ACC in 2020

[wlaxnut]

At this point it looks like UNC, but they do have a tendency to choke in the post season, or at least underachieve.

Then there's Notre Dame (aka The Catholics and Our Lady of the ACC [by seacoaster] and the Golden Domers [by Doc]). They look tough so far. They could end up surprising everybody if they can keep the train rolling. The win in Evanston should prove to them they can compete with the best in div 1. At UNC on March 15 will be very interesting.

Virginia looks like Virginia. All poised to rack up huge RPI due to schedule only to run out of gas in the first half of The Tournament, not to mention the ACC championships.

Syracuse. A Jekyll and Hyde team so far but what else is new? It's always difficult to figure out which team will show up, how long they'll go to sleep during a game, when they will find someone to take draws consistently, etc. etc. etc.

Duke is loaded with talent and I think they'll improve as the season gets on.

BC has a lot of issues. They still look out of sync on offense. North was face guarded again today. Seems teams are figuring this strategy into their game plan as a given. FG North and see if the rest of the BC offense can beat us. Their defense looks porous at times. A schedule (next 6 games) that wasn't anything to worry about in the Big Three era now looks daunting: 2/21 at USC; 2/25 vs Brown; 3/7 at Notre Dame; 3/11 vs Hofstra; 3/14 vs Virginia Tech; 3/18 vs Dartmouth. They might go 2-4 here. Not far-fetched given their early returns.

It remains to be seen how Virginia Tech will do. They have 5 fluffy games on their schedule for the next 3 weeks before they start getting into the serious ACC games. No way to tell what kind of team they have till then.

And bringing up the rear, par usual, is Louisville.

[Dr. Tact]

And bringing up the rear, par usual, is Louisville.

Well, there is good news for the Cardinals...in a few years, they will have Pitt to compete with for the bottom of the ACC

[wlaxnut]

Good ol' Doc. Always finding the silver lining.

[Dr. Tact]

At this point it looks like UNC, but they do have a tendency to choke in the post season, or at least underachieve.

Then there's Notre Dame (aka The Catholics and Our Lady of the ACC [by seacoaster] and the Golden Domers [by Doc]). They look tough so far. They could end up surprising everybody if they can keep the train rolling. The win in Evanston should prove to them they can compete with the best in div 1. At UNC on March 15 will be very interesting.

Virginia looks like Virginia. All poised to rack up huge RPI due to schedule only to run out of gas in the first half of The Tournament, not to mention the ACC championships.

Syracuse. A Jekyll and Hyde team so far but what else is new? It's always difficult to figure out which team will show up, how long they'll go to sleep during a game, when they will find someone to take draws consistently, etc. etc. etc.

Duke is loaded with talent and I think they'll improve as the season gets on.

BC has a lot of issues. They still look out of sync on offense. North was face guarded again today. Seems teams are figuring this strategy into their game plan as a given. FG North and see if the rest of the BC offense can beat us. Their defense looks porous at times. A schedule (next 6 games) that wasn't anything to worry about in the Big Three era now looks daunting: 2/21 at USC; 2/25 vs Brown; 3/7 at Notre Dame; 3/11 vs Hofstra; 3/14 vs Virginia Tech; 3/18 vs Dartmouth. They might go 2-4 here. Not far-fetched given their early returns.

It remains to be seen how Virginia Tech will do. They have 5 fluffy games on their schedule for the next 3 weeks before they start getting into the serious ACC games. No way to tell what kind of team they have till then.

And bringing up the rear, par usual, is Louisville.

I agree with your 2 top paragraphs....then we get to UVA....two 1 goal wins that should have been much larger margins. I think they are fools gold. Mueller has 10 goals (and 12 points) in 3 games. That is their (sorry for the sexist comment) stud....Shut her down and who(hoo) beats you? They miss and will miss Jackson and Shoemaker....

[Dr. Tact]

Good ol' Doc. Always finding the silver lining.

That's me. When I am not Dr. Tact, I am Captain Positive

[laxorangebookworm]

UNC and Notre Dame look like the top two so far. Syracuse is probably third right now, but they have Northwestern and Maryland coming up in a couple of weeks, so that'll have to be revisited.

Virginia has potential. Much will depend on whether Mueller gets support. I think they could be a sleeping giant, but we'll see.

Virginia Tech is solid, I think. They took a good JMU team to overtime before losing. They need to turn those 1 goal losses into wins (they had a bunch of close losses last year). I still think they'll surprise some people by the end of the season.

Duke's got some talent, but they lost O. Jenner and North on offense. M. Jenner looks good on the draws so far, but do they have the horses to compete in the ACC? They could very well wind up 7th in the conference.

wlax, I know you keep going sour on the Eagles, but a win is always better than a loss. As Al Davis said, "Just win, baby." I still think we'll see BC in the NCAAT come May.

Louisville will have problems getting traction in the ACC, but I think Teeter will turn them around eventually. They're still two years removed from the internal issues they had and he's had to build it almost from the ground up (9 players left the team after 2017). They actually didn't do that badly in the non-conference games last year and they're 1-1 so far.

Syracuse is indeed a Jekyll and Hyde persona. There's no question that they have a boatload of talent, but they tend to lose focus at the worst possible moments. The next two weekends will be very important for the Orange as they face Northwestern and Maryland. These are now must win games as far as I'm concerned with the loss to Stony Brook.

[wlaxnut]

I haven’t seen anything so far to be optimistic about BC. And their loss to UMass and the two games they won won’t do anything to help their RPI or seeding come Tournament time. From what I’ve seen so far, they have only begun to experience difficulties and losses. They have yet to play their toughest opponents. They are missing the Big Three, in addition to the whole graduating class from last year. They probably have an underachieving hangover having been to the mountaintop three times only to be toppled in the end. I have to think that takes something out of you. Star transfers to the contrary notwithstanding, this team is in a rebuilding year. I won’t be surprised if they don’t make The Tournament.

[wlaxnut]

I agree with your 2 top paragraphs....then we get to UVA....two 1 goal wins that should have been much larger margins. I think they are fools gold. Mueller has 10 goals (and 12 points) in 3 games. That is their (sorry for the sexist comment) stud....Shut her down and who(hoo) beats you? They miss and will miss Jackson and Shoemaker....

I can’t disagree with you on any of your points here, Doc. And even when they had Jackson and Shoemaker, they underachieved. Just waiting for that to happen again in the postseason, and because of that, even though I have to give them their due in the polls, I view all their accomplishments during the regular season with skepticism.

[wlaxnut]

Posted in error. See post below.

[wlaxnut]

UNC and Notre Dame look like the top two so far. Syracuse is probably third right now, but they have Northwestern and Maryland coming up in a couple of weeks, so that'll have to be revisited.

Virginia has potential. Much will depend on whether Mueller gets support. I think they could be a sleeping giant, but we'll see.

Virginia Tech is solid, I think. They took a good JMU team to overtime before losing. They need to turn those 1 goal losses into wins (they had a bunch of close losses last year). I still think they'll surprise some people by the end of the season.

Virginia Tech is missing Tristan McGinley. At 6' 1", who wouldn’t miss her? I know she graduated 2 years ago but I noticed how she was always reliable when they needed a goal. Not many teams could stop her when she was determined to score. I noticed how much smaller VT seemed to JMU during the course of the game. Their lack of size will hurt them.

Duke's got some talent, but they lost O. Jenner and North on offense. M. Jenner looks good on the draws so far, but do they have the horses to compete in the ACC? They could very well wind up 7th in the conference.

Duke is better than you give them credit for. They've got some good 1st year players who want to get involved right away. They're scrappy and fearless in addition to being talented. If Duke can develop a good work ethic and a tenacious ride, it will establish them as one of the better teams in the ACC. I put them ahead of everyone except, UNC, UND, Virginia and Syracuse. And I think they could be a real nuisance to any of those four teams on any given day. We shall see as the season progresses.

wlax, I know you keep going sour on the Eagles, but a win is always better than a loss. As Al Davis said, "Just win, baby." I still think we'll see BC in the NCAAT come May.

(See my previous post within this thread from earlier today for my thoughts on the Eagles)

Louisville will have problems getting traction in the ACC, but I think Teeter will turn them around eventually. They're still two years removed from the internal issues they had and he's had to build it almost from the ground up (9 players left the team after 2017). They actually didn't do that badly in the non-conference games last year and they're 1-1 so far.

I'd like to see Louisville get stronger and compete. Ally Hall and Hannah Morris are a couple of their good players. Hall is a delight to watch. She combines grace with skill and bravery. I'd love to see them outplay and upset one or two teams in the ACC this year.

Syracuse is indeed a Jekyll and Hyde persona. There's no question that they have a boatload of talent, but they tend to lose focus at the worst possible moments. The next two weekends will be very important for the Orange as they face Northwestern and Maryland. These are now must win games as far as I'm concerned with the loss to Stony Brook.

[Delco Transplant]

Don’t discount Virginia Tech. I’ve never been a huge Sung fan, but they could make a serious run this year. Solid senior leadership and a stud freshman in Kayla Frank.

[wlaxnut]

Don’t discount Virginia Tech. I’ve never been a huge Sung fan, but they could make a serious run this year. Solid senior leadership and a stud freshman in Kayla Frank.

I'd love to see them shake things up but I don't know if they have the size or the leadership. I hope you're right.

[Dr. Tact]

Don’t discount Virginia Tech. I’ve never been a huge Sung fan, but they could make a serious run this year. Solid senior leadership and a stud freshman in Kayla Frank.

Well, here is the counterpoint...I am a Hokie, D has played with at least 5 current Hokie players and I love those girls....that said (which means absolutely nothing for this opinion), I think that VT's ceiling is a top 15-30 team. They play enough cupcakes outside of the ACC to get a reasonable record, but I don't see them better than .500 in ACC play. They could squeak a win against a UVA or BC, but I wouldnt bet on it. Louisville and Duke should be wins, but we will see if they can beat Duke. They dont have a chance against UNC/Cuse. [edit: silly Doctor...I completely forgot about ND ]

I, too, am not a fan of the coach.

[Matnum PI]

SU's Alexander out for season. https://cuse.com/news/2020/2/20/womens- ... njury.aspx

[LaxGuy17]

At this point it looks like UNC, but they do have a tendency to choke in the post season, or at least underachieve.

Then there's Notre Dame (aka The Catholics and Our Lady of the ACC [by seacoaster] and the Golden Domers [by Doc]). They look tough so far. They could end up surprising everybody if they can keep the train rolling. The win in Evanston should prove to them they can compete with the best in div 1. At UNC on March 15 will be very interesting.

Virginia looks like Virginia. All poised to rack up huge RPI due to schedule only to run out of gas in the first half of The Tournament, not to mention the ACC championships.

Syracuse. A Jekyll and Hyde team so far but what else is new? It's always difficult to figure out which team will show up, how long they'll go to sleep during a game, when they will find someone to take draws consistently, etc. etc. etc.

Duke is loaded with talent and I think they'll improve as the season gets on.

BC has a lot of issues. They still look out of sync on offense. North was face guarded again today. Seems teams are figuring this strategy into their game plan as a given. FG North and see if the rest of the BC offense can beat us. Their defense looks porous at times. A schedule (next 6 games) that wasn't anything to worry about in the Big Three era now looks daunting: 2/21 at USC; 2/25 vs Brown; 3/7 at Notre Dame; 3/11 vs Hofstra; 3/14 vs Virginia Tech; 3/18 vs Dartmouth. They might go 2-4 here. Not far-fetched given their early returns.

It remains to be seen how Virginia Tech will do. They have 5 fluffy games on their schedule for the next 3 weeks before they start getting into the serious ACC games. No way to tell what kind of team they have till then.

And bringing up the rear, par usual, is Louisville.

Well put. Not a lot to quibble with there. If UNC doesn't dominate draws, they feel at least a little vulnerable. I think ND might have a few letdowns. That high pressure D against a team that finishes goals one game might create a trap for ND. Cuse needs a little discipline and they might be the best of the bunch. UVA will snap its rep one of these years (won't they?). Duke will be better in a year or two than now, not ready. BC, VT and Lville will battle for last three and may not beat anybody above.

[seacoaster]

SU's Alexander out for season. https://cuse.com/news/2020/2/20/womens- ... njury.aspx

Hate to hear this. Kid has stayed with it through thick and thin. Damn.

[laxorangebookworm]

SU's Alexander out for season. https://cuse.com/news/2020/2/20/womens- ... njury.aspx

Hate to hear this. Kid has stayed with it through thick and thin. Damn.

Yeah, that's a tough one. LBI sounds like ACL injury, especially if she's out for the season. I would have liked to have seen how she would have done by the end of the year. Damn.

This is exactly the reason why teams play weaker teams throughout the year. It gives other players who would not get experience a chance to get some and step in when something like this happens.

[LaxGuy17]

Don’t discount Virginia Tech. I’ve never been a huge Sung fan, but they could make a serious run this year. Solid senior leadership and a stud freshman in Kayla Frank.

Well, here is the counterpoint...I am a Hokie, D has played with at least 5 current Hokie players and I love those girls....that said (which means absolutely nothing for this opinion), I think that VT's ceiling is a top 15-30 team. They play enough cupcakes outside of the ACC to get a reasonable record, but I don't see them better than .500 in ACC play. They could squeak a win against a UVA or BC, but I wouldnt bet on it. Louisville and Duke should be wins, but we will see if they can beat Duke. They dont have a chance against UNC/Cuse. [edit: silly Doctor...I completely forgot about ND ]

I, too, am not a fan of the coach.

Generally agree with your thoughts, but not on VT. They will be lucky to win one ACC game this year. You don’t even have to faceguard Petty anymore. Early slide to Petty and the whole O falls apart. Not great on draw, not strong on midfield or attack. I will give them Louisville, maybe BC if they are really as bad as they look.

[Dr. Tact]

Don’t discount Virginia Tech. I’ve never been a huge Sung fan, but they could make a serious run this year. Solid senior leadership and a stud freshman in Kayla Frank.

Well, here is the counterpoint...I am a Hokie, D has played with at least 5 current Hokie players and I love those girls....that said (which means absolutely nothing for this opinion), I think that VT's ceiling is a top 15-30 team. They play enough cupcakes outside of the ACC to get a reasonable record, but I don't see them better than .500 in ACC play. They could squeak a win against a UVA or BC, but I wouldnt bet on it. Louisville and Duke should be wins, but we will see if they can beat Duke. They dont have a chance against UNC/Cuse. [edit: silly Doctor...I completely forgot about ND ]

I, too, am not a fan of the coach.

Generally agree with your thoughts, but not on VT. They will be lucky to win one ACC game this year. You don’t even have to faceguard Petty anymore. Early slide to Petty and the whole O falls apart. Not great on draw, not strong on midfield or attack. I will give them Louisville, maybe BC if they are really as bad as they look.

Other than the Ds friends on that hokie team, I would be OK with VT getting shut out in acc play.... Tech is a wrestling school now... (inside joke with alot of hokies, related to their football team)

[wlaxnut]

Louisville goes down in defeat to Michigan 15-11, but I think they should be proud of the fight they put up. Obviously the mistakes have to be cleaned up and their passing needs to become more crisp and accurate, but they have good offensive instincts and play designs, a decent goaltender, and some interesting talent. This is the second game I’ve watched them play this year. I like them. I don’t think Boston College or Virginia Tech will have an easy time with them.