MAC 2023

[Ricky Spanish]

Real nice win for Sewanee over Messiah - holding them to 7 goals and controlling play from start to finish on both ends of the field. Messiah looked rattled early and never really recovered.

[DeepPocket]

Real nice win for Sewanee over Messiah - holding them to 7 goals and controlling play from start to finish on both ends of the field. Messiah looked rattled early and never really recovered.

Yes it was. And my call was WAAAAY off. Oh well, my Stevenson one was damn close with a 12-8 Lynchburg final.

[laxrules]

Full slate of MACtion this weekend, with some ranked opponents, some crossover MAC games, as well as some out of region NCAC + NESCAC on the schedules.
**Commonwealth
**Freedom

Friday
Messiah Sewanee - 22-5 Messiah
#RV Stevenson #9 Lynchburg - 13-7 Lynchburg

Saturday
#RV Stevens #12 Wesleyan - 14-10 Wesleyan
#10 York #6 Salisbury - 14-12 York
Eastern Arcadia - 15-8 Eastern
Hood DelVal - 12-6 Hood
LVC Kings - 17-3 LVC
Alvernia FDU - 10-9 OT Alvernia

Sunday
Albright OWU - 18-8 OWU
Lycoming Drew - 15-13 Drew

MAC Freedom's Stevens get it done in a big way Vs Wesleyan. 10-2 at half. 15-7 final!! Congrats Coach Peluso on 300. Not a lot of folks thought Peluso would get 300 instead of Raba. Crazy they both had 299 going into game.
Either way a very Good win for the weaker half side of MAC.

[DeepPocket]

MAC Freedom's Stevens get it done in a big way Vs Wesleyan. 10-2 at half. 15-7 final!! Congrats Coach Peluso on 300. Not a lot of folks thought Peluso would get 300 instead of Raba. Crazy they both had 299 going into game.
Either way a very Good win for the weaker half side of MAC.

Huge win! Congrats on 300 indeed. Doing it in a big way!

Staring down the barrel of Eastern and then Tuffs before heading into conference play.

[HockeyLaxGolf42]

MAC Freedom's Stevens get it done in a big way Vs Wesleyan. 10-2 at half. 15-7 final!! Congrats Coach Peluso on 300. Not a lot of folks thought Peluso would get 300 instead of Raba. Crazy they both had 299 going into game.
Either way a very Good win for the weaker half side of MAC.

Huge win! Congrats on 300 indeed. Doing it in a big way!

Staring down the barrel of Eastern and then Tuffs before heading into conference play.

Has to be one of stevens biggest regular season wins in a while. Good for them. Excellent roster overhaul in the offseason has given them the chance to compete

[viper]

Has to be one of stevens biggest regular season wins in a while. Good for them. Excellent roster overhaul in the offseason has given them the chance to compete

First win over a ranked team since 2019 I believe. They have been a solid team in recent years but never really complete enough to finish against teams in or near the top 10. Though they have come close a few times.

This year does look "different". Looks like Peluso has reaped the benefits of the transfer portal (and the addition of the freshman Pergola). Leahy, Hughes and Crowly have been huge additions. It really does look like Stevens has enough depth this year to not worry about a few select players having a "down game" at any point. While the attack has been quite consistent, each game somebody different is stepping up from the midfield scoring side.

It also seems to me that they are playing a lot more of their roster than they have in years past. That should also benefit them as the season goes on from a wear and tear perspective.

Looking forward to seeing how they fare against Tufts next Saturday.....

[DeepPocket]

Couple of good ones mid week for the MACs. Stevens has a crossover game with Eastern, and Messiah visits E’town, still high from their wins over St Mary’s and F&M.

Stevens 17-7
Elizabethtown 15-14 OT

[NElaxtalent]

Couple of good ones mid week for the MACs. Stevens has a crossover game with Eastern, and Messiah visits E’town, still high from their wins over St Mary’s and F&M.

Stevens 17-7
Elizabethtown 15-14 OT

Given Elizabethtown's win over a F&M team that manhandled Messiah, I'd lean towards:

Elizabethtown 17
Messiah 11

[NElaxtalent]

Couple of good ones mid week for the MACs. Stevens has a crossover game with Eastern, and Messiah visits E’town, still high from their wins over St Mary’s and F&M.

Stevens 17-7
Elizabethtown 15-14 OT

Nice call on Elizabethtown - Messiah OT, great 4th Q & OT, Messiah gets a big, confidence building road W

[viper]

Couple of good ones mid week for the MACs. Stevens has a crossover game with Eastern, and Messiah visits E’town, still high from their wins over St Mary’s and F&M.

Stevens 17-7
Elizabethtown 15-14 OT

Nice call on Elizabethtown - Messiah OT, great 4th Q & OT, Messiah gets a big, confidence building road W

Stevens gets by Eastern 14-10. Lead most of the way but could never really feel safe until the end. Hughes has a huge day with 6 goals and 7 points while the attack did what they usually do. Leahy wasn't quite as sharp as against Wesleyan, but was a brick wall when it mattered in the 4th. Overall a good win on the road for the Ducks despite the fact that they were out-groundballed by 20 (42-22) and were dominated at the faceoff circle (only 10/27). Two very connected stats.

Those possessions will be crucial on Saturday against Tufts.

[DeepPocket]

York over F&M, then falling to Amherst.

Stevenson over Dickinson, looking on to RIT tonight.

Messiah with yet another win, this time vs a strong Grove City squad. They move to 6-2.

And Stevens looks to put another NESCAC notch in their belt. They have Tufts coming to visit tomorrow at 1pm.

[DeepPocket]

Weekly MACtion of note:

Wednesday
Widener plays host to Colby, traveling from some of the farthest reaches of the NESCAC.

Eastern runs “down the shore” to take on a potent Stockton team. There’s a joke in there somewhere if I could tie in “It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: The Gang Goes To The Jersey Shore.”

Saturday
York has their first ever meeting with rising PA program Grove City, who will be fresh off a visit to Denison this Wednesday.

Eastern will have their next door neighbor, Cabrini, walk across the street for a play date.

Stevenson, fresh off a 1-1 Mustang Classic which included the upset of a highly touted Dickinson squad, will have another opportunity to play giant slayer as they host Salisbury under the lights.

Stevens cruises into conference play, and looks to continue putting the automatic in “Automatic Qualifier.”

[viper]

Stevens cruises into conference play, and looks to continue putting the automatic in “Automatic Qualifier.”

I like that quote . The Tufts game last Saturday was a reminder that while much improved and having a great start to the year - they have a ways to go to get to that top tier of DIII. However, as you implied , they likely won't lose again before the NCAA tournament with nothing but MAC Freedom play for the remainder of the year and no indication to date that any of the other conference teams have progressed as much as Stevens since last year.

[DeepPocket]

Widener with a strong showing in their 16-14 win over Colby.

[DeepPocket]

Notable MACtion of the week;

Just two OOC games, and both on Wednesday. Stevenson looks to get back in the win column vs Kean, and Misericordia is having their first ever meeting with a resurgent Ithaca squad.

In conference; Saturday York will face the “new look” Messiah, and Eastern and Widener will square off, which will all hopefully provide more clarity to the third spot in the commonwealth.

Eastern vs Widener is typically a good game, and this one has the makings to be great. Eastern should be hungry. They’re coming off 4 straight losses, two of which were to ranked opponents. Widener should be flying high, coming off two solid wins. One in a MAC crossover against usual MAC freedom #2 Arcadia, and a hard fought one over Colby of the NESCAC (putting the MAC at 2-2 vs NESCAC, I’ll take it).

[NElaxtalent]

Perhaps an early preview of MAC tourney field (minus Stevenson of course)?

[DeepPocket]

Messiah’s Chad Teresky seems to be an all-MAC lock. The Air Force transfer is leading the conference in points, tied for 1st in goals, & 2nd in assists.

I don’t expect them to compete with York for 4 quarters tomorrow, but Messiah has some solid pieces and can likely make some noise (relative to expectations) in-conference play+tournament. I’m certain they would like another shot at F&M now that they’ve gelled. Tomorrow will give them a chance to show just how much progress has been made.

Calling 18-10 York

[NElaxtalent]

Messiah’s Chad Teresky seems to be an all-MAC lock. The Air Force transfer is leading the conference in points, tied for 1st in goals, & 2nd in assists.

I don’t expect them to compete with York for 4 quarters tomorrow, but Messiah has some solid pieces and can likely make some noise (relative to expectations) in-conference play+tournament. I’m certain they would like another shot at F&M now that they’ve gelled. Tomorrow will give them a chance to show just how much progress has been made.

Calling 18-10 York

York's FO dominance & 10 man ride strangled Messiah out of offensive possessions. York's relentless play was impressive as was their offensive depth as I believe 14 different players scored. That's pretty amazing depth. Well coached, unselfish & classy program.

[DeepPocket]

York's FO dominance & 10 man ride strangled Messiah out of offensive possessions. York's relentless play was impressive as was their offensive depth as I believe 14 different players scored. That's pretty amazing depth. Well coached, unselfish & classy program.

Messiah will get a chance to bounce right back, as they visit Eastern on Wednesday. Eastern’s offense is lead by the Fanelli brothers, with brother Nick now averaging just over Messiah’s Teresky in points per game for the conference lead. Last year it was an 18-14 game in Eastern’s favor. I see that same score flipped this year, going 18-14 Messiah.

Other MACtion of note;
York gets back to out of conference business, facing a pair of top 20 foes.

Wednesday #4 Gettysburg takes a ride up Rt 30 to Kinsley field. Both teams are defensively sound, and typically it’s a relatively low scoring affair between the two. Gettysburg’s offense had a better go vs Salisbury, but York has made some personnel adjustments since. I’m saying it’s an 11-9 coin flip. (the heart says York, but it always does)

Saturday #13 Denison comes to town. They’ll certainly be fired up after dropping a tough one to Kenyon. York did a better job vs W&L, but it was early season for the whole lot of them. 16-12 York, final answer.

[NElaxtalent]

I'll predict both as OT thrillers this eve.

Based on Eastern's upperclassmen, I give them the OT edge at 14-13.

I'll take York over Gettysburg in OT 11-10. Both have great D players but I give York the edge in shooters.