MIAA 2024

[laxfan13]

Some love for the MIAA: https://www.div3lax.com/nov-27_mid-majo ... watch.html

Looking forward to the start of the season!

[laxfan13]

Okay, I'll be the first with preseason predictions.

1. Albion
2. Hope
3. Adrian
4. Trine
5. Calvin
6. Kalamazoo
7. Alma

I could flip flop Albion and Hope. Same with Calvin and Trine. I will probably revisit after the non-conference season.

[Argyle23]

Preseason picks below:

1. Albion
https://gobrits.com/sports/mens-lacrosse/schedule/2024

2. Hope
https://athletics.hope.edu/sports/mlax/schedule

3. Adrian
https://adrianbulldogs.com/sports/mens- ... e/schedule

4. Kzoo
https://hornets.kzoo.edu/sports/mlax/2023-24/schedule

5. Calvin
https://calvinknights.com/sports/mens-l ... edule/2024

6. Trine
https://www.trinethunder.com/sports/mla ... 4/schedule

7. Alma

8. Olivet (RIP)

[midwestlaxdad]

Feel like the MIAA has about three groups:


Tier 1
Albion
Hope

Tier 2
Adrian (I think the next two years will be huge for the bulldogs)
Kalamazoo (keep improving each year always dangerous to beat anyone on any day)
Calvin (another team that keeps getting stronger and improving)

Tier3
Trine (I know they have brought in some talented freshmen but struggled last year to make games close in league)
Alma (I’m sure coach is working hard but a lot of work to do)

[laxfan13]

Anyone know of rumors of schools joining or leaving the MIAA. Saw a post on D3sports that seemed to indicate some movement?

https://www.d3sports.com/notables/2024/ ... r-from-oac

[midwestlaxdad]

I would think it would be St Mary’s College to balance out the conference with Wabash being all Men adding a an all Women college would make sense.

[laxfan13]

I would think it would be St Mary’s College to balance out the conference with Wabash being all Men adding a an all Women college would make sense.

You mean St. Mary's moving to the NCAC?

[laxfan13]

Any upcoming scrimmages or results for MIAA teams?

[laxfan13]

Any upcoming scrimmages or results for MIAA teams?

Heard Trine is scrimmaging Kenyon. Tougher test than they had early last season.

[MolonLaxe]

This season could be a coin toss between Albion and Hope. The 2022 and 2023 finishes were pretty wild.

I'd put my money on Albion this year given how last year turned out. They have some great players on both rosters, but I give the edge to the Brits.

I'm not seeing how Kalamazoo is really dangerous unless it's against anyone other than the top 2 teams. They had a good coach that's doing some good things, but they have a hard time recruiting kids to go there.

[berryjames]

This season could be a coin toss between Albion and Hope. The 2022 and 2023 finishes were pretty wild.

I'd put my money on Albion this year given how last year turned out. They have some great players on both rosters, but I give the edge to the Brits.

I'm not seeing how Kalamazoo is really dangerous unless it's against anyone other than the top 2 teams. They had a good coach that's doing some good things, but they have a hard time recruiting kids to go there.

This has to be Hopes year. Albion lost 2 100-point scorers and was probably the best player in conference history. Hope did not graduate anything, really. They still have Mann, Bowen, and AA LSM Wierengo.

[MolonLaxe]

This season could be a coin toss between Albion and Hope. The 2022 and 2023 finishes were pretty wild.

I'd put my money on Albion this year given how last year turned out. They have some great players on both rosters, but I give the edge to the Brits.

I'm not seeing how Kalamazoo is really dangerous unless it's against anyone other than the top 2 teams. They had a good coach that's doing some good things, but they have a hard time recruiting kids to go there.

This has to be Hopes year. Albion lost 2 100-point scorers and was probably the best player in conference history. Hope did not graduate anything, really. They still have Mann, Bowen, and AA LSM Wierengo.

I think graduating those two players may actually work to the advantage of Albion. The team may be a bit more balanced than last season. Albion scrimmages this weekend and a lot more will be known after those two games.

Hope was picked #1 and Albion #2.

[MVPiccoli]

One of the reasons I love DIII lacrosse is that I know virtually nothing about 90% of the teams. And then I get to investigate. The MIAA falls into the "I know nothing" category. My school hasn't crossed paths with a single institution in the league. Just looking at some of the rosters, it's very cool to see non-traditional recruiting grounds so well represented. It's almost like a continual rebirth of the game. Best of luck to all your teams. I'm going to try to catch a couple webcasts.

[MolonLaxe]

One of the reasons I love DIII lacrosse is that I know virtually nothing about 90% of the teams. And then I get to investigate. The MIAA falls into the "I know nothing" category. My school hasn't crossed paths with a single institution in the league. Just looking at some of the rosters, it's very cool to see non-traditional recruiting grounds so well represented. It's almost like a continual rebirth of the game. Best of luck to all your teams. I'm going to try to catch a couple webcasts.

Some clubs feed into different schools at all levels. Some of us are fortunate to have kids that fed into some of MIAA schools. It's a fun conference to watch and best of luck to you with your season!

[laxfan13]

Outside of Hope and Albion, I think that there will be some surprises in the final standings. There always seems to be in this conference. A couple of injuries or key new contributors and it can change some teams' outlooks. I don't think many people saw Kzoo's jump and Trine's collapse coming last year.

[laxfan13]

Alma got hammered by UM-Dearborn 18-8. Wow. Not good when an NAIA school does that. Hopefully Trine takes notice. They have them this weekend. Hard to tell if UM-D is good or not, but wow.

[Argyle23]

Past weekend scrimmages:

Adrian = Lourdes (NAIA)
Albion = Northwood (D2) and Michigan State (MCLA)
Alma = UM Dearborn (NAIA)
Calvin = Davenport (D2) - played 2/13
Hope = in-house
Kzoo = Lawrence Tech (NAIA)
Trine = Kenyon (D3 - long live the Purple Lords)

Upcoming weekend predictions:

Albion = Otterbein (W)
Alma = Franciscan (W)
Calvin = Edgewood (W)
Hope = IL Wes (W)

Game of the weekend is Hope vs IL Wes. Hope needs to stay disciplined, control the narrative, and go 60% at the X. Can’t get sucked into IL Wes’ summer ball mentality and 10 man ride. It’s a very chaotic style of lacrosse that is fun to watch when firing on all cylinders. Live by the sword, die by the sword… it’s not the sword I would be willing to die on so I’m taking the Dutch in Holland.

Score prediction is Hope 14 - IL Wes 12

[laxfan13]

Do games against NAIA teams not count for the regular season? Alma seemed to treat it as one on their schedule. Trine is as well.

[Argyle23]

Do games against NAIA teams not count for the regular season? Alma seemed to treat it as one on their schedule. Trine is as well.

I guess it depends on who you talk to… are teams wearing pinnies or jerseys? At the end of the day, I’d say no since it doesn’t matter for conference tournament or a pool b-c tourney slot (whatever we’re calling it these days - ‘at large’).

Same thought process goes for D2 vs D3 ball (e.g., DPort vs Calvin).

[laxfan13]

Reactions to the weekend:

Hope - Wow. IWU is no slouch. Big win.
Albion - Closer than I would have thought. Otterbein is mid-table OAC.
Calvin - Maybe a bit more of a beat down than I would have thought.
Trine - Handled UMD where Alma could not. Work to do there though.
Alma - Oh, my...