NCAC 2023

[oldtimelax]

OWU got untracked today, winning 17-6 over Westminster. Young offense started to gel -- 9 goals by sophomores and 6 goals by freshman.

[Nosey Ned]

[/quote]

This weekends picks ….
Oberlin over Albion 12-11
Wabash over Concordia Ill 16-8
Kenyon over Capital 12-7
Otterbein over Wooster 11-8
Hiram over Franciscan 13-10
OWU over Westminster 15-9 Bishops need to right the ship quickly
Whittenberg over Adrian 12-10
Denison over HSC 12-9
Ohio Northern over DePauw 12-6

NCAC goes 7-2 this weekend
[/quote]

Well the weekend slate is complete. NCAC goes 5-4.
Albion 16-13 thought Oberlin had made big enough strides that they’d pull this out
Wabash 21-6 bit better than expected
Kenyon 16-8 good win by significant margin
Wooster 13-3 Is Wooster vastly improved or is Otterbein down this year?
Franciscan 10-9 Hiram should beat this team … bad loss for them
OWU 17-6 hand wringing on pause but truth be told the old OWU wouldn’t have even scheduled them
Adrian 12-8 Wittenberg might be the biggest disappointment of the weekend if not for DePauw
Denison 13-8 solid win on the road - Big Red dominating FO proved too much after slow Q1
Ohio Northern 14-1 DePauw being absolutely dismantled saved Wittenberg from laying the biggest egg of weekend

[Argyle23]

Gotta ask… what’s the word at Witt? HC seems qualified and they just built a massive indoor football/track facility. I guess I’m surprised to see the past few years results but my bar of expectations was set ten years ago.

[Nosey Ned]

NCAC has a pretty full slate of mid-week games this week.

Here is how I'm calling them:
DePauw over MSOE 9-8 in OT
Oberlin over Adrian 14-10
Wabash over Earlham 14-6
Hiram falls to Bethany 9-13
Kenyon over Otterbein 13-6
Wooster over Capital 12-10

NCAC goes 5-1

[Leonard Washington]

NCAC has a pretty full slate of mid-week games this week.

Here is how I'm calling them:
DePauw over MSOE 9-8 in OT

Zoinks!!!!

What a call Ned

[Nosey Ned]

NCAC has a pretty full slate of mid-week games this week.

Here is how I'm calling them:
DePauw over MSOE 9-8 in OT

Zoinks!!!!

What a call Ned

Haha - thanks Leonard. What's the saying .... "even a blind squirrel can find an acorn now and again"?

[oldtimelax]

Hey Ned....Las Vegas is calling....they want you to set the line on NCAC lacrosse games....could be a big new market for Draft Kings and MGM!

[Nosey Ned]

NCAC has a pretty full slate of mid-week games this week.

Here is how I'm calling them:
DePauw over MSOE 9-8 in OT
Oberlin over Adrian 14-10
Wabash over Earlham 14-6
Hiram falls to Bethany 9-13
Kenyon over Otterbein 13-6
Wooster over Capital 12-10

NCAC goes 5-1

Very good mid week for the NCAC as was a clean sweep for the conference

DePauw 9-8 in OT made me look good
Oberlin 15-7 solid win
Wabash 18-2 Wabash s/b ready to step up the level of
competition as the program seems to be improving
Hiram 5-3 hey Hiram proved my wrong - good to see but
that game must have been brutal
Kenyon 14-5 as expected
Wooster 14-7 another surprise to the upside by the
Scots


Old ... I love Vegas - but it doesn't love me so probably should not answer the call. Haha

[bulldodge97]

I know it's early and this could certainly be an overreaction, but I'm seeing a potential 4-team battle for that 2 seed. Think Denison could cruise to that 1 seed, but after that I think Kenyon, OWU, Wooster, and Oberlin all have a realistic shot at that 2 seed.

[BIGDAWG]

The Scots are on the rise and will soon be coming to get Pompous Edwin.

[oldtimelax]

The Scots also have the most entertaining student announcers ever.... there's one female who is particularly funny....check it out. They were sort of an internet sensation last season, and they are back....

[LaxRatinOH2]

Watched the Hiram-Bethany game from Wednesday. Was a little rough, but both goalies were insane. I stopped counting after 14 pipe shots for Hiram. Should have been a 14-3 game. Definitely a lot better than the past for this team.

[Nosey Ned]

A very big game for Denison this weekend. The annual matchup with W&L! This will be the 5th time in the last 6 meetings that both teams come in ranked in the Top 20. Denison has won the last 4 meetings but this will be different in that this time W&L is the better ranked team. And rightfully so after the Generals impressive win over a very good team in York. A York team that embarrassed the Big Red when bouncing them from the NCAA tournament last year.

Before I give my take on this year's outcome - I'd like to say that I think this is one of the best OOC annual matchups in D3 lacrosse - for the reason above. Neither of these teams may be considered top 5 often, but very often they both are in the #10-15 range and that makes for an always competitive, hard fought game. Two great schools, with great athletic programs, that are well coached - playing a great brand of lacrosse.

Now my take - I'm calling it Denison 11-10 in OT. I know I will be in the minority here as I have seen some calling it W&L by at least a few if not more. That's fine but I think 2 things that win lacrosse games (and make a good recipe for an upset) is Face Offs and goalie play. And if the early season is a true indication - I give the Big Red the advantage in both areas. Winning consistently at the dot will allow Denison to better control the tempo of the game. And big saves made often by their keeper on the other end will allow Denison to push the tempo at their discretion. The Big Red, when given the opportunity will show they too are fast and athletic. If we can be patient and make 'good shots" (something I don't think we've been good at recently) we should be able to control the game. Also, Denison's Coach Koch's (and his staff) will have hands on knowledge of the Generals upperclassmen - that they'll undoubtedly incorporate in to the game plan. Advantage Denison.

Lastly, the last time the underdog won this matchup was in 2017 when #20 W&L beat #10 Denison (the flip side of this year's matchup) by scoring the last 9 goals of the game to wipe out a 6-11 deficit. Worth noting that after that opening day heartbreak, the Big Red ripped off 18 straight wins before falling to the eventual National Champion Salisbury in one side of that years' Final Four.

So here's wishing we get another great game on Sunday. May both teams play to their potential and let the better team come out on top. So good luck to the Generals (just not too much) and wishing them and their fans, a safe trip to beautiful Granville.

GO BIG RED

[Nosey Ned]

Here with my call on this weekend’s NCAC slate of games ….

Thiel over Hiram 12-9
Ohio Northern over Wittenberg 13-8
SUNY Brockport over Wooster 11-10
OWU over North Central 15-7
Denison over W&L 11-10 in OT (more in post above)
Va. Wesleyan over Wabash 17-11

If I’m correct, not a great weekend for the NCAC.

[FannOLax]

Gotta say, I like the red helmets and shorts in Denison's home uniforms, which I find to be a nice change from the all-whites we've seen for many years. After all, it is the Big Red.

[grelch]

Only watched a chunk of the 4th in the Denison game. They had the ball a lot but didn't do much with it. There was a lot of cycling the ball around the perimeter over and over. Seemed quite static. Credit to WL for shutting the game down. Sounds like it was a very different game the other 3 qtrs.

[BIGDAWG]

Here with my call on this weekend’s NCAC slate of games ….

Thiel over Hiram 12-9
Ohio Northern over Wittenberg 13-8
SUNY Brockport over Wooster 11-10
OWU over North Central 15-7
Denison over W&L 11-10 in OT (more in post above)
Va. Wesleyan over Wabash 17-11

If I’m correct, not a great weekend for the NCAC.

Glad you were wrong booger boy. The Fighting Scots prevailed and showed great grit despite your arrogant prediction on our downfall. A little karma for the poor man's Cornell. We'll see you in the championship my friend.

[Nosey Ned]

Here with my call on this weekend’s NCAC slate of games ….

Thiel over Hiram 12-9
Ohio Northern over Wittenberg 13-8
SUNY Brockport over Wooster 11-10
OWU over North Central 15-7
Denison over W&L 11-10 in OT (more in post above)
Va. Wesleyan over Wabash 17-11

If I’m correct, not a great weekend for the NCAC.

And now the results ….
Thiel won 16-9 no surprise
Ohio N won 12-7 as expected
SUNY B lost 8-14 nice 4-0 start for Wooster but let’s slow our roll for a week at least, their opponents are 1-11. Next up Albion will tell us more
OWU won 13-12 yikes Bishops better start playing better soon
W&L won 12-9 Big Red score only 1G in 2nd half - that will spell loss every time
Va Wes won 22-17 again about as expected but Wabash is getting better. Good to see.

So NCAC goes 2-4 as expected but with 2 missed calls on my part.

[Nosey Ned]

Gotta say, I like the red helmets and shorts in Denison's home uniforms, which I find to be a nice change from the all-whites we've seen for many years. After all, it is the Big Red.

Hey Fann - TBH gonna take some getting used to the white helmets for me! But your very valid point about them being the “Big Red” has moved me in that direction. Thanks!

[Nosey Ned]

Lastly - congratulations to the Generals. Great 2nd half. Best of luck the rest of the way.