emerge as a serious challenger, but 2018 saw Witt fail to make the conference tournament. It has been a bunch of years now since OWU and/or Denison has lost to any NCAC team but each other.

[seacoaster]

Denison 23, Hiram 2 at the beginning of the 4th. Playing the whole bench from what I can tell.

OWU 19, Witt 10 midway through the 3rd.

[lordslaxfan]

I think that we need to accept the current landscape of the NCAC. I hate to say this, but the vast majority of the games that Denison and OWU play in the NCAC not be close. A couple of years ago, it looked like Wooster, Witt or Kenyon could take a step forward and compete with the titans of the NCAC, but Wittenberg and Wooster appear to have taken a step back and kenyon may have taken a half step toward. Denison and OWU are two- three notches above the competition, and at best the games are hard fought blow outs.

[LordRaider]

NESCAC is the gold standard of parity, for sure. Just about every other conference has a very notable quality gap from the top few teams to the bottom few. A nice step for NCAC would be to get to something more like the Centennial or Liberty League, where the teams in the top half/middle of the conference rankings have records over .500 and are competitive with one another, and somewhat competitive in out of conference games with quality opponents.

I think Kenyon has improved over the last month but they’ll need to play 4 very strong quarters against OWU or Denison to have a chance of changing the usual conference pecking order.

Leaving aside Denison and OWU, here are some inter-conference data points from this season:

Kenyon, 3rd place NCAC, 10-5, lost to Haverford in OT earlier this season to give the Fords their first win. Haverford is now 5-9 and is the 7th place team in the Centennial despite some good upset wins over Dickinson and Ursinus.

Kenyon also lost handily to Roanoke, the 5th place team in the ODAC (and a team Denison defeated 20-6)

Wooster lost to Trinity, 7th/8th place NESCAC team, 22-6

Wooster and Wittenberg were a combined 0-7 against OAC opponents (Capital, Otterbein, Ohio Northern, John Carroll, Baldwin-Wallace). This is a certainly a sign of a soft middle in the NCAC but it also speaks to the improvement of the OAC. Baldwin-Wallace played well in their win over Kenyon, and the Lords nearly lost to Capital. Otterbein also gave OWU quite a scare earlier in the season.

[lordslaxfan]

I agree LordRaider. As a Kenyon fan, I do not measure the lords’ success by their records against OWU and Denison. The lords are just not their yet.

I measure the lord’s season by our games against other midwestern non-NCAC teams, and the success against east coast teams. Kenyon has consistently performed well against the other non-NCAC Ohio teams, and I would like to see them take a step forward and win some games out east.

[oldtimelax]

So....Saturday at 2PM at OWU's Selby Stadium, the Bishops and Big Red meet for the 103rd time to decide the 2019 regular season championship. It is also the first game they have played under the new shot-clock rules.

Denison has been steady all year with only two losses to top teams (Stevenson and Dickinson) and a #11 national ranking. They have won ten in a row and their team is deep and talented in all facets -- scoring, face-offs, clearing, riding, and team defense. The hardest task Caravana has had in the last month has been keeping his team playing at a high level during the soft part of their schedule.

OWU's season has been the exact opposite. Their early out-of-conference schedule was a disaster, as they were ill-prepared to face the top teams they faced, RIT, Salisbury and Cabrini. Plantholt started to fix the glaring problems with face-offs, clears and team defense but the Bishops still dropped winnable games versus RPI and Illinois Wesleyan. The 7-0 romp through the NCAC restored some confidence, but the Bishops are clearly not as deep or talented as the Big Red, especially on defense and ball possession.

This game is always a war, but Denison should prevail by 4-5 goals. Thoughts?