Centennial Conference 2020

[d3blood1]

Who does everyone think the favorite is to win the CC this year?

[Dips_lax]

one biased vote for F&M. They don't lose much on offense, if they can sure up the defense, get 50%+ saves in cage and FO they can be elite nationally. Gettysburg is always good front to back, Ursinus lost a lot of production and leadership to graduation but this team seem to grind it out and play for their new coach. Both Gettyburg and Ursinus in the top 10 in the way too early pre-season rankings. Gettysburg i get, Ursinus seems to be the media darling. They are good but top 10? idk about that.

That early exit in the ncaas was awful for the conference. No way CC gets more than 2 in the tournament next year so CC championship is almost the only path to the NCAAs. they collectively blew it.....

[overandback]

Hard to not be impressed by Ursinus 2019's ride. Pretty great story.
I didn't see the Springfield game but heard it was a great one. No shame in losing to a well-coached Springfield team that then went to Cabrini and hung tough (for 3 Qs) a few days later.
But agree....all CC teams hunting for bids should feel a little extra pressure to avoid the committee/bubble in '20.

[PAlaxfan90]

My Predictions for the Coaches Poll
1. Gettysburg
2. F&M
3. Ursinus
4. Dickinson
5. Washington
6. Muhlenberg
7. Swarthmore
8. Haverford
9. McDaniel

[d3blood1]

My Predictions for the Coaches Poll
1. Gettysburg
2. F&M
3. Ursinus
4. Dickinson
5. Washington
6. Muhlenberg
7. Swarthmore
8. Haverford
9. McDaniel

Do you think this conference is wide open or gettysburgs to lose?

[PAlaxfan90]

My Predictions for the Coaches Poll
1. Gettysburg
2. F&M
3. Ursinus
4. Dickinson
5. Washington
6. Muhlenberg
7. Swarthmore
8. Haverford
9. McDaniel

Do you think this conference is wide open or gettysburgs to lose?

I think that F&M, Gettysburg, and Ursinus all have a strong shot at the CC. I would be very surprised if there is a newcomer to the CC playoffs this year, but spots 5-8 are highly debatable.

[yearofthemules3]

This is the Mules year my sons. Agree or disagree?

[SpartanLaxFanatic]

Few Thoughts:
WAC And Haverford lose a ton - look for them to be in rebuild mode at least for this year.

Muhlenberg didn't lose much if anything from last year, could definitely see them rising up a bit. However, a lot will depend on how efficiently and quickly Grossman can come back after a serious knee injury from late last year. He's their guy and they need him to be him in order to make noise.

This is a year I could see Dickinson falling out of the playoffs, lost a boatload of talent from the past two years. It is Webby and they recruit phenomenally so I don't doubt the talent but the experience lost will be tough to overcome.

Pretty clear Top 3 for me are F&M, Gburg and Ursinus in no particular order. Dips offense will be insane and tough to stop. That attack line looks a hell of a lot similar to what Ursinus had last year with a senior, junior and soph all super talented and having a year of playing together under their belt, expecting big things. Their defense is gonna need some major help, they lose O'Connor, clearly their best guy there for the past two years. Something needs to be rewired on that end in order to be holding the trophy. Gburg returns their entire defense and all LSMs - they will be far and away the best in the conference. Super excited to see that unit, Wykoff, Horn and the boys should be lock down all year and they might need to be because I have some questions on the other end of the field. Losing Harvey, Heller and Gartska will be tough....again it's GBurg so there will/should be talent in the pipeline but that offense was NOT GOOD at the end of 2019 so they need to prove they can be efficient in 2020. Lastly, the 2019 cinderella champs Ursinus - first off what a 2019 for them, nobody saw that coming. Scarier part is......did they even lose that much?? I understand the leadership aspect but talent wise they really lost DeSimone and Kirk. I understand DeSimone was a 4 year stud for them but they showed they can survive (and more) without him down there. Kirk might be tougher to replace, he was their guy at the end of last year. That said, McClure and Attillasoy are both studs at attack and they lose one guy from their defense/LSM unit - expect them to be right in the mix this year.

[CTlaxer12]

I would agree with the F&M, Gburg, and Ursinus contingent. As others have said, after last year's first round debacle, the conference will be lucky to get two bids this year.

As far as the champ, Gburg needs a boost on the offensive end. The D should be very solid and one of the better units, if not the best unit in the south. F&M has a loaded offense and talent all over the field. I would pick them to win the conference but for the fact that they could not find a way to finish games last year, and wilted down the stretch against Ursinus and Stevenson. The close D has talent, but they definitely need an upgrade in playing team D. They also have not been able to stabilize the keeper situation, which has hurt them tremendously over the past two seasons. Ursinus loses some contributing seniors, but also returns talent. I could see a drop off from last year, but not sure.

I think its a toss up in the top 3, and then a drop off after that. I won't even venture to guess the champion. But I will say if any of the top 3 has national aspirations, it will need to take care of conference business first.

[cigslax11]

This is the Mules year my sons. Agree or disagree?

Disagree, mules have been known to have a “great young core” but it’s been that way for quite some time and nothing has changed. It’s gonna be hard for them to bounce Gburg, UC, Dickinson or F&M from the top four. I see them in and around the 5 spot with haverford and swat. McDaniel is in a class of its own. They’ve been a hot mess for quite some time. With the amount of coaches they had you would think someone would think of something that could work. Love UC and F&M to meet up in the CC with UC coming out on top.

[d3blood1]

This is the Mules year my sons. Agree or disagree?

Disagree, mules have been known to have a “great young core” but it’s been that way for quite some time and nothing has changed. It’s gonna be hard for them to bounce Gburg, UC, Dickinson or F&M from the top four. I see them in and around the 5 spot with haverford and swat. McDaniel is in a class of its own. They’ve been a hot mess for quite some time. With the amount of coaches they had you would think someone would think of something that could work. Love UC and F&M to meet up in the CC with UC coming out on top.

What is your reasoning for UC over F&M? curious

[cigslax11]

This is the Mules year my sons. Agree or disagree?

Disagree, mules have been known to have a “great young core” but it’s been that way for quite some time and nothing has changed. It’s gonna be hard for them to bounce Gburg, UC, Dickinson or F&M from the top four. I see them in and around the 5 spot with haverford and swat. McDaniel is in a class of its own. They’ve been a hot mess for quite some time. With the amount of coaches they had you would think someone would think of something that could work. Love UC and F&M to meet up in the CC with UC coming out on top.

What is your reasoning for UC over F&M? curious

I think UC didn’t lose much besides Desimone and Kirk. We saw that they could perform offensively without Desimone, with Atillasoy and McClure being tough to cover. The midfield is a question mark but we saw Minardi come out of nowhere towards the end of the season. I love what F&M presents offensively and at the X but defensively they have struggled and they are weak in the net. I think it’ll be a great game and a close one, but UC will prevail due to special teams and defense.

[therocketpocket]

This is the Mules year my sons. Agree or disagree?

Disagree, mules have been known to have a “great young core” but it’s been that way for quite some time and nothing has changed. It’s gonna be hard for them to bounce Gburg, UC, Dickinson or F&M from the top four. I see them in and around the 5 spot with haverford and swat. McDaniel is in a class of its own. They’ve been a hot mess for quite some time. With the amount of coaches they had you would think someone would think of something that could work. Love UC and F&M to meet up in the CC with UC coming out on top.

What is your reasoning for UC over F&M? curious

I think UC didn’t lose much besides Desimone and Kirk. We saw that they could perform offensively without Desimone, with Atillasoy and McClure being tough to cover. The midfield is a question mark but we saw Minardi come out of nowhere towards the end of the season. I love what F&M presents offensively and at the X but defensively they have struggled and they are weak in the net. I think it’ll be a great game and a close one, but UC will prevail due to special teams and defense.

I would argue the Desimone and Kirk were the most valuable players on the Ursinus roster in 2019. They will be huge losses on the field as well as leadership too. How are there recruits looking?

My early CC Rankings look as such:
1. Gettysburg
2. Muhlenberg
3. F&M
4. Ursinus

5. Swat
6. Dickinson- I do not see Dickinson having a favorable season losing there so many impact players at every position

[cigslax11]

This is the Mules year my sons. Agree or disagree?

Disagree, mules have been known to have a “great young core” but it’s been that way for quite some time and nothing has changed. It’s gonna be hard for them to bounce Gburg, UC, Dickinson or F&M from the top four. I see them in and around the 5 spot with haverford and swat. McDaniel is in a class of its own. They’ve been a hot mess for quite some time. With the amount of coaches they had you would think someone would think of something that could work. Love UC and F&M to meet up in the CC with UC coming out on top.

What is your reasoning for UC over F&M? curious

I think UC didn’t lose much besides Desimone and Kirk. We saw that they could perform offensively without Desimone, with Atillasoy and McClure being tough to cover. The midfield is a question mark but we saw Minardi come out of nowhere towards the end of the season. I love what F&M presents offensively and at the X but defensively they have struggled and they are weak in the net. I think it’ll be a great game and a close one, but UC will prevail due to special teams and defense.

I would argue the Desimone and Kirk were the most valuable players on the Ursinus roster in 2019. They will be huge losses on the field as well as leadership too. How are there recruits looking?

My early CC Rankings look as such:
1. Gettysburg
2. Muhlenberg
3. F&M
4. Ursinus

5. Swat
6. Dickinson- I do not see Dickinson having a favorable season losing there so many impact players at every position

Mules at 2? Would love to hear your reasoning for them there. Don’t see how you can put them above ursinus after giving up 20 to them two years in a row. F&M has also handled them easily. They did play a close game with Gburg last season but putting them at 2 is so mind boggling to me.

[therocketpocket]

Feeding off there resurgence last year, i think the offense will continue to be one of the conference leaders. There youth in Dalimonte and Grossman could prove to be one of the top 1-2 punches in the CC. Feaster is also a very strong player and can be a bully at the X; lastly they definitely have the goalie play.

[d3blood1]

Is a lot of talent across the board returning for the CC? Or will we see a lot of new names this year?

[cigslax11]

Feeding off there resurgence last year, i think the offense will continue to be one of the conference leaders. There youth in Dalimonte and Grossman could prove to be one of the top 1-2 punches in the CC. Feaster is also a very strong player and can be a bully at the X; lastly they definitely have the goalie play.

They have some offensive talent and Feaster is solid at the X but definitely has some weaknesses. Strong in net? Only if the defense is giving up bad shots and that’s never the case. The Mules are a solid squad, just not complete enough in my opinion to compete with the Top 4.

[DeepPocket]

Swarthmore schedule here - https://swarthmoreathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=mlax

McDaniel here - https://www.mcdanielathletics.com/sport ... 0/schedule

[SixBySix]

Very excited by the schedule Coach Gress has put together this year. Stevens, Bridgewater, and Elizabethtown added, and hopefully the (now traditional) Vassar game will be less of an SOS drag than last year. Easily the strongest OOC slate since 2012 (with Eastern, Cabrini, Whittier, and W&L). The nerds will be much better prepared for conference play than they were last year.

[therocketpocket]

Says a lot about the past schedule when you say Bridgewater and Elizabethtown are improvements. Bridgewater is bad, and Elizabethtown is slightly below average. Both of these teams would likely be the worst two teams in the CC