NCAA Tournament 2024

[Laxattackjack]

salisbury is by far the most complete team. on paper, they are the best in D3. on film from last games, they are the best in D3. they are the clear favorite to win the NC l. i will be shocked if they don’t win.

but, it is tough for any team to play without mistakes every play. anything can happen. salisbury can have a down day and the opponent can have a great day. with that senerio, any of the remaining 8 teams could beat Salisbury.

[The12lov3]

Hate to say it but Swarthmore just ain't that good so it is less impressive then it actually is.

I’m guessing you didn’t watch that first quarter, you can also see a few highlights on ESPN top 10 plays from Sunday. I get that you don’t want to admit they are very good. Keep that belief alive.

I did watch the first quarter. Salisbury is a good team - never said they were not good - I am just not ready to crown them NC. They still have to win and beat much better teams them Swathmore. I do think that Swathmore probably came out a little flat and got frazzled a bit so I think the score should have been closer.

What is interesting is no one is talking about how Tufts made Stevenson look like a 7th grade team. If you wanted to see a highlight real, re-watch the third quarter of that game. They had some sick goals.
[/quote]

Trust me. Swarth was not flat, they just had no answer.Regarding Stevenson, Tufts buried them, Agreed. Do you feel this Jumbo team is better than last year?
[/quote]

Do I think they are better than last year? Better - No but they have as much talent if not more then they did last year. They are not better because of the lack of leadership. You have to remember that this team is young. 3 of their top 5 scorers are Sophomores and the other two are juniors. They have one senior that starts - Garzone. Below are the stats of the top 5 from last year and this year. They played 5 more games last year. If you extrapolate out, I think overall they would be fairly similar because the top 3 guys would have less points but 4 and 5 would have much more points so think things would be close. I think the lose to Hamilton really put things in perspective and put the fire in these guys eyes. They have something to prove this season and I think we saw that against Stevenson.

2023
Boyden, Jack 69 88 157 Senior
Bruun, Kurt 62 47 109 Senior
Swank, Tommy 72 21 93 Senior
Tagliaferri, Charlie 42 14 56 Sophomore
Regnery, Jack 29 10 39 Freshman

2024
Regnery, Jack 68 34 102 Sophomore
Ettinghausen, Max 51 20 71 Junior
Hauser, Brooks 44 26 70 Sophomore
Tagliaferri, Charlie 33 19 52 Junior
Kelly, Garrett 32 9 41 Sophomore

Listen - All the team last week accomplished a lot and clearly Salisbury is the favorite this year but they can have a bad day and at this point any team can beat any other team. We have seen that plenty of times in the past and we could see it again. You can have all the talent in the world and one quarter of bad execution can be the difference between winning a NC and going home empty handed.

[Nescac12001]

I was saying it all year, Dickinson and Swarthmore should never have been ranked as high as they were. They really didn’t do much during regular season to earn the rankings they had. Only reason Swarthmore was there was because they beat Dickinson. Obviously Swarthmore losing to Salisbury doesn’t prove that point because Salisbury is so god damn good, but I would’ve seen them losing to a number of other teams that were still alive that Sunday. Too much weight given to both those teams throughout the season when they just beat up on their terrible in conference schedule.

[The12lov3]

I was saying it all year, Dickinson and Swarthmore should never have been ranked as high as they were. They really didn’t do much during regular season to earn the rankings they had. Only reason Swarthmore was there was because they beat Dickinson. Obviously Swarthmore losing to Salisbury doesn’t prove that point because Salisbury is so god damn good, but I would’ve seen them losing to a number of other teams that were still alive that Sunday. Too much weight given to both those teams throughout the season when they just beat up on their terrible in conference schedule.

Agree - if either of those teams were in the NESCAC or Liberty league, they would have been out of the tournament.

[Motorman]

I was saying it all year, Dickinson and Swarthmore should never have been ranked as high as they were. They really didn’t do much during regular season to earn the rankings they had. Only reason Swarthmore was there was because they beat Dickinson. Obviously Swarthmore losing to Salisbury doesn’t prove that point because Salisbury is so god damn good, but I would’ve seen them losing to a number of other teams that were still alive that Sunday. Too much weight given to both those teams throughout the season when they just beat up on their terrible in conference schedule.

Same can be said for schools like Babson and Endicott.

[EasternShoreLaxGuy]

Hate to say it but Swarthmore just ain't that good so it is less impressive then it actually is.

I’m guessing you didn’t watch that first quarter, you can also see a few highlights on ESPN top 10 plays from Sunday. I get that you don’t want to admit they are very good. Keep that belief alive.

I did watch the first quarter. Salisbury is a good team - never said they were not good - I am just not ready to crown them NC. They still have to win and beat much better teams them Swathmore. I do think that Swathmore probably came out a little flat and got frazzled a bit so I think the score should have been closer.

What is interesting is no one is talking about how Tufts made Stevenson look like a 7th grade team. If you wanted to see a highlight real, re-watch the third quarter of that game. They had some sick goals.

Trust me. Swarth was not flat, they just had no answer.Regarding Stevenson, Tufts buried them, Agreed. Do you feel this Jumbo team is better than last year?
[/quote]

Do I think they are better than last year? Better - No but they have as much talent if not more then they did last year. They are not better because of the lack of leadership. You have to remember that this team is young. 3 of their top 5 scorers are Sophomores and the other two are juniors. They have one senior that starts - Garzone. Below are the stats of the top 5 from last year and this year. They played 5 more games last year. If you extrapolate out, I think overall they would be fairly similar because the top 3 guys would have less points but 4 and 5 would have much more points so think things would be close. I think the lose to Hamilton really put things in perspective and put the fire in these guys eyes. They have something to prove this season and I think we saw that against Stevenson.

2023
Boyden, Jack 69 88 157 Senior
Bruun, Kurt 62 47 109 Senior
Swank, Tommy 72 21 93 Senior
Tagliaferri, Charlie 42 14 56 Sophomore
Regnery, Jack 29 10 39 Freshman

2024
Regnery, Jack 68 34 102 Sophomore
Ettinghausen, Max 51 20 71 Junior
Hauser, Brooks 44 26 70 Sophomore
Tagliaferri, Charlie 33 19 52 Junior
Kelly, Garrett 32 9 41 Sophomore

Listen - All the team last week accomplished a lot and clearly Salisbury is the favorite this year but they can have a bad day and at this point any team can beat any other team. We have seen that plenty of times in the past and we could see it again. You can have all the talent in the world and one quarter of bad execution can be the difference between winning a NC and going home empty handed.
[/quote]


Fair to look at it this way and looking forward to another fun weekend. Anyone can have a down day, truthfully I think the youth of tufts will be exploited in the environment they’re coming down to. It’s not an easy environment for anyone let alone 19&20 year olds(younger squad). You need some experience on your side and the experience these kids have against SU is not a good one. I think they’d have a different mentality coming down if last years championship wasn’t as much of a dominant performance. But SU graduated basically no one and has all the confidence that they can slow that team down. Hopefully no one looks past Saturday and we get treated to this matchup with both teams healthy.

Lastly, Saying swarthmore is not a good team, you also have to look at who tufts played as well. Stevenson doesn’t have a player on their roster that would touch the field for tufts or su from what I’ve seen. Stevenson also had to sell out Saturday for an upset. That creates so much of a disadvantage turning around and playing 22 hours later. They got blown out in the 3rd and 4th when fatigue set in.

[StevieUAlum]

I was saying it all year, Dickinson and Swarthmore should never have been ranked as high as they were. They really didn’t do much during regular season to earn the rankings they had. Only reason Swarthmore was there was because they beat Dickinson. Obviously Swarthmore losing to Salisbury doesn’t prove that point because Salisbury is so god damn good, but I would’ve seen them losing to a number of other teams that were still alive that Sunday. Too much weight given to both those teams throughout the season when they just beat up on their terrible in conference schedule.

Agree - if either of those teams were in the NESCAC or Liberty league, they would have been out of the tournament.

Wouldn't go that far, Union hovered around the top 10 all year and lost to a team in the tournament who was blown out by Dickinson and lost to G-Burg by two who didn't even get in.

Huge drop off in the LL from RIT and everyone else in my humble opinion even if they lost a conference game this year.

This whole narrative surrounding LL and NESCAC dominance is just so short sited and based off bias. Have to look at the whole picture. LL tier two teams would not consistently beat tier one teams from the CC. Would be good games but saying teams like Dickinson wouldn't compete or be out of the tourney completely competing in the LL is just wrong.

[Goldenboy]

Predictions for elite 8:

Tufts 16 - SJF 10
Salisbury 13 - W&L 8
Bowdoin 10 - Middlebury 9
CNU 14 - RIT 12

[StevieUAlum]

Predictions for elite 8:

Tufts 16 - SJF 10
Salisbury 13 - W&L 8
Bowdoin 10 - Middlebury 9
CNU 14 - RIT 12

That CNU take is wild. I have RIT by at least 5+ in that one. Everything else looks on par.

[wgdsr]

Fair to look at it this way and looking forward to another fun weekend. Anyone can have a down day, truthfully I think the youth of tufts will be exploited in the environment they’re coming down to. It’s not an easy environment for anyone let alone 19&20 year olds(younger squad). You need some experience on your side and the experience these kids have against SU is not a good one. I think they’d have a different mentality coming down if last years championship wasn’t as much of a dominant performance. But SU graduated basically no one and has all the confidence that they can slow that team down. Hopefully no one looks past Saturday and we get treated to this matchup with both teams healthy.

how on earth does ferrara have another year?

[EasternShoreLaxGuy]

Fair to look at it this way and looking forward to another fun weekend. Anyone can have a down day, truthfully I think the youth of tufts will be exploited in the environment they’re coming down to. It’s not an easy environment for anyone let alone 19&20 year olds(younger squad). You need some experience on your side and the experience these kids have against SU is not a good one. I think they’d have a different mentality coming down if last years championship wasn’t as much of a dominant performance. But SU graduated basically no one and has all the confidence that they can slow that team down. Hopefully no one looks past Saturday and we get treated to this matchup with both teams healthy.

how on earth does ferrara have another year?

He doesn’t. I guess “basically no one” was the wrong way to put it. The offense looks like they haven’t missed a beat however and su is full of veterans. Sorry for the confusion

[laxdad1434]

SJF 12 - Tufts 11 2OT''s The slipper still fits
Salisbury 18 - W&L 6
Bowdoin 16 - Middlebury 8
CNU 16 - RIT 10

[aroundtheoutside]

Looking back, I thought the bracket landed incredibly well in Tufts favor, and that was before SJF took out their only potential challengers. I think Tufts will bring a brutal end to SJF's cinderella story in what will have been a wildly easy path to the Final Four.

Then I think Tufts will crumble under the full wrath of the Gulls on their home turf. (speaking of which, has Tufts ever played SU at SU?)

[choochooCharlie]

Looking back, I thought the bracket landed incredibly well in Tufts favor, and that was before SJF took out their only potential challengers. I think Tufts will bring a brutal end to SJF's cinderella story in what will have been a wildly easy path to the Final Four.

Then I think Tufts will crumble under the full wrath of the Gulls on their home turf. (speaking of which, has Tufts ever played SU at SU?)

Yep. Tufts cake walk of a draw, 8 loss Middlebury, and Bowdoin somehow sneaking in. But no, the conference is absolutely not committee darlings.

As if

[Motorman]

Fair to look at it this way and looking forward to another fun weekend. Anyone can have a down day, truthfully I think the youth of tufts will be exploited in the environment they’re coming down to. It’s not an easy environment for anyone let alone 19&20 year olds(younger squad). You need some experience on your side and the experience these kids have against SU is not a good one. I think they’d have a different mentality coming down if last years championship wasn’t as much of a dominant performance. But SU graduated basically no one and has all the confidence that they can slow that team down. Hopefully no one looks past Saturday and we get treated to this matchup with both teams healthy.

how on earth does ferrara have another year?

He doesn’t. I guess “basically no one” was the wrong way to put it. The offense looks like they haven’t missed a beat however and su is full of veterans. Sorry for the confusion

This years offense AND defense may be stronger. Believe it or not the team next year may not skip a beat. Just add oil and machine keeps rolling along.

[MVPiccoli]

I'd go Jumbos, Gulls, Panthers, Tigers. RIT at home? Can't see them losing by 5+, maybe in OT? Tufts is rolling. I think Bowdoin and Middlebury will be tightly contested. Gulls are gonna Gull.

SJF 12 - Tufts 11 2OT''s The slipper still fits
Salisbury 18 - W&L 6
Bowdoin 16 - Middlebury 8
CNU 16 - RIT 10

[Goldenboy]

Predictions for elite 8:

Tufts 16 - SJF 10
Salisbury 13 - W&L 8
Bowdoin 10 - Middlebury 9
CNU 14 - RIT 12

That CNU take is wild. I have RIT by at least 5+ in that one. Everything else looks on par.

I believe it will be a very tight game, no way either win by more than 2

[ah23]

Same can be said for schools like Babson and Endicott.

Eh. Think they were both where they should have been. Endicott was 16-1 and only peaked at #17 in the polls, their record wasn't really given much weight at all. Feels fair given that they beat everyone they'd be expected to and split games against the only two top 15 teams on their schedule. Good team, nothing special.

Babson beat multiple quarterfinalists (walked all over Bowdoin), were up on RIT early and close all game until the Tigers pulled away in the 4th, and were more competitive against both Tufts and Williams than CNU was. They were on the same level as the upper level NESCAC/LL teams that generally hover around the top ten, and they compared well against the teams ranked behind them. Just a very good team.

[Laxattackjack]

Same can be said for schools like Babson and Endicott.

Eh. Think they were both where they should have been. Endicott was 16-1 and only peaked at #17 in the polls, their record wasn't really given much weight at all. Feels fair given that they beat everyone they'd be expected to and split games against the only two top 15 teams on their schedule. Good team, nothing special.

Babson beat multiple quarterfinalists (walked all over Bowdoin), were up on RIT early and close all game until the Tigers pulled away in the 4th, and were more competitive against both Tufts and Williams than CNU was. They were on the same level as the upper level NESCAC/LL teams that generally hover around the top ten, and they compared well against the teams ranked behind them. Just a very good team.

are we still on this every team in the NESCAC is elite conversation???

[ah23]

are we still on this every team in the NESCAC is elite conversation???

1. Neither Babson nor Endicott play in the NESCAC
2. Neither Middlebury nor Bowdoin are elite teams
3. Middlebury and Bowdoin are playing in the NCAA Quarterfinals this weekend
4. Middlebury and Bowdoin finished the season ranked #11 and #14
5. Babson beat both of them

Saying that there are good teams outside of the NESCAC and Liberty League should not be a controversial statement, and I really don't get the need to deny it. Makes no sense. Good lacrosse is good lacrosse.