HereForIt wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2024 6:33 pm
ChopMan23 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2024 5:08 pm
BallHunt wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2024 4:56 pm
First games predictions anyone?
Bates vs Emerson
Williams vs Babson
Trinity vs Bowdoin
Conn College vs Tufts
Wesleyan vs Colby
Hamilton vs Bates (3rd game)
Amherst vs Middlebury
Bates
Babson
Early season Trinity upset
Jumbos
Colby
Hamilton
Midd in OT
Love these takes. Just the right amount of controversial. Felt the need to offer my two cents and more color. More reactions to the above than predictions/arguments.
Bates over Emerson - Obvious choice. Bates is building. Seem to be well coached, but were very young and inexperienced last year. Their offense looked decent, but defense could be improved. Hopefully this team continues in the right direction.
Babson over Williams - This is a juicy one. For Babson, may take time to mesh as a team that has taken a lot of 5th years historically. They were good last year, but graduate a lot, and bring in a lot. Just the reality. You never know until you know with them. Williams may have (ever so slightly) regressed in recent years, but still a force to be reckoned with, and a very well run program. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think they graduated too much last year and had some very strong young talent, especially in the midfield. Expect them to come out and look better than Babson early in the year.
Early season Trinity Upset over Bowdoin - Really juicy one and just as my username would imply, I love it. Last year, Trinity improved drastically from game 1 to the end, and if this year’s team is anything like the team everyone saw late last year, they just don’t quit. Nonetheless, hard to pick against the Polar Bears in the Tundra in early February. Really like what Coach Mason has done up in Brunswick the last 3 years, and also pretty cool that Donal Mullane has joined their staff as he was one hell of an X attackman. Just to keep it interesting, this pick gets my co-sign.
Tufts over Conn - Maybe Conn’s Will Rice makes 30 Billion saves again like he did in last year’s regular season game. Tufts lost a lot to graduation, but I don’t think it’s a question. They are probably well reloaded and ready to go like always.
Colby over Wesleyan - Gonna have to disagree with this one. Wesleyan may have had a down year last year, and props to Colby for an absolutely incredible hire this offseason, but it’s gonna be hard to beat Wesleyan. I do expect to see Colby surprise a lot of people this spring, but I don’t see Wesleyan losing this one.
Hamilton over Bates - Fair. Like I said before, expect Bates to trend in the right direction, but Hamilton has been a great mid-tier NESCAC team for the past few years.
Midd in OT over Amherst - Early pick for game of the year. Two great teams with a chance to prove it early. Would look at how Amherst handles Middlebury’s 10 man ride early in the year and in the cold (that is if Middlebury has it installed). Ride/clear is always one of those pesky factors/stats that can make or break a game early in the year. Side note: Massive believer in the 10 man ride, wish more teams would ingrain it into their identity. If you have the speed and the horses, I don’t see why you wouldn’t test opposing defensive personnel’s stick work and see how many long passes they can string together. Back to the point, I like this one to go into OT, could be anyone’s game.