ISL

[Laxxal22]

I would be willing to bet it becomes a really tough week for Sebs and Nobles, who has been bested by BH much more often than not in the past 15 years.

That's fair (though BH has the longest title drought of the three), I more just meant to rivalry games in 48 hours would be tough. To me they're coin flip games that come down to faceoffs and goaltending, and could have different results three weeks from now in the playoffs.

[Laxxal22]

Some real good ones today.

Belmont Hill (7-0) @ Nobles (5-2): The hottest team in the league hosts the most consistent one, with probably the top two faceoff guys in the league squaring off.

Tabor (3-4) @ St. Seb's (7-0): The playoffs effectively start today for Tabor as a loss puts them in a perilous position. The Arrows would love to knock a potentially dangerous 7th/8th seed off the board.

Govs (6-1) @ Milton Academy (5-2): Milton are one one of the feel good stories of the season and are playing with a lot of confidence. Govs have been the team that either win by a bunch or lose by bunch. This one should be close.

Groton (3-4) @ Middlesex (5-2): The Zebra Bowl! Groton play tough but I'm not sure they have enough against an MX team that knows they need this one before closing against Thayer, BH, and Govs.

Rivers (4-3) @ Thayer (3-4): Another one that's basically a de facto playoff game. Rivers have played above expectation so far, and Thayer far below it. Can the Red Wings pull off the, on paper, upset and put the Tigers' playoff hopes on the ropes?

Lawrence Academy (3-4) @ Roxbury Latin (3-4): RL need a get right game after losing four closely contested match ups in a row. They should get it today.

Brooks (0-7) @ BB&N (2-5): BB&N look the "a year away" team as they have a young team and a lot of close losses.

St. Mark's (0-7) @ St. George's (1-6): Two teams hungry for a win after taking some big losses.

[porkchop]

Any idea what the tie breaker is beyond head to head? For instance if RL and Thayer have a similar record yet they won’t have a head-head game.

[Laxfax52]

RL and Tabor had the same record last year - 6-5, I believe. Tabor won the tie breaker and became the 8th seed. Pretty sure it was based on record vs common opponents as they did not play each other during the 11 game ISL season.

[Laxxal22]

Belmont Hill 13 - Nobles 12: BH held a 13-8 lead but the Dawgs made it interesting.
St. Seb's 14 - Tabor 3: 4-1 at the half but the Arrows blew it open in the third quarter.
Govs 10 - Milton 9 (OT): Govs should be favored in their three remaining games and look to have a top four seed all but wrapped up.
Middlesex 16 - Groton 8: The Zebras double up the Zebras. Huge game for MX Saturday against Thayer.
Thayer 18 - Rivers 7: Great bounce back game for the Tigers, proving what they can do when the talent plays to its potential.
Roxbury Latin 13 - Lawrence 8: Workmanlike win for the Foxes. A win Saturday against Govs puts them on the path to 7-4 and avoiding tiebreaker scenarios for the playoffs.
BB&N 10 - Brooks 3: Solid win for the Knights.
St. George's 10 - St. Mark's 8: Dragons snag the dub.

[porkchop]

A lot of ball left to play so anything can happen but it seems like a race between the three 4 loss teams for two spots. If those same 3 all run the table here on out you could see a few more teams added to a list of 7-4 teams.

[Laxxal22]

Making an educated guess on #1 (which will be announced tomorrow) here is a recap of the Bostonlax top 100 players. 50-100 were done alphabetically, and 1-50 ranked specifically. Always an interesting list. It’s a little odd because I assume it’s compiled preseason, but since it’s released during the season some kids are playing above their ranking and others below it.

I’m not one to take away from accomplishments and say who I think is too highly ranked, but Frisoli, DiBatista, and Geraci are definitely too low based on the seasons they’ve put together so far.

Please forgive the inconsistent formatting. I didn’t feel like editing Bostonlax’s work. Players 10-50 got little blurbs, and 1-10 longer write ups. If that info interests you, the subscription is quite inexpensive.

Alex Allain/Midfield/Lawrence Academy/Senior
Nick Barnes/Attack/St. Georges/Senior/Trinity
Greg Canning/Attack/Rivers/Senior/Mercer
JP Charpentier/Midfield-Attack/Groton/Junior/Uncommitted
Hayden Cody/Faceoff/RL/Senior/Bucknell
Sean Dilallo/LSM/RL/Senior/Haverford
Josh Do/Attack/Rivers/Senior/Swarthmore
Teddy Frisoli/Attack/St. Sebastian’s/Sophomore
Will Fuller/Attack /BB&N/Junior/Princeton
Will Gaynor/Attack/Lawrence Academy/Senior/Union
David Hahm/Faceoff/St. Sebastian’s /Sophomore
Finbar Holland/Midfield/Thayer/Senior/Union
Charlie Kantaros/LSM/Rivers/Senior/Union
Patrick Keegan/Attack/Groton/Senior/RPI
Will Lavalle/Faceoff/Milton Academy/Senior/Trinity
Amos Lawrence/Defense/Groton/Senior
Natty Mason/Attack/Milton Academy/Junior/Georgetown
Chandler McClements/Goalie/St. Sebastian’s/Junior/Penn
Jack Rabazzi/Defense/Rivers/Junior/Colgate
Declan Riley/Defense/Belmont Hill/Senior/Fairfield
Will Stewart/Attack/Belmont Hill/Senior/Villanova
Henry Waisburd/Goalie/BB&N/Senior/Holy Cross
48a. Ben DiBatista – Sr. Attack, Belmont Hill (Committed to Lafayette)
48b. Mitch Kavey – Sr. Midfield, Tabor Academy (Committed to Loyola)
47. James Joyce – Sr. Midfield, St. Sebastian’s (Committed to Michigan)
45. John Thomas – Sr. Defense, Roxbury Latin (Committed to Vermont)
44. Gus Beaudry – Jr. Midfield, Thayer Academy (Committed to Army)
42. Marco Ramos – Jr. Goalie, Rivers (Uncommitted)
40. Nate Austin-Johnstone (Sr. Thayer, Attack, committed to Rutgers)
39. Nick Moore (Sr. Middlesex, Midfield, committed to Colgate)
37. Ryan Farley (Jr. St. Sebastian’s, Defense, committed to Lafayette)
35b. Chris Cabral (Sr. Thayer, Defense, committed to Rutgers)
35a. Ethan Train (Jr. Noble & Greenough, Goalie, committed to Navy)
34. Brock Geraci (Jr., Governor’s Academy, Attack, committed to North Carolina)
32. Cormac Walsh (Sr. St. Sebastian’s, Midfield, committed to Bowdoin)
31. Garr Long (Jr. Thayer, Goalie, committed to Brown)
30. Jackson Henehan (Sr. Thayer, FOGO, committed to Harvard)
28. Tyler Chouinard (Jr. Thayer, Attack, committed to Army)
27. Christian Grosso (Sr. Nobles, FOGO, committed to Virginia)
25. Tuck Gilbaine (Soph. Nobles, Attack)
24. Linden Verville (Jr. Belmont Hill, Midfield, committed to Virginia)
23. Eli Friedman (Jr. Belmont Hill, FOGO, committed to Cornell)
22. Joe Dimella (Jr. Governors, Attack, committed to Boston University)
21. Johnny Price (Jr. Roxbury Latin, Midfield, committed to Georgetown)
19. Colin Kenney (Jr. Noble & Greenough, Attack, committed to Notre Dame)
15. Brendan Fulham (Sr. St. Sebastian’s, Defense, committed to Duke)
14. Henry Tweedy (Sr. Noble & Greenough, Midfield, committed to Tufts)
13. Teddy Lally (Jr. Thayer Academy, Attack, committed to Notre Dame)
12. Preston Evans (Jr. Belmont Hill, Attack, committed to Virginia)
10. Owen Crann (Jr. Middlesex, Attack, committed to Penn)
9. Jack Cappadona (Jr. Thayer, Defense, committed to Army)
7. Evan O’Neil (Sr. Tabor, Attack, committed to Richmond)
4. Chris Merageas (Sr. St. Seb’s, Attack, committed to Denver)
1. Finn Fox (Sr. Belmont Hill, Defense, committed to Princeton)

[porkchop]

Looks like Thayer leads the way in number of players mentioned. Biggest ISL omission is #14 on Nobles

[Laxxal22]

Looks like Thayer leads the way in number of players mentioned. Biggest ISL omission is #14 on Nobles

No doubt. Perhaps was a little off the radar since he's a hockey guy, even though he got HM All-ISL last spring and plays for Laxachusetts.

[Laxxal22]

Belmont Hill @ St. Seb's at 5:00: The must see game of the (regular) season that sadly I won't be able to watch live. Should be a great atmosphere in Needham. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mZfVCFCZYg

[Laxxal22]

14-12 Belmont Hill. Saw this on Twitter. Would love some color from anyone who caught it live.

[porkchop]

14-12 Belmont Hill. Saw this on Twitter. Would love some color from anyone who caught it live.

BH on fire early. 4-0 first couple minutes. Playing very fast and Sebs didn’t react well until they settled down in the 2nd qtr. 8-2 at one point and looked like the rout was on. BH did well in transition but give a lot of credit to Sebs for battling back and actually taking a lead in the 3rd. Ultimately difference was first 3 minutes

[Laxxal22]

Thanks porkchop. I’ve said it many times over the years but BH’s record in 1-2 goal games is phenomenal. Obviously they always have great talent, but they also just don’t blink..

[porkchop]

Thanks porkchop. I’ve said it many times over the years but BH’s record in 1-2 goal games is phenomenal. Obviously they always have great talent, but they also just don’t blink..

The most striking thing to me is the complete 180 they have pulled from the patient deliberate game to up tempo/push transition game.

[porkchop]

Starting to think we get a logjam of teams at 7-4.

[OFOSHO]

Starting to think we get a logjam of teams at 7-4.

likely finish at 7-4
Middlesex
Nobles
Milton
Thayer
RL
Rivers

[porkchop]

Starting to think we get a logjam of teams at 7-4.

likely finish at 7-4
Middlesex
Nobles
Milton
Thayer
RL
Rivers

Agreed. Good luck with that tiebreaker. Rivers/Tabor and Milton/Thayer big games Wednesday. No one wants to slip back to 5 losses

[Laxxal22]

Middlesex close with Belmont Hill and Govs, with Govs potentially still having a shot at the second seed (I don't know how tiebreakers work). I could see the Zebras falling to 6-5.

Assuming Seb's win out (not a given with Nobles on Friday) it'll be interesting to see who gets the tougher draw between them or Belmont Hill at #1. If it ends up with Thayer as the #8 and Nobles as the #4/#5, then I think the #2 seed would be preferable.

[Laxxal22]

Thanks porkchop. I’ve said it many times over the years but BH’s record in 1-2 goal games is phenomenal. Obviously they always have great talent, but they also just don’t blink..

The most striking thing to me is the complete 180 they have pulled from the patient deliberate game to up tempo/push transition game.

They do a great job of adjusting to the personnel. Last year they had great poles, dmids, and goalie and a younger attack. This year the attack was always going to be a strength, but the emergence of some young middies has really allowed to play with this tempo.

[porkchop]

Middlesex close with Belmont Hill and Govs, with Govs potentially still having a shot at the second seed (I don't know how tiebreakers work). I could see the Zebras falling to 6-5.

Assuming Seb's win out (not a given with Nobles on Friday) it'll be interesting to see who gets the tougher draw between them or Belmont Hill at #1. If it ends up with Thayer as the #8 and Nobles as the #4/#5, then I think the #2 seed would be preferable.

Certainly a possibility for Middlesex to slip to 6-5 but I’d think they make 7-4. If it does end up with 4 or 5 teams there it would be pretty wild. Anyone could end up the 4th seed, 8th seed or even out. It will be interesting for sure.