SAA 2019

[parallax]

Much anticipation for the Rhodes/Berry game this year. It will be a home game for Berry and they will be motivated. Both teams will have a lot to play for in that game. Interesting fact, Rhodes seniors (and all returning players) have never lost to Berry. Conversely, not a single Berry player has seen victory against Rhodes. Rhodes is a team that gets better and better every year and this year will be no exception. Skill and match-ups will be important, but grit, motivation and coaching will have a lot to do with who wins.

[Cavitee]

Just look at where Rhodes is bringing players in from on their roster - McDonough, SSSA, Gilman, Severn, etc. These aren’t guys who are the primary scorers or D1 recruits but they’ve played high school at the highest level and practiced against it every day.
Doesn’t equate to wins or PT in college but that’s a different experience than guys from an area where lacrosse is in its infancy and hasn’t been established...

[Cavitee]

Any SAA updates? Saw Rhodes defeat Depauw 15-10 in a sloppy affair on Saturday and played Illinois Wesleyan to an 8-6 deficit with 6 min left in the fourth quarter. Only to lose 12-7 after btb games and 4/21 effort at the FO X took its toll.

[saltlaxcity]

Pretty cool to see Berry playing a tight one with the big dogs at Salisbury.

Rhodes in a much tighter one than maybe expected with Depauw?

Centre playing Wittenberg to a close one in their home opener, didn't win but maybe a couple younger guys making some noise for them this year?

[Cheeseandcrackers]

Depauw is a program on the rise. Last year they finished third in the NCAC and made the conference tournament for the first time in program history. So ... don't read too much into an early season score. Likewise Illinois Wesleyan is a strong program and ended last year as a Regionally Ranked team.

[laxmarmot]

Some interesting take away's from the recent result, while SAA teams have improved their SOS, they have to get better to get the positive results they would like to have. Well at least they aren't ducking those teams either. Olgethorpe got a win vs Averett 6-2 while the rest of the teams came up short vs mostly, more storied teams, Sewanee falls to Roanoke 7-17, BSC falls to Bridgewater 10-18, Rhodes loses to Il. Wes. 12-7, Centre drops one to Wittenburg. But Huntingdon over Hendrix 11-6 is a head-scratchier for me, come on guys. Well everyone gets 1 Mulligan I guess. Well I hope they gets the kinks worked out soon across the Conference.

[southlaxfacts]

Some interesting take away's from the recent result, while SAA teams have improved their SOS, they have to get better to get the positive results they would like to have. Well at least they aren't ducking those teams either. Olgethorpe got a win vs Averett 6-2 while the rest of the teams came up short vs mostly, more storied teams, Sewanee falls to Roanoke 7-17, BSC falls to Bridgewater 10-18, Rhodes loses to Il. Wes. 12-7, Centre drops one to Wittenburg. But Huntingdon over Hendrix 11-6 is a head-scratchier for me, come on guys. Well everyone gets 1 Mulligan I guess. Well I hope they gets the kinks worked out soon across the Conference.

Hendrix is now 2-6 all time against Huntingdon - don't think that game was a head scratcher at all.

Rhodes vs Huntingdon on Wednesday & then BSC vs. Huntingdon on Saturday - Looking forward to these two games

[Cavitee]

Arguably, Rhodes biggest win in program history - 12-10 victory over Muhlenberg. They were up 12-4 until a 6-0 run but prior to that it was all Rhodes. 19/23 FO will do that...

[saltlaxcity]

Conference play getting nice and shaken up, Berry going down to Centre in OT. Helpful when Centre’s goalie had 17 saves to Berry’s 4.

Great win for Sewanee over Springfield as well.

Thoughts..?

[smacryan]

So we are 1 to 2 games into conference play and it is Rhode, Sewanee and...Centre? Berry is last. Great win for Centre. From what I have heard there are a lot of walkouts at Berry. Hurting their chances this year.

Sewanee has had a pretty shaky start to the season. Loss to Guillford should have been a wake up call, but it wasn’t. Loss to Kenyon apparently was.

Only common opponent for Sewanee and Rhodes so far is Colorado College. Loss for Rhodes and win for Sewanee.

[parallax]

Sewanee and Rhodes both continue to get better. Rhodes played Denison tough and many positives for them in that game. Denison destroyed Roanoke and Roanoke had their way with Sewanee... Although I did not predict Centre beating Berry, no one should be surprised by this. Berry front-loaded their schedule with bruising and in some cases, demoralizing, games...wonder if there is anything left in the tank for Berry. Will be interested to see how Rhodes/Berry game will turn out next weekend, but we could be looking at the decisive conference game in 3 weeks (Sewanee v. Rhodes).

[saltlaxcity]

Ah, the classic comparing of scores with common opponents.

An interesting take on Berry, as many consistently stress the importance of SAA teams having a strong OOC schedule to be more than prepared for conference play.

Interested to see how the rest of this season shakes out.

[laxmarmot]

So we are 1 to 2 games into conference play and it is Rhode, Sewanee and...Centre? Berry is last. Great win for Centre. From what I have heard there are a lot of walkouts at Berry. Hurting their chances this year.

Care to expand on the "lots of walk outs" part of your comment ?

[droliver]

Looks like Rhodes and Sewanee have separated themselves out so far.

Centre and Birmingham Southern (BSC) have a lot of common opponents they've been playing pretty similarly. That h2h is a toss up to me, but BSC makes a long road trip there thursday for a Centre-Sewanee swing this weekend. . BSC's depth has been an issue this year, but they already have 15+ commits for the 2019 class. The tuition cut BSC did in 2018 is making it > 30% less expensive cost of attendance then everyone in the conference, which seems to be paying off in recruiting.

Very surprised with Berry's struggles. They have some very talented players, a great coach, and were coming off a strong 2018. I still wouldn't be surprised if they made the tournament finals if they avoid Rhodes in seeding despite their YTD.

[boxrec103]

Watched Centre vs. Berry online. No doubt that Berry had the superior athletes, and when they pressed out Centre struggled with possessions. But there was a critical 3-minute unreleasable against Berry in the third quarter that allowed Centre to score twice and tie the game. And as a previous poster pointed out, goaltending was key -- as Centre was able to make some key stops and Berry was not.

[southlaxfacts]

Looks like Rhodes and Sewanee have separated themselves out so far.

BSC's depth has been an issue this year, but they already have 15+ commits for the 2019 class. The tuition cut BSC did in 2018 is making it > 30% less expensive cost of attendance then everyone in the conference, which seems to be paying off in recruiting.

That tuition cut is not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be, yeah they cut the price tag on tuition, but they also cut their academic scholarships - So a student looking at another SAA school will more than likely be paying the same out of pocket cost. Hopefully BSC brings in a faceoff specialist (only 42% on the season). They're also graduating their best midfielder and their best attackman, so hopefully a few of those alleged 15+ commits can actually play.


Rhodes is going to win this conference, and be the #8 seed again so that they can host and end up beating the winner of the USA South in the NCAA tournament..& then they'll go play the #1 seed and lose -- Same as last year.

[smacryan]

So we are 1 to 2 games into conference play and it is Rhode, Sewanee and...Centre? Berry is last. Great win for Centre. From what I have heard there are a lot of walkouts at Berry. Hurting their chances this year.

Care to expand on the "lots of walk outs" part of your comment ?

I would if I could. That was said to me by a Berry parent. I didn’t see the Centre-Berry game. Sounds like others have a better idea of what explained that game.

[droliver]

.

[Cavitee]

Using Colorado College common opponent comparison for Rhodes and Sewanee, there is a glaring statistical difference - FO.
In Sewanee’s victory against CC they were 25/34 at the dot in Rhodes loss they were 11/32. Definitely, an area that could decide which team advances to the NCAA...

[boxrec103]

Saw Centre defeat BSC 9-6 at Ferris Stadium Friday night. Good crowd, with some raucous students making a lot of noise. Coach Zim is getting a lot out of a team that appears to have only a handful of dodgers who can win their individual match ups. The glue that holds it all together is a solid defense and above all their goalie. When BSC looked to be making a run in the third quarter he came up big with several momentum-killing saves. I've heard snippets about their 2019 recruiting class, which apparently includes a speedy, talented attackman -- which is what they need next year to help get defenses rotating. They did better at the X this game, but they likely need an upgrade there and with wing play as well.