DIII Postseason

[admin]

D3 WOMEN SEMIFINALS: Middlebury vs. Wesleyan and Salisbury vs. Tufts on Saturday, May 25.
http://fanlax.com/fanlax/2019/05/19/d3- ... y-may-25/

[westcoastlax]

NESCAC nearly sent four teams to final four. Amherst lost in a heart breaker. They scored the go-ahead goal with 1 minute left only to have it taken off the board due to a dangerous follow through to the head. (Likely not called in most D1 games). Salisbury took advantage of the man-up opportunity and scored the game-winner with 4 seconds remaining.

Middlebury was dominating. Salisbury defense was also very strong. I look for Middlebury to face Salisbury in the finals.

[lovelax]

Congratulations to final four. No three-peat by Bullets this year. Due to the staggered start time I was able to watch some of all of the quarterfinal games. Tufts cruised to its win over York. Middlebury dominated F&M. Wesleyan played an uncharacteristically sloppy Bullet team who had 12 turnovers in the first half alone...many unforced. Wes has some attackers that are difficult to match up with and the team played a great game. Two lighting delays in that one. Salisbury also won a close game v Amherst. I really thought Amherst would win that game. Hats off the Gulls who now have a tall order with Tufts who is playing very well. Tufts still nursing their NESCAC POY back into form. The next week should help her ankle issues.

Of the final four teams only Middlebury has played all three teams and was 4-0. Midd won the early season meeting over Wes by one goal in low scoring game at Wes. Both teams are much different now. Wes is coming off impressive wins v Coaches' poll # 1, #2, and # 9 and now faces #3. Midd has very balanced scoring with D and goaltending paying terrific lacrosse. I see another low-scoring game. If Midd can neutralize Wes' top scorer again (held to no points and one shot on goal) and hold their own on the draw I give a slight edge to Midd . Midd also on a roll winning 20 straight and dismantling F&M who has faded as of late (key injury to AA defender was a factor) I think this will be the more competitive game of the two semis.

In the other semi Tufts has too much firepower for Gulls to handle. Tufts rookie of the year looks healthy again and their POY is also rounding into form. I don't think experience matters that much here....but edge to the Gulls. Tufts athleticism too much for the Gulls with Tufts moving on to the finals. Gulls had a gift draw and their season ends in semis again on Saturday. Credit them for their gutsy comeback against Amherst and for returning to the final four after heavy graduation losses. Nestor with a great job getting them back to the semis.

All NESCAC final on Sunday. Tufts beat Wes 2x and lost to Midd 2x in on-goal losses. While its tough to beat a team three times in a season, past history goes out the window when playing the NC. I think Midd wins another nail-biter v Tufts on Sunday. Playing the early semi also gives more time to rest for the next day's game. While official times have not been posted, the bracket traditionally has the "left side" playing at 11:30 am. Lets hope for no lighting delays this year. Let the fun begin.

[seacoaster]

Yes, Middlebury v. Wesleyan at 11:30, followed by Tufts v. Salisbury at 2:30. Championship is Sunday, 5/26 at 2:00. My rooting interest is Middlebury, but I have no idea how these games will turn out.

[giffordfan27]

Wow. What a tournament we've had so far. Three of four teams from the NESCAC? Who would've thought?! Well probably a lot of people....

My thoughts for this weekend at Randy Mac....

Giving Middlebury the edge in the first game. Middlebury will be challenged for the first time all tournament. Wesleyan will give them a great game, but Middlebury is just too good and has been too dominant in this tournament to be denied a trip to the title game. I'm not even sure dominant is a strong enough word to describe Midd's performance thus far in the tourney. They've got a +40 goal differential in three NCAA tournament games -- my God. Middlebury hasn't lost since their first game of the year and that was all the way back on March the 2nd. What a group of lacrosse players they've got up in Vermont.

Similar story in game 2 IMO. Tufts is clearly hitting their stride and will beat Salisbury on Saturday. In at one point in both the Sweet 16/Elite 8 games, they stretched the lead to seven and neither game was really ever in doubt. You hate to play the score comparison game, but given the outcomes of Salisbury/York games this year you have to like the Jumbos. Here's a team that swept the NESCAC individual awards (Side Note: given that the NESCAC has three teams in the Final Four, you'd have to think these three ladies are a good bet for National ROY, OPOY, DPOY...) and, to me, had only one weakness. While both ladies looked good in cage, I am never a fan of goalies splitting halves and always thought this was their biggest weakness. In the elite eight, however, the full game nod was given to senior Audrey Evers and she had a career game. So now, the Bos biggest weakness has turned into one of biggest strengths in all of sports: a hot goalie in the postseason.

As far as the National Championship....there are some COMPELLING story lines
This Middlebury team that hasn't lost since March 2. They came from behind to beat Tufts in the NESCAC championship game. The Tufts seniors have NEVER logged a win against Midd and have taken the program the farthest its ever gone. In their third matchup of the season, third time's the charm...

[westcoastlax]

Middlebury was firing on all cylinders today and played one of their best games of the year. They were dominant on the draw and cruised to victory over Wesleyan.

Salisbury's defense was very good again today. Their goalie play was particularly strong. Offensively their inside passing was impressive and picked apart openings in the Tufts zone.

It should be a great matchup tomorrow. Both teams will make some adjustments based on what they saw today. It should be a great final between two of the perennial powerhouses.

[admin]

[admin]

[seacoaster]

Middlebury wins, 14-9.

[admin]

[markdelax]

Great tournament performance by Middlebury. A D1 team in D3 clothing. Well deserved and fun to watch such a good team. What depth, athleticism and coaching. The team to beat in 2020 for sure.

[Matnum PI]

A D1 team in D3 clothing.

Agreed. A quality squad. But that may be a little too much.

[Badlands]

Would love to watch these games. Are they available online?

[admin]

Yes

[lovelax]

Congratulations to Middlebury who dominated the playoffs with a goal differential of 53 (86-33) Too many threats on attack to contain and terrific D and goaltending. They took early leads and were not seriously threatened in either game. Many of the key players will be back and they started two freshman. Very impressive. However, they will also lose a large and talented senior class. They graduated three AAs last year and only got better this year so we will see what they have in store for 2020.

I was also impressed by Salisbury who I had losing every game from the quarters on......Their ball movement and D was terrific and gave Tufts fits. After heavy losses to graduation they went farther this year than last year. Coach Nestor regrouped his team after a lackluster early/mid season and they peaked at the end. I hadn't seen them play for several weeks and they improved tremendously. The Coach's adjustments with the team were impressive. Great job by the coach and team. However, Midd just too strong in the finals. They will graduate some key players but had some underclassmen really step up this year. They should be strong next year and take back the CAC from York.

Wes was dominated on the draw by Midd...which was one of Wesleyan's strengths all year. I believe Midd won 11 of 12 first half draws and ended up 18-8 with Wes getting the last few when the game was not in doubt. They graduate much of the D but return a great G and strong M/A. The coach has done a great job here and I'm sure the culture and talent will improve the longer she is there. They also return their leading scorer who is a handful to stop. Midd shut her out in the regular season game and did a nice job neutralizing her in the semis. However she is a serious POY contender.

Tufts was a bit disappointing. I though they would play better but Salisbury was on a mission in that game. Goaltending and ball movement from Salisbury was tufts undoing. Maybe experience was a factor here with Salisbury returning to the final four again after losing their semi to Gettysburg last year. In any event Tufts gave notice they are a team of the future. They graduate some key pieces but return their leading scorers. Freshman goalie also played well at times.

Thank you to all contributors to this thread. Its nice to see different perspectives on these games.