OuttaNowhereWregget--Redux

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

The errors mentioned in the previous post that cost Maryland the game:

On the first error, defender Peduzzi had no plan or clue what she was doing when she carried the ball deep into the Boston College end with more than 60 seconds left on the shot clock, and coughed up the ball before being called for a crease violation. Then Cordingley, too careless with the ball and unaware of her surroundings, allowing a fairly simple caused turnover from Cassidy Weeks. And finally, with the game tied and Leubecker with possession, another Maryland player with no plan when she got swallowed up by the BC defense before turning the ball over.

Whenever I watch the waning moments of this game, I am happy I am not an ardent Maryland fan, because the whole end of this game is sad and frustrating. Right or wrong, I have trouble blaming Peduzzi for the turnover. She is a defender, not a regular and dependable ball carrier (which separates her from the elite defenders like Trenchard, Donovan, Detwiler, Nalls, Walker-Welch). It was on one of her teammates to get themselves in a position in which she could make a clean handoff. But Cordingly and Leubecker didn't play the way your first team women have to play. Just a dagger. In the end, it is just easier to not blame Maryland, but credit an exceptionally well-coached, really battle tested BC lineup, which had the grit and courage to pull this one out. Weeks's handle on that goal still leaves me in awe.

Great post per usual. Well put regarding BC. You don't think Peduzzi had enough opportunities to dump the ball off to a teammate around the restraining line somewhere? I'm just puzzled by what she did. Why did she go to cage when it clearly isn't where her strength lies? I agree that her teammates could have done a better job of making it easier for her to pass it off, but with that much time left on the shot clock, why not just try harder to get it to a teammate? She just looked clueless going to cage--and the end result only proves that she should never have been heading that way to begin with. Some blame has to go on the coaching staff for this loss, as well. The players obviously weren't mentally ready for the moment. The mistakes they made were inexcusable for that time in the game, which if they were thinking clearly, or better prepared in what their strategy was, I think they would have won. They were certainly dominating in the draw circle at that stage. Had possession multiple times down the stretch only to turn the ball over needlessly.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Combining two categories under the shadow of one player--Graduate student who had the most impressive year and Best in Clutch is the Hero of the 2022 Powder Blue Crew--Sam Geiersbach. Stunning performance on the final weekend of the NCAA's. Without her, the Heels leave in shame after yet another upset in the semi's. Grad Sam took her teammates on her back and carried them to a spectacular come from behind victory over the, in the end, hapless Northwestern Wildcats (more on them later), scoring 5 of the teams last 6 goals including the game tying and winning goals. An absolutely heroic performance. There aren't many like it in the world of sports. Then chipped in a humble hat trick vs BC in the Final to help her team win their 3rd (and her 1st and only) national championship. What a way to end a career. She'll always be the toast of the town when visiting Chapel Hill. Hail the Conquering Hero--Sam Geiersbach.

[Seacoaster(1)]

The errors mentioned in the previous post that cost Maryland the game:

On the first error, defender Peduzzi had no plan or clue what she was doing when she carried the ball deep into the Boston College end with more than 60 seconds left on the shot clock, and coughed up the ball before being called for a crease violation. Then Cordingley, too careless with the ball and unaware of her surroundings, allowing a fairly simple caused turnover from Cassidy Weeks. And finally, with the game tied and Leubecker with possession, another Maryland player with no plan when she got swallowed up by the BC defense before turning the ball over.

Whenever I watch the waning moments of this game, I am happy I am not an ardent Maryland fan, because the whole end of this game is sad and frustrating. Right or wrong, I have trouble blaming Peduzzi for the turnover. She is a defender, not a regular and dependable ball carrier (which separates her from the elite defenders like Trenchard, Donovan, Detwiler, Nalls, Walker-Welch). It was on one of her teammates to get themselves in a position in which she could make a clean handoff. But Cordingly and Leubecker didn't play the way your first team women have to play. Just a dagger. In the end, it is just easier to not blame Maryland, but credit an exceptionally well-coached, really battle tested BC lineup, which had the grit and courage to pull this one out. Weeks's handle on that goal still leaves me in awe.

Great post per usual. Well put regarding BC. You don't think Peduzzi had enough opportunities to dump the ball off to a teammate around the restraining line somewhere? I'm just puzzled by what she did. Why did she go to cage when it clearly isn't where her strength lies? I agree that her teammates could have done a better job of making it easier for her to pass it off, but with that much time left on the shot clock, why not just try harder to get it to a teammate? She just looked clueless going to cage--and the end result only proves that she should never have been heading that way to begin with. Some blame has to go on the coaching staff for this loss, as well. The players obviously weren't mentally ready for the moment. The mistakes they made were inexcusable for that time in the game, which if they were thinking clearly, or better prepared in what their strategy was, I think they would have won. They were certainly dominating in the draw circle at that stage. Had possession multiple times down the stretch only to turn the ball over needlessly.

I can't disagree with much that you say here, except maybe the bump on the MD staff. You can prepare players all you want, but they have to perform, and the Maryland kids, as you say, did not in crunch time. Peduzzi had tunnel vision; you can almost hear her heart pounding with indecision.

Here, maybe the respective schedules provide an explanation; BC just played more games against tougher opponents than Maryland did. Seems like Reese made a decision, with her young team, to schedule games that allowed them to grow and win and gain confidence, and got them to the final four. But when the B1G teams played the ACC teams, the more tested teams won, even if a rabbit out of the hat was required.

Thought this might interest you (you probably saw it):

https://usalaxmagazine.com/college/wome ... rthwestern

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I can't disagree with much that you say here, except maybe the bump on the MD staff. You can prepare players all you want, but they have to perform,

Yeah--that's a good point.

Here, maybe the respective schedules provide an explanation; BC just played more games against tougher opponents than Maryland did. Seems like Reese made a decision, with her young team, to schedule games that allowed them to grow and win and gain confidence, and got them to the final four. But when the B1G teams played the ACC teams, the more tested teams won, even if a rabbit out of the hat was required.

There really is something to be said for playing tough opponents during the regular season. One of the critical necessities to prepare a team for a serious run at the Grail. The method that teams like Duke employ seldom work.

Thought this might interest you (you probably saw it):

https://usalaxmagazine.com/college/wome ... rthwestern

I have not. Thanks for recommending it. Though truth be told (and I've alluded to this before) I'd rather read more of your stuff here on the WD1 boards. You could write for any of the outfits writing about women's lacrosse. I'm hoping you'll weigh in on the Syracuse 2023 schedule at some point.
https://fanlax.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=415797#p415797

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

This is a doozy of a schedule. Fairly high degree of difficulty all the way through for the most part. Not even the “ease of travel” opponents are cupcakes. There will be no doubt what kind of team Syracuse is by the end of the year. They will be tested in many different ways. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a schedule this tough—not even from Virginia, who typically schedules one of the toughest. Interesting to note that the Orange will do the Willie Nelson only 5 times. The rest of the games will be home (wherever that ends up being).


Feb 11 (Sat) Northwestern

Feb 17 (Fri) Maryland

Feb 20 (Mon) Binghamton

Feb 25 (Sat) @Pittsburgh

Mar 1 (Wed) UAlbany

Mar 5 (Sun) Virginia Tech

Mar 11 (Sat) Notre Dame

Mar 15 (Wed) @Loyola

Mar 18 (Sat) @Duke

Mar 22 (Wed) Stony Brook

Mar 25 (Sat) @Louisville

Mar 28 (Tue) Cornell

Apr 1 (Sat) Virginia

Apr 8 (Sat) Clemson

Apr 15 (Sat) @North Carolina

Apr 20 (Thu) Boston College

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I greatly enjoy watching this team struggle to be anything more than average. Last night's anemic effort versus the Buffalo Bills was particularly satisfying. I predicted years ago that as soon as Brady and Belichick were split up, this team would go right back to the middle of the pack. It has also become more than obvious that Tom Brady was the reason for the Patriots success--decidedly not (ol' Cheatin') Bill Belichick. Now that he doesn't have Tom Brady to cover his coaching insufficiencies, and he can't cheat anymore because the league is watching him and the team more closely than ever, he has reverted to what he is and has always been--a mediocre coach at best. His record with the Patriots since Brady's (premature) departure is 23-23. It always comes out in the numbers. No more excuses about Covid, or salary cap restrictions or anything else for that matter. Bill is what Bill is--maybe the biggest fraud heading to the Hall of Fame in the history of the Hall of Fame--in any sport.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Feb 18 La Salle
Feb 25 @ Johns Hopkins

Mar 1 @ Loyola
Mar 4 @ Columbia
Mar 11 @ Jacksonville
Mar 18 @ Harvard
Mar 22 Maryland
Mar 26 Georgetown

Apr 1 @ Florida
Apr 4 @ Lehigh
Apr 8 Yale
Apr 15 Cornell
Apr 19 Princeton
Apr 22 @ Brown
Apr 29 Dartmouth

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

When was the last time anyone did a deep dive on this topic and made it a research project? A real look at an entire season, or even an entire conference for that matter?

(Is there a number crunching nerd in the house?!)



Maybe instead of sitting around compiling top 50 player lists someone on one of the staffs at Inside Lacrosse or USA Lacrosse Magazine might undertake this generous research project. I looked up only a couple/few games on a whim and frequently found contradictions to the win-the-draw-win-the-game maxim. Does it really happen as often as we are told to believe or is it with complacency that we accept it as bedrock truth? 

Calling all nerds! Calling all nerds!!

120 teams competed in NCAA D1 women's lacrosse last year. What if we apportioned an average of 18 games per team? That's about 2160 games played last season, give or take. Even if there were only 10 percent of the games where the team that won the draw control battle lost the game, (and I think there were more), that would be 216 games. That's nothing to dismiss. Hardly warrants an ironclad truism that gets parroted from the booth frequently by lazy announcers and commentators.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

"For the larger-than-life women’s star who stood above them all in 2022."

There is no contest here. The Great One was head and shoulders above the competition. Her athleticism and goal scoring prowess combined with her contribution in the draw circle and dishing to her teammates was second to none. She fought through a season where she was every opponent's focus, on a team with a bullseye on its back since winning the national title--struggling with injuries as the season wore on--she fought to the end, managing 92 goals, 23 assists and 139 draw controls. There was no real consideration for the Tewaaraton award as Charlotte took the trophy back-to-back. In the history of the women's game, Charlotte North was unique. The electricity and buzz she brought to the sport is undeniable. She will one day be inducted into the Women's Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Sure as I'm sitting here. I will miss her greatly.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Anyone who was paying attention to the Duke women’s lacrosse team in 2022 noted a couple of things. One—Coach Kimel chose a cupcake out of conference schedule, presumably to insure a higher ranking and a guaranteed berth with better seeding in the NCAA’s. Secondly—Maddie Jenner blew doors on everyone else in the draw circle by a full 2 percentage points ahead of the next player on the list with 11.65 draws per game—233 DC’s in 20 games. This of course had an effect on the team rankings, which had Duke 1st in draw controls per game with 372 in 20 games for an 18.60 average, and 2nd in draw control winning percentage with a .617, taking 372 draws against 231 opponent draws.

In the end, how did dominance on the draw help Duke? It didn’t. They got blown out in the first round of the ACC conference championship, losing 19-11 to Notre Dame—a team that finished 9-10 for the season and 3-5 during the regular season in the ACC. Then in the 2nd round of the NCAA’s, they were gutted by Maryland 19-6.

But Duke reigned supreme in the draw circle in 2022. What are we to make of it?

This young lady expresses it best in three succinct words...

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I find it immensely satisfying when teams break long losing streaks against a given team, or defeat them for the first time in multiple tries.

After 18 straight losses dating back to 2001, Virginia Tech finally defeated the Dukes to shrug off a huge gorilla. Very tight game with rookie Olivia Vergano delivering this shweet game winner for the 10-9 win back in February. Vergano became an instant favorite of mine on this play. In 17 games she collected 40 goals, 5 assists, 16 GB’s, 8 CT’s, and 73 DC’s. She'll be a very important player for the Hokies during her career if she continues to play the way she did in her frosh campaign.



Look at those lightning quick feet! And what a flame thrower top corner far side! Goosebumps!

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

A few schedules dropped today. Along with Clemson were Jacksonville, Army, Lehigh and Holy Cross…so far

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Some of you are laboring under the misapprehension that I was consigned to my own thread and was henceforth banished from the rest of the WD1 boards—either by my own will or the will of Matnum P.I. and admin. Allow me to disabuse you of that notion. The whole reason for me choosing to start my own thread was because some folks were getting fed up with my incessant and/or excessive posts. It was suggested that I have my own topic where I would be free to post to my hearts every whim and desire as often as I pleased. I chose to do that—but I never promised to post on my own thread exclusively, nor was I told to stay within the confines of my own thread by Matnum P.I. or admin.

You can trace the etymology here: https://fanlax.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=383586#p383586

And examine my statement regarding my thread here: https://fanlax.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=383750#p383750

So now that the matter has been thoroughly addressed and clarified, I trust there will no longer be any confusion about where I choose to post. I enjoy all the rights and privileges of the rest of the (as of this posting) 4178 members of FanLax.

Now that we’re all on the same page…



:05 second clip

[hmmm]

Some of you are laboring under the misapprehension that I was consigned to my own thread and was henceforth banished from the rest of the WD1 boards—either by my own will or the will of Matnum P.I. and admin. Allow me to disabuse you of that notion. The whole reason for me choosing to start my own thread was because some folks were getting fed up with my incessant and/or excessive posts. It was suggested that I have my own topic where I would be free to post to my hearts every whim and desire as often as I pleased. I chose to do that—but I never promised to post on my own thread exclusively, nor was I told to stay within the confines of my own thread by Matnum P.I. or admin.

You can trace the etymology here: https://fanlax.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=383586#p383586

And examine my statement regarding my thread here: https://fanlax.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=383750#p383750

So now that the matter has been thoroughly addressed and clarified, I trust there will no longer be any confusion about where I choose to post. I enjoy all the rights and privileges of the rest of the (as of this posting) 4178 members of FanLax.

Now that we’re all on the same page…



:05 second clip

As the person that originally recommended the idea I concur with your take on this. At least for me, what bothered me was that you often posted anything that came to your head that had nothing to do with the thread topic. This made it difficult to tell if there was actually new information posted to a thread because I'd log on and you would be the last person that updated the top 7 or 8 threads on the forum. I don't have to agree with your takes but as long as they are on topic I don't see how anyone can complain. Just my 2 cents as the originator of the ONW Stream of Consciousness thread idea.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

As the person that originally recommended the idea I concur with your take on this. At least for me, what bothered me was that you often posted anything that came to your head that had nothing to do with the thread topic. This made it difficult to tell if there was actually new information posted to a thread because I'd log on and you would be the last person that updated the top 7 or 8 threads on the forum. I don't have to agree with your takes but as long as they are on topic I don't see how anyone can complain. Just my 2 cents as the originator of the ONW Stream of Consciousness thread idea.

You were indeed the originator, hmmm. Thanks again for your inspiration.

Yep--I can get carried away with something I have a passion for. I don't know that one could ever claim I posted a non sequitur under a topic, however.

In any event--thanks for your thoughts.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

At first glance this schedule is pretty typical for who BC usually has as opponents. One more ACC opponent compulsory to the slate means one less OOC game. 16 games scheduled again instead of the typical 17 (pre-covid). Another bunch of games scheduled indoors is disappointing but hey, that's the trend and it will only continue and spread through the rest of the Northeast and Midwest for the programs that have the gelt. 8 home games, 7 away, 1 neutral. Big revenge games back to back vs Duke and Carolina end of February/early March. Marquee matchups both. At Northwestern for a warmup should be a full tilt boogie as well. Long stretch of fairly simple games until Syracuse at the very end. I wonder what the Orange will look like at the end of April after their bruising schedule has taken its toll. Interesting to see a few night games in here.

Feb 11 (Sat) noon Home USC Chestnut Hill, MA. (Fish Field House)
Feb 15 (Wed) 3pm Home UMass Chestnut Hill, MA (Fish Field House)
Feb 19 (Sun) 1pm Away Northwestern Evanston, IL
*Feb 25 (Sat) noon Home Duke Chestnut Hill, MA. (Fish Field House)

*Mar 4 (Sat) 1pm Away North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC
Mar 8 (Wed) 3pm Home Brown Chestnut Hill, MA. (Fish Field House)
*Mar 11 (Sat) 11am Home Louisville Chestnut Hill, MA.
*Mar 16 (Thu) 4pm Away Clemson Clemson, SC
Mar 19 (Sun) 1pm Neutral Denver Naples, FL
*Mar 25 (Sat) noon Away Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
Mar 29 (Wed) 6:30pm Home Dartmouth Chestnut Hill, MA.

*Apr 1 (Sat) noon Home Pitt Chestnut Hill, MA.
*Apr 8 (Sat) noon Away Notre Dame South Bend, Ind.
Apr 12 (Wed) 4pm Away Boston University Boston, MA
*Apr 15 (Sat) TBD Home Virginia Chestnut Hill, MA.
*Apr 20 (Thu) 6pm Away Syracuse Syracuse, NY

* Conference game

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Feb 10 (Fri) TBA Away Duke Durham, N.C.

Feb 12 (Sun) 12:00 p.m. Away East Carolina Greenville, N.C.

Feb 18 (Sat) 10:00 a.m. Away Monmouth West Long Branch, N.J.

Feb 25 (Sat) 4:00 p.m. Away Villanova Villanova, Pa.

Mar 3 (Fri) TBA Home Oregon Annapolis, Md. (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)

Mar 5 (Sun) TBA Away Richmond Richmond, Va.

Mar 8 (Wed) 4:00 p.m. Home Mount St. Mary's Annapolis, Md. (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)

Mar 15 (Wed) 4:00 p.m. Home Jacksonville Annapolis, Md. (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)

Mar 18 (Sat) TBA Away Bucknell Lewisburg, Pa.

Mar 25 (Sat) TBA Away Lehigh Bethlehem, Pa.

Mar 29 (Wed) TBA Home Lafayette Annapolis, Md. (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)

Apr 1 (Sat) 12:00 p.m. Home Colgate Annapolis, Md. (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)

Apr 8 (Sat) 12:00 p.m. Away Boston Boston, Mass.

Apr 15 (Sat) 12:00 p.m. Home Holy Cross Annapolis, Md. (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)

Apr 19 (Wed) TBA Away American Washington, D.C.

Apr 22 (Sat) TBA Away Army - Star Game West Point, N.Y.

Apr 28 (Fri) 6:00 p.m. Home Loyola Annapolis, Md. (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Feb 11 (Sat) Away Queens University of Charlotte

Feb 15 (Wed) Away William & Mary

Feb 18 (Sat) Home Liberty University

Feb 26 (Sun) Away Howard University

Mar 5 (Sun) Home Navy

Mar 8 (Wed) Away Old Dominion University

Mar 11 (Sat) Away UMass

Mar 15 (Wed) Home University of Virginia

Mar 18 (Sat) Home Virginia Commonwealth University

Mar 22 (Wed) Home George Mason University

Mar 25 (Sat) Away Saint Joseph's University

Apr 1 (Sat) Away St. Bonaventure University

Apr 5 (Wed) Away James Madison University

Apr 8 (Sat) Home La Salle University

Apr 15 (Sat) Away George Washington University

Apr 22 (Sat) Away Davidson College

Apr 29 (Sat) Home Duquesne University

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

For the coach who had the most impressive season in 2022

Hands down this belongs to Tim McCormack—the then coach of Arizona State. Not any OOC cupcakes on the schedule he chose for his Golden Tridents in 2022. Michigan, NU, San Diego State, Florida, Stony Brook and Rutgers and ended the season 11-8. Unjustly deprived of an At Large bid to The Dance unfortunately, but that’s what happens sometimes when Those Who Decide rely too heavily on stupid math formulas and disregard what their eyeballs see. But you and I, we’ve been through that, as ol’ Elston Gunnn once said. So now McCormack’s on to Johns Hopkins to replace legendary Janine Tucker. Really interested to see what their schedule looks like when it finally drops. Good luck to Hop and their new coach. May they finally step on the turtle for the first time in program history during his tenure.