Top Teams

[westcoastlax]

Not much happening on this board.

Middlebury - Three games into the season looks better than last year. New goalies still need to be tested in a big game.

Tufts- Schedule is a little soft this year. Beat Washtington and Lee. Likely will not be tested again till Middlebury

William Smith - Big game with Salisbury next week.

Salisbury - Weslayen, Gettysburg, and William Smith in the next two weeks should let us know if they are a top 3 team. Looks to play top teams out of conference.

Franklin and Marshall - Big game with Middlebury coming up. Otherwise not much on the schedule till the annual game for the conference title with Gettysburg.

TCNJ - Games with Middlebury, Gettysburg, W&L, and Salisbury coming up.

Colby- will not know much about them till they play Tufts / Middlebury

Pomona- Pitzer- Undefeated wild card from the West Coast. Likely better than people give them credit for.

[laxfan22]

Yea I wouldn’t keep Gettysburg off that list. And Panoma may be good, but playing that schedule, how can you tell anything?

[westcoastlax]

Forgot to include Gettysburg. They are a top ten team.

The next few weeks should sort out who the top 5 teams are.

[lovelax]

Wesleyan handled Salisbury at Gull stadium on Sunday. Not surprised by the win but Wes dominated the second half. Gull shad difficulty with Wes zone and turned it over too much. The win makes the Colby win v Wes more impressive. Colby/Tufts will be a good game. Both teams will likely be unbeaten for that game. Midd still seems to the class of the NESCAC but the early NESCAC games are often unpredictable.

Smith playing Salisbury on spring break will be a good litmus test for Herons. Gulls play Gburg this week who just lost to W&L who was struggling as of late. Rebound game for both squads at Gull stadium this week. Bullets top 4 scorers had 19 combined TO's....uncharacteristic, but W&L D pressured many of these.

[cltlax]

Forgot to include Gettysburg. They are a top ten team.

And W&L, who just beat Gettysburg...

[westcoastlax]

Salisbury with a dominant win over Gettysburg today.

Big game next week with William Smith.

[lovelax]

Gulls looked great after first Q. Good adjustments faceguarding Bullets leading scorer and Bullers had no response. Shut out in the second half? Amazing in college lacrosse.

Both goalies suspect in first Q. Gulls goalie played better in the rest of the game, Bullets goalies not so much. Smith/Salisbury should be a good one (in Florida!)

[westcoastlax]

Willam Smith over Salisbury 10-7.

Middlebury over F&M. 14-4 running clock with 8 minutes left in the third quarter. Final score: 18-9

Did anyone see the games?

[lovelax]

Salisbury Smith game was close all game. I think the difference was the Smith goalie outplayed Gulls goalie. The stats were pretty even otherwise. The Herons have a pretty easy schedule from here to the end of the season with the exception of SJF and Wesleyan (SJF lost two one-goal games to the Herons last year--Wesleyan handled Salisbury, is inconsistent but solid) Smith likely comes into the playoffs undefeated like last year. This year however, I don't think they will play like a "deer in the headlights" like last year's semi game with Gettysburg. Also the scoring was more balanced v Gulls which will help them in the long run. Still if you defend/faceguard/take out # 13 and # 16 from the offense, the Herons will struggle.

The Midd F&M game was close in the first Q due to good F&M goalie play and a few unforced TO's by Midd. After that it was not a game. Midd was too fast and athletic and ran by Dips for a few fast-break goals. Running clock early in second half and F&M scored most of its goals on FPs. While its still early, Midd is still the team to beat. Some tough Nescac games later this spring and a visit to Tufts will be interesting. While Midd graduated two national POYs and an undefeated goalie, they returned 9 starters and many non-starting key players .... most of them juniors! Yikes.

[WLaxdad]

York not doing so well this year at 2-3 and a game against Gettysburg today, unusual for them.

[Dr. Tact]

York not doing so well this year at 2-3 and a game against Gettysburg today, unusual for them.

Been involved in close games, but on the losing end....We will see how they play the Bullets today.

[lovelax]

York usually schedules great OOC games. Since leaving the conference with Salisbury, they play excellent OOC teams since they will roll through their conference schedule. Don't let the record fool you, they are a team that will improve and be a tough "out" in May. They had some bad unforced TO's yesterday but had some good moments. That sun glare for late afternoon games is brutal. How can the players even see the ball?

[lovelax]

Willams convincingly beat Pomona-Pitzer in Cali last night. I suspect the only IWLCA First place vote that did not go to Middlebury these last few weeks will now.... or not.

[westcoastlax]

Dominant win for Gettysburg over TCNJ yesterday.

Top teams are becoming more clearly defined. Tufts has some good NESAC games coming up to get a better feel for them. Still feel it is Middlebury followed by a host of contenders.

[lovelax]

Agree on Bullets win. Their only remaining tough games are with F&M and will likely be pivotal on who hosts regions come playoff time.

Two key NESCAC games tomorrow. Wes at Midd and Wes/Tufts. Wes lost to Colby in week 1 but handled a good Salisbury team in MD. Tufts beat W&L in a shootout but otherwise has had a rather ez schedule so far. The Tufts offense has been strong. Both games will be telling how that conference will shake out with the top 4 teams playing each other. I think both Midd and Tufts come out on top tomorrow.

[westcoastlax]

Middlebury over Wesleyan 12-10.

Wesleyan's backer defense is solid and hard to penetrate. They were good on the draw, but they needed a little more efficiency on offense to pull the upset. They clearly showed that Middlebury is beatable. I look forward to watching them against Tufts and William Smith.

Colby vs Tufts later today should give a little more information on Tufts.

[westcoastlax]

Wesleyan over Tufts 17-15

Did anyone see the game? Wesleyan's backer zone looked very good against Middlebury.

[rollwave]

Wes D / goalie made some timely stops late in the game, but the Tufts offense had their way for the most part.

The game was definitely more of an offensive affair, with both offenses playing quite well. I thought Tufts was incredibly efficient on offense in particular, at least through the first 3 quarters. Wes looked good on the draw, although the box score suggests it wasn't that much of a disparity.

The teams will likely play again in the NESCACs, and potentially once more in the NCAAs depending on seeding. I currently view Midd / Wes / Tufts as a step above everyone else (maybe William Smith in there as well), but obviously lots of games left to be played.

[westcoastlax]

It was an impressive win for Ithaca over William Smith yesterday, 16-3. William Smith will have a chance to rebound next week against a very good Wesleyan.

Other big games coming up
Middlebury vs Tufts on Saturday
Salisbury vs TCNJ on Saturday
F&M vs Gettysburg next week

These games will go a long way to determining seeding for the tournament

[Seacoaster(1)]

It was an impressive win for Ithaca over William Smith yesterday, 16-3. William Smith will have a chance to rebound next week against a very good Wesleyan.

Other big games coming up
Middlebury vs Tufts on Saturday
Salisbury vs TCNJ on Saturday
F&M vs Gettysburg next week

These games will go a long way to determining seeding for the tournament

16-3? Holy smokes.