NCAC 2019

[RoyRike]

Well played game by the Bishops until the 4th qtr. Tennant and Hildebrand will need to play equally as well in the rematch along with the entire D unit. DeCamp and Bishop were the difference in the 4th and as great of a performance as Bishop had I suspect he will be slid to earlier and perhaps face guarded to start the game next time out. I'm hopeful that considering how well the Bishops played for 3/4's that they have a real shot of winning when it matters most

[Cnoll]

You mean Butler

[oldtimelax]

Lordslaxfan -- Your comment about coaches is very appropriate. For way too long, NCAC AD's have neglected to give lacrosse programs the number of assistants they need to run a program in the right way. Compare the number of coaches with those allotted for football and basketball versus the number of roster spots.

Most lacrosse programs have between 35-45 players - making them the second largest program on campus after football. But most programs have a head coach and only 1-2 assistants.

For example Wooster for football has 8 coaches for football (1 head, 7 assistants) for a squad of about 85 players, for basketball, five coaches (1 head, 1 assoc. head, 3 assistants) for 15 players vs. lacrosse with two coaches (i head, 1 assistant) for 35 players. Lacrosse has similar tasks with recruiting, scouting, watching film and game prep. It is very hard to teach and develop players with such a small number.

[Nosey Ned]

Roy ..... you must mean #2 Butler (perhaps you got Bishops too much on the brain?). So obviously Butler is an unknown entity to you, but I'm fairly certain he's not to Plantholt and Co., considering how he's now dropped 24 goals on OWU in the 6 games he's played in this rivalry! To put that in perspective, the OWU big gun #45 has scored 13 goals and that's in 8 games he's played in the rivalry. And OWUs #1, he has 12 in 8 games as well. Not bad numbers at all from these 2 talented players. But back to Butler ... he was the NCAC 2017 Newcomer of the Year and a 2018 1st team All Conference player. So there is no way #2 sneaked up on them and would have thought they'd be prepared to adjust on the go if he started to heat up like he did ...... but if I'm wrong and he did sneak up on them, shame on them!
Now that you're familiar with #2 let's talk about your suggested strategy.... early slides and face guarding doesn't fit OWUs M.O. They are typically confident their poles can match up against Denison's attack unit. But should they decide to do what you suggest, I think Caravana and Co., will welcome that. That will just let the other 2 attackmen # 18 Pittroff (2018 2nd Team All American) and #11 Davey (2018 2nd team All Conference) more room to show off their skills ... of which they have plenty!
So it may be a case of "be careful what you wish for"!

If I sound a little snarky I apologize ... still giddy on the back of that huge comeback win by the Big Red on Saturday. This was another in a long line of GREAT games between these 2 storied programs. Here's hoping they both take care of business without injury in the Semi's so we fans can be treated to perhaps another "Instant Classic" like last year's NCAA tournament 3rd round game. With the score flipped of course! GO BIG RED!

[oldtimelax]

Denison-OWU, Round Two on Sunday...game won't have as many students or fans there (finals) but this one is for a punched ticket to the NCAAs. Denison probably gets in either way, but for the Bishops, this is the only way. When there's a will, there's a way. OWU gets a better effort defensively for the whole game and finds a way to negate DeCamp on the face-offs. I predict a Bishop win, 13-12 in OT.

[FannOLax]

Have to go back to 2017 for the last time the home team won in this rivalry. OWU's play this year against NCAC opposition has exceeded all of my expectations, and that includes the Denison game. At the same time, it makes me wonder about the rest of the conference. Could DePauw or another NCAC school hire Illinois Wesleyan's coach? I agree with a recent post or two about recruiting midfielders... but how will that happen? Oldtimelax makes an excellent point on coaching-staff size; perhaps in Ohio and Indiana, football and basketball will always be viewed as the "big sports" getting more resources than sports like lacrosse that are viewed as minor niche sports. As good as Denison and OWU have been, they would benefit from a conference that is stronger top-to-bottom.

[lordslaxfan]

As a lords fan, I was not surprised by the result of the Kenyon- OWU game but I was surprised by the score difference. I really thought the game was going to be closer, but the better team won on Thursday.

[oldtimelax]

Agreed Fan....NCAC is very weak and you would have to say that the OAC is better competition from top to bottom, even though most of those schools took up the sport the same time as Hiram, DePauw and Wabash. I don't think Illinois Wesleyan coach would consider moving because his administration supports lacrosse far better than any NCAC school except for the top two. I am hoping that Allegheny, with a really good coach from Frostburg, will be a decent program very quickly and will 'shame' the others into improving their programs.

[Nosey Ned]

Denison-OWU, Round Two on Sunday...game won't have as many students or fans there (finals) but this one is for a punched ticket to the NCAAs. Denison probably gets in either way, but for the Bishops, this is the only way. When there's a will, there's a way. OWU gets a better effort defensively for the whole game and finds a way to negate DeCamp on the face-offs. I predict a Bishop win, 13-12 in OT.

Looking forward to another installment of one of the best rivalries in all lacrosse! Both teams are stacked with individual talent so I think it will come down to who has the majority of possession and who can control their emotions (read no dumb penalties). Both coaching staffs have had a week to implement "fixes" on what they learned last weekend. But the difference may well be the fact that DUs #19 started to knocked the rust off starting that second half last week and we see what Big Red can do when they are winning FOs. So I think Denison wins the possession battle and rides that advantage to a 3 goal win. Bias clearly involved in prediction! GO BIG RED

[Cnoll]

Denison takes care of business 17-11

[oldtimelax]

Congrats to Denison....they were clearly the better team and good luck in the NCAAs. MVP was Reeves McKinney with his 21 saves that thwarted any comebacks by the Bishops in the 3Q.

[seacoaster]

Denison takes care of business 17-11

Decamp take most of the FOs?

[Cnoll]

Yes, he did fantastic! Now Denison’s all time leader in ground balls. And 18 is Denison’s all time leader in assists

[Nosey Ned]

Denison takes care of business 17-11

Congratulations to the Denison Big Red on taking care of business and beating OWU to earn another Conference Playoff Championship! And congratulations to this year's senior class. You'd be hard pressed to find a more successful class ... they have comprised a 68-10 record (and counting) and 14 - 3 record in playoff games (conference and NCAAs) 4 straight Conference Championships, 4 NCAA playoff births including a 3rd round appearance, an Elite 8 appearance and Final Four appearance. And last but not least a 7-2 record in their games against OWU. They have made DENISON PROUD!!

[Nosey Ned]

The All Conference teams should be announced today! Good luck to all those in the running for this nice recognition. Lots of good players to choose from but I selfishly hope all the Denison players that deserve recognition get it .... and there are many that do. But unfortunately it is a numbers/politics game and doesn't always work out that way. Here's hoping they get it right!
Here's the DU players that deserve recognition at the very least in MHO ..... #s..... 18. 2. 11. 1. 9. 19. 14. 24. 7. 50. 22. 25. and 29 rookie of the year. There are others but have to realize they aren't going to give the whole team the look! Hahaha

Anyone want to venture a guess? Will there be 4 attackmen again this year? I say yes ... hard to leave anyone from last year off... unless #1 of OWU didn't play Att the full year (i think) and they slide him to Mid. But doubt that. Should be 5 really, DU #11 Davey is as good as the conference has in my opinion. This position will be interesting.

In fact I think that Denison's attack UNIT is the best UNIT in the NCAC and one of the best in all D3. Too bad Laxbites don't do Player Impact lists anymore for D3. Would have liked to see how this group compares to the 2017 Big Red attack unit... one of the best ever. Butler is the hold over, Pittroff has filled in nicely for Rooney (that's saying something) and Davey has the shooting prowess the Donohue had.

[Cnoll]

Denison should cruise tonight, but they better take Rhodes seriously.

[Cnoll]

9-5 at half. Not a very impressive performance to say the least

[Cnoll]

Denison wins 12-6. I’m not going to take anything away from the Concordia boys, they played hard and clean. They should be proud of their effort.

[RoyRike]

Denison takes care of business 17-11

Congratulations to the Denison Big Red on taking care of business and beating OWU to earn another Conference Playoff Championship! And congratulations to this year's senior class. You'd be hard pressed to find a more successful class ... they have comprised a 68-10 record (and counting) and 14 - 3 record in playoff games (conference and NCAAs) 4 straight Conference Championships, 4 NCAA playoff births including a 3rd round appearance, an Elite 8 appearance and Final Four appearance. And last but not least a 7-2 record in their games against OWU. They have made DENISON PROUD!!

Denison had a fine regular season and I like their draw in the tournament. Programs ebb and flow, Denison has been fairly consistent as has OWU. Interesting point you make regarding Denison and OWU going head to head the past 4 years. Last season 2018 OWU graduated much of their defensive talent but returned a lot on O. Going forward they take a heavy hit on the offensive side now losing both Hildebrand and Tenant. Players do develop but I don’t see anything on this roster ( maybe not a fair comparison) that resembles either player. OWU had their worst season since 1971 as far as their total number of losses at EIGHT, an aberration, or canary in the coal mine. Retention has been a real issue for the program. OWU/Denison has truly been one of the great rivalries in D3 lacrosse. I’m sure the rivalry will continue but for it to have any significance both, and in this case OWU, needs to do its part. Hoping 8 losses is just an aberration and not the tipping point to something else. The lacrosse landscape is changing quickly ( NY Times article this week), just look at what’s happened to Syracuse recently. OWU can’t become complacent and look back to find an 8 loss season becoming the norm.

[FannOLax]

Denison should cruise tonight, but they better take Rhodes seriously.

There were some surprises in the first round, but this result is one of the biggest: not only did Rhodes beat Illinois Wesleyan in Illinois, they absolutely demolished them. I have no doubt that Caravana will have made it clear to his young men that a trip to Maryland is far from guaranteed.