LaxPower Back-Up Stick

Hobart played much better than Bryant. The one goal difference does not reflect that. Hobart was unlucky ... hit three posts, they were on the downside of a bunch of poor ref calls, and a couple of other weird things (broken stick on faceoff?). They pulled it together and deserved the win. They played with poise especially at the end of the quarters, grabbing two goals in the final seconds. Everyone should know that Bryant is a better team than their record indicated, and Pressler is a great coach. We beat them. So, now Bart controls its own destiny.
I agree with everyone who says they can't continue to come out slow, but I want to exempt the faceoff crew from that in this game. I thought the defense was slow on slides (how many goals from the crease have we given up this year?), and I thought the offense was slow on pulling the trigger on shots. But the faceoff crew started playing full speed. The D just can't spot other teams a 3 goal lead like they did today. And the O can't turnover the ball.
I also agree with Mapper on predictability. When they execute perfectly, the predictability doesn't matter as much. But this is not a team that executes perfectly. I'd like the coaching staff to let them off the leash a bit. The O was passing up passes to Knox inside (as if they were afraid of making mistakes), and I thought they were a little slow to pull the trigger on some shots (I wanted Mott to shoot more; Madonna was pulling the trigger perfectly). Let these guys run. They feed off of their own excitement. Then they get creative and less predictable. Coaches can always rein them back in if they need to.

Nice to see scoring at end of periods.... 1st (11 seconds to go), 2nd (2 seconds to go) and 3rd period (7 seconds to go).... usually it's the other way around.

FL-GO wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:43 pm I thought we’d lose this game and they almost did. Why this staff still - literally years running - can’t get these kids ready for a 1st qtr baffles me. Thankfully the guys showed a lot of grit to keep coming back to tie it. Poillion has to go. Mapper is calling our offense “so darn predictable” pretty much says it all.

NEC is still wide open but slow starts and terrible shooting won’t win a championship. I want to be hopeful but there are some issues that need to be worked out. At least we aren’t looking at a repeat of 2015. A win’s a win.

Game balls to Lucchesi, Holden, Madonna and Pedicine for big games.

Hysterically funny. You're 9-3 with one bad loss. And you're all bleating. Check the upsets yesterday. Hobart used too be one of maybe 6 schools talented players wanted to attend. Now theres 30 or more. Relax.

6ftstick: good reality check. Ur right.

Beating Bryant and Pressler is sooooo sweet, no matter the records. We have the rest of the season in our control now.. It won't be easy as The Mount is hungry this season and Gravante would love to beat Raymond. DO NOT think about the NEC tourney hosting ...just beat MSM on Saturday....and I'm fine with a sloppy rain soaked one goal win...just get the win. GO BART!

We can agree to disagree on Bryant. Pressler is a good coach and one that’s beaten Hobart more than he lost to them, but this season they are not a good lacrosse team.

Unable to score more than 9 goals in half of their games, ranked 68th on offense in MD1 lax shouldn’t have posted a 3-0 start and almost beat the Statesmen at home.

They let the SJU game get away, so I’m really happy the team didn’t let this one get away either. I don’t think it’s “bleating” when you see the talent on the roster and the shooting stats. Something is off, but it’s fixable. This team should be 10-2 with this schedule too. We have a SOS near the bottom of D1 and the best win on it according to these rankings is Canisius.

Needless to say, a win over MSM would be the biggest of the season. LFG.

FL-GO wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:38 pm Needless to say, a win over MSM would be the biggest of the season. LFG.

Wow- I love Tommy G but I never thought I would hear us saying that beating the Mount would be the biggest of the season.

TopShelf585 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:34 pm

FL-GO wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:38 pm Needless to say, a win over MSM would be the biggest of the season. LFG.

Wow- I love Tommy G but I never thought I would hear us saying that beating the Mount be the biggest of the season.

Yup..... sad.
This team has everything that should make them dominate the NEC. Why they don't is beyond me. Yes SHU, MSM, and RMU are good teams but, this is the best team Raymond & Co. have fielded. Just hope Mueller is back.

6ftstick wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:53 am

FL-GO wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:43 pm I thought we’d lose this game and they almost did. Why this staff still - literally years running - can’t get these kids ready for a 1st qtr baffles me. Thankfully the guys showed a lot of grit to keep coming back to tie it. Poillion has to go. Mapper is calling our offense “so darn predictable” pretty much says it all.

NEC is still wide open but slow starts and terrible shooting won’t win a championship. I want to be hopeful but there are some issues that need to be worked out. At least we aren’t looking at a repeat of 2015. A win’s a win.

Game balls to Lucchesi, Holden, Madonna and Pedicine for big games.

Hysterically funny. You're 9-3 with one bad loss. And you're all bleating. Check the upsets yesterday. Hobart used too be one of maybe 6 schools talented players wanted to attend. Now theres 30 or more. Relax.

The anxiety is around the gamble of seriously diluting the schedule (and based on my personal perspective on former AD Hanna, who had a long personal relationship w Raymond through his son, can’t help but have a suspicion there was an element of setting up his guy when he was leaving and a new president came in).

It works if you can rebuild reputation with a nice W/L record. But if the schedule difficulty drops significantly YOY and you still end up near .500 it’s probably a tailspin from there. In 2015 we were 7-3 and finished 7-7. Throw in a top decile FOGO in d1, most of the offense and experience returning at LsM and close D with said schedule. In that context, had we of lost to a not very good Bryant team (how many stupid bad passes did they make?) to make it 3 in a row after being 8-1 it was easy to envision an 8-6 regular season which in the context of the recent Hobart history would be a real problem for the program. Especially when a number of problems haven’t been corrected in five years like slow starts and poor slides.

It was laughable how cartoonishly packed in the bryant D was. Lacrosse neophytes on this board such as myself have been pointing out this issue for two years.

This team has plenty of talent across the field and bench. 9-3 is terrific but if we were to say split the last two, lose in NEC championship and finish 11-5 it would be leaving a big opportunity on the table. Any of the first dozen of seasons in DI could’ve won 10 games with this schedule.

I’m super pumped for the success and record but would be in total denial if I didn’t acknowledge the transformation of the schedule.

Kerwick was 47-53 in 7yrs, two playoff appearances (one at large one PL AQ), to conference coach of the year awards (one in PL & 1 in ECAC). The schedule in his two COy years (04 & 08) included:

2004 (9-7, lost in Rd1 Ncaas): 2 gms vs Navy (national runner up), Bucknell and Cornell (0-2, 2-0, 1-1), Penn st, OSU, Army, Syracuse & GT (when they were #4-9 for a decade)

2008 (8-6): Bucknell, GTown, Cornell, Syracuse, UMass, psU, Loyola (& Rutgers & Fairfield)

This isn’t to pick on the current staff but there’s a lot of talk of what theyve done but it sure looks like absent having a much,much easier runway in both the conference and OOC that it’s about the same as a Kerwick or OHara on a schedule adjusted basis, possibly even worse when smoothed out. To me this just really accentuates how badly AD hanna and the BOT F****d the program in 2008 with that backdoor attempt to move back to d3 like the Baltimore Colts did back in the day. Cost us nearly a decade to get back to where we were while the landscape changed around us.

Prove all this to be just fear by winning 4 straight here.

Not sure all of those criticisms are fair. I heard AD Hanna was thrown under the bus on the DI to DIII to DI scandal ... wanted to resign, but felt too much loyalty to Bart to do so ... BOT not at all unanimous on it. Plus, that whole fiasco came at a rough time ... death of a player, winning seasons erased because of un-filed paperwork, kicked out of Patriot League (for winning too much!). Lots of pressure from the success of other teams on campus, incl. national champions in WS soccer. Gotta figure in the context too: a low point in 2014 with the NYT report about sexual assault that hit admission hard ... a 2018 Presidential scandal. Restructuring of all leagues (ECAC was crushing us, Patriot League didn't want us). I completely agree on the effect: 10 years to rebuild completely.
For all the mention of OHara and Kerwick, don't forget TW, who performed the yeoman's work of a slow turnaround of the team in very tough years, losing some key help (Svek, for example). As for Raymond being AD Hanna's inside guy ... lacrosse is a small world. Were there tons of coaches knocking down the door to take over the program when TW took off? Who knows?
On top of all this, there is the total transformation of Mens College lacrosse. Shifts in recruiting policy (we are always behind the 8 ball on that because of scholarships). Where were teams like BU, High Point, Bryant, U Mich back in 2008? I think that is part of 6ftstick's point: the competition is growing (which is good for the sport). Raymond has talent on this team because he is a great recruiter. 9-3 is great. 10-3 would be better, but we'll have to wait until Sunday to know that. It's lacrosse: there are ups and downs. We hit a skid, but hopefully we are on the way up again. If the skid makes us a better playoff team, so much the better. Rather that than peak in game 1 like Colgate did.
No question that strength of schedule could definitely be improved, but is that all a matter of choice? (serious question ... I don't know) Keep SU and Cornell, bring back Penn St, maybe Bucknell, maybe drop Sienna. St. Bonnie's is just kindness to a new program ... we gotta do that. The days of flying to Denver (or even Texas) are over.

Geez, I get depressed reading some of the comments here. OK, the schedule is weaker than the earlier Patriot League years, and some of the Kerwick, BJ teams may have feasted on this schedule. Our lower SOS is reflected in our poll results this week(no votes)...although the computer poll on FanLax has us No. 18(I think this is inflated without a win against a top opponent ). I think the other NEC teams are improving as they mature this season, but without a strong Bryant and RoMo, it is no Patriot League, for sure.

All that said, I hope to enjoy the possibility of a four game win streak and an NEC Championship in Geneva. It is no easy task because I think there is a greater spread of talent everywhere, even in the NEC because there are so many more talented athletes and coaches that have chosen lacrosse since Hobart's glory years. My best to the team and the coaches this week in preparation for a win against the Mount, but remember when Hobart lacrosse wins, it attacks and defends with confidence and attitude.......do this, and you will measure up and satisfy the tough love you get from some of your supporters.....

Laxgunea wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2019 11:28 am Not sure all of those criticisms are fair. I heard AD Hanna was thrown under the bus on the DI to DIII to DI scandal ... wanted to resign, but felt too much loyalty to Bart to do so ... BOT not at all unanimous on it. Plus, that whole fiasco came at a rough time ... death of a player, winning seasons erased because of un-filed paperwork, kicked out of Patriot League (for winning too much!). Lots of pressure from the success of other teams on campus, incl. national champions in WS soccer. Gotta figure in the context too: a low point in 2014 with the NYT report about sexual assault that hit admission hard ... a 2018 Presidential scandal. Restructuring of all leagues (ECAC was crushing us, Patriot League didn't want us). I completely agree on the effect: 10 years to rebuild completely.
For all the mention of OHara and Kerwick, don't forget TW, who performed the yeoman's work of a slow turnaround of the team in very tough years, losing some key help (Svek, for example). As for Raymond being AD Hanna's inside guy ... lacrosse is a small world. Were there tons of coaches knocking down the door to take over the program when TW took off? Who knows?
On top of all this, there is the total transformation of Mens College lacrosse. Shifts in recruiting policy (we are always behind the 8 ball on that because of scholarships). Where were teams like BU, High Point, Bryant, U Mich back in 2008? I think that is part of 6ftstick's point: the competition is growing (which is good for the sport). Raymond has talent on this team because he is a great recruiter. 9-3 is great. 10-3 would be better, but we'll have to wait until Sunday to know that. It's lacrosse: there are ups and downs. We hit a skid, but hopefully we are on the way up again. If the skid makes us a better playoff team, so much the better. Rather that than peak in game 1 like Colgate did.
No question that strength of schedule could definitely be improved, but is that all a matter of choice? (serious question ... I don't know) Keep SU and Cornell, bring back Penn St, maybe Bucknell, maybe drop Sienna. St. Bonnie's is just kindness to a new program ... we gotta do that. The days of flying to Denver (or even Texas) are over.

Death of Kim Kimber (who’s grandfather was in the board) came after the D3 matter by a good bit and after Kerwick was fired. The paperwork mistake was on the ADs office. Don’t want to make this a referendum on hanna or Kerwick but those things shouldn’t be set straight her.

My point was simply the d3 thing plus kimber plus the ad office messing up the paperwork (which hit football too) was a 2yr quagmire that cost us a half decade. Heck I recall Ketch making that project sometime in 2009 when things were still going ok in TW.

And small world yes but usually guys only have a couple of groomsmen at their wedding and Raymond was one of Hanna’s son. My issue here isn’t totally on him but the culture at Hobart that makes professors and employees think the institution exists for their benefit rather the prior, current and future students. It just reeked of that and the hubris of a guy who stayed so long a sense of entitlement and laziness/lack of motivation kicked in.

I am just now recovering from the SJU game. I won't make further comment except to say that 1) you always want to stall the ball behind your own goal. If you drop it, or they take it away, they have to clear the whole length of the field. If you have the lead and aren't going to shoot, get the ball behind the goal. 2) Give your teammate an easy pass. Show yourself. If there is a defender between you and the guy with the ball move to the left or right so he doesn't have to try and pass it through the defender. 3) When defending a last second shot attempt, pressure the ball carrier at least a little and try and contest the pass just like in basketball. Of course leaving a guy open 5 yards from the side of the goal with 1 second left needs no comment. Tip of the cap to Coach Wray who confused us by making it look like the defenseman was going to shoot it at the goal when the whistle blew with 6 seconds left but instead hiding a guy at the mid line who stepped over and was uncovered, received the pass, and then carried it in uncovered and found the open man. They had obviously practiced that situation.

I agree we are on a slight skid and playoffs are NOT assured. Sacred Heart is 3-2 in the league and they have Wagner left. Assuming they win that one and we lose our remaining league games MSM, Sacred Heart get in ahead of us with better records. St. Joe's has Wagner and MSM left and assuming they go 3-3 they have the tie breaker on us if we lose both our remaining games. Romo is 2-2 with Bryant and us left. They dont have to beat Bryant. If they beat us they are in at no worse than 3-3 with tie breaker on us if we also lose to MSM. If we beat MSM, Romo has to win out and they get in and St. Joe's is out. Short answer is that we have to win one of these two remaining games or we are out of the playoffs. Weirdly, if we win out, we host the tournament as the #1 seed. So lots of lacrosse left to be played.

Coaches can get the team going again no doubt, as there is a lot of talent there this year, and the game is getting more like basketball in the sense that shooting accuracy is critical. Every team we play the goalie looks all world. That has to change. You want your players to play with confidence and try and make plays, but it is a fine line that can devolve quickly into a mess (see second half tape of SU).

On a positive note, I did want to give a shout out to Christianson on D. Very very tough competitor every second he is on the field. Like that kid. He takes penalties but they are the good kind.

[/quote]

My issue here isn’t totally on him but the culture at Hobart that makes professors and employees think the institution exists for their benefit rather the prior, current and future students.
[/quote]

Ouch!
KMartin, right on, esp. points 1, 2, 3. We control our destiny now. Hope next Sat is a sunny 70 degrees like last Sat. It can't hurt if the Boz is rocking.

After everything I’ve wrote, institutional agita et al, all I want is for these kids to go blast MSM and RoMo for a full 60 minutes like the 2016 St Joe’s NEC championship as an example. Win those, host at 11-3 and finish the job and all but thumb soreness from worrying here will be for nothing.

But there’s been a lot of fades historically and the way to demonstrate something is different as a coach and team (not individuals) is to close this one out with four straight and going straight into the ncaas. Season will be a success regardless but this is a very real outcome at this stage, we have some revenge on the table anyway, talent, MSM at home. It will take focus, balls to the wall effort, maybe some luck and a willingness to crawl off the field, but if that can be given I would basically put my fathers baseball card collection on a bet that we’d get it done. (That’s as valuable as anything to me other than collateralizing a bet with my kids, even my wife, for the record)

Less than a week. Do we want Chris diPretoro doing his little goal dances on our field or some other outcome?

With you all the way. Proof of the pudding is in the tasting, not the smelling.

The current NEC reminds me a lot of the Patriot League when we joined it- a modest league ready to break out into much better things. When we joined the Patriot League in 2000, it did not include Loyola, Navy, and BU. It had three decent teams (Hobart, Army, and Bucknell), and a bunch of weaker sisters (Colgate and Lehigh were still down at that point, Lafayette and Holy Cross were complete afterthoughts). I think that the current NEC is stronger across the board than the Patriot League was when we won it in 2000 and 2002, and the level of competition is only getting better. It would be nice if we could schedule some stronger OOC games, but the NEC is our bread and butter and we should be happy to be members of such a fine, up and coming league that has already developed some intense rivalries and a lot of competition for the AQ each year.
There is no reason to get down on anyone at this point. Let’s get behind our boys and cheer them on to victory on Saturday.

Ketch wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2019 7:10 pm The current NEC reminds me a lot of the Patriot League when we joined it- a modest league ready to break out into much better things. When we joined the Patriot League in 2000, it did not include Loyola, Navy, and BU. It had three decent teams (Hobart, Army, and Bucknell), and a bunch of weaker sisters (Colgate and Lehigh were still down at that point, Lafayette and Holy Cross were complete afterthoughts). I think that the current NEC is stronger across the board than the Patriot League was when we won it in 2000 and 2002, and the level of competition is only getting better. It would be nice if we could schedule some stronger OOC games, but the NEC is our bread and butter and we should be happy to be members of such a fine, up and coming league that has already developed some intense rivalries and a lot of competition for the AQ each year.
There is no reason to get down on anyone at this point. Let’s get behind our boys and cheer them on to victory on Saturday.

Ketch,
All very good and valid points, especially your last line......++

Another up vote for the NEC here. Good video coverage of games, and everyone is getting better, although results OOC haven't been what we want. RoMO beat #17 Lehigh last week. Bryant has probably had the most success overall and beat SU in the NCAAs not that long ago. MSM has a good OOC schedule and has shown itself to be a tough out this year. So we have two very good opponents to finish out the season to go along with 3 one goal games we have had already.

I re-agree.
I’ve watched more NEC front row games the past couple years, than just about any other conference.
I’d say every weekend now, I catch at least part of an NEC game.