Landmark Conference 2023

[D3hero]

Etown added graduate transfer Jacob Griffin from the University of Richmond this off-season. He was a First Team All So-Con selection at Richmond in 2021 before losing his starting spot to an underclassman in 2022.

Have to believe he’ll be the best face off guy in the Landmark and maybe even the best in all of D3.

[PenaltyB0x]

Etown added graduate transfer Jacob Griffin from the University of Richmond this off-season. He was a First Team All So-Con selection at Richmond in 2021 before losing his starting spot to an underclassman in 2022.

Have to believe he’ll be the best face off guy in the Landmark and maybe even the best in all of D3.

Thanks for the update. I was not aware of that, that’s big news for Etown. He will no doubt make a huge impact for them. Good to see more D1 talent transferring into the conference.

[beachbum1334]

G- Pezone Catholic
D- Pierce Scranton
LSM- Burke Drew
DM- Stein Catholic
FO- ??? All the good ones graduated and there isn't a returner worth mentioning
M- Crapanzano Scranton
A- Kozak Scranton


Are Pezone and Stein returning for a 5th year?

Pezone is a natural senior and Stein is back for 5th year.

Anyone know of any other fifth years in the conf from Etown Scranton Susqy etc?

[D3hero]

The only other 5th year I’m aware of at Etown is Alex Kilgour. Seems like Etown and Catholic really lost a lot to graduation.

[beachbum1334]

The only other 5th year I’m aware of at Etown is Alex Kilgour. Seems like Etown and Catholic really lost a lot to graduation.

Kilgour is a solid midfielder and good guy to get back as a 5th year for etown. 4 year starter and steady presence on their first midfield line. Curious to see who will fill in for the other senior midfielders they lost to graduation. Excited for the season

[D3hero]

My preseason rankings:

1. Scranton - Return the most. Crapanzano and Kuzak are two of the best in the conference. Could this be the year they finally get over the hump? Or will Hofmeister continue to underperform despite having some of the best talent in the conference?
2. Etown - lost a lot of fire power to graduation (Cost, Mills, Yake Gilbert). They return some studs on offense with Gismondi, Langen and Kilgour. Grad transfer Jacob Griffin is a huge addition at FaceOff. Defense is young and inexperienced which could hold this squad back.
3.Catholic - The 2x reigning champs lost the most of anyone to graduation (Crowley, Dunn, Mcshea, Hillery, Baudo) but 2021 first team midfielder Luke D’Ambrogi returns from injury to lead this squad on offense. Goalkeeper Nic Pezone will continue to show he’s the best in the conference. Lots of young talent, will be interesting to see how this program does now that they will be playing with mostly Coach Sax’s recruits.
4. Susquehanna - Susky was in the landmark championship in ‘18 and ‘19. Program is rebuilding back to that form after a tough couple of years. 2022 ROY Brennan Lorence and FaceOff Ryan Prum will lead this squad. Wouldn’t be surprised if they knock off one of the top 3 at some point this season.
5. Drew - Team is getting better and growing in numbers under Coach Liedl. Still some distance away from competing with the top 3 teams in the conference due to lack of depth and holes in the lineup. Attackman and stat sheet stuffer Craig Wilkie will lead this squad.
6. Moravian - Trevor Dzama returns at attack. Young team that I think will struggle this year.
7. Goucher - Coach Hannan returns after many years to rebuild this once strong program. Unfortunately the rebuild will take a few years. Team will struggle this year with a thin roster size.
8. Juniata - Year 2. Head Coach Norbo departed after one year? Wishing goodluck to Coach Stumpo as he grows this program.

[beachbum1334]

Anybody hearing of any potential scrimmages coming up in the next few weeks? Any results of scrimmages that have already happened? Have to imagine teams have started practicing at this point.

[LI_Lax14]

CUA/Lynchburg will be coming up in the next 2 weeks. Big time test for the cards right out of the gate

[LaxCrusader1]

CUA/Lynchburg will be coming up in the next 2 weeks. Big time test for the cards right out of the gate

Especially seeing Lynch knock off Jacksonville in a scrimmage recently. Interesting comparisons.

[laxdad30]

Scrimmage: Goucher @ Hood - 02/04

[LI_Lax14]

Congrats to the 4 players selected to IL's Pre Season AA list...

HM AA- Crapanzano(Scranton), Stewart(Etown), Stein(CUA), and Pezone(CUA)

[Tightyrighty]

Inside Lacrosse just dropped preseason All Americans. 4 landmarkers make the list but all end up on the HM side. Catholic having 2 with Colin Stein and Nic Pezone. Scranton with 1 in Crapanzano and E town with 1 in Conor Stewart.

Interested to see who will move up or who will drop down. Seasons not too far away. Below are each teams schedule versus ranked opps.
Catholic-5 ( Salisbury, CNU, Gettysburg, F+M, W+L, Stevenson, and scrimmaging Lynchburg )
Drew-0 but do play stevens a solid program
E-town- 1 (F+M)
Goucher - 0
Juniata-0
MORO-0
Scranton- 1 (Salisbury) but also play solid programs like cortland and Ithaca and muhlenburg
Susq- 1 (Dickinson)

Can’t wait for some nevadejoe recaps coming soon! Dudes always got it on lock

[LaxCrusader1]

Inside Lacrosse just dropped preseason All Americans. 4 landmarkers make the list but all end up on the HM side. Catholic having 2 with Colin Stein and Nic Pezone. Scranton with 1 in Crapanzano and E town with 1 in Conor Stewart.

Interested to see who will move up or who will drop down. Seasons not too far away. Below are each teams schedule versus ranked opps.
Catholic-5 ( Salisbury, CNU, Gettysburg, F+M, W+L, Stevenson, and scrimmaging Lynchburg )
Drew-0 but do play stevens a solid program
E-town- 1 (F+M)
Goucher - 0
Juniata-0
MORO-0
Scranton- 1 (Salisbury) but also play solid programs like cortland and Ithaca and muhlenburg
Susq- 1 (Dickinson)

Can’t wait for some nevadejoe recaps coming soon! Dudes always got it on lock

Interesting to see most peoples' top-4 pre-season Landmark teams are all the ones with top-20 teams on their schedule. Let's see if that shakes out come LC playoff time.

Winter scrimmages just around the corner, anyone going to have score updates? Would be interested to see how LC teams perform!

[LI_Lax14]

Got to respect the teams that are building out competitive non conference schedules. I saw an article that ranked Catholic's schedule as the 6th toughest in the country. The Landmark needs to do whatever it can to garner respect nationally and this is the route the teams need to go until we start winning games in the NCAA tourney.

[LI_Lax14]

For context...

https://www.div3lax.com/hardest-schedules.html

[nevadajoe]

Got to respect the teams that are building out competitive non conference schedules. I saw an article that ranked Catholic's schedule as the 6th toughest in the country. The Landmark needs to do whatever it can to garner respect nationally and this is the route the teams need to go until we start winning games in the NCAA tourney.

You have to give credit to Elizabethtown for starting this trend of tough out-of-conference scheduling. The Blue Jays joined the Landmark in 2015. They played the likes of Dickinson, York, F & M, Ursinus, Lynchburg, CNU and W & L multiple times over the past 8 years. They went to the semis in 2015 and the finals in 2016. Then they won three consecutive Landmark championships ('17, '18 and '19) and have been in the championship game the past two years facing off against Catholic.
Catholic, Elizabethtown and Scranton have all done a fine job in upgrading their schedules, understanding that the goal is to win the Landmark and go to the tournament. That strategy definitely works. Only Goucher (5-4 over Washington College in 2012) and Elizabethtown (9-6 over John Carroll in 2018) have won NCAA tournament games representing the Landmark.

I for one applaud this upgrading of any lacrosse program as it certainly gets a team toughened up for the conference schedule and also is a great recruiting tool when trying to get top level players to come to your program.

[laxdad30]

Goucher lost to Hood today 9-4.

[Tightyrighty]

Saw in the ODAC forum Catholic got pumped 19-6 vs Lynchburg and 14-4 after 3... YEESH. Somebody do some CPR for the cardiac cards. Yea Lynchburg is good but not a great first go looking at the score. I saw Scranton scrimmaged the other day but didn't know against who or how they looked. Any insight for any other scrimmages besides Goucher.. (shoutout laxdad) how did the new regime look? Drew gets the nod being the first action in the landmark Saturday vs Neumen. Will it still be the craig wilke show against lesser opponents or does Lidle have some extra hay in the barn? Time will tell

[D3hero]

Saw in the ODAC forum Catholic got pumped 19-6 vs Lynchburg and 14-4 after 3... YEESH. Somebody do some CPR for the cardiac cards. Yea Lynchburg is good but not a great first go looking at the score. I saw Scranton scrimmaged the other day but didn't know against who or how they looked. Any insight for any other scrimmages besides Goucher.. (shoutout laxdad) how did the new regime look? Drew gets the nod being the first action in the landmark Saturday vs Neumen. Will it still be the craig wilke show against lesser opponents or does Lidle have some extra hay in the barn? Time will tell

The Cardiac Cards are in cardiac arrest! Completely outclassed on and off the field by Lynchburg this past weekend. Looks like Coach Sax has been hitting those DC nightclubs a lot harder than the recruiting trail!

Etown appears to be weaker as well. The Blue Jays lost 12-5 to Chestnut Hill in their first scrimmage.

Haven’t heard anything about Scranton’s scrimmages but they appear to have the most talent in the conference this year.

[laxdad30]

Goucher.. (shoutout laxdad) how did the new regime look?

I can only tell you what I was told. Coach had positive things to say. Hood had 40+ kids. Goucher...18. Goucher will have a skeleton crew this year. Sounds like they havent had any kids step up into that attack position yet. From what I was told, that's an area of concern.

My son did snap the new Epoch Head they gave them (They are an Epoch team now). He had it since Christmas and already killed it. Then proceeded to explode his old bone DNA back up.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KwBPntxDsYFqStkp9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XavGGEdsfamepmXdA

Expensive day for Dad.