NESCAC

[ah23]

Zone + a hot goalie = one of the upsets of the season. What a game for Colby.

[The12lov3]

Great game by Williams. Played a hard fought game against Tufts. Definitely showed they can play with anyone. Impressed with their grit and ability to slow down the Tufts offense. Nice job

[pcowlax]

Congrats to Trinity for win over CC. I have to say, I have been very pleasantly surprised with the Bantams after the offseason of their discontent. No, they aren’t good, but they have played hard and been in most games and won more than I expected. Their extremely young team is getting great experience to build on. Agree on Williams too. No moral victories in the NESCAC but that is an impressive score. Congrats as well to Wes, final score much closer than the game where they completely smothered Jeff’s high powered O until the closing minutes. Can’t wait for the Cardinals and Panthers on Saturday, no soft one game a week nonsense in D3!

[InsiderRoll]

Yes. But the toughest NESCAC slate is still in front of them. SOS Will improve. Bigger hurdle is that it’s unlikely the NESCAC will get 5 bids, potentially somebody good is staying home.

Even with an upset or two down the stretch, yes it does seem the NESCAC is a 4 bid league

Honestly even if there were 5 deserving NESCAC teams I just don’t think the committee will do it. The NESCAC teams are just competing with themselves for the at large spots.

[Unknown Participant]

Great game by Williams. Played a hard fought game against Tufts. Definitely showed they can play with anyone. Impressed with their grit and ability to slow down the Tufts offense. Nice job

Yes, Ephs played well and had a plan to shut down Boyden that worked. A complaint I have had w/Tufts staff is slow adjustments to what is happening on the field. JB gets shut, stands around at x all 1st half and the other 5 (the plan was to play 5v5 apparently) don't do much. It's tied at half (I think). Do something different, e.g., run JB out of the box, put him at the crease, run big little after big little at x to get the ball in his stick, status quo wasn't working.

Sometimes I think the staff thinks the style, skill and depth of the team can get them out of most holes without much scheming. It worked tonight, but see RIT last May.

[InsiderRoll]

Great game by Williams. Played a hard fought game against Tufts. Definitely showed they can play with anyone. Impressed with their grit and ability to slow down the Tufts offense. Nice job

Yes, Ephs played well and had a plan to shut down Boyden that worked. A complaint I have had w/Tufts staff is slow adjustments to what is happening on the field. JB gets shut, stands around at x all 1st half and the other 5 (the plan was to play 5v5 apparently) don't do much. It's tied at half (I think). Do something different, e.g., run JB out of the box, put him at the crease, run big little after big little at x to get the ball in his stick, status quo wasn't working.

Sometimes I think the staff thinks the style, skill and depth of the team can get them out of most holes without much scheming. It worked tonight, but see RIT last May.

Yeah, but at least coach’s Jordans were fresh.

https://twitter.com/coachdannolfo/statu ... q4kMZX8G3A

[Unknown Participant]

Great game by Williams. Played a hard fought game against Tufts. Definitely showed they can play with anyone. Impressed with their grit and ability to slow down the Tufts offense. Nice job

Yes, Ephs played well and had a plan to shut down Boyden that worked. A complaint I have had w/Tufts staff is slow adjustments to what is happening on the field. JB gets shut, stands around at x all 1st half and the other 5 (the plan was to play 5v5 apparently) don't do much. It's tied at half (I think). Do something different, e.g., run JB out of the box, put him at the crease, run big little after big little at x to get the ball in his stick, status quo wasn't working.

Sometimes I think the staff thinks the style, skill and depth of the team can get them out of most holes without much scheming. It worked tonight, but see RIT last May.

Yeah, but at least coach’s Jordans were fresh.

https://twitter.com/coachdannolfo/statu ... q4kMZX8G3A

FO

Plus, he either gets paid for that, or he does it because the manufacturer takes care of the team due to its success and its social media prominence among DIII lax teams. Either way, I am good with it. I'll ask him and get back to you. What about your team?

[nelaxman]

Wesleyan looked incredible tonight for the first three 1/2 quarters. They did it without their top Face-off man. Amherst had no answers for their offense. Wesleyan is way too athletic for and ran by their man to man matchups with no slides for most of the day. The Cardinals are the real deal when they play as they did tonight. They seem to be getting in a a great rhythm as of late. DJ Dixon is the best midfielder in the NESCAC hands down. Super impressed with defense was taking anyway every look Amherst threw at them over the first few quarters. It should be interesting to see if they could play like this again on Saturday. They had a Middlebury’s number last year, so let’s see if they can do it again. Middlebury will be hungry for this one.

[D3laxisgoated]

Wesleyan looked incredible tonight for the first three 1/2 quarters. They did it Without their top Face off man for the Cardinals. Amherst had no answers for their offense. To many athletic players for Wesleyan to hold match up. Wesleyan is way too athletic for that and ran by their matchups for most of the day. Cardinals are the real deal when they play like they did tonight. They seem like they are getting in a great rhythm as of late. Their defense was totally taking anyway every look Amherst threw at them ove,first,few quarters. Excited to see if they can play like this again on Saturday. They had Middlebury number last year so let’s see if they can do it again. Exciting time From,this team to get hot!

First off - I think this guy might be drunk based off his spelling and grammar - but second off, I do think he’s right about Wesleyan. They are a matchup nightmare for some teams, and not so much for others. We’ll see if they can improve enough where they become a matchup nightmare for everyone. Last year Middlebury struggled twice against them, so we’ll see if that’s the case again this season.

[InsiderRoll]

Great game by Williams. Played a hard fought game against Tufts. Definitely showed they can play with anyone. Impressed with their grit and ability to slow down the Tufts offense. Nice job

Yes, Ephs played well and had a plan to shut down Boyden that worked. A complaint I have had w/Tufts staff is slow adjustments to what is happening on the field. JB gets shut, stands around at x all 1st half and the other 5 (the plan was to play 5v5 apparently) don't do much. It's tied at half (I think). Do something different, e.g., run JB out of the box, put him at the crease, run big little after big little at x to get the ball in his stick, status quo wasn't working.

Sometimes I think the staff thinks the style, skill and depth of the team can get them out of most holes without much scheming. It worked tonight, but see RIT last May.

Yeah, but at least coach’s Jordans were fresh.

https://twitter.com/coachdannolfo/statu ... q4kMZX8G3A

FO

Plus, he either gets paid for that, or he does it because the manufacturer takes care of the team due to its success and its social media prominence among DIII lax teams. Either way, I am good with it. I'll ask him and get back to you. What about your team?

Settle down dude. It’s a JOKE. I’m sure he gets them for free or at a discount. Most full fledge NIKE schools offer NIKE Elite accounts too with allotments of money each year. He probably gets a few hundred or a thousand credits in that account. That was the case when I worked at a power 5 school. He’s not paid to wear them.

You’re the one that criticized their staffs ability, not me.

[sguy9]

Nice W for Colby over MIT. Let's see if they are turning a corner or was this just a strange night in Boston.

[Laxdad457]

Nice W for Colby over MIT. Let's see if they are turning a corner or was this just a strange night in Boston.

COLBY MIT
Shots 33 52
Turnovers 28 23
Caused Turnovers 12 6
Faceoffs Won 4 20
Extra-Man Opps 0 1
Ground Balls 35 38

[Unknown Participant]

Nice W for Colby over MIT. Let's see if they are turning a corner or was this just a strange night in Boston.

COLBY MIT
Shots 33 52
Turnovers 28 23
Caused Turnovers 12 6
Faceoffs Won 4 20
Extra-Man Opps 0 1
Ground Balls 35 38

Stats say 19 saves by Colby GK (.65 svp) v 10 for MIT (.45 svp)

[JaxsonGrey68]

Congrats to Trinity for win over CC. I have to say, I have been very pleasantly surprised with the Bantams after the offseason of their discontent. No, they aren’t good, but they have played hard and been in most games and won more than I expected. Their extremely young team is getting great experience to build on. Agree on Williams too. No moral victories in the NESCAC but that is an impressive score. Congrats as well to Wes, final score much closer than the game where they completely smothered Jeff’s high powered O until the closing minutes. Can’t wait for the Cardinals and Panthers on Saturday, no soft one game a week nonsense in D3!

Agree, nice win for the Bants. Agree that they play hard. Also imagine how much better they would be with a real coaching staff and some of the players who are missing.
Love the win by Colby. Not sure anyone saw that coming. Hopefully it turns it around for them.
And also agree on Williams.

[The12lov3]

How did Wes beat Amherst? Got that one wrong for sure. I would have thought that way Wes has played this year that Amherst would have beat the pants off of them. I guess that is why you play the game to prove dumb-ass like myself wrong. Anyone got some perspective on this huge upset?

[creasecone66]

I would imagine those who are surprised at the result of the Colby game didn’t watch…after bowdoin/bates got out of hand and the Wesleyan/Lord Jeffs score was out of hand early on, found this stream to be the most intriguing as it was close the whole way, plus as an unapologetic “nescac is the best league in d3” guy, wanted to see how newmac top dawgs do against lower end nescac. Plus, they’re on a short list of acceptable out of conference opponents to schedule for nescac teams according to fanlax forum posters.

All that said, outside of gebhart, MIT looks like an average team. I thought he’d feast on the zone, but they extended out a bit and it seemed like a Colby pole followed 42 whether he was operating top center or on the lefty wing. He took some shots that looked forced but some that went in that were real impressive. Not sure how many attempts he needed to get his 6, but the dude can sling it (this, I know, is news to everyone). Goaltending has been an X factor in a win like this and last year’s win over Wesleyan. Has been a revolving door there and most other positions for the mules - would guess it’s a combo of injuries and staff trying new personnel combinations after some poor results early on in the season.

Colby’s dodgers ran by guys either for their own shot or caught guys sleeping off-ball for catch and shoot opportunities. I thought their B/L from behind created some nice scoring chances for the dodger and then 1 or 2 passes after drawing a slide. Contributions from a good balance of attack and midfield when 9 had what looked like an off night after being a bright spot for them in a first half of the season that hasn’t been full of bright spots.

Hats off to Trinity for a “big” win as well. I’ll have to find the pencil-pusher forums so Tarnow and GVA can observe and report on the naysayers in their work environment once the season wraps up, and how soon they should be demoted or handed a pink slip.

[D3laxisgoated]

How did Wes beat Amherst? Got that one wrong for sure. I would have thought that way Wes has played this year that Amherst would have beat the pants off of them. I guess that is why you play the game to prove dumb-ass like myself wrong. Anyone got some perspective on this huge upset?

It’s not a “huge upset”, my guy. Clearly Wesleyan is better than Amherst head to head in this 2020-2024 “cycle” of players. If you looked at last years score and this years you would know this. That’s why I predicted this win. Yeah Wes lost to Bowdoin by 6 but they also lost to Bowdoin by 6 last year. Some teams just match up well against others. Doesn’t necessarily mean one team is WAY better than the other. Wesleyan University is a perennial powerhouse in the Nescac and won the 2018 national championship. They are contenders every year.

If you want some lacrosse x’s and o’s reasons why they won, Amherst’s defense is slide heavy and Wesleyan thrives in slide heavy situations. The way to beat Wesleyan is slide when necessary, control possession, finish your good opportunities, limit transition, and make timely saves. If none of those things happen Wesleyan will beat most teams.

[Laxguy703]

I just re-watched the Tufts-Williams game from yesterday and it looks like Williams gave a lot of teams the blueprint on how to beat Tufts. The three big things I noticed were:

- They essentially locked off Boyden with a pole for 90% of the game and forced everyone else to be a ball carrier. This caused a lot of confusion within the settled 6v6(5v5 if you will) offense of Tufts. Guys like Swank and Bruun are phenomenal scorers, but they aren’t ball dominant players.
- Williams immediately got in the hole and cut off any transition. When the shot clock was under 10 seconds, the Williams Mids would book it to the box to get defensive personnel in and the Attack would apply pressure early in the ride so that they can get set on defense. This led to them minimizing Tufts biggest strength, transition. Most games you will see Tufts score 7-8 goals in transition. They only had a few in this game.
- Lastly, Williams got settled on offense and didn’t go to the cage early. Tufts defense is great and they like to pressure out early in the possession to force teams to make stupid mistakes, but when you get into your offensive flow, their defense is very beatable. Williams did a great job of getting settled and not forcing anything.

Williams clearly had a game plan that was executed extremely well. I assume a lot of coaches will watch this game and try to take some things away from it. I also assume the Tufts coaching stuff will try to incorporate more 2 man game scenarios to get Boyden open because a lot of teams are going to start shutting him off. I mean you’d be stupid not to… he has 86 points in 10 games.

[BallHunt]

I just re-watched the Tufts-Williams game from yesterday and it looks like Williams gave a lot of teams the blueprint on how to beat Tufts. The three big things I noticed were:

- They essentially locked off Boyden with a pole for 90% of the game and forced everyone else to be a ball carrier. This caused a lot of confusion within the settled 6v6(5v5 if you will) offense of Tufts. Guys like Swank and Bruun are phenomenal scorers, but they aren’t ball dominant players.
- Williams immediately got in the hole and cut off any transition. When the shot clock was under 10 seconds, the Williams Mids would book it to the box to get defensive personnel in and the Attack would apply pressure early in the ride so that they can get set on defense. This led to them minimizing Tufts biggest strength, transition. Most games you will see Tufts score 7-8 goals in transition. They only had a few in this game.
- Lastly, Williams got settled on offense and didn’t go to the cage early. Tufts defense is great and they like to pressure out early in the possession to force teams to make stupid mistakes, but when you get into your offensive flow, their defense is very beatable. Williams did a great job of getting settled and not forcing anything.

Williams clearly had a game plan that was executed extremely well. I assume a lot of coaches will watch this game and try to take some things away from it. I also assume the Tufts coaching stuff will try to incorporate more 2 man game scenarios to get Boyden open because a lot of teams are going to start shutting him off. I mean you’d be stupid not to… he has 86 points in 10 games.

Williams 1 out of 10 face offs in the second half. Similar to their CNU outing.

[Razor21]

Congrats to Trinity for win over CC. I have to say, I have been very pleasantly surprised with the Bantams after the offseason of their discontent. No, they aren’t good, but they have played hard and been in most games and won more than I expected. Their extremely young team is getting great experience to build on. Agree on Williams too. No moral victories in the NESCAC but that is an impressive score. Congrats as well to Wes, final score much closer than the game where they completely smothered Jeff’s high powered O until the closing minutes. Can’t wait for the Cardinals and Panthers on Saturday, no soft one game a week nonsense in D3!

Agree, nice win for the Bants. Agree that they play hard. Also imagine how much better they would be with a real coaching staff and some of the players who are missing.
Love the win by Colby. Not sure anyone saw that coming. Hopefully it turns it around for them.
And also agree on Williams.

Did the Trinity coach kick both your dogs? Neither of you can acknowledge a nice W without taking a shot.