"Faketional championship"

[laxfan22]

Again it’s d3 so does anyone address this issue? There are a lot of girls who got really screwed this year. It’s simply not right. But how does this get addressed?

[Lurker]

On a national level is there some reason that a midwest conference like the CCIW gets or got more respect than the NCAC and OAC? I could see if the at large bids went to traditional powers in lax hotbed areas but come on?

I don't think it has anything to do with respect for the CCIW or belief in those teams. IWU and Carroll objectively, inarguably did not deserve to be in the tournament based on resume/competitiveness. I assume the NCAA wanted to just fill geographic regions, which is a farce. That's not how postseason tournaments are supposed to work.

If it was truly about geographic regions (which it appears it was), then I'll ask again how/why the selection committee thinks the CCIW is superior to the NCAC or OAC. Each are midwestern conferences in non-hotbed areas. Each conference has 2-3 pretty good teams at the top. Teams that have had success and played some decent out-of-conference competition (from hotbed areas) and done well. Each conference also has 2-3 teams at the bottom that are really, really bad. The teams from these conferneces have played each other in the recent past and results seem to show that the top tier teams in each conference are on the same level or close. It definitely does not show that the CCIW teams are better than the NCAC or OAC.

If they were only looking at geography, I still think Wooster and Mount Union (and maybe Capital) have legitimate gripes. Wooster lost on a last second goal to a team playing in the Final Four. Mount Union has multiple NCAA tournament appearances in their past and lost to a ranked JCU team. At a minimum both of them as runners-up in their conferences should have been selected ahead of IWU. IWU's resume compared to Capital's. Both were 3rd place teams in their conference, both beat the eventual conference champ in the regular season, and both lost close games in their conference tournament semi-finals. The OAC didnt' play any out-of-conference games this year due to covid but the CCIW did so I guess that helps IWU's case, except they lost by a ton to the same team Wooster lost to by 1. Also, previous year's results don't really matter, but Capital played IWU at IWU in 2020 right before everything shut down and beat IWU with a running clock. This year's Capital team was better than the 2020 version.

[ah23]

All fair points. At the end of the day I don't think anyone really knows. What is clear is that IWU and Carroll did not deserve to be there and their inclusion was a complete farce. Doesn't take away from four great teams being in the Final Four, just makes clear how much the NCAA values the game.

[laxfan22]

And let’s be honest. The ncaa would NEVER do this to another level in the sport. That makes it even more a mockery

[Matnum PI]

D3 WOMEN: 2021 Championship Final

Tomorrow’s D3 Women’s Championship Final at 5 PM EST.

https://fanlax.com/2021/05/22/d3-women- ... hip-final/

#1 vs. #2...

[Matnum PI]

2021 D3 WOMEN CHAMPION: Salisbury

#1 Salisbury beat #2 Tufts 14-12 to become the 2021 D3 Women Champion. Below is the Final D3 Women’s Rankings.

https://fanlax.com/2021/05/23/2021-d3-w ... salisbury/

[Nigel]

Super play by the Salisbury Gk in the last minute, jumping out of the crease to intercept an alley-oop pass in the slot that was going to connect. Preserved the 14-13 win. Having said that, I wish the rules DID NOT allow her to return to the crease with the ball. Never liked this rule. IMO, once out, have to stay out.

Also, high marks to the announcing pair on the call. Right amount of info on play by play and good insight and color commentary. (Ralph Bednarchuk (sp?) and Carol Lentz (sp?)) Meshed well and really enjoyed their work.

[Matnum PI]

I wish the rules DID NOT allow her to return to the crease with the ball. Never liked this rule. IMO, once out, have to stay out.

i thought the same thing. i don't know the rules of women's lacrosse so well so i wondered if the refs missed it and then figured, just a different rule than men's and... not sure it would've made a difference. she had space to run into. smart play. she was aggressive all game.

[valaxnewb]

That was a great play! Not 100% sure of NCAA rule, but for NHSF a GK becomes a field player when she leaves the circle and can return to the circle if possession was gained outside. Once the ball leaves the circle it can't be retuned until it's "played". Her stepping in on that play is equivalent to a defender recovering a GB and passing to the GK in the circle. Strong lax IQ there.

RE: the midwest tourney selection controversy: NCAA appears to consider the CCIW a "Western" region conference, along with a team from MI that is literally on Lake Michigan, but somehow not in the "Great Lakes" region. https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/lacrosse- ... l-rankings

With none of the West Coast teams playing a season (Claremont-MS, Pamona) maybe this was just a poor attempt at regional balance. Agree that if selection goal was representation from a mid-west school, NCAC runner up Wooster should have gotten the nod.