ODAC 2024

[ConcordetoODAC]

Here are my predictions:

1)Lynchburg
2)Generals
3)Roanoke (could be the surprise team this year)
4)Hampden-Sydney
5)Randy Mac
6)Shenandoah
7)Virginia Wesleyan
8)Bridgewater
9)Guilford
10)Randolph
11)Averett
12)Ferrum (if they field a team)

valaxfan

Bridgewater/Shenandoah battle back and forth for sixth but there is no chance Virginia Wesleyan is better than those two teams.

[River Donkey]

What’s the word on Ferrum fielding a team this spring? I’ve heard they were not but also seeing them on some recent schedules.
Any news on this??

[ThirdString]

Practices soon to start so let’s get some updated predictions

1. Lynchburg: W&L has had their number but going with Hornets as they use the last of the COVID years. Have dropped a bit from their run in the mid-teens so hope they can make more noise out of conference.

2. W&L: might have them 1 but gut says #2. Not sure what changed with the Generals but they seem to finally started to utilize strong recruiting classes to start making noise again nationally.

Drop

3. HSC: lose goalie but still should be strong. Think they will continue to be same old strong, competitive but not enough talent to make nationwide noise.

4. Noke: have turned the corner a bit, but the days of opponents being frightened as they descend the stadium stairs before getting assaulted by their aggressive play and banter are in the past. Kammerman has ability to steal a few games.

5. RMC: been on the uptick with wins over 3 of 4 powers in the past few years and Smith can play. However, they are staying at 5 in perpetuity until they can win a quarterfinal game since 2013.

Big Drop

Bridgewater: model of consistency in average. No true game changers but they are solid. Decent facilities, decent coach, decent results.

Shenandoah: same for above but at a lower level.

Bigger drop

Va Wes: What happened to this program? Have a few title game appearances and were a solid tier 2 program but wheels fell off after Currier left. Consistent coaching staff so maybe just too many options for kids these days.

Guilford: Suprisingly good coaching hire but the kitchen is bare. Slid up into the tier 2 for a few seasons before imploding. Hope they can get things turned around.

Huge drop

Averett: don’t know much but new coach and a long uphill climb

Randolph: Sinclair is a well liked guy and don’t envy this position but 20 man rosters and blowouts have become the norm after a few decent season 6-7yrs ago. Fun fact Randolph had a first team odac/all state defender back in the day.

Ferrum: let’s see if they have a team. We’re Ok back in the day and won a few championships before going to the ODAC, wondering if the allure of losing 20-1 6 times a year dropped the recruiting to making those games 34-0.

Overall see 2 teams that should be top 15, 3 teams that should be in the 40-25 range, 2 teams that are solid and the rest playing for scraps but hope that proves pessimistic. Good luck to all

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

With the Hornets returning their 5th year players I can see only 2 regular season losses, Salisbury and CNU. Without the 5th years I’d have added losses to Gettysburg and W&L. This team is set for a deep run in May w key seniors returning

[Laxattackjack]

With the Hornets returning their 5th year players I can see only 2 regular season losses, Salisbury and CNU. Without the 5th years I’d have added losses to Gettysburg and W&L. This team is set for a deep run in May w key seniors returning

Lynchburg always has trouble with W&L. I wouldn’t be counting that as a win yet.

If the Salisbury game was home, I would say it would be a toss up. But traveling to SU is going to be tough. The game is early in the season, that favors Lynchburg since SU doesn’t scrimmage anyone tough.

I don’t think Gettysburg is going to be the same team this year. They lost too much talent. Lynchburg should roll past them since the game is so early in the season. Maybe Gettysburg gets better as the season rolls.

Amherst and Hamilton are both tossups.

Stevenson hosting the Mustang classic always plays tough. That game should worry Lynchburg.

Watch out for St Mary’s. When 33 returns this season, they will be solid.

[ODACtionEmpire]

I think we've got the LYN/W&L coverage on lock.

I want to know what's happening at Bridgewater, Shenandoah, RMC. Those 3 really interest me as a good season from any of them could really shake things up.

SU - all I see on social media is a gameday countdown. Their first game is 2/14 @ UMW. That should be a good matchup, and then their next few games are of a similar caliber. I would love to see them go 7-0 to start the season and then match up against RMC.

RMC - basically no social media presence. They scrimmage Howard CC and Catholic on 1/27 (this Saturday) @ RMC. 11 am and 3 pm respectively. Instagram says they also scrimmage Goucher 2/3 but not sure where or start time for that one. They also open with UMW on 2/10, so results might be comparable to SU once they play 4 days later. Ursinus is a good matchup for an OOC game for RMC and could help them make some waves. Pretty tame schedule otherwise, maybe SMCM as a 2023 tournament team could help make a case. Oh, I suppose WAC can be a good matchup.

BC - relatively solid social media presence. Opener at home 2/17 vs Susquehanna and then follow up the next week with (once again) UMW. Love that as it will give me a good comparison between these 3 ODAC teams. I like the SUNY Oneonta matchup on 3/13 - I love the SUNY school coming down (likely on their Spring Break trip) and scheduling Bwater. That early season W&L matchup is a good gauge as well to see how tight the ODAC might be this year.

Anyone have some insider thoughts/insight on these 3? Excited for the start of ODACTION!!

[Laxaholic123]

(once again) UMW. Love that as it will give me a good comparison between these 3 ODAC teams.

UMW is also playing Roanoke in that stretch. Definitely nice to have a consistent team to help compare

[LaxManiac12345]

Inside Lacrosse has just released their preseason top 20 and we have some good ODAC representation with W&L at 7 and Lynchburg at 10. Would like to see if Roanoke and Hampden-Sydney can make some noise and jump into the top 20. Only got a few more weeks to go!

[JBFortunato]

Looks like Ferrum has forfeited their games for the season. Unfortunately I think the program is finished - if that has already been covered here my apologies. I did notice that Ferrum appears on some schedules with a forfeit, so they made an attempt to play this season but couldn't do it I presume.
They just hired a new football coach and a new president of the university, and reduced tuition $10/year, so the college is still on its feet. Perhaps they will try again next year to field a team.

[JPAtlantic]

Looks like Ferrum has forfeited their games for the season. Unfortunately I think the program is finished - if that has already been covered here my apologies. I did notice that Ferrum appears on some schedules with a forfeit, so they made an attempt to play this season but couldn't do it I presume.
They just hired a new football coach and a new president of the university, and reduced tuition $10/year, so the college is still on its feet. Perhaps they will try again next year to field a team.

Five forfeits already show up on the ODAC standings and five are still are still on the schedule. No announcement. ODAC does some strange things.

https://odaconline.com/sports/mlax

https://odaconline.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=5242

[choochooCharlie]

Looks like Ferrum has forfeited their games for the season. Unfortunately I think the program is finished - if that has already been covered here my apologies. I did notice that Ferrum appears on some schedules with a forfeit, so they made an attempt to play this season but couldn't do it I presume.
They just hired a new football coach and a new president of the university, and reduced tuition $10/year, so the college is still on its feet. Perhaps they will try again next year to field a team.

Five forfeits already show up on the ODAC standings and five are still are still on the schedule. No announcement. ODAC does some strange things.

https://odaconline.com/sports/mlax

https://odaconline.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=5242

That sux for those players. Not right.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Inside Lacrosse has just released their preseason top 20 and we have some good ODAC representation with W&L at 7 and Lynchburg at 10. Would like to see if Roanoke and Hampden-Sydney can make some noise and jump into the top 20. Only got a few more weeks to go!

Not sure how Inside could rank W&L above Lynchburg, that’s a head scratcher. That sophomore attack unit this year will be even better. Layer in this group and it spells trouble for the ODAC.
With rosters popping up we are beginning to see what I’d call” super teams” . Only because I follow the ODAC closely I wanted to see what Lynchburg returns; it’s everybody. Their goalie Hadley returns for a 5th year with 50 games, 32 starts and is an AA. Mitchell 67 career games 151 career pts, Ian McCarthy 54 games 38 pts, Marindin on D 64 games 74 gbs 41 cto’s , Cotter 29 games 25 pts , Shuster 50 games 47 gbs 31 cto’s, Dylan Wolfe 53 games 112 pts. Lynchburg is my dark horse to win it all , top choice is CNU. All ODAC teams need to step up and bring their best this season to beat the Hornets.

[JPAtlantic]

Inside Lacrosse has just released their preseason top 20 and we have some good ODAC representation with W&L at 7 and Lynchburg at 10. Would like to see if Roanoke and Hampden-Sydney can make some noise and jump into the top 20. Only got a few more weeks to go!

Not sure how Inside could rank W&L above Lynchburg, that’s a head scratcher. That sophomore attack unit this year will be even better. Layer in this group and it spells trouble for the ODAC.
With rosters popping up we are beginning to see what I’d call” super teams” . Only because I follow the ODAC closely I wanted to see what Lynchburg returns; it’s everybody. Their goalie Hadley returns for a 5th year with 50 games, 32 starts and is an AA. Mitchell 67 career games 151 career pts, Ian McCarthy 54 games 38 pts, Marindin on D 64 games 74 gbs 41 cto’s , Cotter 29 games 25 pts , Shuster 50 games 47 gbs 31 cto’s, Dylan Wolfe 53 games 112 pts. Lynchburg is my dark horse to win it all , top choice is CNU. All ODAC teams need to step up and bring their best this season to beat the Hornets.

Also - 7 Grad students playing for Lynchburg and 0 Grad students playing for W&L. That is a huge advantage.

[5Star]

Inside Lacrosse has just released their preseason top 20 and we have some good ODAC representation with W&L at 7 and Lynchburg at 10. Would like to see if Roanoke and Hampden-Sydney can make some noise and jump into the top 20. Only got a few more weeks to go!

Not sure how Inside could rank W&L above Lynchburg, that’s a head scratcher. That sophomore attack unit this year will be even better. Layer in this group and it spells trouble for the ODAC.
With rosters popping up we are beginning to see what I’d call” super teams” . Only because I follow the ODAC closely I wanted to see what Lynchburg returns; it’s everybody. Their goalie Hadley returns for a 5th year with 50 games, 32 starts and is an AA. Mitchell 67 career games 151 career pts, Ian McCarthy 54 games 38 pts, Marindin on D 64 games 74 gbs 41 cto’s , Cotter 29 games 25 pts , Shuster 50 games 47 gbs 31 cto’s, Dylan Wolfe 53 games 112 pts. Lynchburg is my dark horse to win it all , top choice is CNU. All ODAC teams need to step up and bring their best this season to beat the Hornets.

I think Lynchburg should be the favored team to win the ODAC. However some of the 5th years your listing average less than 1pt per game over their career, that isn’t impressive. Wolfe has never made it through a season healthy in 4 years. And here’s the kicker. Lynchburg returns all of these players from a team that was 3-5 vs the top twenty and lost to top 20 teams by an average of 6.5 goals last year. One of the top 20 wins was to a W&L team that they lost to late in the year, the other two were to Cabrini and Denison who were the 18th and 20th ranked teams. It doesn’t take much to see that last year that team only went as far has Hadley would take them. Against ranked opponents if Hadley did not make 17+ saves they typically lost. I’ll take them to win the ODAC but I don’t see anything that differs them from other teams in the 5-12 category besides the goalie who had a career year in 2023, he’ll need to replicate that again.

[valaxfan]

Inside Lacrosse has just released their preseason top 20 and we have some good ODAC representation with W&L at 7 and Lynchburg at 10. Would like to see if Roanoke and Hampden-Sydney can make some noise and jump into the top 20. Only got a few more weeks to go!

Not sure how Inside could rank W&L above Lynchburg, that’s a head scratcher. That sophomore attack unit this year will be even better. Layer in this group and it spells trouble for the ODAC.
With rosters popping up we are beginning to see what I’d call” super teams” . Only because I follow the ODAC closely I wanted to see what Lynchburg returns; it’s everybody. Their goalie Hadley returns for a 5th year with 50 games, 32 starts and is an AA. Mitchell 67 career games 151 career pts, Ian McCarthy 54 games 38 pts, Marindin on D 64 games 74 gbs 41 cto’s , Cotter 29 games 25 pts , Shuster 50 games 47 gbs 31 cto’s, Dylan Wolfe 53 games 112 pts. Lynchburg is my dark horse to win it all , top choice is CNU. All ODAC teams need to step up and bring their best this season to beat the Hornets.

Also - 7 Grad students playing for Lynchburg and 0 Grad students playing for W&L. That is a huge advantage.
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Will Bou will be playing his 5th year of lax, 1 with UofR, and 4 in Lex, so he should be considered as a 5th Year/Grad student, to be fair.

valaxfan

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Inside Lacrosse has just released their preseason top 20 and we have some good ODAC representation with W&L at 7 and Lynchburg at 10. Would like to see if Roanoke and Hampden-Sydney can make some noise and jump into the top 20. Only got a few more weeks to go!

Not sure how Inside could rank W&L above Lynchburg, that’s a head scratcher. That sophomore attack unit this year will be even better. Layer in this group and it spells trouble for the ODAC.
With rosters popping up we are beginning to see what I’d call” super teams” . Only because I follow the ODAC closely I wanted to see what Lynchburg returns; it’s everybody. Their goalie Hadley returns for a 5th year with 50 games, 32 starts and is an AA. Mitchell 67 career games 151 career pts, Ian McCarthy 54 games 38 pts, Marindin on D 64 games 74 gbs 41 cto’s , Cotter 29 games 25 pts , Shuster 50 games 47 gbs 31 cto’s, Dylan Wolfe 53 games 112 pts. Lynchburg is my dark horse to win it all , top choice is CNU. All ODAC teams need to step up and bring their best this season to beat the Hornets.

I think Lynchburg should be the favored team to win the ODAC. However some of the 5th years your listing average less than 1pt per game over their career, that isn’t impressive. Wolfe has never made it through a season healthy in 4 years. And here’s the kicker. Lynchburg returns all of these players from a team that was 3-5 vs the top twenty and lost to top 20 teams by an average of 6.5 goals last year. One of the top 20 wins was to a W&L team that they lost to late in the year, the other two were to Cabrini and Denison who were the 18th and 20th ranked teams. It doesn’t take much to see that last year that team only went as far has Hadley would take them. Against ranked opponents if Hadley did not make 17+ saves they typically lost. I’ll take them to win the ODAC but I don’t see anything that differs them from other teams in the 5-12 category besides the goalie who had a career year in 2023, he’ll need to replicate that again.

Lynchburg played the 2 best teams in D3 last year Salisbury and CNU losing BOTH in OT!!!! They split contests w W&L .
Mitchell and Wolfe alone are enough to impress me plus add Hadley brings back all that experience after AA season . Imagine if W&L returned Porkorny, Lackey and Hubbard . It’s more than just pts, it’s leadership on and off the field as well as decision making game time. You can’t underestimate the value of that extra year after 4 years playing , added weight room and confidence. W&L needs a goalie and fogo when it matters , they fill that need and they could go far again

[D3LaxFan2]

Lynchburg played the 2 best teams in D3 last year Salisbury and CNU losing BOTH in OT!!!!

Guess that makes Lynchburg #3 in the country last year, right?

[Laxattackjack]

Lynchburg played the 2 best teams in D3 last year Salisbury and CNU losing BOTH in OT!!!!

Guess that makes Lynchburg #3 in the country last year, right?

Am I the only one that watched tufts in the national championship?

[JPAtlantic]

2024 ODAC MEN'S LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
(#) denotes first place votes received

1. Washington and Lee University (6) 95 pts.
1. University of Lynchburg (5) 95 pts.
3. Hampden-Sydney College 78 pts.
4. Roanoke College 77 pts.
5. Randolph-Macon College 65 pts.
6. Shenandoah University 51 pts.
7. Bridgewater College 50 pts.
8. Guilford College 32 pts.
9. Virginia Wesleyan University 31 pts.
10. Averett University 19 pts.
11. Randolph College 12 pts.

So does this mean that more coaches voted W&L #1, but one coach put W&L at #3 also?

https://odaconline.com/news/2024/2/1/02 ... -poll.aspx

[ODACtionEmpire]

2024 ODAC MEN'S LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
(#) denotes first place votes received

1. Washington and Lee University (6) 95 pts.
1. University of Lynchburg (5) 95 pts.
3. Hampden-Sydney College 78 pts.
4. Roanoke College 77 pts.
5. Randolph-Macon College 65 pts.
6. Shenandoah University 51 pts.
7. Bridgewater College 50 pts.
8. Guilford College 32 pts.
9. Virginia Wesleyan University 31 pts.
10. Averett University 19 pts.
11. Randolph College 12 pts.

So does this mean that more coaches voted W&L #1, but one coach put W&L at #3 also?

https://odaconline.com/news/2024/2/1/02 ... -poll.aspx

Yea I believe that's correct. And through the grapevine, I heard it was Ferrum. Though they are not able to field a team this year, they were given a complimentary vote and put McCabe at 3 because (back in 2022) W&L kept their starters in and put up 31 (!!) goals against the Panthers. Witherall himself had 6 goals.

The point totals show how big the gap is within the conference. The 2 top dogs and then it's a toss up for 3rd between Noke and HSC. I think RMC could close the gap between them and those two, but they'll have to prove themselves. Clock is ticking and it's about time to get this thing going for real as the first ODAC teams play in 2 days!!