Washington College 2019

[COGULL]

It certainly was !! - Hats off to WAC for giving SU all they could handle today- Announcer said there were 2000 at the game and they set a record for viewership.

[MrLax2U]

by WASHFAN » Sat Apr 13, 2019 4:19 pm
That was another Classic WOTS!!!!! Sho’men stepped up, just needed a finish. Great game.

Great Game; great refs calling almost no penalties. Not sure why Sho'men not 11 - 1 in the mix for the AQ and a lock for Group C. Play with this intensity and two undefeated teams will be squaring off for the D III Game of the Year. Pompea's bouncer to end the game everybody in the stands felt the anguish of the students watching from the crescent. The black police dog on the track facing the students fell to his haunches. That poor creature had been imploring his god to nudge the Sho'men to a win so the students would charge the field in a wild rush and he could slip his leash and be among them like the miniature Allosaurus in his DNA. Passed him on the way out; nice doggie who missed his 15 minutes of fame.

I'd like to call out Casey Grieves; 3 Goals, 1 Assist, 7 Shots, 6 On Goal. All while being nose covered by Gulls' best defender, Brad Apgar. Same as last year with Kyle Tucker, 2017 and 2018 National Defenseman of the Year.

Keep a simple, tight 3x3 zone rotating into a 1x3x2 if snipers start to score. Your goalie is terrific and your offense just took the best defense in D III to the mat for the second year. Good luck.

[mdline]

Nicely shot footage from Saturday's WOTS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOA5-F9YkiA

[DeepPocket]

Nicely shot footage from Saturday's WOTS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOA5-F9YkiA

Nicely done. Thanks for posting that here.

[WASHFAN]

Thanks LINE, this is a great video!

[laxfan0165]

Shoremen must have had a Salisbury hangover. Grieves pretty much MIA until it was too late. The best player needs to step up in a game like this with a lot on the line.

[MrLax2U]

Shoremen must have had a Salisbury hangover. Grieves pretty much MIA until it was too late.

Grieves did okay. A team can nose guard a player to take him out; but 5x5 favors the offense so the other offensive players have to step up and it looks like Sloan and several others did. What happened to the defense? Did they play a tight 3x3 zone?

The goalie stats (I didn't see the game) are puzzling. Against the Gulls Del Rosario was first team AA material. Del Rosario and Leahy had similar stats.

Gulls had a similar drop off 4 days later v York. I guess the emotional toll of WOTS lingers. Have to recharge the batteries.

[WASHFAN]

Watched the replay on Roku, my two cents: Del Rosario was off a little, Turnovers in clear resulted in some great opportunities for FM, we should have played more zone, and Grieves (I think the world oh him) was not as active, he seemed content to shoot from outside and wasn’t active off ball. It looks like a hangover deal, you go nose to nose with the gulls...maybe FM will require less...it didn’t...

[WASHFAN]

Maybe it’s me or the camera, but Swarthmores field lighting could be the worst I’ve seen..I feel sorry for the goalies and refs...you can’t see anything, maybe they could dip into the endowment for 50k and get some lights..

[WASHFAN]

Camera had sun filter on...\

[mdline]

My understanding is that a WAC win over Gettysburg and a Dickinson loss to Ursinus is the combination that gets the boys into the conference playoffs. Tall task but hopefully not an impossible one.

[laxfan0165]

Once again out of the conference tournament . That makes it four years in a row. Something needs to change.

[formerwclaxer]

Nice to see this forum is available for our great sport.

I know I am out of touch with today's DIII dynamics and moving 500 miles from Chestertown in retirement has not allowed me to see any games in person for the last 5 years. But I still am a big fan of this sport and care about WC. I had hoped Coach Shirk had managed to turn the ship around after his first 4 years. It was pretty impressive but now the last 5 years have seen a return to mediocrity. Not terrible but not the kind of outstanding record WC had consistently produced over the last half century. Hey, times change and I get that. Clearly, WC is not getting enough of the better DIII players to restore their once proud lacrosse legacy. The question is why. Here are my thoughts.

For starters, WC has gone through college presidents at an alarming rate the last dozen or so years. At best, the lacrosse program and it's legacy was merely an afterthought. At worst, there was an actual distain for the sport. And no one stayed around to develop an appreciation for the value of having at least one sport that was special. I have noticed that WC with an enrollment of only 1400 fields 18 sports now. Everybody has a chance to be on some team and compete. Lacrosse is just another sport. Participation seems to be the driving force. I have been encouraged by the current president that seems to value the novel concept of winning. Things may get better under his direction. When Wesleyan won last year's national championship, I saw an interview with their coach. He said the most important factor for their impressive rise was the total support from their administration and president. What do you need to achieve success , they asked him.

When WC's long time athletic director retired a few years ago, WC promoted their head trainer to that position. On the other hand, when Gettysburg needed a new athletic director, they searched and hired the former Johns Hopkins deputy Athletic Director, someone that was deeply involved with lacrosse at Hopkins and who also had coaching experience. The comparison said something to me. A whole lot.

I do not know if the ship has sailed on WC's opportunity to become again one of the better DIII programs. It has got to start with the president, the other administration individuals and the visitors and governors. Without their total support, I see little chance.

[RedFromMI]

(stuff omitted)
When Wesleyan won last year's national championship, I saw an interview with their coach. He said the most important factor for their impressive rise was the total support from their administration and president. What do you need to achieve success , they asked him.

One of the former Washington College coaches (JB Clarke) has done pretty well since leaving the program. Three national championships, and he has Limestone (DII) at 17-0 currently with a single game remaining on the schedule before the dance. (And #1 ranked, of course).

From his bio at Limestone regarding his days at WC:

Prior to joining the Saints, Clarke served as the head men’s lacrosse coach and Assistant Director of Athletics at Washington College. He guided the Shoreman to a combined 138-63 (.687) overall record in 12 years, becoming the fastest coach to reach 100 wins in program history. He led the program to seven NCAA Division III Tournament appearances and reached the Centennial Conference Championship in eight consecutive seasons. Clarke mentored 28 USILA All-Americans and 78 All-Centennial Conference honorees while in Chestertown.

I do not know if the ship has sailed on WC's opportunity to become again one of the better DIII programs. It has got to start with the president, the other administration individuals and the visitors and governors. Without their total support, I see little chance.

[formerwclaxer]

To LaxPundit07, My apologies for somehow overlooking your excellent post on this same subject only a few weeks ago. Very well stated. I also must agree with you, financial pressures being applied to WC and other small schools surely is impacting their ability to focus on the lacrosse program. Fingers crossed things will improve.

[mdline]

This thread has read like the John’s Hopkins one on the D1 forum for most of the year but the Jays got hot in the last week. Few key wins changes everything.

[WCnotWAC]

Looks like two alums are available, if a coaching change is being considered - John Nostrant and Ricky Sowell.

[sguy9]

John Nostrant = Gilman

[WCnotWAC]

John Nostrant = Gilman

Yeah, just saw that. Great choice by Gilman.

So, Ricky...wassup?

[LaxPundit07]

;