MAC 2024

[DeepPocket]

Lebanon Valley departing the Commonwealth for the Freedom to balance out the halves will likely be a non-factor in the scheme of things for either side.
Last year ended;
Commonwealth
York
Stevenson
Eastern
Widener
Messiah
Hood
Albright
Alvernia

Freedom
Stevens
DeSales
Arcadia
Misericordia
FDU
Del Valley
Kings
*Lebanon Valley (New member for 2024)*

[DeepPocket]

Commonwealth

York- 15-6 overall and 8-0 in MAC play left the Spartans ending 2023 in the sweet 16 of the NCAAs. 5 of the 6 losses were by 4 goals or less, 3 of them being by 1 goal. A bounce or two going their way and the numbers are quite different. Lots of new faces for 2024, but by all accounts the talent level is on par with what we’ve come to expect from the Spartans. The goal, as always, is to win the MAC and make an NCAA run.

Stevenson- 2023 saw the Mustangs go 7-1 in conference, second only to York. But at 11-8 overall, their OT win over a top 10 Dickinson squad wasn’t enough to secure an at-large bid. 8 (eight?) assistant coaches for 2024, up from 2 last year. The talent is always there, and as usual they’re hosting a “who’s who” of DIII lacrosse at the Mustang Classic. Stevenson looks to bolster their chances and recover from a second straight year without a NCAA tournament bid.

Eastern- The 9-9 and 6-2 Eagles return all of their top 10 scorers coming into 2024, including their entire attack unit, in addition to their goalie and FO. Last year they came close to picking off Stevenson, leading them through the first half in the MAC tournament. This year, with 3 grad students of their own, they’ll be looking to try to make that win over Stevenson actually happen and jump into the conversation of the upper tier of the MAC.

Widener- A 14-12 win over Colby of the NESCAC was hands down the high point of a 9-9 2023 that saw the Pride go 5-3 in conference. Taking both games over Messiah was important to maintain their position in the MAC, as their loss to Eastern was not a particularly close one. Between Colby and Geneseo last year and U of New England in 2022, Widener is clearly making attempts to positively expand their OOC.

Messiah- We are entering year 3 of the Coach Carson era. Finishing 2023 at 11-7, 4-4, last year’s new faces showed flashes of the high caliber potential that their former team names connoted, and they successlly flipped their 2022 results vs Elizabethtown and Grove City into 2023 wins. The gap has undeniably shrunk between Widener and Messiah, is this the year where there is no gap at all?

Hood- Heading up the bottom three of the Commonwealth last year, the Blazers finished the year just 3-5 in the MAC, 9-7 overall. That said, they held a lead over Messiah through the first half of their 2023 meeting. Notching a victory in 2024 vs Messiah would mark a large step in the team’s development.

Albright- Albright finished 2023 at an unimpressive 1-7 in the MAC, and 3-14 overall. However, scheduling the likes of Ohio Wesleyan last year shows efforts are being made to increase schedule strength and team profile. Having dropped their game vs Hood by just 2 goals, might they threaten the Blazers in 2024?

Alvernia- Posting a perfectly woeful 0-8 in conference for 2023, there is only one direction to go. Unfortunately, their 10-3 loss this past year to the next rung up in Albright doesn’t bode well for the 2024 version of Golden Wolves lacrosse. At 4-12 overall for 2023, there are actually teams out there that they are beating, so brick by brick they’ll need to just keep building.

[DeepPocket]

Freedom

Stevens- Stevens was yet again the belle of the ball in the MAC Freedom. 18-3 overall and 8-0 in conference, culminating in 2023 ending for the Ducks in the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. The Ducks only lost to 2 teams last year, Tufts and Dickinson (2x). The Freedom AQ belongs to Stevens until something big happens.

DeSales- Finishing at 10-8 overall and 7-1 in conference, it’s apparent that DeSales went to lengths to put together a formidable OOC slate, including Gettysburg, RPI, Muhlenberg, Ursinus etc. And while they proved dominant in-conference vs all but Stevens, their OOC losses were decisive in nature. Losing 5 straight can have a negative effect. Do they lighten the OOC load, or keep it to stay battle tested / ready for the conference tournament?

Arcadia- Having lost both games with DeSales by 5+ goals in back to back fashion over a 5 day span, Arcadia finds themselves squarely in the third spot in the Freedom. With a record of 7-10 and 6-2, and only edging Misericordia by 3 in their contest, Arcadia will need to do more if they hope to stay above them going forward.

Misericordia- The Cougars wound up 10-9, 5-3 in conference, in 2023. Losses by 1 goal to DeSales and 3 goals to Arcadia signal that the gap between 2 and 4 isn’t as large as once thought. Getting strong competition on the schedule in Ithaca and Stockton, as well as traveling to Virginia to play Randolph-Macon will only help grow the brand.

*Lebanon Valley*- New to this side of the conference for 2024, the Freedom got a sneak peak at the Dutchmen last year. In conference crossover games they faced; Misericordia losing by 1 goal, Delaware Valley winning by 9 goals, and Kings winning by 10 goals. That said, based on these results, this is likely right where the Dutchmen will slot for 2024 in the Freedom.

FDU- Closing out 2023 at 7-11 and 3-5 respectively, there appears to be quite a bit of real estate between the Devils and Misericordia. In their two contests vs the Cougars, the Devils lost by margins of 14 and 16 goals. Whereas they only beat Delaware Valley by 1 goal. It appears that the large drop off in-conference from 1-2 is also mirrored from 5-6 as well.

Delaware Valley- As stated above, the Rams came with in 1 goal of FDU, and as a result, that matchup could likely go either way. At 6-11 and 2-6 to close 2023, beating FDU would’ve given them an entry into the Freedom conference championships via the 4-5 play in game. That was an achievable target for 2023 which is now upended with Lebanon Valley’s entry into the Freedom as a more formidable team than the Rams.

Kings- Monarchs. The name alone implies a leader of the highest order. Unfortunately the moniker betrays a team that went 0-8 in conference and 0-15 overall. The closest thing to wins they experienced were two 2 goal losses, to Wilkes and Lycoming. Ironically, both of those teams have now departed the MAC Freedom, ending Kings’ chances of escaping the conference cellar for the foreseeable future.

[choochooCharlie]

damn…
Well done sir. Thanks for taking the time.
Any chance you might try your hand at a single list “power ranking” like last year?

And not to pile on Kings, but this is my fav quip

…
Kings- Monarchs. The name alone implies a leader of the highest order. Unfortunately the moniker betrays a team that went 0-8 in conference and 0-15 overall..

[River Donkey]

damn…
Well done sir. Thanks for taking the time.
Any chance you might try your hand at a single list “power ranking” like last year?

And not to pile on Kings, but this is my fav quip

…
Kings- Monarchs. The name alone implies a leader of the highest order. Unfortunately the moniker betrays a team that went 0-8 in conference and 0-15 overall..

Kings should have gone landmark with the others. They won’t be competitive there until they get a new AD.

[NElaxtalent]

Deep, great Fall assessment, thank you for providing so much insight on the MAC.

I see you referenced Messiah gaining on Widener . . .

Q: in your assessment, is Stevenson closer to catching York or is Eastern closer to overtaking Stevenson?

[Duckdad]

Watched stevens today.
A nice day for the ducks. Followed by a nice tailgate at coach p’s home.

The ducks bested Scranton 15-7 (8-4 at half)
The ducks also beat swat 11-7 (4-4 at half)

Sloppy at times for all three teams and lots of subbing in second half…but the weather was nice and a good amount of people there to watch these teams play. Lots of new faces on stevens. Should be a fun year!!

[DeepPocket]

Any chance you might try your hand at a single list “power ranking” like last year?

Here’s groupings (no particular order with in them other than which jumped out in my mind first- so maybe some sort of order )
-York Stevens Stevenson
-DeSales Eastern
-Arcadia Widener Messiah
-Misericordia Hood LVC
-Del Val FDU Albright
-Alvernia Kings

in your assessment, is Stevenson closer to catching York or is Eastern closer to overtaking Stevenson?

I don’t think either scenario (“catching” one another) is likely in the near future. I do think winning a single game is plausible in either though. And as it stands now, I believe it is more likely (regardless of how relatively unlikely it may actually be) that Stevenson wins a single game vs York, than it is that Eastern wins a single game vs Stevenson.

As far as long term “catching” each other, of course as a perennial top 20 team, Stevenson is farther along in the process towards being the top 10 team they would have to be to have “caught” York, than Eastern is on the way in the process towards being the top 20 team they would have to be to have “caught” Stevenson.

It is far more likely that Messiah catches Widener, and even Eastern than either of those two scenarios playing out. But they’ll have to start by winning the games vs those teams. Then move on to consistently winning the games vs those teams.
( best I can do, if I’m actually reading the question right)

[DeepPocket]

Watched stevens today.
A nice day for the ducks. Followed by a nice tailgate at coach p’s home.

The ducks bested Scranton 15-7 (8-4 at half)
The ducks also beat swat 11-7 (4-4 at half)

Sloppy at times for all three teams and lots of subbing in second half…but the weather was nice and a good amount of people there to watch these teams play. Lots of new faces on stevens. Should be a fun year!!

Great to hear. Any insight into these new faces? Freshmen, transfers? Where from etc?

[NElaxtalent]

Deep, as always, very insightful response.

You are quite right, snagging an upset W is not actually “catching" a lacrosse program in its greater trajectory.

Program momentum extends far beyond a single W as coach, assistants, recruiting, institutional support, alumni, facilities & reputation all contribute to program inertia.

[Duckdad]

Watched stevens today.
A nice day for the ducks. Followed by a nice tailgate at coach p’s home.

The ducks bested Scranton 15-7 (8-4 at half)
The ducks also beat swat 11-7 (4-4 at half)

Sloppy at times for all three teams and lots of subbing in second half…but the weather was nice and a good amount of people there to watch these teams play. Lots of new faces on stevens. Should be a fun year!!

Great to hear. Any insight into these new faces? Freshmen, transfers? Where from etc?

D1 Grad transfers - M 77, LsM 2, G 40 stood out.
Undergrad transfer - M 21, LsM 12 - nice depth
Freshman -A 26, m- 50 - scored sone points

[Laxattackjack]

Deep, as always, very insightful response.

You are quite right, snagging an upset W is not actually “catching" a lacrosse program in its greater trajectory.

Program momentum extends far beyond a single W as coach, assistants, recruiting, institutional support, alumni, facilities & reputation all contribute to program inertia.

I thought I read somewhere that eastern is returning most starters on offense. They played better as the season went on. The York game was close. The final game vs Stevenson was very close. I think eastern was leading most of the game. Both York and Stevenson lost key players on defense while eastern top player is back for a grad year. Not saying eastern is a better program than Stevenson, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see eastern finish second on the MAC and make it to the MAC championship this year.

[NElaxtalent]

Deep, as always, very insightful response.

You are quite right, snagging an upset W is not actually “catching" a lacrosse program in its greater trajectory.

Program momentum extends far beyond a single W as coach, assistants, recruiting, institutional support, alumni, facilities & reputation all contribute to program inertia.

I thought I read somewhere that eastern is returning most starters on offense. They played better as the season went on. The York game was close. The final game vs Stevenson was very close. I think eastern was leading most of the game. Both York and Stevenson lost key players on defense while eastern top player is back for a grad year. Not saying eastern is a better program than Stevenson, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see eastern finish second on the MAC and make it to the MAC championship this year.

It would seem this might be Eastern's peak year based on the roster reviews. Would be fun to see a bit of parity but it seems there are significant gaps separating the Top 4-5 teams.

[boredatwork]

Deep, as always, very insightful response.

You are quite right, snagging an upset W is not actually “catching" a lacrosse program in its greater trajectory.

Program momentum extends far beyond a single W as coach, assistants, recruiting, institutional support, alumni, facilities & reputation all contribute to program inertia.

I thought I read somewhere that eastern is returning most starters on offense. They played better as the season went on. The York game was close. The final game vs Stevenson was very close. I think eastern was leading most of the game. Both York and Stevenson lost key players on defense while eastern top player is back for a grad year. Not saying eastern is a better program than Stevenson, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see eastern finish second on the MAC and make it to the MAC championship this year.

It would seem this might be Eastern's peak year based on the roster reviews. Would be fun to see a bit of parity but it seems there are significant gaps separating the Top 4-5 teams.

Eastern did however lose their head coach.

[DeepPocket]

... Not saying eastern is a better program than Stevenson, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see eastern finish second on the MAC and make it to the MAC championship this year.

From your lips to God’s ears, make it happen.
I just think overall Stevenson has better players than Eastern, top to bottom. And that’s from season after season of recruiting better talent, built on the back of season after season of national relevance.

Eastern is improving, and they do return a lot. I’d love to see them steal one of these games away from Stevenson. That alone would be a big step for them to build on.

[RE6ULATOR]

Deep, as always, very insightful response.

You are quite right, snagging an upset W is not actually “catching" a lacrosse program in its greater trajectory.

Program momentum extends far beyond a single W as coach, assistants, recruiting, institutional support, alumni, facilities & reputation all contribute to program inertia.

I thought I read somewhere that eastern is returning most starters on offense. They played better as the season went on. The York game was close. The final game vs Stevenson was very close. I think eastern was leading most of the game. Both York and Stevenson lost key players on defense while eastern top player is back for a grad year. Not saying eastern is a better program than Stevenson, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see eastern finish second on the MAC and make it to the MAC championship this year.

I would love to see Eastern humble Cantabene.
(Did I say that out loud?)

[DeepPocket]

“The Stevens Ducks finished 2 goals shy of advancing to elite 8. Returning 3/4 top scorers and 7/10 starters, the men are excited about 2024. ”

https://laxallstars.com/stevens-ducks-p ... -2024-run/

[AbeFroeman]

“The Stevens Ducks finished 2 goals shy of advancing to elite 8. Returning 3/4 top scorers and 7/10 starters, the men are excited about 2024. ”

https://laxallstars.com/stevens-ducks-p ... -2024-run/

Two interesting points about that article that I did not know.

Ranked as high as #2 in the country???

longest running lacrosse program in the NCAA (140+ consecutive years).

[Duckdad]

[quote=DeepPocket post_id=500435 time=<a href="tel:1699463789">1699463789</a> user_id=609]
“The Stevens Ducks finished 2 goals shy of advancing to elite 8. Returning 3/4 top scorers and 7/10 starters, the men are excited about 2024. ”

https://laxallstars.com/stevens-ducks-p ... -2024-run/

Two interesting points about that article that I did not know.

Ranked as high as #2 in the country???

longest running lacrosse program in the NCAA (140+ consecutive years).
[/quote]


“Stevens holds the distinction of having the oldest, continuously running lacrosse program in the United States. The program won a recognized national championship four times: 1892 and 1894 in the Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, and in 1917 and 1918 in the United States Inter-Collegiate Lacrosse League. It has also won championships in the Skyline Conference, Empire 8 and MAC Freedom.”

[DeepPocket]

Trying to buck the post fall ball malaise, I did some poking around on the handful of transfers I’m aware of coming into the MAC this year. Here’s what I’ve got;

Stevens-
G- Holtby- Hobart- Started in 2021 and 2022. Not sure What the deal with 2023 was, perhaps injury.
M- Kirshner- Marquette- High school teammate of fellow incoming transfer Holtby, at Immaculata. Started in 2022.
D- DiChristina- Siena- The Fayetteville-Manilus/IMG product gives Stevens experience and the flexibility to run close and LSM.

Stevenson-
A/M- Russell- Bellarmine commit- Did not appear on the Bellarmine roster for 2023, his Freshmen year, so he brings full eligibility. Out of HS power house Salesianum (DE).

York-
M- Keogh- UMW- High School and club teammate of York 5th yr Blackmon, Keogh was the leading midfield scorer, and second overall in points for UMW.
FO- Harmon- HCC- Over 70% at the dot for Howard.

Post any others you've got.