Centennial Conference 2023

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Amazing how DeSales has a way to play the Mules so tough recently. That was a fast game for the first half. Really impressive Defense in the second half.

Mules v RPI - Mules by 4,
WAC v Widener - WAC by 10,
Dickinson v Cabrini - Dickinson by 8. Dickinson's offense can do some things in this game. Lot of respect for Cabrini, just really impressed with Dickinson when they click.
Swat v E'town - Swat by 10, Swat looking good. Offense is clicking.
Ursinus v Desales - Ursinus by 10, so much skill and speed for Ursinus. A difficult match-up
G'Burg v Stevenson - G'burg by 10 , G'Burg confident, well-coached and athletic everywhere.
Hav v Colorado College - No clue on this one. Colorado at altitude and finally back home. Hav very young.

[JustOneTime]

Dickinson is going to have their hands full vs Cabrini. I expect a close game that Cabrini pulls out in the end.

[Not Suitable]

I agree. Cabrini is going to come out guns blazing after a very disappointing game last week. 8-0 at half? I imagine Colfer whipped them into shape this week.

[WashedUp06]

Amazing how DeSales has a way to play the Mules so tough recently. That was a fast game for the first half. Really impressive Defense in the second half.

Mules v RPI - Mules by 4,
WAC v Widener - WAC by 10,
Dickinson v Cabrini - Dickinson by 8. Dickinson's offense can do some things in this game. Lot of respect for Cabrini, just really impressed with Dickinson when they click.
Swat v E'town - Swat by 10, Swat looking good. Offense is clicking.
Ursinus v Desales - Ursinus by 10, so much skill and speed for Ursinus. A difficult match-up
G'Burg v Stevenson - G'burg by 10 , G'Burg confident, well-coached and athletic everywhere.
Hav v Colorado College - No clue on this one. Colorado at altitude and finally back home. Hav very young.

Agreed, impressive 2nd half for the Mules, which has been a theme so far this year and especially in the 3Q. Only 6 goals given up total in the 2nd half of games this year (including the 1 goal in 3OT vs RIT). RIT only score 1 second goal in the 3rd and 4th quarters combined...

[RollShore82]

Weekend Predictions:
WAC 18 Widener 8
Cabrini 13 Dickinson 11
Etown 17 Swat 14
Ursinus 18 Desales 9
Gettysburg 15 Stevenson 9
Mules 14 RPI 10
Haverford 16 Colorado College 15

[BallHunt]

Taking Dickinson over Cabrini 14-10.

[SixBySix]

I'll take a stab this week:

WAC 14 - Widener 9: The Pride appear to be a bit down this year, while WAC seems to be fighting back into the middle of the Centennial pack

Dickinson 15 - Cabrini 10: I'm not at all a believer in the Cavaliers after getting comfortably handled at home by Lynchburg

Etown 16 - Swat 12: My heart (and preseason preview) has this as a get-right game for the Garnet, but last week against Vassar was hard to watch. Hopefully they can get back to form playing on turf instead of a skating rink this week, but Etown has some slick ball movement and athletic midfielders.

DaBears 14 - DeSales 8: Good Centennial teams not named Muhlenberg seem to do just fine against Desales

Mules 15 - RPI 11: I'm onboard the Mule-train, and a close loss to Coast Guard puts RPI a little lower than I had them preseason

Squirrels 11- CC 10: In the battle of second-rate LACs with losses to good teams, Haverford gets the nod for a respectable win over UMW.

[SixBySix]

I'll take a stab this week:

WAC 14 - Widener 9: The Pride appear to be a bit down this year, while WAC seems to be fighting back into the middle of the Centennial pack

Dickinson 15 - Cabrini 10: I'm not at all a believer in the Cavaliers after getting comfortably handled at home by Lynchburg

Etown 16 - Swat 12: My heart (and preseason preview) has this as a get-right game for the Garnet, but last week against Vassar was hard to watch. Hopefully they can get back to form playing on turf instead of a skating rink this week, but Etown has some slick ball movement and athletic midfielders.

DaBears 14 - DeSales 8: Good Centennial teams not named Muhlenberg seem to do just fine against Desales

Mules 15 - RPI 11: I'm onboard the Mule-train, and a close loss to Coast Guard puts RPI a little lower than I had them preseason

Squirrels 11- CC 10: In the battle of second-rate LACs with losses to good teams, Haverford gets the nod for a respectable win over UMW.

Well, other than having the Swat game flipped (yay!), nailed the margins here. But I also managed to miss the McD and Gettysburg games entirely, so:

McDaniel 15 - Alvernia 6: some (Green) Terror gets put into a typical OOC MACrifice team

G'burg 15 - Stevenson 10: lots of talent at Stevenson, but it looks like this could be one of the years that they do not have enough to outweigh their complete absence of discipline. Comfortable Bullets win with a final score line that looks closer than the game film.

[Laxdds]

Gettysburg - It took a while (down 5-1 midway thru the first qtr) to shake off the hangover from the Salisbury game. I thought they played pretty well for the final 3 quarters, the 10 man ride worked well for most of the time it was deployed, although the Bullets got burned twice, they were able to hold Stevenson to 15/21 on clears. Gettysburg turned the ball over (21 total) way to much especially in the 4th quarter (7) when they were poised to put the game away. They will definitely need to clean that up going forward. Their EMO also needs work.

Dickinson - Only saw a little very early they were dominating, any insight on that game?

[WashedUp06]

Tough outing for the Mules yesterday - there was no live stream so can only gain insight from the stats.

RPI 11 Mules 6

Mules were completed dominated in the FaceOff department - losing ~80%

RPI goalie appears to have stood on his head - saving over 75% (probably benefited from a rough shooting day too)
- Starting goalie made 18 saves and only allowed 5 goals, backup goalie allowed the 6th Mule goal

Unsure on the RPI faceoff guy, but this could be a hole for the Mules that needs to get fixed, tough to win when you only get less than 20% at the X.

Still waiting for Dalimonte to return to the starting lineup to help the offense.

Next matchup = Wed against an always scrappy Scranton squad

[ReturnOfTheWAC]

Heading into the last week full week of OOC games before conference play begins! So far all of the CC teams have been competitive and at times very impressive. Here are the weeks picks

Tuesday

-F&M vs Roanoke- This game has the potential to be a very high scoring affair. Both teams can put up points in bunches. To me this comes down to the face off dot and in the cage. Both of these I give the Dips a slight edge. Dips 18-14
-Kenyon vs Haverford- Haverford is coming off a spirited effort vs Colorado College and I expect the altitude to be an issue in this game. Haverford 10-8

Wednesday

-McDaniel vs Chatham- The Terror are 4-1. No you are not dreaming. This team is the best its been in awhile; I hope they carry it into conference play. McDaniel 11-9
-F&M vs Etown- Back to back games for the Dips is interesting. I have a feeling that this is a bit of a hangover from the previous day. Dips 15-11
-Scranton vs Muhlenberg- The Mules are missing some guys who can consistently put the ball in the net. Scranton is a tough team that will make this closer then I would like Mules 14-12

Friday

-McDaniel vs Juniata- McDaniel 14-8
-Randolph Macon vs Washington College- The Shoremen can score with most teams. The problem is the defense needs to do a better job of getting stops especially to keep momentum going. Shoremen 18- RMC 13

Saturday

-SJF vs Muhlenberg- Mules roll on an overrated SJF team 16-8
-Illinois Wesleyan vs Dickinson- A few years ago this would have been an interesting match up. Not anymore Dickinson 24-7
-Swarthmore vs Roanoke- Credit to Roanoke for playing multiple CC teams this year. I think they pick up their first win 16-12 Noke
-Haverford vs Susquehanna- The Fords will be looking build a little bit of a winning streak coming back from Colorado. Haverford 14-8
-Gettysburg vs W&L- Big defensive match up. Both teams goalies struggled over the weekend. Both teams offenses caught fire in the second half of their weekend games. Gettysburg is just more talented Bullets 12-10
-Ursinus vs RIT- York took RIT to the brink last week, Ursinus is just to undisciplined to not let their mistakes kill them. RIT 24-12

[cigslax11]

Tough outing for the Mules yesterday - there was no live stream so can only gain insight from the stats.

RPI 11 Mules 6

Mules were completed dominated in the FaceOff department - losing ~80%

RPI goalie appears to have stood on his head - saving over 75% (probably benefited from a rough shooting day too)
- Starting goalie made 18 saves and only allowed 5 goals, backup goalie allowed the 6th Mule goal

Unsure on the RPI faceoff guy, but this could be a hole for the Mules that needs to get fixed, tough to win when you only get less than 20% at the X.

Still waiting for Dalimonte to return to the starting lineup to help the offense.

Next matchup = Wed against an always scrappy Scranton squad

Understand that the Mules played a great game Week 1 against RIT, not taking away from that.

But this performance was more on par with where the Mules have been the last 5-7 years when playing nationally ranked opponents. I’m still not sold on them being a Top 20 team nationally (which shows given USILA’s most recent ranking) and nor do I think they’re a lock for a Top 3 team in the CC. Until they prove me wrong, still not buying the young talent + vets means this is “their year”.

Through the first handful of weeks my conference ranking:

1. Gburg
2. Dickinson
3. Franklin & Marshall
4. Ursinus
5. Mules
6. WAC
7. Swat
8. Haverford
9. Mcdaniel

I think 1 and 2 are consensus, but it gets really difficult 3-5. I think it’s hard to really know the gap of talent between F&M, Urisnus and the Mules until we see them playing one another. But after 5, I think that is where the biggest gap of talent has been in the conference for the last 6 or so years.

Thoughts? Excited for another big week of matchups for the CC.

Roll Bears

[SixBySix]

-Swarthmore vs Roanoke- Credit to Roanoke for playing multiple CC teams this year. I think they pick up their first win 16-12 Noke

I have been extremely excited for this game every since the schedule was posted. Roanoke may very well have the overall talent edge, but they primarily run a zone defense which is probably the last adjustment I would make if I were scouting this Swarthmore offense. Especially with a full week to implement some wrinkles, I think it's entirely reasonable to see 'Noke as the favorite by a handful, but I am predicting the upset.

[JustOneTime]

F&M plays Roanoke today so I'm sure Swarthmore will be scouting this one.

[WashedUp06]

Well it appears the hangover was real for the Dips, dropping to Elizabeth town in OT! Some of this is on the staff for scheduling back-to-back games, mid-week and with one of those games against a solid Roanoke squad.

Mules took care of business and got the offense back on track with a 17-13 W over Scranton...but my prediction of an elite, top 5 national defense is looking to be a little bold at the moment.

McDaniel did their thing against an inferior Chatham squad (14-7)

Haverford lost a tough, defensive battle to Kenyon (7-6)

Weekend Slate:

Game of the week -
G'burg vs W&L - Generals are riding high with a hot start to the year, but so are Bullets. Fun top 10 match up here with 2 hot teams. 12-9 Bullets

SJF vs Mulhenberg - interesting game, SJF just gave CNU a really good test, so may have worked out some early season woes. Mules have another opportunity to enhance the resume against a quality OOC opponent. 14-13 Mules

Dickinson v Illinois Wesleyan - 21-6 Devils roll

Swat vs Roanoke - 13-8 'Noke

Haverford v Susquehanna - 12-7 Haverford

Ursinus v RIT - not sure if Ursinus has the fire power to make this close. If they can take a page out of the Mules book and can slow the game down and avoid the up & down score fest then they keep it close, but RIT seems like they are hitting a stride again - 16-7 RIT

[Laxdds]

Very nice wins for Gettysburg, Swarthmore, Muhlenberg, Haverford today and Washington last night. Dickinson certainly had their hands full but eeked out the W. Let's see what Ursinus can do with RIT.

[MDlacrosse45]

WAC goes 1-12 on the man up today. Cortland committed 12 penalties to WACs 0. How is that possible? And then on top of that how the hell did WAC lose 22-4 with that stat.
Makes no sense: Cortland beat WAC and the officials today by 18 goals….let’s pump the breaks on the WAC is back talk.

[WashedUp06]

Overall a good weekend for the CC - making a legitimate case for the top conference (NESCAC still has an edge and the Empire 8 is up there too) right now with some of the OOC wins /play.

Games this week:

Wednesday:
Mcdaniel vs Randolph-Macon - Mcdaniel 14 RMC -8
Swarthmore v Stockton- Swat 15 Stockton 11

Thursday:
Muhlenberg v Emerson - Mules 17 Emerson 6

Big Weekend for F&M & Dickinson representing the CC in the Mustang Classic, big opportunity on a national stage to raise the stock for their teams and the conference!

[ReturnOfTheWAC]

Busy week in the CC with almost all teams playing some big games this week.

Wednesday

-Stockton vs Swarthmore- This is going to be a really interesting midweek matchup. Both offenses can score but I think Swat has the edge on defense. Swat 16-11
- RMC vs McDaniel- Another intriguing midweek matchup. McDaniel has already eclipsed their win total from last season. RMC will control the face-off dot which will overwhelm McDaniels defense. RMC 13-8

Thursday

-Muhlenberg vs Emerson- Mules win this with ease. 20-6

Friday

-F&M vs York- Both these teams need this game. York is better on defense and F&M has the firepower to score with the best of them. How the Dips do at the face-off dot determine how this game goes. Give me F&M 13-11
-Dickinson vs Stevenson- Stevensons out of conference schedule is brutal but a night game at the Mustang is just what the doctor ordered. Dickinson gets caught up in the bright lights and falls to the Stangs 14-12

Saturday

-Haverford vs Skidmore- The Fords find some momentum building into conference play Haverford 10-9
- Gettysburg vs Denison- Gettysburg is just to talented. Denison is "W&L Light" Bullets 15-6
-WAC vs Mary Washington- The Shoremen had started the season strong but a blow out loss to Cortland has me doubting the progress I thought I had seen so far. This is a great bounce back game heading into conference WAC 17-12
-McDaniel vs Saint Vincent- SVC is undefeated with a win at OWU. McDaniel hopes to keep a strong early season going. SVC 13-10
-Ursinus vs SJF- Both these teams are trying to figure out themselves. Ursinus pulls out a close one 12-11
- Swarthmore vs Arcadia- Blow out win for the Garnett 19-8
-Dickinson vs CNU- Dickinson is going to need a great performance from their goalie. CNU cruises 15-10
-F&M vs Lynchburg- LBurg has a gauntlet of a week. This helps F&M who comes out of this weekend a huge winner to avenge last weeks collapse. F&M 14-12

[AbeFroeman]

Busy week in the CC with almost all teams playing some big games this week.

Wednesday

-Stockton vs Swarthmore- This is going to be a really interesting midweek matchup. Both offenses can score but I think Swat has the edge on defense. Swat 16-11
- RMC vs McDaniel- Another intriguing midweek matchup. McDaniel has already eclipsed their win total from last season. RMC will control the face-off dot which will overwhelm McDaniels defense. RMC 13-8

Thursday

-Muhlenberg vs Emerson- Mules win this with ease. 20-6

Friday

-F&M vs York- Both these teams need this game. York is better on defense and F&M has the firepower to score with the best of them. How the Dips do at the face-off dot determine how this game goes. Give me F&M 13-11
-Dickinson vs Stevenson- Stevensons out of conference schedule is brutal but a night game at the Mustang is just what the doctor ordered. Dickinson gets caught up in the bright lights and falls to the Stangs 14-12

Saturday

-Haverford vs Skidmore- The Fords find some momentum building into conference play Haverford 10-9
- Gettysburg vs Denison- Gettysburg is just to talented. Denison is "W&L Light" Bullets 15-6
-WAC vs Mary Washington- The Shoremen had started the season strong but a blow out loss to Cortland has me doubting the progress I thought I had seen so far. This is a great bounce back game heading into conference WAC 17-12
-McDaniel vs Saint Vincent- SVC is undefeated with a win at OWU. McDaniel hopes to keep a strong early season going. SVC 13-10
-Ursinus vs SJF- Both these teams are trying to figure out themselves. Ursinus pulls out a close one 12-11
- Swarthmore vs Arcadia- Blow out win for the Garnett 19-8
-Dickinson vs CNU- Dickinson is going to need a great performance from their goalie. CNU cruises 15-10
-F&M vs Lynchburg- LBurg has a gauntlet of a week. This helps F&M who comes out of this weekend a huge winner to avenge last weeks collapse. F&M 14-12

Are you talking about the same F&M team that lost to e-town? Winning 5 of 31 faceoffs?