NESCAC 2019

[boredatwork]

Prediction on final seedings for Nescac tournament:
1. Tufts
2. Wesleyan
3. Williams
4. Amherst
5. Bates
6. Colby
7. Middlebury
8. Trinity

Here are the final seedings for the tournament. Any potential first round upsets? Midd vs Wesleyan has the potential... I don't see Amherst losing to Bates based off their last matchup.

Let me be the first to congratulate Shock the world on the Middlebury over Wesleyan call there

[guslax]

Midd upsets Wesleyan 11-7! They won’t keep em off the field today!

Midd came out hot and never looked back. AJ Kucinski and Tyler Forbes with three goals a piece, Jake Madnick 18-21 at the Faceoff X, and Tyler bass with 17 saves - a few of which were absolute highway robberies.

A playoff team if I’ve ever seen one. Buckle up Tufts, it’s Jumbo hunting season!

Roll pants!

[bullfrog1]

Not sure Wesleyan deserves a bid in the tournament. They only have 2 good wins, one was the first game of the year and a lot has changed, and a few bad losses. I do believe they will get a bid just because of their success in the last couple of years but this is definitely not the same caliber Wesleyan we have seen in years past.

[Shock the World]

Predictions for NCAA bids:
Tufts, Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan.

If Midd Wins NESCAC, Wes most likely will not make tournament.

Since Midd just played Tufts, will this be an advantage or disadvantage for either team? Was a close game until middle of the third but Tufts pulled out in the end. Midd has been playing some great lacrosse at the end of the season, per usual.

[pcowlax]

I like Tufts by something like 15-11. Agree that if Midd wins NESCAC (pretty confident saying this is not going to happen), Wes is out, not putting in 5 NESCAC teams. It is a shame though, if there were no auto bids and just the best teams went they might have 6 bids this year.

[lilax]

Not sure Wesleyan deserves a bid in the tournament. They only have 2 good wins, one was the first game of the year and a lot has changed, and a few bad losses. I do believe they will get a bid just because of their success in the last couple of years but this is definitely not the same caliber Wesleyan we have seen in years past.

In years past I would agree with you that Wesleyan played no one out of conference. Raba stepped up the schedule this year.

They have 3 out of conference wins against 10+ win teams who are ranked or receiving votes (Cortland, Coast Guard and Lynchburg). All 3 teams are favorites to win their conference. Clark is also 10-7.

They have also beaten Williams who is 14-2 and are the only team to have beaten Tufts.

So Wesleyan has 6 wins against 10+ win teams. Probably 2-3 of those teams will win their conference. This along with the NESCAC's strong SOS and RPI will boost them into the playoffs.

Losses to Amherst who is a top 10 team and a Bates team who even though finished, will still finish near the top 20.

Middlebury is the only loss that hurts them.

Thats a pretty good Pool C resume.

[LibertyL]

Sorry but no to the OOC schedule by Wes. No but yes to the Williams win a nice one

[ah23]

Not sure Wesleyan deserves a bid in the tournament. They only have 2 good wins, one was the first game of the year and a lot has changed, and a few bad losses. I do believe they will get a bid just because of their success in the last couple of years but this is definitely not the same caliber Wesleyan we have seen in years past.

I have to ask...does one bad loss really make the #5 team in the country unworthy of playing in the postseason? They have three wins over ranked teams (two in the top ten) plus blowout wins over other good teams (Cortland, Coast Guard). It's a diminished Wesleyan team (losing Stanton/Ghesquiere/Rodriguez/etc. will do that) but they remain one of the best teams in the country regardless.

The Middlebury loss is a bad one, but it's the only real blip on an otherwise good resume. Wesleyan will get in unless Midd somehow wins the NESCAC tournament (in which case the Midd loss would look a lot better )

[LaxForNow]

In years past I would agree with you that Wesleyan played no one out of conference. Raba stepped up the schedule this year.

They have 3 out of conference wins against 10+ win teams who are ranked or receiving votes (Cortland, Coast Guard and Lynchburg). All 3 teams are favorites to win their conference. Clark is also 10-7.

The average ranking for the stepped up schedule is 40, Lynchburg is barely in the top 20

http://fanlax.com/fanlax/2019/04/22/201 ... ankings-3/

[bullfrog1]

Jumbos with 8 All-NESCAC honors. Most in program history.

[Doid23]

Not sure Wesleyan deserves a bid in the tournament. They only have 2 good wins, one was the first game of the year and a lot has changed, and a few bad losses. I do believe they will get a bid just because of their success in the last couple of years but this is definitely not the same caliber Wesleyan we have seen in years past.

I have to ask...does one bad loss really make the #5 team in the country unworthy of playing in the postseason? They have three wins over ranked teams (two in the top ten) plus blowout wins over other good teams (Cortland, Coast Guard). It's a diminished Wesleyan team (losing Stanton/Ghesquiere/Rodriguez/etc. will do that) but they remain one of the best teams in the country regardless.

The Middlebury loss is a bad one, but it's the only real blip on an otherwise good resume. Wesleyan will get in unless Midd somehow wins the NESCAC tournament (in which case the Midd loss would look a lot better )

Seriously? Wesleyan has the #2 RPI, as ah23 mentioned some very good wins, I can't believe this is even a question. To Bullfrog, who deserves a bid ahead of them?

[pcowlax]

All NESCAC Awards

POY Evan Wolf-Amherst (repeat, 4th 2x winner)
ROY Jake Haase-Williams
COY McCormack- Williams

1st Team:

A Chlastawa (Jr)- Bates
A Murphy (Sr)- Tufts
A Wolf (Sr)- Amherst
M Hoffman (Jr)- Williams
M Solberg (Jr)- Amherst
M Treiber (Jr)- Tufts
D Brokemate (Sr)- Tufts
D Fantoni (Sr)- Bates
D Sullivan (So)- Amherst
FO Morgan (Sr)- Trinity
LSM Stewart (Jr)- Williams
SSM McAfee (Jr)- Amherst
G Bohan (Jr)- Wesleyan
G Layton (Sr)- Colby

2nd Team:

A Connelly (Sr)- Tufts
A Jacoby (So)- Wesleyan
A Minicus (Jr)- Amherst
M Barker (Sr)- Wesleyan
M Knapton (Jr)- Bates
M Shanks (Jr)- Tufts
D Castro (Jr)- Amherst
D Malarchuk (Jr)- Wesleyan
D Savage (So)- Bowdoin
FO Helfrich (S)- Tufts
LSM Stockdale (Sr)- Tufts
SSM Penney (So)- Wesleyan
G Pollack (Jr)- Tufts

Tufts- 8
Amherst- 6
Wesleyan- 5
Darien, CT- 4
Bates- 3
Williams- 2
Bowdoin- 1
Colby- 1
Trinity- 1

Congrats to all of these fantastic players. Though such awards do not always truly capture the league's best, looking at most of these players congregated on a small number of teams does fit with the top-heavy nature of the league this year.

[ctlaxfan99]

All NESCAC Awards

POY Evan Wolf-Amherst (repeat, 4th 2x winner)
ROY Jake Haase-Williams
COY McCormack- Williams

1st Team:

A Chlastawa (Jr)- Bates
A Murphy (Sr)- Tufts
A Wolf (Sr)- Amherst
M Hoffman (Jr)- Williams
M Solberg (Jr)- Amherst
M Treiber (Jr)- Tufts
D Brokemate (Sr)- Tufts
D Fantoni (Sr)- Bates
D Sullivan (So)- Amherst
LSM Stewart (Jr)- Williams
SSM McAfee (Jr)- Amherst
G Bohan (Jr)- Wesleyan
G Layton (Sr)- Colby

2nd Team:

A Connelly (Sr)- Tufts
A Jacoby (So)- Wesleyan
A Minicus (Jr)- Amherst
M Barker (Sr)- Wesleyan
M Knapton (Jr)- Bates
M Shanks (Jr)- Tufts
D Castro (Jr)- Amherst
D Malarchuk (Jr)- Wesleyan
D Savage (So)- Bowdoin
FO Helfrich (S)- Tufts
LSM Stockdale (Sr)- Tufts
SSM Penney (So)- Wesleyan
G Pollack (Jr)- Tufts

Tufts- 8
Amherst- 6
Wesleyan- 5
Darien, CT- 4
Bates- 3
Williams- 2
Bowdoin- 1
Colby-1

Congrats to all of these fantastic players. Though such awards do not always truly capture the league's best, looking at most of these players congregated on a small number of teams does fit with the top-heavy nature of the league this year.

Scott Morgan from Trinity was also selected to the 1st Team

[pcowlax]

Whoops, missed him, thanks, I will edit original post

[ah23]

All NESCAC Awards

POY Evan Wolf-Amherst (repeat, 4th 2x winner)
ROY Jake Haase-Williams
COY McCormack- Williams

1st Team:

A Chlastawa (Jr)- Bates
A Murphy (Sr)- Tufts
A Wolf (Sr)- Amherst
M Hoffman (Jr)- Williams
M Solberg (Jr)- Amherst
M Treiber (Jr)- Tufts
D Brokemate (Sr)- Tufts
D Fantoni (Sr)- Bates
D Sullivan (So)- Amherst
FO Morgan (Sr)- Trinity
LSM Stewart (Jr)- Williams
SSM McAfee (Jr)- Amherst
G Bohan (Jr)- Wesleyan
G Layton (Sr)- Colby

2nd Team:

A Connelly (Sr)- Tufts
A Jacoby (So)- Wesleyan
A Minicus (Jr)- Amherst
M Barker (Sr)- Wesleyan
M Knapton (Jr)- Bates
M Shanks (Jr)- Tufts
D Castro (Jr)- Amherst
D Malarchuk (Jr)- Wesleyan
D Savage (So)- Bowdoin
FO Helfrich (S)- Tufts
LSM Stockdale (Sr)- Tufts
SSM Penney (So)- Wesleyan
G Pollack (Jr)- Tufts

Tufts- 8
Amherst- 6
Wesleyan- 5
Darien, CT- 4
Bates- 3
Williams- 2
Bowdoin- 1
Colby- 1
Trinity- 1

Congrats to all of these fantastic players. Though such awards do not always truly capture the league's best, looking at most of these players congregated on a small number of teams does fit with the top-heavy nature of the league this year.

Two pretty good lists. Outside of little quibbles about shuffling a few guys from 1st to 2nd and vice versa, it feels like the coaches have done well at capturing who the conference's best players are (the first-team offense. A few thoughts/questions for the forum.

- No Jake Haase? NESCAC ROY, fourth in points, played well against ranked opponents. NESCAC coaches ignore underclassmen every year like it's their job, but this still surprises me.
- No Jack Rutter or Jordan Foster? I know Conn was terrible, but they both put up big numbers in the midfield (42/13 and 41/7 respectively) while shooting efficiently (Rutter 37.5%, Foster 34.5%). Surprised that at least Rutter isn't on the second team.
- I am...surprised at how many Jumbos there are on these teams. Obviously plenty are deserving, but there are one or two who I suspect are here more because of the name on the front of the jersey than anything else.

[guslax]

All NESCAC Awards

POY Evan Wolf-Amherst (repeat, 4th 2x winner)
ROY Jake Haase-Williams
COY McCormack- Williams

1st Team:

A Chlastawa (Jr)- Bates
A Murphy (Sr)- Tufts
A Wolf (Sr)- Amherst
M Hoffman (Jr)- Williams
M Solberg (Jr)- Amherst
M Treiber (Jr)- Tufts
D Brokemate (Sr)- Tufts
D Fantoni (Sr)- Bates
D Sullivan (So)- Amherst
FO Morgan (Sr)- Trinity
LSM Stewart (Jr)- Williams
SSM McAfee (Jr)- Amherst
G Bohan (Jr)- Wesleyan
G Layton (Sr)- Colby

2nd Team:

A Connelly (Sr)- Tufts
A Jacoby (So)- Wesleyan
A Minicus (Jr)- Amherst
M Barker (Sr)- Wesleyan
M Knapton (Jr)- Bates
M Shanks (Jr)- Tufts
D Castro (Jr)- Amherst
D Malarchuk (Jr)- Wesleyan
D Savage (So)- Bowdoin
FO Helfrich (S)- Tufts
LSM Stockdale (Sr)- Tufts
SSM Penney (So)- Wesleyan
G Pollack (Jr)- Tufts

Tufts- 8
Amherst- 6
Wesleyan- 5
Darien, CT- 4
Bates- 3
Williams- 2
Bowdoin- 1
Colby- 1
Trinity- 1

Congrats to all of these fantastic players. Though such awards do not always truly capture the league's best, looking at most of these players congregated on a small number of teams does fit with the top-heavy nature of the league this year.

Two pretty good lists. Outside of little quibbles about shuffling a few guys from 1st to 2nd and vice versa, it feels like the coaches have done well at capturing who the conference's best players are (the first-team offense. A few thoughts/questions for the forum.

- No Jake Haase? NESCAC ROY, fourth in points, played well against ranked opponents. NESCAC coaches ignore underclassmen every year like it's their job, but this still surprises me.
- No Jack Rutter or Jordan Foster? I know Conn was terrible, but they both put up big numbers in the midfield (42/13 and 41/7 respectively) while shooting efficiently (Rutter 37.5%, Foster 34.5%). Surprised that at least Rutter isn't on the second team.
- I am...surprised at how many Jumbos there are on these teams. Obviously plenty are deserving, but there are one or two who I suspect are here more because of the name on the front of the jersey than anything else.

I too feel like the coaches did well this year at highlighting the leagues best players. That being said, I share some of the same reservations as you ah23. Missing Jake Haase is inexcusable to me. He had a stellar rookie campaign leading Williams with 73 points and had some impressive performances against strong opponents. Additionally, Middlebury's Tyler Forbes had an impressive rookie campaign - his 56 points paced the Panthers offense and included big performances against strong league opponents like Bates, Tufts, and Wesleyan. I suspect Jacoby's spot on the second team might be the product of being grandfathered in from the previous year as well as the NESCAC coaches apparent bias against Fys.

Still, the abundance of talent speaks to the strength of the league which is certainly something to be excited about! The depth and breadth of talent in the NESCAC is unmatched by any other league in the country and shows no signs of abating in the coming years. The fact that the top five teams were all ranked in the top-15 in the country highlights the dominance of the NESCAC on a national scale. I could not be happier with the return to form that the NESCAC has seen over the past few years and look forward to seeing it continue going forward.

Anyone for predictions for this weekend's games? There are some terrific matchups on the docket. Here is mine:

15-12 Amherst (Williams is strong but I expect the Mammoths to come out firing to avenge their early season loss, do not think the Ephs will be able to stay with them down the stretch)
16-15 Middlebury (*upset alert* The Panthers have seen a late-season return to form and are playing some great lacrosse, my guess is they'll catch the inflated Jumbos squad by surprise, I'm giving it to Midd in a close one)

Looking forward to seeing the results from this weekend in Medford. Post-season NESCAC lacrosse is a fickle beast - history has shown that anything can happen on any given day!

Roll pants.

[Chips O'Toole]

16-15 Middlebury (*upset alert* The Panthers have seen a late-season return to form and are playing some great lacrosse, my guess is they'll catch the inflated Jumbos squad by surprise, I'm giving it to Midd in a close one)

Love this pick. You think Midd has something to prove after getting 0 selected to all-NESCAC? And the Jumbos 8? I'll be watching.

[guslax]

[quote=guslax post_id=47537 time=<a href="tel:1556852151">1556852151</a> user_id=1487]
16-15 Middlebury (*upset alert* The Panthers have seen a late-season return to form and are playing some great lacrosse, my guess is they'll catch the inflated Jumbos squad by surprise, I'm giving it to Midd in a close one)

Love this pick. You think Midd has something to prove after getting 0 selected to all-NESCAC? And the Jumbos 8? I'll be watching.
[/quote]

I was able to catch a bit of the first Tufts-Midd match up in Medford a few weeks ago. It was 10-9 at halftime and the Panthers hung close till the middle of the 4th when the Jumbos offense really turned it on.

That being said, if Midd comes out like they did against Wesleyan they can certainly keep pace with anyone in the country.

It would be foolish to ignore the abundance of talent that Tufts has but I do think the Panthers have been quietly making a case for themselves as a dark horse for the NESCAC title this year with their late season play.

In any case, it’s always a bit of fun to pick an upset especially where my Panthers are concerned. I’m just hoping for a good game

Roll pants!

[Bystanders]

With two thirds of their attack and two thirds of their close as All NESCAC, it should be an easy blowout win for the Lord Mammoths tomorrow vs the Ephs, who have none at either position. Should be similar to the last time these two played...wait?!

Either way, these two teams will likely meet again in the NCAAs.

Wesleyan and Bates are huge Jumbo fans tomorrow for sure.

[ah23]

With two thirds of their attack and two thirds of their close as All NESCAC, it should be an easy blowout win for the Lord Mammoths tomorrow vs the Ephs, who have none at either position. Should be similar to the last time these two played...wait?!

Either way, these two teams will likely meet again in the NCAAs.

Wesleyan and Bates are huge Jumbo fans tomorrow for sure.

Wesleyan is for sure in; I think they'd make the tournament even if Middlebury somehow wins the NESCAC tournament. I can't imagine the NCAA telling a defending national champion ranked in the top ten to stay at home because some random cupcake from the Midwest needs the honor of getting destroyed in a first-round game.

Bates on the other hand needs NESCAC chalk and a ton of help from non-NESCAC teams to have a shot (Inside Lacrosse thinks they're on the bubble right now after thinking they were solidly in a week ago: https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... bids/54419

Can't wait for the games this weekend. Avert your eyes if you like low-scoring, defensive struggles.