Coaching Carousel 2022-2023

[HailMaryPass]

People been complaining about Duke and ND the last few years. Who knows?

Last few years? People been complaining about Duke and ND since LaxPower

No coach does less with more talent than the ND coach

Their offensive strategy is weak. 4 person square passing and 3 inside cutters to covered passes. They make many impressive catches on the inside sure but ND could thrive if she would just switch it up!!!

[forthelaxofit]

Norte Dame and Halfpenny get a lot of abuse in these forums. Seemed like 2023 was a good year to me. Made it to Elite 8, losing to BC. No disgrace there. Yes 6 loses, but 5 of those loses last year came to teams that were in final 4. And they did it with a younger, home grown team. 2022 was rough, but even 2021 the only loses were to UNC, BC, and Syracuse.

Meanwhile, look at last 3 National Champs and the transfer portal kids they brought in to get there. 2021 BC – North, Hall. 2022 UNC – Aldave, Geiersbach. 2023 NW Laliberty, Rhatigan. Do these teams win title without these major portal additions? Maybe? But I don’t think so.

Good article on ND in Lacrosse Magazine – "Typical Inactive ND Dips into Transfer Portal". Coach quotes - “We believe in the work and the process with our initial recruitment efforts with high schoolers. We’ve been very proud of that, which is why we’re one of the schools that haven’t been Transfer U.” I respect that approach. Unfortunately, given what takes place in the sport today, they have changed course like so many others. “There’s some proof that, in men’s and women’s sports, that graduate transfers came in and made a big dent and helped teams get to the Final Four”. This summer they went out and got Dooley and Tierney. Will going into the portal put them at the next tier - time will tell. I am not in favor of the portal impact and covid endless extensions, but before we keep backing the bus over the coach, let’s remember the last 3 national champs have got it done with significant help via transfers. Now that ND is into it too, let's see how they do verses the Transfer U schools.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Bryant names Merredith Kraisser assistant coach.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Norte Dame and Halfpenny get a lot of abuse in these forums. Seemed like 2023 was a good year to me. Made it to Elite 8, losing to BC. No disgrace there. Yes 6 loses, but 5 of those loses last year came to teams that were in final 4. And they did it with a younger, home grown team. 2022 was rough, but even 2021 the only loses were to UNC, BC, and Syracuse.

Yes, but 2021 was the post covid season when the ACC stayed mostly to themselves on the schedule. The Irish fleshed out the non-ACC portion of their '21 regular season slate with Vanderbilt, Robert Morris and Liberty.

Meanwhile, look at last 3 National Champs and the transfer portal kids they brought in to get there. 2021 BC – North, Hall. 2022 UNC – Aldave, Geiersbach. 2023 NW Laliberty, Rhatigan. Do these teams win title without these major portal additions?

BC in '21 without North and Hall? No way.

NC in '22 without Geiersbach and Aldave? No way.

NU in '23 without Laliberty and Rhatigan? Yes.

Maybe? But I don’t think so.

Good article on ND in Lacrosse Magazine – "Typical Inactive ND Dips into Transfer Portal". Coach quotes - “We believe in the work and the process with our initial recruitment efforts with high schoolers. We’ve been very proud of that, which is why we’re one of the schools that haven’t been Transfer U.” I respect that approach. Unfortunately, given what takes place in the sport today, they have changed course like so many others. “There’s some proof that, in men’s and women’s sports, that graduate transfers came in and made a big dent and helped teams get to the Final Four”. This summer they went out and got Dooley and Tierney. Will going into the portal put them at the next tier - time will tell. I am not in favor of the portal impact and covid endless extensions, but before we keep backing the bus over the coach, let’s remember the last 3 national champs have got it done with significant help via transfers. Now that ND is into it too, let's see how they do verses the Transfer U schools.

I think they'll flirt with the 2nd tier at times but they'll mostly be top of the 3rd tier

Even if all of the last three champions had none of the aforementioned transfers, Notre Dame would not be national champions in their place. (Michigan knocked them out in '22 in the first round. I doubt the Wolverines had any transfers to put them over the top as they lost in the next round to NU.)

I'd sincerely like to see Notre Dame do well, but I don't see them running with the big dogs. They always seem to bow out in the quarters or before.

[whyamihere]

CH is going all in this year in portal because next year the roster is young and she has not developed those players. 13 of ND top 15 players are gone after this year.

[ultravisitor]

NW Laliberty, Rhatigan. Do these teams win title without these major portal additions? Maybe? But I don’t think so.

If Laliberty hadn't been part of the picture, NU still have had Doucette, who wasn't terrible, and NU was doing pretty well before Rhatigan entered the lineup, as before she was in the lineup, they beat Boston College and only lost to Syracuse by one goal in the first game of the season. Hell, Izzy Scane alone had 10 goals against ND without Rhatigan playing. I'm guessing NU still would have been pretty great.

ND has always had talent, especially these past few years. We all know sometimes they're really great and can scare some top teams. I'm not sure simply pulling in some new people from the transfer portal will help their inconsistency problem.

[LaxDadMax]

NW Laliberty, Rhatigan. Do these teams win title without these major portal additions? Maybe? But I don’t think so.

If Laliberty hadn't been part of the picture, NU still have had Doucette, who wasn't terrible, and NU was doing pretty well before Rhatigan entered the lineup, as before she was in the lineup, they beat Boston College and only lost to Syracuse by one goal in the first game of the season. Hell, Izzy Scane alone had 10 goals against ND without Rhatigan playing. I'm guessing NU still would have been pretty great.

ND has always had talent, especially these past few years. We all know sometimes they're really great and can scare some top teams. I'm not sure simply pulling in some new people from the transfer portal will help their inconsistency problem.

Even if Doucette came back, she would have been 3rd on the depth chart. NW's backup, Argantieri would probably start for all but 10 teams in the country. I'm sure the same could probably be said for attack.

For me, the interesting question would be this. If you took the 12 starters off the NW, UNC and Cuse, would the teams still be ranked in the top 20? I think for most of them, the answer is yes.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Caroline Mangan named assistant coach at Vermont

[forthelaxofit]

In the round before the elite 8, Northwestern was in a fight for their life with Michigan. Losing after 3 quarters, eventually winning by 1. Some stat lines. Tayler and Scane a combined 1 goal on 17 shots and 0-2 on FPS. Michigan did a good job controlling a couple very good players. Rhatigan 2 goals in 8-7 win, 1 in first half to get early tie, and 1 in the fourth to put them up by 1. Both clutch goals when needed. Also, both goals she scored were unassisted. Laliberty 50% save percentage, 1 GB and 1 CT. Would someone else made the difference in that game without those 2 battle tested veterans? None of us know, but I think those are huge contributions in a win or go home game on the way to final four weekend. You don't win that game, no final four or final appearance. I am sticking with you don't win the championship without them.

I still don't buy into the Halfpenny slamming either. Since 2005, if your name isn't Hiller, Reese, Levy, Klaes Or AWW, you haven't won a championship. Do all other coaches but these 5 fall on the list of underperformers? She got them to elite 8, the only road team to make it that far. Lost to a much better BC team that many were picking to win the championship and would have been a major upset. That is solid 2nd tier performance with a team that was home grown.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Lindenwood adds former Lions goaltender Aly Smith as assistant coach

[LaxDadMax]

In the round before the elite 8, Northwestern was in a fight for their life with Michigan. Losing after 3 quarters, eventually winning by 1. Some stat lines. Tayler and Scane a combined 1 goal on 17 shots and 0-2 on FPS. Michigan did a good job controlling a couple very good players. Rhatigan 2 goals in 8-7 win, 1 in first half to get early tie, and 1 in the fourth to put them up by 1. Both clutch goals when needed. Also, both goals she scored were unassisted. Laliberty 50% save percentage, 1 GB and 1 CT. Would someone else made the difference in that game without those 2 battle tested veterans? None of us know, but I think those are huge contributions in a win or go home game on the way to final four weekend. You don't win that game, no final four or final appearance. I am sticking with you don't win the championship without them.

I still don't buy into the Halfpenny slamming either. Since 2005, if your name isn't Hiller, Reese, Levy, Klaes Or AWW, you haven't won a championship. Do all other coaches but these 5 fall on the list of underperformers? She got them to elite 8, the only road team to make it that far. Lost to a much better BC team that many were picking to win the championship and would have been a major upset. That is solid 2nd tier performance with a team that was home grown.

Agree that hate for CH is a bit much. The challenge for her is that she brings in phenomenal recruiting classes, who are often over hyped. But folks need to remember that any replacement probably wouldn't recruit close to as well. (Remember not a lot of east coast girls want to go to a school 2 hours away from a major city).

My only criticism for her is I think she values size over speed on the defensive end, which results is too many transition goals allowed and not enough transition created off the clear.

[ultravisitor]

In the round before the elite 8, Northwestern was in a fight for their life with Michigan. Losing after 3 quarters, eventually winning by 1. Some stat lines. Tayler and Scane a combined 1 goal on 17 shots and 0-2 on FPS. Michigan did a good job controlling a couple very good players. Rhatigan 2 goals in 8-7 win, 1 in first half to get early tie, and 1 in the fourth to put them up by 1. Both clutch goals when needed. Also, both goals she scored were unassisted. Laliberty 50% save percentage, 1 GB and 1 CT. Would someone else made the difference in that game without those 2 battle tested veterans? None of us know, but I think those are huge contributions in a win or go home game on the way to final four weekend. You don't win that game, no final four or final appearance. I am sticking with you don't win the championship without them.

Okay, but also consider that both teams' game plans would have looked very different, as well, without Rhatigan and Laliberty.

Did Rhatigan score two clutch goals? Sure. But if you want to look at how well Northwestern might have done without Rhatigan in the picture, look no further than the BC game in which Dylan Amonte scored 5 goals. How might Northwestern's offense have continued to develop over the course of the season if Rhatigan wasn't part of the picture? Maybe Amonte would have grown into more of a presence on the team. Maybe Emerson Bohlig, who came off the bench to score the GWG against BC and to break open the scoring against UNC, would have become more of a threat. There are also a bunch of very talented underclassmen on the team who might have gotten the playing time to develop into threats. No one knows for sure, but we know that the potential was still there. Along with the fact that Northwestern's offense likely would have looked different if it had continued to develop over the course of the season without Rhatigan, Michigan's plan for the game likely would have looked different, and no one knows if that would have worked as well.

As far as Laliberty, sure, she was great for the team this past season, including the Michigan game. Remember, though, that the goalie does not work in a vacuum. It seems silly to point this out, but there were also some players in front of her: the defenders. I'm pretty sure that everyone will acknowledge that a goalie's play is also dependent on the play of the defenders. Those defenders still exist on a Laliberty-less team. Further, if Doucette had been the goalie--and it sounds like that was her intent before the 22-23 school year began--then I'm comfortable saying the entire defensive side of NU probably would have still been pretty great, as Doucette already had a few years of playing with the team--including those same defenders--through the postseason for them to develop chemistry with one another.

Maybe more important than Laliberty's presence, though, is Alexis Venechanos' presence as NU's defensive coordinator. I feel like she has been the biggest difference maker to the NU defense, for NU's defense hasn't been this good since the time she was with the team during the start of the championship run. Just look at the stats for not only NU's goalies, Morgan Lathrop and Ashley Gersuk, but their entire defensive end during her initial time at Northwestern. A Laliberty-less NU still has Alexis Venechanos as their defensive coordinator.

I get that people are always reluctant to give Northwestern credit, but NU's success was not solely a result of Rhatigan and Laliberty, and you can't expect to be able to look at a team, remove two players from it and expect everything to stay the same otherwise.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

In the round before the elite 8, Northwestern was in a fight for their life with Michigan. Losing after 3 quarters, eventually winning by 1. Some stat lines. Tayler and Scane a combined 1 goal on 17 shots and 0-2 on FPS. Michigan did a good job controlling a couple very good players. Rhatigan 2 goals in 8-7 win, 1 in first half to get early tie, and 1 in the fourth to put them up by 1. Both clutch goals when needed. Also, both goals she scored were unassisted. Laliberty 50% save percentage, 1 GB and 1 CT. Would someone else made the difference in that game without those 2 battle tested veterans? None of us know, but I think those are huge contributions in a win or go home game on the way to final four weekend. You don't win that game, no final four or final appearance. I am sticking with you don't win the championship without them.

Okay, but also consider that both teams' game plans would have looked very different, as well, without Rhatigan and Laliberty.

Did Rhatigan score two clutch goals? Sure. But if you want to look at how well Northwestern might have done without Rhatigan in the picture, look no further than the BC game in which Dylan Amonte scored 5 goals. How might Northwestern's offense have continued to develop over the course of the season if Rhatigan wasn't part of the picture? Maybe Amonte would have grown into more of a presence on the team. Maybe Emerson Bohlig, who came off the bench to score the GWG against BC and to break open the scoring against UNC, would have become more of a threat. There are also a bunch of very talented underclassmen on the team who might have gotten the playing time to develop into threats. No one knows for sure, but we know that the potential was still there. Along with the fact that Northwestern's offense likely would have looked different if it had continued to develop over the course of the season without Rhatigan, Michigan's plan for the game likely would have looked different, and no one knows if that would have worked as well.

As far as Laliberty, sure, she was great for the team this past season, including the Michigan game. Remember, though, that the goalie does not work in a vacuum. It seems silly to point this out, but there were also some players in front of her: the defenders. I'm pretty sure that everyone will acknowledge that a goalie's play is also dependent on the play of the defenders. Those defenders still exist on a Laliberty-less team. Further, if Doucette had been the goalie--and it sounds like that was her intent before the 22-23 school year began--then I'm comfortable saying the entire defensive side of NU probably would have still been pretty great, as Doucette already had a few years of playing with the team--including those same defenders--through the postseason for them to develop chemistry with one another.

Maybe more important than Laliberty's presence, though, is Alexis Venechanos' presence as NU's defensive coordinator. I feel like she has been the biggest difference maker to the NU defense, for NU's defense hasn't been this good since the time she was with the team during the start of the championship run. Just look at the stats for not only NU's goalies, Morgan Lathrop and Ashley Gersuk, but their entire defensive end during her initial time at Northwestern. A Laliberty-less NU still has Alexis Venechanos as their defensive coordinator.

I get that people are always reluctant to give Northwestern credit, but NU's success was not solely a result of Rhatigan and Laliberty, and you can't expect to be able to look at a team, remove two players from it and expect everything to stay the same otherwise.

Outstanding post.

[LaxPundit07]

CH is going all in this year in portal because next year the roster is young and she has not developed those players. 13 of ND top 15 players are gone after this year.

“…and she has not developed those players.”

Please explain with tangible evidence how she hasn’t done so. And no, playing time is not tangible evidence if it is the only evidence you provide. You state it as a matter of fact; so I assume you are at practice, film, lifting, conditioning, office meetings daily. Otherwise, please provide how you obtained the information as well.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Skylar McArthur named assistant coach for High Point Panthers.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Dartmouth names Kelsey Fee assistant coach.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Towson names former Blue Jay Shelby Harrison assistant coach.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Charlotte Sofield named assistant coach at Army

Grace Coon named assistant coach at East Carolina

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Mercer Bears tab Rebecca Hart and Erik Hultgren assistant coaches.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Taylor Gait and Taylor Scotton named assistant coaches for the Bears of Brown University.

Glad to see Gait making her way back east. Wonder if she'll follow in dad's footsteps to become a head coach herself one day...