NESCAC

[SouthernLaxGenius]

Bowdoin just opened up. Archbell is leaving.

^From the coaching carousel forum.

Endless list of candidates.

Hope they fill it soon

[georgeoar394]

Yeah assistant position at AC opened up this past week as well..wondering how long rashad will actually be there for. Assuming assistant saw how toxic environment still was and dipped as he didn’t know what he signed up for.

[smoova]

Yeah assistant position at AC opened up this past week as well..wondering how long rashad will actually be there for. Assuming assistant saw how toxic environment still was and dipped as he didn’t know what he signed up for.

That is a possibility, but Devoe hired Dan Morris and Morris is still on the website. IIRC, Morris was/is a goalie, so AC may be looking for an OC.

[ah23]

Yeah assistant position at AC opened up this past week as well..wondering how long rashad will actually be there for. Assuming assistant saw how toxic environment still was and dipped as he didn’t know what he signed up for.

That is a possibility, but Devoe hired Dan Morris and Morris is still on the website. IIRC, Morris was/is a goalie, so AC may be looking for an OC.

Dan Morris as in the former Maryland goalie?

[smoova]

Yeah assistant position at AC opened up this past week as well..wondering how long rashad will actually be there for. Assuming assistant saw how toxic environment still was and dipped as he didn’t know what he signed up for.

That is a possibility, but Devoe hired Dan Morris and Morris is still on the website. IIRC, Morris was/is a goalie, so AC may be looking for an OC.

Dan Morris as in the former Maryland goalie?

Yes - https://twitter.com/AmherstLacrosse/sta ... 62240?s=20

[DeepPocket]

Kudos to Tufts. They imposed their will. #39 on faceoffs did very well from what I saw.

[ah23]

Down go the Jumbos! Faceoffs (13-37) and a metric ton of unforced turnovers (game box is wrong; RIT webcast scored almost every single Tufts turnover a CT and did the opposite for RIT) doomed them. Two things that stood out: faceoffs (obviously) and the offense going clogged toilet at times. They were lethal in transition, but RIT put the clamps on the Tufts 6v6 for long stretches in the second half. This was the first time that the lack of a defense-stretching shooter hurt them since 2019 (Ben Connolly's graduation); RIT was comfortable helping early on dodgers and recovering to shooters if Tufts moved the ball. I don't think the Tigers really feared anyone from 15 yards out.

2022 will be interesting in the NESCAC. I'm not sure what the rules are for players taking another free year, but as things stand Tufts will lose its entire starting defense and goalie, their starting LSM and one of their leading middie dodgers, and two starters on attack. Tons of turnover in Medford; hopefully the rest of the NESCAC is able to reload and make the race for the conference title a good one.

[nehslaxfan]

Down go the Jumbos! Faceoffs (13-37) and a metric ton of unforced turnovers (game box is wrong; RIT webcast scored almost every single Tufts turnover a CT and did the opposite for RIT) doomed them. Two things that stood out: faceoffs (obviously) and the offense going clogged toilet at times. They were lethal in transition, but RIT put the clamps on the Tufts 6v6 for long stretches in the second half. This was the first time that the lack of a defense-stretching shooter hurt them since 2019 (Ben Connolly's graduation); RIT was comfortable helping early on dodgers and recovering to shooters if Tufts moved the ball. I don't think the Tigers really feared anyone from 15 yards out.

2022 will be interesting in the NESCAC. I'm not sure what the rules are for players taking another free year, but as things stand Tufts will lose its entire starting defense and goalie, their starting LSM and one of their leading middie dodgers, and two starters on attack. Tons of turnover in Medford; hopefully the rest of the NESCAC is able to reload and make the race for the conference title a good one.

Looks like Williams, Tufts and Wesleyan are losing a lot of their starting rosters. What about the other teams, how much are they losing and what about incoming recruits? Who is expected to be at the top of the league for next season.

[Laxxal22]

Looks like Williams, Tufts and Wesleyan are losing a lot of their starting rosters. What about the other teams, how much are they losing and what about incoming recruits? Who is expected to be at the top of the league for next season.

Middlebury has two four-star attackmen coming in, Billy Curtis (Deerfield) and Russell Thorndike (Groton). Should be day 1 contributors if not immediate starters. Hopefully they help the Panthers get back on track after a pretty underwhelming decade.

[pcowlax]

Looks like Williams, Tufts and Wesleyan are losing a lot of their starting rosters. What about the other teams, how much are they losing and what about incoming recruits? Who is expected to be at the top of the league for next season.

Middlebury has two four-star attackmen coming in, Billy Curtis (Deerfield) and Russell Thorndike (Groton). Should be day 1 contributors if not immediate starters. Hopefully they help the Panthers get back on track after a pretty underwhelming decade.

Who knows??? For the teams that inexplicably folded this year, who knows what they have. It would be great to have Midd back in prominence, walking in a Panther Wonderland. It takes more than a few 4 stars these days in the CAC though, I have no idea what they have in their soph or junior classes.

[Laxxal22]

I agree pcow, having the top recruiting class in the conference won't mean much if the guys don't work hard when they get to campus or DC isn't able to bring in another strong group behind them. Nice pieces to build around though and gives some hope to the Panther faithful that Midd might become the "hot" option again like it was in the 90s and early 00s.

[smoova]

A potential complication for some coaches is (the rumor) that several admissions departments are counting first year players who took COVID gap years against slots in the 2022 class - i.e. a 2020 high school graduate who got an admissions slot and took a COVID gap year just burned one of the coach's slots for the 2022 high school class. If true, this seems to put Tufts in an even stronger position (at least on paper) for the next few years and, IMHO, D'annolfo and his crew deserve it for keeping their full team together this season.

[ah23]

Looks like Williams, Tufts and Wesleyan are losing a lot of their starting rosters. What about the other teams, how much are they losing and what about incoming recruits? Who is expected to be at the top of the league for next season.

I'd go with Tufts and Middlebury at the top of the conference next year. Midd gets a lot of guys back and based on the previous posts it seems like they're bringing in some good recruits. Tufts graduates a massive senior class full of contributors, but will still have plenty of talent. Some new faces will step into core roles next year and should be able to pick up where their predecessors left off. The defense will be their biggest question mark; they graduate literally everyone (goalie, all three close D, LSM, both SSDMs).

The middle/upper middle of the conference should be interesting. Trinity and Colby are trending up, and they'll cause problems for the recent powers (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan) who are now faced with rebuilding/reloading. The bottom of the conference is...oof. Good compared to the rest of D-III, but some teams that have fallen hard. I think Bates and Bowdoin will struggle, which is disappointing after both being nationally competitive in recent years. Hamilton is Hamilton, which is to say they will continue to have good goalies and not much else.

My very early prediction is a relatively down year overall for the NESCAC. The top will not be as insanely good as in recent years; Tufts will not be as good as this year's team, and the pandemic wiped out senior classes that should have been contending for Williams and Amherst. Wesleyan is going to have to reload as well. Don't get me wrong: all those teams will still be very good and push for tournament spots. I just think that two or three tourney teams is more likely than four next year. 2022 will not be like the stretch from 2016-2019 where the NESCAC had a minimum of four deserving tournament teams each year (let alone the two years where five teams had legitimate arguments). Can't wait either way; only...uh...eight and a half months until February 15th.

[bighoss74]

Looks like Williams, Tufts and Wesleyan are losing a lot of their starting rosters. What about the other teams, how much are they losing and what about incoming recruits? Who is expected to be at the top of the league for next season.

I'd go with Tufts and Middlebury at the top of the conference next year. Midd gets a lot of guys back and based on the previous posts it seems like they're bringing in some good recruits. Tufts graduates a massive senior class full of contributors, but will still have plenty of talent. Some new faces will step into core roles next year and should be able to pick up where their predecessors left off. The defense will be their biggest question mark; they graduate literally everyone (goalie, all three close D, LSM, both SSDMs).

The middle/upper middle of the conference should be interesting. Trinity and Colby are trending up, and they'll cause problems for the recent powers (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan) who are now faced with rebuilding/reloading. The bottom of the conference is...oof. Good compared to the rest of D-III, but some teams that have fallen hard. I think Bates and Bowdoin will struggle, which is disappointing after both being nationally competitive in recent years. Hamilton is Hamilton, which is to say they will continue to have good goalies and not much else.

My very early prediction is a relatively down year overall for the NESCAC. The top will not be as insanely good as in recent years; Tufts will not be as good as this year's team, and the pandemic wiped out senior classes that should have been contending for Williams and Amherst. Wesleyan is going to have to reload as well. Don't get me wrong: all those teams will still be very good and push for tournament spots. I just think that two or three tourney teams is more likely than four next year. 2022 will not be like the stretch from 2016-2019 where the NESCAC had a minimum of four deserving tournament teams each year (let alone the two years where five teams had legitimate arguments). Can't wait either way; only...uh...eight and a half months until February 15th.

It'll be interesting to see how much live game experiences affects that Midd group. On paper, they're as talented as any, but any battled tested team like Trinity and especially Tufts might hammer them if they match up early in the year

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

A potential complication for some coaches is (the rumor) that several admissions departments are counting first year players who took COVID gap years against slots in the 2022 class - i.e. a 2020 high school graduate who got an admissions slot and took a COVID gap year just burned one of the coach's slots for the 2022 high school class. If true, this seems to put Tufts in an even stronger position (at least on paper) for the next few years and, IMHO, D'annolfo and his crew deserve it for keeping their full team together this season.

Interesting, Tufts had a great season and deserves any benefits for having actually played this year

[ah23]

It'll be interesting to see how much live game experiences affects that Midd group. On paper, they're as talented as any, but any battled tested team like Trinity and especially Tufts might hammer them if they match up early in the year

I actually feel the complete opposite, I think next year will be wide open in large part because of how much turnover there is going to be on every top team. Tufts only brings back two starters from this year's team. They graduate all seven defensive starters, their FO and wings, and they return only Mac Bredahl and Cam Kelleher on offense. Wesleyan/Williams/Amherst have graduated a ton of big names over the past two years as well. Obviously there's plenty of talent waiting in the wings, but chemistry/experience takes time. I don't think Trinity is ready to hammer anyone good; they're definitely trending in the right direction, but blowing out good teams is hard even for perennial NESCAC contenders.

[bighoss74]

It'll be interesting to see how much live game experiences affects that Midd group. On paper, they're as talented as any, but any battled tested team like Trinity and especially Tufts might hammer them if they match up early in the year

I actually feel the complete opposite, I think next year will be wide open in large part because of how much turnover there is going to be on every top team. Tufts only brings back two starters from this year's team. They graduate all seven defensive starters, their FO and wings, and they return only Mac Bredahl and Cam Kelleher on offense. Wesleyan/Williams/Amherst have graduated a ton of big names over the past two years as well. Obviously there's plenty of talent waiting in the wings, but chemistry/experience takes time. I don't think Trinity is ready to hammer anyone good; they're definitely trending in the right direction, but blowing out good teams is hard even for perennial NESCAC contenders.

Definitely all speculation at this point. Who knows, though it always seems like Tufts has a All-American waiting in the wings that no one has ever heard of yet (Kelleher this year, Bredahl and McTernan last year, Waldbaum the year before that)

[JumboFan4]

[/quote]

Definitely all speculation at this point. Who knows, though it always seems like Tufts has a All-American waiting in the wings that no one has ever heard of yet (Kelleher this year, Bredahl and McTernan last year, Waldbaum the year before that)
[/quote]
Agreed, they typically reload and D'Annolfo has done a nice job on the recruiting trail over the years. I believe several 2020 commits sat out this year and, if I'm not mistaken, there were also a few upperclassmen who took the year off, so there may not be quite as much of a drop off as one might imagine.

[bighoss74]

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[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Colleges that place the highest paid grads, some NESCAC schools and W&L at #21.
https://stacker.com/stories/4694/100-co ... -earn-most