NCAA Tournament

[wlaxnut]

Just saying this BC team was supposed to be greatest ever...lots of hype
Didn't win ACC Championship
Didn't win NCAA Championship
Lots of talent for sure but no hardware to Show for it...
Yellow cards and fouls doomed them
Gotta play in control

I don't know where you heard anyone say this BC team was supposed to be the greatest ever. I never heard anyone say that.

They will go down in my mind as a kind of mild tragedy. All that talent and they have no hardware to show for it. Very sad. History will have to remember them as an underachieving team. Yet they had great players. There are many great players in the sports world who never won any team hardware. Ted Williams, Fran Tarkenton, Marcel Dionne, etc. So, in that sense, Sam Apuzzo, Kenzie Kent and Dempsey Arsenault join good (but sad) company.

[wahoomurf]

I was looking at the roster and was shocked to discover MD had 2 kids from Baltimore on the UMD team.

Shocking!

Every starter minus 2 are MD women. Kind of cool...

Cool that 2 are from Baltimore.Is that a first for UMDWomen's lacrosse? Progress I guess.

[Matnum PI]

...that two are *not* from MD...

[Laxfan500]

2019 NCAA All Tournament Team
Name, School, Position
Sam Apuzzo, Boston College, A
Dempsey Arsenault, Boston College, M
Kenzie Kent, Boston College, A
Julia Braig, Maryland, D
Lizzie Colson, Maryland, D
Brindi Griffin, Maryland, A
Megan Taylor, Maryland, GK​
Jamie Ortega, North Carolina, A
Emma Trenchard, North Carolina, D
Selena Lasota, Northwestern, A
Izzy Scane, Northwestern, A

Most Outstanding Player: Megan Taylor, Maryland, GK

Love 3 defenders made it, well 4 with MT!

[seacoaster]

Just a few comments on the game:

Congrats Maryland; great gutty game end to end;

I think Maryland got the benefit of the calls and the officiating, particularly in the second half;

The ward call on Apuzzo, in the circumstances, potentially transformed the game; 12-10, scored two in a row, got the draw and then an official 30 or 35 yards away calls a ward that wasn't. The official with the best view and closer makes no call. Wow.

Let's lose Sutgotz. His little bit about "selling the call" is exactly what the sport doesn't need, and SSB rightly and politely chapped his sorry ass right away when he said it. Thanks for broadcasting the semis and the finals and other games ESPN; but stay with people of quality and who understand the game and its spirit in the booth.

[Matnum PI]

I think Maryland got the benefit of the calls and the officiating, particularly in the second half;

The ward call on Apuzzo, in the circumstances, potentially transformed the game; 12-10, scored two in a row, got the draw and then an official 30 or 35 yards away calls a ward that wasn't. The official with the best view and closer makes no call. Wow.

[admin]

The call was, at best, questionable and... The ref, far from the ball, makes this call at that point in the game?! It was strange...

[njbill]

Let's lose Sutgotz. His little bit about "selling the call" is exactly what the sport doesn't need, and SSB rightly and politely chapped his sorry ass right away when he said it.

I agree 1000%. I'm not going to be as diplomatic as you were. I never heard of this guy and hope I never hear of him again.

Three in the booth is fine if it is the right three. This was not the right three. Every word out of his mouth took air time away from SSB, which is a bad thing for the viewer. When she jumped on him today, I yelled "YES" at my TV. Let's call what he said (he said essentially the same thing on Friday night only worse) what it is: he is calling for cheating. On Friday he said he coaches his young teenagers (2022s) to cheat (pretend they have been fouled when they haven't been)! Huh?! He advocated cheating again today. No, no, no. Get him off the air. Get him out of coaching.

And he doesn't know the rules. He said on Friday that the refs made a bad call on a ball that went out of bounds after a draw since no one had gotten possession. No, the refs made the right call. The ball got to the restraining line and a player batted it backwards. It then went out of bounds. Possession was correctly awarded to the non-batting team. Rule 5, sec. 6 (p. 41). The only time you would do a redraw in that situation is if the ball went straight out of bounds from the two centers' sticks without a player touching it. Rule 5, sec. 5 (p. 41).

OK, end of rant.

Congrats to Maryland on a great win. This may not be the most talented Terp team every, but the Turtle-ettes played about as hard today as is humanly possible. They outplayed BC on offense, defense, and in goal.

I agree Md. got the benefit of the calls to an extent. My take, though, is they were better at figuring out and adjusting to how the refs were calling the game. The Terps were VERY aggressive and physical today, though clean. Lots of what they did could have been whistled, but the refs were letting both teams play, so what might normally have been a foul (e.g., lots of defensive pushing on the shooter) wasn't called today.

I thought a couple of the yellows on BC were bogus and that a couple more could have been issued to Md. The "ward" call was terrible, and came at a critical point of the game.

Having said all that, I don't think the officiating affected who won the game.

Terp Nation, you may already know about this player, but if not, I got several opportunities this year to see a future Terp goalie (HS 2021/UMD 2025) who is really, really good. Yes, she's a few years from arriving in College Park and, yes, it is a huge jump from HS (even top Island level where she is) to top D1, but she sure looks to me like the real deal. I guess we'll see in a few years.

[admin]

Having said all that, I don't think the officiating affected who won the game.

It's probably true. Much of the game was dancing back and forth with a 4 goal lead. 4 goal lead, 5 goal lead, 4 goal lead, 3 goal lead, 4 goal lead, 3 goal lead, etc. It happened to be a 2 goal lead when this happened but... MD played really well. Just would've made a really good game even better.

Terp Nation, you may already know about this player, but if not, I got several opportunities this year to see a future Terp goalie (HS 2021/UMD 2025) who is really, really good. Yes, she's a few years from arriving in College Park and, yes, it is a huge jump from HS (even top Island level where she is) to top D1, but she sure looks to me like the real deal. I guess we'll see in a few years.

[Nigel]

Just a thought on the warding off call made in today's game.

Like most I thought it was a strange call to make as it's not a frequently called infraction in the girls game (as girls continue to play more one handed, maybe it becomes more frequently called). However, in trying to understand what the ref saw (since it was in fact called and was going to stand as called) my best guess watching it live was that Apuzzo did not have possession of the ball(key point), had her stick only in her right hand while reaching for the gb, and she knowingly extended her left arm out to block the MD girl from contesting for the gb. A field ref looking toward the players from the left (not a high, somewhat trailing TV camera) possibly had a better view of the whereabouts of the ball and the arm extension than a near side ref (to Apuzzo's right) might've had, not seeing the free left hand. Refs are generally told 'if you see it, call it' and it was obvious that Apuzzo did have a flailing left arm.

I have never fully read the girls rule book so just trying to put myself in the ref's shoes, from the ref's vantage point. I'm assuming there's a rule about using your free arm to gain an advantage. An argument could be made that the ball was indeed loose and Apuzzo's free arm may have appeared to prevent the MD girl from being able to play the ball. I'm not saying I agree with the call, and quite possibly a foul could've/should've been called on the MD girl climbing thru her back. Just a thought...

Replay available on Watch ESPN at the 1:59 mark of the 2:24 replay.
http://www.espn.com/watch/player?catego ... 8eb8db38b2

[DMac]

seacoaster wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2019 9:21 pm
Let's lose Sutgotz. His little bit about "selling the call" is exactly what the sport doesn't need, and SSB rightly and politely chapped his sorry ass right away when he said it.

njbil wrote
I agree 1000%. I'm not going to be as diplomatic as you were. I never heard of this guy and hope I never hear of him again.

The second I heard his voice I knew exactly who he was and could not believe he was in the booth, knew damn well this wasn't going to end well.
Colin Cowherd used to have a daily show on ESPN radio which I very much looked forward to pretty much every day. I think he's the best in the business and was disappointed when he moved on (another idiotic move by ESPN). Le Betard and Stugotz followed Cowherd, so naturally I heard them a few times. After listening to them a couple of times, I couldn't turn the radio off fast enough when Cowherd's show ended. What people find entertaining about these two smartazz hacks is beyond me, they're absolutely awful (and if you're looking for any sports talk from them, you're not going to get it). This had to be a painful experience for SSB who put him in his place several times in the two games he did. Stugatz in the booth for wlax's showcase week end ranks right up there with the stupid moves the dying ESPN outfit has made. Just awful.

Dear ESPN,
WTH (I'd put F there but it won't stick) were you thinking when you put Stugotz, who aint gotz nothing to add, in the booth to do the wlax semi and NC games? Please, please, please don't let this horse's behind within a hundred yards of any lacrosse broadcasting booth ever again, I do not want this hack in my living room when I'm watching a game. Let him do the cornhole championships instead, he's much better suited for that. If you're looking for a new and entertaining voice in the booth for a wlax game I've got one word for you...DOWNUNDA!!!!!!!
Thanks,
DMac

[Badlands]

"Rule 6, Section 1u:.

The following are fouls:
Warding Off: Guarding the stick with an arm. If one hand is removed from the stick, the free hand may not be used to ward off an opponent, deliberately or otherwise, with or without contact. Elbows may not be used to protect the stick."

It is a very rarely called foul. I probably watched all or most of 30 wlax games this season and can remember only once or twice when it was called. I watched one of the best all-time draw takers quite often, and I was amazed at how many times she warded off and it wasn't called. She'd hold the end of the stick with her right hand and use her left to push her opponent's stick away on virtually every draw in which the ball went straight up and they both jumped for it. I think I saw it called once in the more than probably one hundred times I saw her do it. Couldn't believe opposing coaches wouldn't pick up on it when watching film and complain to the refs about it. It's just rarely called. And it to the list of rules that college refs generally choose to ignore.

[seacoaster]

"Add it to the list of rules that college refs generally choose to ignore."

Except in the National Championship game, with 3:45 or so to go in a game that was 12-8 and is now 12-10, and calling it on the team trying to catch up just when it got possession off a furious draw. Again, just WOW.

Nigel, just want to say that I totally appreciate what you are saying, and you may be right. I don't have any skin in the game here. I watched it again; I cannot see any contact between Apuzzo's arm and Colson; in fact, Sam appears to be well ahead of Colson. Again, as Nigel suggests, it may be my angle, but if you stop frame by frame, it really looks like a very poor call.

But that leads into Badlands' post, above, and the notion that an infraction that is so infrequently called, despite the ample opportunities to do so, becomes a moribund rule that really cannot be trotted out in the crucible -- for God's sake, the last four minutes -- of a championship tilt. This wasn't a safety rule that, even in the moment, had to be called. I'm left with "what might have been," and Maryland's 14th championship.

Off to the high school playoffs now. Nigel, please keep us posted on activities upstate. Doc, let us know how things are going in VA.

[Laxfan500]

There are always bad calls that are game changers unfortunately:
In UNC bC game: Kent steps in crease gets goal anyway and possession which leads to quick goal that's a 2 goal shift that shouldn't happen
In OT they call a cover on draw possession that was very arbitrary and gave BC ball and ultimately the win.
Sadly these poor calls are game changers
I feel like they tightened up on calls against BC ON Sunday maybe in part to these calls Frday?

[seacoaster]

Umm, you mean the officials in Sunday’s game “tightened up” on BC because of the way they perceived BC playing on Friday evening?

[Batman]

WOW Thank you Laxfan500. I posted 2 comments on the semi finals and the old geezers choose to ignore them (that is what they call themselves) I was very disappointed in Seacoaster as he chose to ignore as well as others and I know he knows the game well.

Also BC subbed in a player to the offensive end and the refs missed it - another game changer - (hope the coaches didnt do that on purpose) Possession again should have been to UNC. I feel really bad for the amazing players - Kent, Arsenault and Apuzzo. Their teammates needed to stop fouling and flopping. Get off the ground and get better. You were handed more gifts in the semi's than Maryland in the finals. Maryland played straight up Bad Ass Lacrosse and deserved to Win. My daughter has been an opponent of Maryland for many years but we respect the game. Congrats to Maryland.

[Batman]

Seacoster - how did you perceive BC playing in the semi's. This should be fun.

[seacoaster]

Seacoster - how did you perceive BC playing in the semi's. This should be fun.

Not sure what you're asking me. So I'll try to cover the waterfront.

If you are asking about BC's play in the semis generally, I would say that they hung tough on what wasn't their best night. They started really tight and stayed that way for most of the game. I think they could have gotten Apuzzo more involved in the offense earlier, and once they did get her better into the mix, they found a way to overtake a very good and exceptionally physical UNC team. I thought it was UNC's game to win late, late in the game, and they lost. I was, on balance, pretty surprised at the outcome.

If you are asking me if I thought BC was dirty or crossed some line with their physicality against UNC, I don't.

If you are asking me if BC got the benefit of some non-calls or some blown calls, I do -- and so did Carolina. Whether they measured up to 50/50 or evened out over the course of a game is more in the eye of the beholder.

If you are asking me (and I don't think you are!) if UNC had plenty of chances to put BC away in the semifinal before and during the OT, I sure do.

Thanks for calling me -- and I guess other folks -- a "geezer." That's a first for me. I didn't ignore any post; I just don't ready these with the care and acuity you would apparently like. I try to be a fair observer of the games. My team is Syracuse and it lost in the tournament what feels like weeks ago. So I had no skin in the game. If you read my posts elsewhere, you'll see that I say that I love watching Maryland play, and think they absolutely deserved to win. The ward call seemed to me to be a bad call, made worse by spectacular ill-timing. I think CNR is one of the two best coaches in the business. The other won the women's D3 championship Sunday.

This was a great season, one of the best I can remember. Adios, for now.

[Matnum PI]

Yhis was a great season, one of the best I can remember.

Hear, hear.

[Batman]

A great politically correct answer. Indeed it was a great year if women’s lacrosse.