Transfer portal

[Fischer]

Rachel Clark is one of my fav players in the sport. I feel like i'm the only person that hypes up how good she is..An absolute load when she's coming at defenders full speed with her size. Earlier this year I mentioned that she might transfer (along with Ashley Humphrey) and i received alot of pushback. I think by now everyone needs to accept the fact that if you're star level player on a mediocre team, the prospect of transferring is very attractive. Alot of these girls were overlooked and not recruited by big programs so when they ball out in college, so many doors open and they want to take advantage and fullfill their dreams of realistically competing for a championship. NIL opportunities are also way better. Olivia Dirks who's good, not great (compared to what she used to be) makes bank at UNC in NIL deals. She's not getting that if she was still at Penn State

I usually agree with a lot of your posts but on Clark and Humphrey I think you are off. Not that they entered the portal. But because you assume that the main reason they did so is that the programs they attended weren’t good enough for them. Neither of these girls were overlooked. They were TOP recruits. They had their choice of top 10 programs and chose uva and Stanford respectively. Clark entered the portal only after her coach changed. And Humphrey right before her senior year. Unless you have actual information about why they chose to enter the portal, all you have is speculation.
And to suggest that uva and Stanford are mediocre programs is ridiculous. Mediocre means average. Which is 60th ranking.

By your definition UVA is a mediocre program in the best lacrosse conference. They will be stuck battling it out with Clemson, Duke, and VT for the middle of the pack in the ACC. And with this have no guarantee of making the NCAA tourney. So, if winning a National title is important to her and a better opportunity comes up for Clark no one can really blame her for moving on. If VT can get better production from their attackers this coming season I like them as the best VA team in the ACC.

VT will remain bottom tier team in ACC even with the transfer pick up it won’t matter much

[Womenslaxxfan]

We shall see. Things change. Bc was a bottom half acc program until 2017. Notre dame has been up and down. Only cuse and unc have been strong for a decade.
New coach and the attractiveness of uva as a school I think has them back challenging for acc titles in a few years Look at the uva men’s program. Failed to win a game in the acc for years, got a new coach and now perennial contender.
Vatech can’t compete long term with uva, bc, notre dame and cuse. Maybe this year…but not for long.
This is why it’s fun to prognosticate….because who really knows!

[Stix]

Where are these players going?

[intheknow247]

Seems like a lot of action in the portal right now. UMD needs to snag a good attacker or 2 and they could be a top 5 team. If Loyola snags LoPinto they could break into the top 5 too. Clemson has also grabbed a handful of transfers again.

This cracks me up how the portal is viewed now..."Hey Coach, you stunk it up at recruiting or developing the recruits you brought in (which by the way in Maryland's case they always get top classes) so just go hunt it out in the portal..."

[RollTheCrease]

Rachel Clark is one of my fav players in the sport. I feel like i'm the only person that hypes up how good she is..An absolute load when she's coming at defenders full speed with her size. Earlier this year I mentioned that she might transfer (along with Ashley Humphrey) and i received alot of pushback. I think by now everyone needs to accept the fact that if you're star level player on a mediocre team, the prospect of transferring is very attractive. Alot of these girls were overlooked and not recruited by big programs so when they ball out in college, so many doors open and they want to take advantage and fullfill their dreams of realistically competing for a championship. NIL opportunities are also way better. Olivia Dirks who's good, not great (compared to what she used to be) makes bank at UNC in NIL deals. She's not getting that if she was still at Penn State

I usually agree with a lot of your posts but on Clark and Humphrey I think you are off. Not that they entered the portal. But because you assume that the main reason they did so is that the programs they attended weren’t good enough for them. Neither of these girls were overlooked. They were TOP recruits. They had their choice of top 10 programs and chose uva and Stanford respectively. Clark entered the portal only after her coach changed. And Humphrey right before her senior year. Unless you have actual information about why they chose to enter the portal, all you have is speculation.
And to suggest that uva and Stanford are mediocre programs is ridiculous. Mediocre means average. Which is 60th ranking.

By your definition UVA is a mediocre program in the best lacrosse conference. They will be stuck battling it out with Clemson, Duke, and VT for the middle of the pack in the ACC. And with this have no guarantee of making the NCAA tourney. So, if winning a National title is important to her and a better opportunity comes up for Clark no one can really blame her for moving on. If VT can get better production from their attackers this coming season I like them as the best VA team in the ACC.

VT will remain bottom tier team in ACC even with the transfer pick up it won’t matter much

I tend to agree with a PP if VT can improve their attack and limit turnovers, which has been a problem for them the last two seasons, they will be a team to keep an eye on. They have a strong draw specialist and maybe the best goalie in the ACC. Coach Skiera has her team moving in the right direction. I don’t see them cracking the top 3/4 of the ACC but 5th and an NCAA bid is possible. That last spot will come down to Clemson, Duke, VT or UVA.

[Essexfenwick]

Seems like a lot of action in the portal right now. UMD needs to snag a good attacker or 2 and they could be a top 5 team. If Loyola snags LoPinto they could break into the top 5 too. Clemson has also grabbed a handful of transfers again.

This cracks me up how the portal is viewed now..."Hey Coach, you stunk it up at recruiting or developing the recruits you brought in (which by the way in Maryland's case they always get top classes) so just go hunt it out in the portal..."

UMD will never be caught up to

https://www.ncaa.com/video/lacrosse-wom ... s-lacrosse

[Womenslaxxfan]

Never is a long time. But I wouldn’t bet against you on that one!!!

[user1020]

ND could be a sneaky good team next year if they put it all together. Choma, Ahern, Wolak, and Schettig are all returning. Plus Tierney on attack. This team has talent on paper if they can put it all together on the field.

[Kleizaster]

ND could be a sneaky good team next year if they put it all together. Choma, Ahern, Wolak, and Schettig are all returning. Plus Tierney on attack. This team has talent on paper if they can put it all together on the field.

that's been the case for Notre Dame the past decade. No shortage of talent. After UNC, BC, CUSE, NW, and MD...Notre Dame is right under that group in terms of recruiting with teams like Stanford and Duke. Choma, Ahern, Schettig were all very highly ranked players out of HS. But they underachieve. All those three underachieve. Maybe it's time to look at coaching..

[Lax101]

Everyone likes to highlight offensive players at ND but the issue is threefold in my opinion. Coaching is always an issue, and they dont have enough talent at midfield or defense. In big games, Choma, Wollack, Ahern and now Tierney will be standing behind the restraining line while their midfield and defenders struggle to stop the best offenses.

[Stix]

They're the most physical team in D1. 40+ fouls in games.

[Lax101]

Good point. Teams often use physicality to make up for skill or talent level. I see them as top heavy on the offensive side of the ball.

[Womenslaxxfan]

Two things about ND.
First, aggressive fouling is clearly their strategy to slow down transition. There is no penalty really as has been discussed at length in various posts. They don’t foul more than others in traditional defense. It’s in transition. It’s a “glitch” in the game allowed by bad rules. And my guess is it gets fixed eventually. Excessive fouling is already on the tables as a problem to fix..
Second, notre dame last year struggled mightily once teams began to shut off wolack. Uva did this in the second half of their acc tourney game and notre dame struggled to score goals. Bc did it to them twice (once in acc tourney and once in ncaa tourney) and throttled them. Part of this is that choma is an off ball player at heart and ahern has a hard time beating elite defenders (she kills decent defenders but less effective against athletic defenders, which is understandablen) and part was coaching inability to come up with another scheme to score goals without wolack.
Arden Tierney will help. She’s another legit threat to dodge or feed, and makes shutting off wolack less effective.
I think ND will be top 8 team next year based on offensive talent alone. But defense and goalie are merely ok, so don’t think they can get to final 4….

[intheknow247]

Seems like a lot of action in the portal right now. UMD needs to snag a good attacker or 2 and they could be a top 5 team. If Loyola snags LoPinto they could break into the top 5 too. Clemson has also grabbed a handful of transfers again.

This cracks me up how the portal is viewed now..."Hey Coach, you stunk it up at recruiting or developing the recruits you brought in (which by the way in Maryland's case they always get top classes) so just go hunt it out in the portal..."

UMD will never be caught up to

https://www.ncaa.com/video/lacrosse-wom ... s-lacrosse

They will also never be the same...

[LaxDadMax]

Two things about ND.
First, aggressive fouling is clearly their strategy to slow down transition. There is no penalty really as has been discussed at length in various posts. They don’t foul more than others in traditional defense. It’s in transition. It’s a “glitch” in the game allowed by bad rules. And my guess is it gets fixed eventually. Excessive fouling is already on the tables as a problem to fix..
Second, notre dame last year struggled mightily once teams began to shut off wolack. Uva did this in the second half of their acc tourney game and notre dame struggled to score goals. Bc did it to them twice (once in acc tourney and once in ncaa tourney) and throttled them. Part of this is that choma is an off ball player at heart and ahern has a hard time beating elite defenders (she kills decent defenders but less effective against athletic defenders, which is understandablen) and part was coaching inability to come up with another scheme to score goals without wolack.
Arden Tierney will help. She’s another legit threat to dodge or feed, and makes shutting off wolack less effective.
I think ND will be top 8 team next year based on offensive talent alone. But defense and goalie are merely ok, so don’t think they can get to final 4….

Lots of thoughts about ND here

First, the addition of Adam Sear was massive for them last year. I expect offense to continually get better. If I was starting a program Sear would be at the top of my coaching search list.

Second, agree that defense has been a challenge. I think it goes much deeper than Xs and Os. ND has taken the strategy of recruiting big physical defenders, not short quick ones. That simply doesn't work unless you are a primary zone team.

An example. A few years back, my second daughter's club team had the #1 rated defender in the country and ND was her dream school. (5-3 with a sub-5.0 in pro agility drill). She heard from 19 of the top 20 schools. All but ND, despite attending all of ND's camps and prospect days. Her club director reached out to CH and CH said that this player "didn't fit their system"

At this point, ND needs to either go 100% zone or bring in some athleticism. Until then, I would expect a bunch of 19-18 games and you don't go to final fours constantly playing in shootouts.

[Lax101]

BC with their second off season pickup. Both AA and both with 2 years of eligibility. Browndorf a defender and now Lopinto to help the offense.

[Fischer]

BC with their second off season pickup. Both AA and both with 2 years of eligibility. Browndorf a defender and now Lopinto to help the offense.

Wowwww They are going to be fun to watch AWW is good

[Kleizaster]

BC with their second off season pickup. Both AA and both with 2 years of eligibility. Browndorf a defender and now Lopinto to help the offense.

Wowwww They are going to be fun to watch AWW is good

LoPinto is a huge pickup but BC needs their underclassmen to step up big time if they want to have anywhere near the season they want. Their attack is significantly better with LoPinto but that midfield.. It does not look good..Only proven player there is Belle Smith. Maybe play Martello in the middle pretty sure she's played there before

[Fischer]

BC with their second off season pickup. Both AA and both with 2 years of eligibility. Browndorf a defender and now Lopinto to help the offense.

Wowwww They are going to be fun to watch AWW is good

LoPinto is a huge pickup but BC needs their underclassmen to step up big time if they want to have anywhere near the season they want. Their attack is significantly better with LoPinto but that midfield.. It does not look good..Only proven player there is Belle Smith. Maybe play Martello in the middle pretty sure she's played there before

Agreed Martello had a great year I think midfield would be a good spot for her I was always curious how she got recruited Didn’t play for a powerhouse hs or travel club Prob stood out at camp Which is why I always tell people camps are key I think bc still has some gas in the tank to make the dance next year

[whyamihere]

Two things about ND.
First, aggressive fouling is clearly their strategy to slow down transition. There is no penalty really as has been discussed at length in various posts. They don’t foul more than others in traditional defense. It’s in transition. It’s a “glitch” in the game allowed by bad rules. And my guess is it gets fixed eventually. Excessive fouling is already on the tables as a problem to fix..
Second, notre dame last year struggled mightily once teams began to shut off wolack. Uva did this in the second half of their acc tourney game and notre dame struggled to score goals. Bc did it to them twice (once in acc tourney and once in ncaa tourney) and throttled them. Part of this is that choma is an off ball player at heart and ahern has a hard time beating elite defenders (she kills decent defenders but less effective against athletic defenders, which is understandablen) and part was coaching inability to come up with another scheme to score goals without wolack.
Arden Tierney will help. She’s another legit threat to dodge or feed, and makes shutting off wolack less effective.
I think ND will be top 8 team next year based on offensive talent alone. But defense and goalie are merely ok, so don’t think they can get to final 4….

Lots of thoughts about ND here

First, the addition of Adam Sear was massive for them last year. I expect offense to continually get better. If I was starting a program Sear would be at the top of my coaching search list.

Second, agree that defense has been a challenge. I think it goes much deeper than Xs and Os. ND has taken the strategy of recruiting big physical defenders, not short quick ones. That simply doesn't work unless you are a primary zone team.

An example. A few years back, my second daughter's club team had the #1 rated defender in the country and ND was her dream school. (5-3 with a sub-5.0 in pro agility drill). She heard from 19 of the top 20 schools. All but ND, despite attending all of ND's camps and prospect days. Her club director reached out to CH and CH said that this player "didn't fit their system"

At this point, ND needs to either go 100% zone or bring in some athleticism. Until then, I would expect a bunch of 19-18 games and you don't go to final fours constantly playing in shootouts.

ND has never been to a final 4 and never will with this coach. She has had enough talent to make at least 1 final 4, but ND always seems to under perform. The best they can hope for is the round of 8 in the NCAA's