NCAC 2019

[WhiteCarrera]

Nice to see Wabash over Hiram by 9, and Wooster putting it to the Dannies,

[Cnoll]

Denison coasted to a 24-7 win vs Albion

[oldtimelax]

Kenyon beats Wittenberg on their home field, easily cruising to a 15-8 win. What's happened to the Tigers? Two years ago I thought they were building a nice nucleus with Moderwall....

[MrLax2U]

I was a little surprised by the OWU/IWU result. Coach Iannucci has the Spartans on the upswing. The Bishops seem to be lost.

What happened?

2018 Bishops beat the Gulls in a thriller. Coach Plantholt is certainly an excellent coach. No way the Bishops should lose to Cabrini 20 - 6 or Messiah 15 - 9. And that is no slur on either Cabrini or Messiah; both are solid programs. But the results should have been closer.

[oldtimelax]

Having watched a lot of OWU lacrosse this year, I would say the biggest problem they have had is the lack of experience and talent on the defensive side of the field. They came into the season with just two experienced defensemen and one short-stick middie that had much playing time. The face-off guy is a freshman and has gotten better, but he wasn't even supposed to be the main guy. The best FO guy they had recruited left after the fall, transferred to Grove City and is winning 80%.

So the biggest problem is they came into the season with lots of holes and then had to play RIT, Salisbury and Cabrini right away and they got shellacked and they lost their confidence. They barely beat Otterbein and got off to a horrendous start vs. Messiah and never recovered. They had a lead in the 3Q vs. RPI but then had a collapse like they had today vs. Illinois Wesleyan.

I do think their offense has talent when they can get the ball and get in a flow -- like the 2nd quarter today when they had 8 goals, or like last week vs. Kenyon -- 10-1 in the first half. Tennant is a pure scorer, Hildebrand is a force, and Jeshcke, Jameson, Smith and Anton can all move the ball and put the ball in the net.

The best scenario is that the Bishops will run the table the rest of the way thru the NCAC (very doable) and then hope they have their act together when they face Denison in the last game of the season.

[FannOLax]

I was a little surprised by the OWU/IWU result. Coach Iannucci has the Spartans on the upswing. The Bishops seem to be lost.

What happened?

2018 Bishops beat the Gulls in a thriller. Coach Plantholt is certainly an excellent coach. No way the Bishops should lose to Cabrini 20 - 6 or Messiah 15 - 9. And that is no slur on either Cabrini or Messiah; both are solid programs. But the results should have been closer.

Adding to what oldtimelax said, yes, Plantholt is a very good coach. The seniors who graduated in 2018 left some big shoes that haven't been filled, especially in defense and clearing. SSDM Peter Hamblett was 1st Team All American D3 Specialty Player of the Year who was excellent at clearing and had 14 goals; the other SSDM Trent Schulte was also very good; two-way middie Luke Leyden was a 3rd Team All American who could do it all at both ends of the field, and was great on the clear; Dman Aaron Carroll was always strong on D, and his senior year became a force clearing and scoring. Without these players, OWU's defense and clearing have suffered. Goalie Ben Rigger was very good at both shot-stopping and clearing passes; this year's goalie/goalies simply haven't been as good.

[D1LaxScout]

Kenyon beats Wittenberg on their home field, easily cruising to a 15-8 win. What's happened to the Tigers? Two years ago I thought they were building a nice nucleus with Moderwall....

I have watched the Wittenberg program for a number of years and they should be improving but unfortunately the program looks to be at square one.

Witt has two excellent players — LaBarge and Moderwell. Moderwell is a an incredible talent and would be a 60-70 goal scorer on a good team. I watch tons of college lacrosse and I believe he is an All American quality player in the right system. Witt unfortunately doesn’t have the talent to pair with him, so he is regularly double and triple teamed. He passes the ball off a lot to open players who rarely finish. He has to start their offense most of the time dodging because the other players cant create separation. I feel sorry for him as I have’t seen Witt run a play for him ever or if they do they don’t execute.

LaBarge is also very good, especially on ground balls. Excellent stick skills. But the rest of the defense is performing poorly. Many goals are scored on Witt from 10 feet and in. I’m not sure how that happens consistently — could be the system or could be players that just aren’t up to the skill level needed.

Maybe they will make adjustments or maybe the talent level isn’t there. That is where the coaching really shows up.

[AllAboutTheD]

Kenyon beats Wittenberg on their home field, easily cruising to a 15-8 win. What's happened to the Tigers? Two years ago I thought they were building a nice nucleus with Moderwall....

I have watched the Wittenberg program for a number of years and they should be improving but unfortunately the program looks to be at square one.

Witt has two excellent players — LaBarge and Moderwell. Moderwell is a an incredible talent and would be a 60-70 goal scorer on a good team. I watch tons of college lacrosse and I believe he is an All American quality player in the right system. Witt unfortunately doesn’t have the talent to pair with him, so he is regularly double and triple teamed. He passes the ball off a lot to open players who rarely finish. He has to start their offense most of the time dodging because the other players cant create separation. I feel sorry for him as I have’t seen Witt run a play for him ever or if they do they don’t execute.

LaBarge is also very good, especially on ground balls. Excellent stick skills. But the rest of the defense is performing poorly. Many goals are scored on Witt from 10 feet and in. I’m not sure how that happens consistently — could be the system or could be players that just aren’t up to the skill level needed.

Maybe they will make adjustments or maybe the talent level isn’t there. That is where the coaching really shows up.

No doubt this has been a disappointing season. There are a number of likely reasons that in combination are difficult to overcome. It is a very young team. Injuries and other issues that don't merit public speculation have resulted in a small remaining core of seniors and juniors. Moderwell is indeed a force and the team needs to capitalize on the double and triple teams he regularly draws. LeBarge possess exceptional stick skills. He is one of the most athletic poles in the conference. I disagree with your assessment of the defense as a unit. A lot of goals are coming from the midfield. Several promising d-mids are no longer playing or injured. Most of the scoring in close has been a result of the defense needing to respond to immediate threats from the midfield. They are quite good defending down low. The program will graduate some key seniors this year but I firmly believe they will be a stronger team next year. Some talented freshmen have emerged and played major minutes. Moderwell and LeBarge return next year as do the rest of the starting defense and both goalies who have played the majority of minutes. They are a few defensive minded middies away from turning the corner.

[Cheeseandcrackers]

SSDMs and LSMs were important before and now with the shot clock change even more so. Why? More possessions= more time on the field, more bad shots = more transition opportunities , more turnovers = more transition, greater emphasis on riding = more turnovers = more transition. I would love to have seen last years OWU team operate under these rules. Hamblett, Shulte, Marcotte and Smith stalked the middle of the field like nobody's business and once they got the ball they combined with the attack to form a transition goal scoring machine.

[oldtimelax]

Cheese....Totally agree...SSDMs and LSMs are more important than ever, especially with the shot clock....teams often don't have the time to make the wholesale changes and even when they get their offensive middies on, they can't just send multiple shots out of bounds and kill clock. Would have loved to have seen that OWU crew again but graduation does get in the way. Rule change will get the game back to being (old slogan) "Fastest Game On Two Feet".

[AllAboutTheD]

Cheese....Totally agree...SSDMs and LSMs are more important than ever, especially with the shot clock....teams often don't have the time to make the wholesale changes and even when they get their offensive middies on, they can't just send multiple shots out of bounds and kill clock. Would have loved to have seen that OWU crew again but graduation does get in the way. Rule change will get the game back to being (old slogan) "Fastest Game On Two Feet".

Midfield in general is a tough sell to younger players - who wants to do all of that running and not get the credit? The introduction of poles when they get a little older draws the kids who like the idea of getting more physical (and let's face it, weren't as crafty as their peers... . The goalies - well we all know they're all a little different. Now you get to high school and you try to convince a midfielder that being a defensive specialist is the way to go. Most will view this as acknowledging that they have no offensive game. If I had a young player coming up with thoughts of playing at the next level, I'd have them embrace the SSDM role. An athletic player who's enthusiastic about playing defense is going to get a lot of attention from coaches and earn plenty of playing time. Now more than ever, teams live and die over midfield play.

[ergit]

My son was recruited as an O Mid. He switched to SSDM half way through his freshman year. This year, he is one of only four or five sophomores to have played every game. He’s perfectly fine with the move. He’d rather play earlier and more often as a D mid than get pushed down the depth chart on the O side of the ball.
He’s also fortunate that he is on a competitive team that collectively values every position on the field. The way he looks at it, every player is a role player...

[AllAboutTheD]

My son was recruited as an O Mid. He switched to SSDM half way through his freshman year. This year, he is one of only four or five sophomores to have played every game. He’s perfectly fine with the move. He’d rather play earlier and more often as a D mid than get pushed down the depth chart on the O side of the ball.
He’s also fortunate that he is on a competitive team that collectively values every position on the field. The way he looks at it, every player is a role player...

Smart player and smart parent for embracing this mindset. A lot of talented athletes fall away from the game because they want to dictate what role they play. No coach worth their title wants to put up with that. This is the golden age of lacrosse. New programs are coming on line every year and talented players are coming from - and going to - all parts of the country to play the game. Some people have expressed surprise at how strong programs like IWU, Otterbein etc have become. They shouldn't be. These are programs with large coaching staffs taking advantage of under-recruited talent in their backyard. It makes me nuts to hear players and parents dismiss interest from a coach becasue the program isn't a traditional power house. There are some terrific schools out there that will provide the opportunity to play competitive lacrosse. You just need to do a little research. I wish your son lots of success over the next few years. It sounds like he found a great fit.

[Cheeseandcrackers]

SSDM is the closest you come to old school midfielders. O mids are really just attackmen who run to the box. Especially on a team where the coach gives a little rope to the SSDMs in transition and you get to play the wings on FOs - SSDM is the most fun position there is (IMHO of course)

[PicLax]

I agree with importance of SSDMs, especially in today’s higher tempo game. I think a lot of coaches have figured out that this is where you need to play your best athletes. im Hoping that the folks that determine AA, all-conference, etc lists start giving due credit to SSDMs. Lists should be comprised of 3 attack, 3 defenders, 3 offensive middies, 2 SSDMs, 1 LSM, 1 goalie, 1 FO. Same composition as positions on the field. Bothers me when 4 or 5 offensive middies recognized and only 1 SSDM.

[COGULL]

I agree with importance of SSDMs, especially in today’s higher tempo game. I think a lot of coaches have figured out that this is where you need to play your best athletes. im Hoping that the folks that determine AA, all-conference, etc lists start giving due credit to SSDMs. Lists should be comprised of 3 attack, 3 defenders, 3 offensive middies, 2 SSDMs, 1 LSM, 1 goalie, 1 FO. Same composition as positions on the field. Bothers me when 4 or 5 offensive middies recognized and only 1 SSDM.

Agree w/ PicLax the the AA nominations should remain relative to positions on the team- I can say with no hesitation that the SSDM's for the Gulls have been instrumental to the team's success- Beyond their strong defensive play, their ability to clear and lead the break have been extremely important-
Ask OWU how muchthey miss their SSDM's from '18...

[FannOLax]

Denison scored five unanswered 4th quarter goals to edge Kenyon 15-12 in Gambier. Kenyon had been up 9-5 at halftime. Every year, Denison seems to have one surprisingly close NCAC road win over a non-OWU team; in other years it's been Oberlin, Wooster... OWU had an easier time at DePauw, up 11-3 at halftime then using a lot of bench in a 21-11 win. OWU improves to 6-6 overall, 3-0 in the NCAC, and as oldtimelax suggested, could come into the Denison game with positive momentum. Wittenberg won 14-4 at Wabash and Oberlin at home looks to be comfortably ahead of Hiram late in the 4th quarter.

[Nosey Ned]

No sign of Ned; and I think we'd all know if Ned was here.

Here I am! Better late than never! Thanks to Fann ... he told me about this site over on the Laxnumber site I just heard about and joined.

Gosh ... i've been in withdrawal since Laxpower went down and all this time my "fix" was here!

Anyway let me catch up with the tone of the thread and I'll try and add value when I can. Go Big Red .... just to fly my colors right away! Hahaha

[Nosey Ned]

Denison scored five unanswered 4th quarter goals to edge Kenyon 15-12 in Gambier. Kenyon had been up 9-5 at halftime. Every year, Denison seems to have one surprisingly close NCAC road win over a non-OWU team; in other years it's been Oberlin, Wooster... OWU had an easier time at DePauw, up 11-3 at halftime then using a lot of bench in a 21-11 win. OWU improves to 6-6 overall, 3-0 in the NCAC, and as oldtimelax suggested, could come into the Denison game with positive momentum.

Great observation ... there is always that one, non OWU away game that Denison looks vulnerable and give teams other than OWU reason to believe!

So hopefully it was this Kenyon game that checks that box this year. And hats off to Kenyon for playing hard but especially to their keeper ... he had 23 saves! He kept Denison off the board and gave the Lords reason to believe it might be their day. But also kudos to DU kids ... to go down 10-5 in the beginning of the 3rd and not get frustrated and instead stay the course and believe they can still win if they just play their game. And the tide eventually turned ... could have gone south but didn't. And we all know you throw out the records when OWU plays DU. These teams both know a disappointing season can turn on a dime if you beat the other when they most likely will meet in the Tournament Championship game. I expect they both will be ready and I expect another couple great D3 lacrosse games. Last year they each had a relative laugher and that 3rd game was a tremendous college lacrosse game. I expect more of the same this year. Don't care what OWUs record is going in.

[Cnoll]

Denison up 10-4 with 10:30 to go in 4Q