ODAC 2022

[Jumbo]

I don’t see any way there are two teams from the ODAC. Lynchburg with 4 losses. And the tufts loss is looking worse now. I think Lynchburg is ranked too high. Probably should be around 20 with W&L. Winner of the conference gets in.

HSC Noke and RMC are done. None of them are deep enough to pull off an upset run for the conference.

[InsiderRoll]

It is likely a 1 bid league barring some collapses of other teams across the country, however both W&L and Lynchburg will likely be one of the last 2 teams out. (See my bracketology breakdown in the NCAA tournament thread). Keep in mind both these teams have played the meat of their schedule already, they are likely to both win out. Now they will be each sitting at 13-4 and 12-5. Expect to see teams like F&M, Ithaca, SLU, Wesleyan, Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, and RPI lose some more games as they all have the hardest parts of their schedules remaining. Also keep in mind that the polls have zero to do with the NCAA tournament. What matters are records vs regionally ranked teams. Roanoke, HSC, Cabrini, Baldwin-Wallace, Denison, W&L, and Lynchburg all will likely be regionally ranked. So whether you agree or not, RPI beating RIT counts as much as W&L beating Baldwin-Wallace. Each teams RPI is a different story, but currently W&L and Lynchburg are top 20 RPI teams, there is a chance, albeit slim for an at-large. Geography also plays a role, they cannot take only teams from the north.

You can look at the 2019 season when Lynchburg was 14-6 with their only quality wins vs a 12-6 F&M team and a 13-8 Stevenson team. They still received an Pool C bid.

[JBFortunato]

I don’t see any way there are two teams from the ODAC. Lynchburg with 4 losses. And the tufts loss is looking worse now. I think Lynchburg is ranked too high. Probably should be around 20 with W&L. Winner of the conference gets in.

HSC Noke and RMC are done. None of them are deep enough to pull off an upset run for the conference.

Agreed. And, frankly, I don't know that the conference deserves to have two teams in the tournament this season - not to be too negative of course. What I've seen of the play, including the top four teams, has been subpar compared to other years - exciting games in some instances, no doubt, but not played at the high level that I expect from the ODAC. I think Lynchburg will beat W&L in the ODAC tournament and off we go.

[Jumbo]

Besides Lynchburg, the ODAC is a conference where kids go to college, and also happen to play lacrosse. They can’t compete with most of the top programs when kids are there for lacrosse, while they get an education

[InsiderRoll]

Besides Lynchburg, the ODAC is a conference where kids go to college, and also happen to play lacrosse. They can’t compete with most of the top programs when kids are there for lacrosse, while they get an education

One of dumber things said on this forum.

I’ll concede that the ODAC is down and doesn’t have the top end talent and depth some other leagues have and they aren’t as good as they’ve been in the past. But that stuff is cyclical. You’re beyond clueless if you don’t think W&L, Roanoke, and HSC are run as legitimate college programs.

[IceMan16]

Besides Lynchburg, the ODAC is a conference where kids go to college, and also happen to play lacrosse. They can’t compete with most of the top programs when kids are there for lacrosse, while they get an education

I would say a good percentage of the NESCAC players choose to go abroad for an entire semester and come back without having trained during that time and roll right into season/captains practices. sacrificing fun or a true college experience does not mean you are superior in skill or more invested as a program. Lynchburg probably benefits from dry seasons and having a more strictly regimented program, but do the kids benefit post college from having missed out on a more relaxed and self accountable approach to a division 3 sport?

[Nothinbutthelax]

Thanks for pointing that out Inside
Lots of lacrosse to play.. Very interesting mid season developments. Will be interested to see how these programs respond..
W&L and NOKE seem to be in the rise and are now the hunted.
HSC and LYN seem to have issues be it personality conflicts, spring VA weather.. whatever?
Should make for a great tournament!

[BigFella]

Besides Lynchburg, the ODAC is a conference where kids go to college, and also happen to play lacrosse. They can’t compete with most of the top programs when kids are there for lacrosse, while they get an education

I would say a good percentage of the NESCAC players choose to go abroad for an entire semester and come back without having trained during that time and roll right into season/captains practices. sacrificing fun or a true college experience does not mean you are superior in skill or more invested as a program. Lynchburg probably benefits from dry seasons and having a more strictly regimented program, but do the kids benefit post college from having missed out on a more relaxed and self accountable approach to a division 3 sport?

Good point. Nescac has the best talent in the country but don’t see you beating down the door for a more regimented offseason program when every junior doesn’t pack their stick to Milan. Believe only tufts doesn’t have kids go abroad? Might be wrong but almost all of their guys take that semester. Pretty wild take to say the Odac is a conference where kids go to college, and also happen to play lacrosse. Is the centennial where kids go to college and also happen to play lacrosse? All four centennial tournament teams in 2019 lost in the first round. Might be fair to say d3 lacrosse is just getting better.

[InsiderRoll]

Thanks for pointing that out Inside
Lots of lacrosse to play.. Very interesting mid season developments. Will be interested to see how these programs respond..
W&L and NOKE seem to be in the rise and are now the hunted.
HSC and LYN seem to have issues be it personality conflicts, spring VA weather.. whatever?
Should make for a great tournament!

My hunch with Lynchburg is that they are battling a bit of an injury bug on offense. The defense is solid, but quite honestly is not at the talent level they were last year. Those guys were just good, I’ve heard one very established D3 head coach say Gallagher was best D-3 defenseman he’s seen in his 20+ years as a head coach. It’s hard to replace a guy like that. The goaltending has been less than stellar and was probably masked by how good and athletic their defense was last year. I believe they were loaded with 5th years last year right?

As far as them being out competed by W&L, that W&L team is if anything well coached (especially on defense) and I know that the same coach has places a high premium on competition and toughness. That stuff doesn’t happen by accident.

It should be a fun finish in the ODAC. Lynchburg, W&L, and Roanoke seem to be ready to compete for the AQ. HSC is good enough, but not there yet IMO.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Interesting commentary, insider you are correct about Lynchburg last season. It was the 5th year players that broke it open for them against HSC late in the 4th. They were also responsible for thumping W&L when it mattered.Look at CNU this year and SJF they have about 10 fifth years each. Wolf being out late in the game and Rogers not playing mattered in the recent contest. Going forward Lburg has the best and most balanced team in the ODAC when wolf and Rogers are available. They are a very good offensive team , best in the ODAC. The flip side is W&L has the best goalie in the conference with the best D. I know W&L won the last game but I give Lburg the slightest edge in a rematch. W&L offense is pedestrian, just look at extra man they are a poor shooting team. One important data point I’d make out and you can bet on it; you don’t have to be a 30% shooting team to win the ODAC but almost 95% of the teams who have won the ODAC have shot 30% or better the last 20 years. ( I’d have that nailed in the Locker room) currently W&L is .269 HSC .276 Noke .333 and Lynchburg at a crazy .370. Let’s see how history once again plays out maybe a fogo goes 65-70% at the dot and your goalie is a wall on a given day but barring those events the one attribute that belongs to almost every ODAC champ is that they were a team that shot 30% or better for the season, not much else mattered nearly as much. I think it’s Lburg , W&L with Roanoke snd HSC in a dead heat for tops in ODAC at the moment.

[BigFella]

Interesting commentary, insider you are correct about Lynchburg last season. It was the 5th year players that broke it open for them against HSC late in the 4th. They were also responsible for thumping W&L when it mattered.Look at CNU this year and SJF they have about 10 fifth years each. Wolf being out late in the game and Rogers not playing mattered in the recent contest. Going forward Lburg has the best and most balanced team in the ODAC when wolf and Rogers are available. They are a very good offensive team , best in the ODAC. The flip side is W&L has the best goalie in the conference with the best D. I know W&L won the last game but I give Lburg the slightest edge in a rematch. W&L offense is pedestrian, just look at extra man they are a poor shooting team. One important data point I’d make out and you can bet on it; you don’t have to be a 30% shooting team to win the ODAC but almost 95% of the teams who have won the ODAC have shot 30% or better the last 20 years. ( I’d have that nailed in the Locker room) currently W&L is .269 HSC .276 Noke .333 and Lynchburg at a crazy .370. Let’s see how history once again plays out maybe a fogo goes 65-70% at the dot and your goalie is a wall on a given day but barring those events the one attribute that belongs to almost every ODAC champ is that they were a team that shot 30% or better for the season, not much else mattered nearly as much. I think it’s Lburg , W&L with Roanoke snd HSC in a dead heat for tops in ODAC at the moment.

Great stat

[Nothinbutthelax]

Gallagher is starting Defense on Ohio state.
Every game and had assist last week. Yes, he was a stud and having that guy to shut down the opposition best was nice and his transition game was evident as LYN is struggling to clear and produce in those opportunities.

I’d agree Rogers is the straw that frees up the rest of O. His knack to draw doubles or triple and dish is what that starting unit relies on and game planned around. He can beat the shortie or pole which the others don’t seem to be able to do except for Wolfe and Mitchell..fact is, the other guys can’t take it to the goal like Colin Dean did last year..Coach K had tried quite few guys to fill in 1st and 2nd lines without much success (young guys getting experience though..)

Good article about FO units. Seems LYN has this issue. Their Soph is tough and wins but losses the ball away 3-4 X’s a game. Some of those TO’s are simple exchanges and really hurt.

https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/ ... ECrvCY7Jlg

For W&L to surrender only 1 penalty (30 second offsides) was impressive. At least the cries of fire McCabe have died down..

[Jumbo]

Besides Lynchburg, the ODAC is a conference where kids go to college, and also happen to play lacrosse. They can’t compete with most of the top programs when kids are there for lacrosse, while they get an education

One of dumber things said on this forum.

I’ll concede that the ODAC is down and doesn’t have the top end talent and depth some other leagues have and they aren’t as good as they’ve been in the past. But that stuff is cyclical. You’re beyond clueless if you don’t think W&L, Roanoke, and HSC are run as legitimate college programs.

Don’t take it personally. My kid is a HS senior. We made the rounds. I really wanted him to pick an ODAC school. Love the conference. Love the history. The academics are great. We have strong ties to HSC. But let’s be real. Lynchburg is actively trying to get top lax players. W&L is just too hard for 90% of lax players to get accepted (they have a 17% acceptance rate). I saw HSC at one touney the last two summers. They are focused on central VA only. Beyond that, I didn’t see any other ODAC coach at any of our tourneys. And we did one in Charlottesville.

[InsiderRoll]

Besides Lynchburg, the ODAC is a conference where kids go to college, and also happen to play lacrosse. They can’t compete with most of the top programs when kids are there for lacrosse, while they get an education

One of dumber things said on this forum.

I’ll concede that the ODAC is down and doesn’t have the top end talent and depth some other leagues have and they aren’t as good as they’ve been in the past. But that stuff is cyclical. You’re beyond clueless if you don’t think W&L, Roanoke, and HSC are run as legitimate college programs.

Don’t take it personally. My kid is a HS senior. We made the rounds. I really wanted him to pick an ODAC school. Love the conference. Love the history. The academics are great. We have strong ties to HSC. But let’s be real. Lynchburg is actively trying to get top lax players. W&L is just too hard for 90% of lax players to get accepted (they have a 17% acceptance rate). I saw HSC at one touney the last two summers. They are focused on central VA only. Beyond that, I didn’t see any other ODAC coach at any of our tourneys. And we did one in Charlottesville.

Amherst has a 9% acceptance rate, they played for a championship.

[InsiderRoll]

I’m glad you have a son who was recruited and hope nothing but the best for him. But I have an extensive amount experience in college lacrosse and quite honestly you don’t know what you’re talking about. Roanoke and HSC are regional colleges and quite frankly are handicapped by an above average cost of attendance paired with average level academics. They do a nice job within their niche. Lynchburg has an acceptance rate of 97%, I’d say that more than half of the lacrosse playing families out there would cross it off their list for that reason alone (justly or unjustly, that’s just a fact). W&L is handicapped a bit by their admissions but they are perfectly capable of fielding top level teams and they invest enough into athletics to be competitive in most sports, albeit not like Tufts. W&L recruits nationally, I’m sure they are out there.

Every school has a niche, Lynchburg does try and be competitive nationally, a lot of coaches would say that they bend the rules aggressively with financial aid for athletes. Most schools are unwilling to do that. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t willing to compete, recruit, and run their programs legitimately.

[Jumbo]

I’m glad you have a son who was recruited and hope nothing but the best for him. But I have an extensive amount experience in college lacrosse and quite honestly you don’t know what you’re talking about. Roanoke and HSC are regional colleges and quite frankly are handicapped by an above average cost of attendance paired with average level academics. They do a nice job within their niche. Lynchburg has an acceptance rate of 97%, I’d say that more than half of the lacrosse playing families out there would cross it off their list for that reason alone (justly or unjustly, that’s just a fact). W&L is handicapped a bit by their admissions but they are perfectly capable of fielding top level teams and they invest enough into athletics to be competitive in most sports, albeit not like Tufts. W&L recruits nationally, I’m sure they are out there.

Every school has a niche, Lynchburg does try and be competitive nationally, a lot of coaches would say that they bend the rules aggressively with financial aid for athletes. Most schools are unwilling to do that. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t willing to compete, recruit, and run their programs legitimately.

So you said I was wrong and didn’t know what I was talking about, then you just confirmed what I said. Lynchburg recruits. W&L does a little, the rest don’t very hard. I said we didn’t see any of the other ODAC schools at any touneys, how can that be wrong?.
As for bending the rules, off the top of my head, all the ODAC schools are private and all of them have lots of room to offer financial aid. We were in talks with 3 of the schools. All had sticker price between 60-70k. All were offering an all in price between 28k-35k. Those numbers are comparable to most schools, and better than CNU. Not sure how long you have been out of the recruiting process , but Salisbury, CNU, Lynchburg, RIT and York are trying harder. They were all at most tourneys, they all did multiple play days.
Like I said, we wanted him to pick an ODAC school. I still follow the schools he was focused on. Sorry that I hurt your feelings. I am sure your ODAC school was solid back in the day

[InsiderRoll]

I’m glad you have a son who was recruited and hope nothing but the best for him. But I have an extensive amount experience in college lacrosse and quite honestly you don’t know what you’re talking about. Roanoke and HSC are regional colleges and quite frankly are handicapped by an above average cost of attendance paired with average level academics. They do a nice job within their niche. Lynchburg has an acceptance rate of 97%, I’d say that more than half of the lacrosse playing families out there would cross it off their list for that reason alone (justly or unjustly, that’s just a fact). W&L is handicapped a bit by their admissions but they are perfectly capable of fielding top level teams and they invest enough into athletics to be competitive in most sports, albeit not like Tufts. W&L recruits nationally, I’m sure they are out there.

Every school has a niche, Lynchburg does try and be competitive nationally, a lot of coaches would say that they bend the rules aggressively with financial aid for athletes. Most schools are unwilling to do that. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t willing to compete, recruit, and run their programs legitimately.

So you said I was wrong and didn’t know what I was talking about, then you just confirmed what I said. Lynchburg recruits. W&L does a little, the rest don’t very hard. I said we didn’t see any of the other ODAC schools at any touneys, how can that be wrong?.
As for bending the rules, off the top of my head, all the ODAC schools are private and all of them have lots of room to offer financial aid. We were in talks with 3 of the schools. All had sticker price between 60-70k. All were offering an all in price between 28k-35k. Those numbers are comparable to most schools, and better than CNU. Not sure how long you have been out of the recruiting process , but Salisbury, CNU, Lynchburg, RIT and York are trying harder. They were all at most tourneys, they all did multiple play days.
Like I said, we wanted him to pick an ODAC school. I still follow the schools he was focused on. Sorry that I hurt your feelings. I am sure your ODAC school was solid back in the day

You honestly have no idea what you’re talking about, saying that some of these schools don’t recruit. You’re generalizing your own experience into an assumption. Quite honestly a school like W&L would literally never cross over with any of the schools you mentioned in the recruiting world, so it’s highly likely your son was in a different pool. I don’t think they ever find themselves recruiting against the rest of the ODAC, RIT, York, Salisbury or CNU. I’m sure they’d like to at times but quite frankly I doubt very many if any of their players would be admissible at W&L.

All of those schools recruit.

[Faxlax]

Why do you make so many pejorative, personal attacks?

Just stick to lacrosse.

[Jumbo]

Who is making attacks? I gave an opinion on a conference, and gave my experience with the last two summers of recruiting at some very popular tournaments.

Unless you are referring to the other poster, who doesn’t believe what is happening in the current recruiting world.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Gentlemen is it long term covid affects, inflation, the fact that ODAC teams are struggling this season or heighten political tensions. The angst on this thread is becoming palpable, let’s remember this is game given to us by the Creator and simply enjoy it as such.