NESCAC

[bullfrog1]

Any early thoughts or predictions for next year?

[oldlaxjunkie]

very early but it looks like Williams brings back the most talent
1 Williams everyone back
2 Amherst loose Wolff but a lot returns
3 Tufts loose a lot, Murphy, Brookmate but they always reload
4 Wesleyan loose Hawthorn and def
5 Polar Bears I think they return a lot, not so sure
6 Bates loose only Fantoni on def, should be in the mix with Chlastawa at attack
7 Middlebury
8 Trinity
9 Colby
10 Conn College
11 Hamilton

[sguy9]

1. Amherst
2. Williams
3. Tufts
4. Bates
5. Middlebury
6. Trinity
7. Bowoin
8. Colby
9. Hamilton
10. Conn

One of these teams will play Memorial Day Weekend, again.

[Muleski]

1. Amherst
2. Williams
3. Tufts
4. Bates
5. Middlebury
6. Trinity
7. Bowoin
8. Colby
9. Hamilton
10. Conn

One of these teams will play Memorial Day Weekend, again.

Wesleyan? Where do you have them?

[sguy9]

Wesleyan? Where do you have them?

Moving to DI?

Christ, old age is certainly not working for me.... I'd throw Wes in between Midd and Bates at 5.... Sorry Wes Tech fans, I do really love the Cards.

[PicLax]

Think Amherst and Williams will battle it out. Williams returns everyone. Amherst loses a couple of key players, but retains bulk of the team who had major roles, plus a ton of talent that will see significant playing time. Think one of these two teams also playing on Memorial Day weekend. Tufts third in NESCAC after losing significant players.

[LibertyL]

Williams is going to be good- no doubt

[Laxxal22]

Not exactly a new phenomenon, but the NESCAC is getting some fantastic (easily have D1 talent) class of 2020 commits from the ISL.

[oldlaxjunkie]

I agree, NESCAC is by far the best conf in DIII. I would much rather go to a NESCAC school to play and get a fantastic education then go to a low level DI school just to say you played DI lacrosse. Also, with a few of the CAC schools you are always in the mix to play in late May.

[silk]

Laxxal22, I agree that NESCAC gets great talent every year and I think it is a better choice to go to a NESCAC vs being the # 10- 12 recruit or a preferred walk-on at a weak academic D1 school. No argument there. More difficult choice between a NESCAC and a top D1 academic school. I'm trying to understand your "easily D1 talent" comment. Are you suggesting that some NESCACs this year were able to steal top recruits (Meaning #1-5) from a UVA or Yale or some other strong academic D1 program? That would be interesting.

[CC10]

Surprised that there isn't more movement from some of the d3 talent to move (transfer) to d1. I know those guys could play and there are some academic equivalent D1 programs that could use the talent from NESCAC. A player in mind would be Haase who still has 3 years of eligibility and was Rookie of the Year in the league for Williams.

[sguy9]

Surprised that there isn't more movement from some of the d3 talent to move (transfer) to d1. I know those guys could play and there are some academic equivalent D1 programs that could use the talent from NESCAC. A player in mind would be Haase who still has 3 years of eligibility and was Rookie of the Year in the league for Williams.

Not sure there are many schools in the world that are better than Williams. And, Williams will be loaded moving forward.

Why leave?
Better education, no.
Better lacrosse, not a whole lot.
Better campus/facilities, nope.
Chance to win a title, probably just as good at Williams if not better chance.

[Laxxal22]

A lot of guys, even with elite talent, prefer the D3 lifestyle especially the 2/15 start date of the NESCAC. Coach won't flip out if you ski/snowboard a bunch in the winters, take junior fall abroad, play another varsity sport, or even just mess around and play rugby. Different strokes for different folks, but I'm actually kind of bewildered at the decision to go to places like Dartmouth/Holy Cross (where you're going to commit to a D1 lifestyle yet probably lose 80% of your college games) if you're also getting recruited by Wes, Tufts, Amherst, Williams, etc.

[pcowlax]

Surprised that there isn't more movement from some of the d3 talent to move (transfer) to d1. I know those guys could play and there are some academic equivalent D1 programs that could use the talent from NESCAC. A player in mind would be Haase who still has 3 years of eligibility and was Rookie of the Year in the league for Williams.

Rarely happens but not unprecedented, Hawley transferred from Williams to Brown after I think his sophomore year and was All-Ivy his first year. The very top D3 players wouldn’t get much run at the top 5–10 D1 schools but would excel pretty much everywhere else

[PicLax]

Have a very good friend who is HC at a routine top 4 NESCAC lax school. Once told me all of his recruits had D1 offers from legitimate programs, with half receiving offers from top 20 programs. Combination of quality of education, good programs and opportunity to compete in May led them to NESCAC. His take that top Ivy program or similar combination education/lacrosse schools would pull his recruits, but other than that they’d rather play NESCAC. When asked the age-old question of how NESCAC schools would compete against D1 schools, he believes top NESCAC could rank 15 to 25 in D1. Having watched top NESCAC and schools in my home state of N.C. and who they play, I tend to believe him. NESCAC are great schools and great programs, and I think this is what draws very good players and students, and what keeps them.

[swf]

The very top D3 players wouldn’t get much run at the top 5–10 D1 schools but would excel pretty much everywhere else

Greetings pcow; Enjoy reading your posts but differ slightly on this. Several examples:

2010 Salisbury had a good but not exceptional freshman middie (Eric Law) who transferred to Denver as a sophomore and played a significant role in their NC under Tierney.

2016 Mike Daly's last year in D 3 saw IMO the best ever NESCAC team play a barn burner NC against Salisbury. I think most if not all the starters on the field that day could have started for top level D 1 teams. And John Uppgren IMO again would have been a tewaaraton final 5 if not winner.

[sguy9]

In 2016 Colby (finished last in conference) had a freshman Dman (Nathan Michael) that started every game? Transferred to UNC and was a 3 year regular player/starter. So I'd say the top of the league players could make the jump.

[pcowlax]

The very top D3 players wouldn’t get much run at the top 5–10 D1 schools but would excel pretty much everywhere else

Greetings pcow; Enjoy reading your posts but differ slightly on this. Several examples:

2010 Salisbury had a good but not exceptional freshman middie (Eric Law) who transferred to Denver as a sophomore and played a significant role in their NC under Tierney.

2016 Mike Daly's last year in D 3 saw IMO the best ever NESCAC team play a barn burner NC against Salisbury. I think most if not all the starters on the field that day could have started for top level D 1 teams. And John Uppgren IMO again would have been a tewaaraton final 5 if not winner.

No argument here on the extraordinary ability of Uppgren pretty sure he would not have been a Tewaaraton finalist but yes he could have starred at most D1 schools, he was a transcendent talent. For the last few posts, just my opinion, there have been a lot of heated opinions over the years as to how the top D3 teams could do D1. My opinion, consistently, is that the top, at least 5 and maybe 10 D3 teams would most likely beat the bottom third of D1, would possibly beat the middle third, would most likely lose to the top third (minus) and would get pounded by the top ten. Uppgren could have played at any school. But look at, say, UVA. Is he getting run before Moore, Krause, Laviano, going mid before Dox? He was amazing, just as amazing as everyone first line A or M at a Virginia, Maryland or Duke. He wouldn’t not just be Tewaaraton , he would not run first line at a top 5 school. And below him? Forget it, Duke would destroy Tufts with their depth. The 20th best player at Duke is a 2 time UAA. Of all sports, D3 lax is closer to D1 lax but at the very top level? No, not even close. And I am a D3 NESCAC guy.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

You are on the money Pcolax. Love when D3 fans select the obvious outliers who could play on the D1 level from a particular D3 squad therefore assuming that team would be competitive with a top 20 D1 squad. You need a roster of 21 guys to compete and the 21st guy on the D3 squad ain’t cutting it. Moreover, it’s week after week not just one game. A D3 squad would be physically decimated over 4-5 games and those that filled the breach would be annihilated. There’s a reason these guys are on D 3 squads and it’s usually not because they turned down a D1 offer from a top tier program

[Laxxal22]

I'm NESCAC guy like Pco as well, and I think he has a reasonable read on it. A win over a top 20 D1 team, even by the NESCAC teams that have won the natty over the years, would be akin to the Miracle on Ice. 20-30 range I don't see as impossible, but still would be a huge upet. 31-50 I think there would be some real battles. 51-73 (or whatever number we're at) I like the NESCAC teams.

Not saying they'd start, but the top NESCAC teams have a handful of guys who wouldn't look out of place getting on the field for ACC squads. However, that's also true for a school like Colgate that's solidly in the 30-50 range of D1. I disagree that NESCAC guys don't have offers from top schools, as I know quite a few who received them. Smart kids though (obviously, they went to NESCAC schools, ) they understood that 6th-10th guy in a recruiting class for elite D1 meant they'd end up with a diploma but not much playing time.