CNU 2024

[aroundtheoutside]

Congrats to the Captains on making their 4th straight Elite 8 and seeking their 3rd final four in the last 4 years. Going to be a good one up in Rochester. Based on the upsets we’ve seen so far this tournament, this is anyone’s game.

Exactly. The consistent success for the last 4 years is exemplary

This is why I think all the people on this forum who are predicting (and seemingly cheering for) CNU to crash and burn after this season are going to be disappointed. Anyone who's paid attention to this club knows that it's been a gradual rise, built on excellent recruiting and program building. Not a flash in the pan. Yes their class of 5th years is stacked this season, but they've been in the mix at this stage of the tournament since those same guys were sophomores (and frankly they had a better season last year when those guys weren't in their 5th year).

So yes I think CNU takes a step back next season as they build on a new core. But I don't think it'll be as big of a step back as some believe.

[MVPiccoli]

Institutional support, great coaching, great recruiting. Captains are set up to thrive. Matter of time before they play in an NC. Will always depend on seeding and some luck. They're blessed and cursed to play the Gulls 2x before the tournament. Let's you truly assess your capabilities and find areas of development, but it also exposes your players and schemes to the best in the business.

[laxdad1434]

Institutional support, great coaching, great recruiting. Captains are set up to thrive. Matter of time before they play in an NC. Will always depend on seeding and some luck. They're blessed and cursed to play the Gulls 2x before the tournament. Let's you truly assess your capabilities and find areas of development, but it also exposes your players and schemes to the best in the business.

And probably the best athletic facilities in D3.

[laxdad1434]

Institutional support, great coaching, great recruiting. Captains are set up to thrive. Matter of time before they play in an NC. Will always depend on seeding and some luck. They're blessed and cursed to play the Gulls 2x before the tournament. Let's you truly assess your capabilities and find areas of development, but it also exposes your players and schemes to the best in the business.

And probably the best athletic facilities in D3.

[Laxguy703]

Institutional support, great coaching, great recruiting. Captains are set up to thrive. Matter of time before they play in an NC. Will always depend on seeding and some luck. They're blessed and cursed to play the Gulls 2x before the tournament. Let's you truly assess your capabilities and find areas of development, but it also exposes your players and schemes to the best in the business.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. On one side, Berkman is the best coach of all time and having to play him twice a year is tough. He’s figured out the recipe to beat the captains and it’s evident in their matchups.

On the other side, playing SU every year has clearly given them a roadmap to success. In the last 4 years, CNU is 65-6 against non-SU teams and they have made 2 final fours and 4 elite eights. They have beaten RIT, W&L, LYN, Gettysburg, Dickinson, Stevens, Ursinus, Wesleyan, Williams, and many more great programs. They continue to bring in great recruits and their coaches aren’t going anywhere.

CNU catches a lot of heat for not being able to beat Salisbury, but there is only one team in D3 that has a winning record against the Gulls and it’s Wesleyan(1-0). I’d love to see how other programs fare against the Gulls two to three times a year. My guess would be the results would look the same as CNU. The more you play Salisbury, the harder they are to beat.

[MVPiccoli]

My boys are/were 2 and like 25 against them. One bizarre OT game and one where our kids just kept punching. Berkman pegged Colf EARLY ON. Even when we had the horses like CNU has had, we were too transparent. Colf evolved a bit. He's quoted as saying one of his primary internal recruiting questions when evaluating was "can this kid help us beat Salisbury".

[aroundtheoutside]

A great interview with Mikey Thompson with some great snippets about his history, leadership, mindset, etc. The podcast hosts were a bit painful to listen to--you can skip about the first half of the episode to get to the real interview.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4uWQpG ... cb32ef47dc

[The12lov3]

Anyone know why CNU played Tufts so poorly earlier in the season? Just asking because I expected much more of a game then what happened.

[aroundtheoutside]

Anyone know why CNU played Tufts so poorly earlier in the season? Just asking because I expected much more of a game then what happened.

Tufts just blitzed them in the first quarter and the game got out of hand quick. CNU has not been very consistent this year and struggled against Tufts in some areas they're usually strong in (like goalie and face off play). Jumbos crushed them in transition and CNU looked sluggish. I'm sure the travel didn't help either. If they played ten times, I doubt you'd see that kind of result again. I just chalk it up to a team that's been trying to find its stride all year ran into a freight train that was dialed in on their home turf.

I still don't think we've seen CNU put it all together yet this season. Their best games were probably their wins against Dickinson at the Mustang Classic and against W&L to end the regular season, and even those weren't close to the kind of all-cylinders-firing wins we saw out of them last year.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

I’ve been waiting 3 years for CNU to win it all. 10 years ago I was of the opinion that being a state school, tuition, facilities and waterfront location, and weather, that it had a lot of attributes similar to Salisbury. All they need was to add a good coach and stir. If they don’t do it this year I think it could be a long time before they do. This is the best team they’ve ever had on paper. They will continue to be in the mix going forward but they missed out on a great opportunity if they don’t cash in now

[BigMoose9]

This is the best team they’ve ever had on paper. They will continue to be in the mix going forward but they missed out on a great opportunity if they don’t cash in now

That 2022 team they had was pretty darn good. Still think they were the best team in the country that year but got upset by a great York team.

[ergit]

This is the best team they’ve ever had on paper. They will continue to be in the mix going forward but they missed out on a great opportunity if they don’t cash in now

That 2022 team they had was pretty darn good. Still think they were the best team in the country that year but got upset by a great York team.

Great team, but not the best for obvious reasons…

[choochooCharlie]

This is the best team they’ve ever had on paper. They will continue to be in the mix going forward but they missed out on a great opportunity if they don’t cash in now

That 2022 team they had was pretty darn good. Still think they were the best team in the country that year but got upset by a great York team.

Great team, but not the best for obvious reasons…

*on paper

That was the “team of destiny” that year. Pundits all thought they were to be penciled in to the finals if not the ‘ship.

[ergit]

This is the best team they’ve ever had on paper. They will continue to be in the mix going forward but they missed out on a great opportunity if they don’t cash in now

That 2022 team they had was pretty darn good. Still think they were the best team in the country that year but got upset by a great York team.

Great team, but not the best for obvious reasons…

*on paper

That was the “team of destiny” that year. Pundits all thought they were to be penciled in to the finals if not the ‘ship.

That’s probably why they didn’t win the championship that year. They were the ‘team of destiny’ and believed it. You can lose a game at the beginning of the season but you have to win out at the end. That last step to winning a championship when your season is on the line is the hardest.

[ergit]

BTW, not meant as a disparagement of the program. CNU has a nice thing going in terms the culture and expectations that have brought success. Good coaching attracting committed, team-oriented players is what builds a program and CNU has done that.

[aroundtheoutside]

This is the best team they’ve ever had on paper. They will continue to be in the mix going forward but they missed out on a great opportunity if they don’t cash in now

That 2022 team they had was pretty darn good. Still think they were the best team in the country that year but got upset by a great York team.

Great team, but not the best for obvious reasons…

I'd say that '22 team reached a higher peak than '23, if only because they blew out Salisbury in the regular season.

[MVPiccoli]

This is the best team they’ve ever had on paper. They will continue to be in the mix going forward but they missed out on a great opportunity if they don’t cash in now

That 2022 team they had was pretty darn good. Still think they were the best team in the country that year but got upset by a great York team.

Great team, but not the best for obvious reasons…

I'd say that '22 team reached a higher peak than '23, if only because they blew out Salisbury in the regular season.

That was a crazy result. You would have to do some real digging to find another team that beat the Gulls by 10.

[Laxguy703]

This is the best team they’ve ever had on paper. They will continue to be in the mix going forward but they missed out on a great opportunity if they don’t cash in now

That 2022 team they had was pretty darn good. Still think they were the best team in the country that year but got upset by a great York team.

Great team, but not the best for obvious reasons…

I'd say that '22 team reached a higher peak than '23, if only because they blew out Salisbury in the regular season.

That was a crazy result. You would have to do some real digging to find another team that beat the Gulls by 10.

That 2022 team was crazy good. When they were at their best, there wasn’t a team that could be them. The beat Salisbury by 10, led a good Gettysburg team 15-2 at one point, beat Wesleyan by 14 in the sweet 16, beat Williams 15-2… They were dismantling teams. The talent they had was so impressive. For reference, Andrew Cook wasn’t even a top 2 offensive player on this team. They also had guys like Altobello, Brendes, and miller.. Their defense had a PLL starter/POY, a DPOY, a 1st team AA D-Mid, and two 2nd team AA poles.

I truly believed they were going to win it all, but they ran into a hot goalie in York’s Jack Michael. He had about 15 saves but the saves he made were crazy. At least 3 or 4 were doorstep saves.

[aroundtheoutside]

The story of the 2024 season will be "what could have been." But the Captains fought hard down the stretch. I'm sure this will sting for a while, but hopefully that becomes fuel for the young guys who take up the mantle from here on out.

A moment for this class of seniors and 5th years, who took this program to new heights. I'll miss watching Ryan Young terrorizing attackmen, Brendes scrapping and clawing for every goal, Auslander playing brilliant, cerebral lacrosse, and entire defensive units panicking when Cook comes downhill.

I'm excited to see how this program rebounds next year. They have a lot of young talent that's been overlooked in all the attention on the veterans. MT has been phenomenal at recruiting, so I'm sure there are some more studs coming in. And they always seem to grab a meaningful transfer or two. CNU won't go away next year, much to the chagrin of a lot of people on this board who seem so eager to bury them. They won't be top 5, but they'll be a nuisance in the middle of the pack of the top 20. I think that's the best kind of experience a new young core could have.

It's been interesting to see how much hate and criticism CNU gets on this forum. I'm not really sure why that is, but I wonder if some of the "old guard" don't like the idea of a relatively new program like CNU becoming competitive so quickly. Smells like insecurity to me.

[choochooCharlie]

The story of the 2024 season will be "what could have been." But the Captains fought hard down the stretch. I'm sure this will sting for a while, but hopefully that becomes fuel for the young guys who take up the mantle from here on out.

A moment for this class of seniors and 5th years, who took this program to new heights. I'll miss watching Ryan Young terrorizing attackmen, Brendes scrapping and clawing for every goal, Auslander playing brilliant, cerebral lacrosse, and entire defensive units panicking when Cook comes downhill.

I'm excited to see how this program rebounds next year. They have a lot of young talent that's been overlooked in all the attention on the veterans. MT has been phenomenal at recruiting, so I'm sure there are some more studs coming in. And they always seem to grab a meaningful transfer or two. CNU won't go away next year, much to the chagrin of a lot of people on this board who seem so eager to bury them. They won't be top 5, but they'll be a nuisance in the middle of the pack of the top 20. I think that's the best kind of experience a new young core could have.

It's been interesting to see how much hate and criticism CNU gets on this forum. I'm not really sure why that is, but I wonder if some of the "old guard" don't like the idea of a relatively new program like CNU becoming competitive so quickly. Smells like insecurity to me.

Well said.