admin wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2019 6:29 pm
LaxJ, I'm assuming you're more tied into Dartmouth than I am and... What's going on? Years ago, Dartmouth was a (relatively) top team, one of the teams in our Fantasy League, etc. Plays in a good conference, has a lacrosse tradition, to the best of my understanding, good fans, good education, New England is attractive... I don't get it.
Well, not sure how Wagner and Binghampton get rated above Dartmouth, but gosh, obviously there's very little difference between the absolute bottom of the cellar and one step up. LaxJ's fundamental point is accurate.
Let's not belabor history, but yes, this has been a disastrous decade for Dartmouth Men's Lacrosse. The Sowell era, however, definitely showed the potential.
Can we regain forward momentum?
I believe so.
I base that on what I hear, directly from players and parents, about the culture change that is now in place, the players' support for the current coaching staff, the personal growth of the HC, and the commitments being made financially, making possible a first class Associate Head Coach and new indoor facility in construction, with hopefully an endowed HC soon.
2020 will, for the first time since 2015, have all 11 members of the senior class who matriculated leading the team. Junior captains Richardson and Martin return. With the addition of two freshman FOGO's, and hopefully the return of the injured FOGO. With also perhaps the best class of freshmen players to date competing for time. And 2021 even better.
Back to FOGO, if Dartmouth had simply won 50% of its FO's (instead of 30% overall and 23% in Ivy), the record would have been dramatically different. That doesn't mean beating this year's Yale or Penn teams, but most OOC games won, and potential Ivy upsets.
Other than X, Dartmouth wins the GB hustle battle by a wide margin. They create TO's. They fight super hard, but the X was a crusher, resulting in a very large differential in shots taken and more forced shots.
Dartmouth
does face some challenges, given the way the D-Plan works. Fewer total team practices than our Ivy rivals, not to mention non-Ivies. Difficult weather more often than most schools (indoor facility will help a lot). Much of the junior class off campus in fall of that junior year.
This has typically manifested in much less comfortable ball handling and full field play at the beginning of each season versus mid and late season play. Very high turnover rate early on, far less confident ball movement, clearing, etc.
Those challenges are not insurmountable, but it requires recognition and a real commitment by the players to off-season work. Guys need to be playing summer ball, not thinking of summer as 'vacation' from lax. It's clear that the physical commitment has been much improved with the current culture, but there's now a recognition that, more than running and lifting, these guys need a stick in their hands constantly.
I think we're going to see increased Lax IQ over the next few years, due to the recruiting and the coaching development, and the relative experience level of the teams going forward. That's going to result in more W's.
If that doesn't happen, there will be a complete reboot. But there's plenty of optimism about the trajectory.
Meanwhile, the team is achieving its highest GPA levels ever and the team culture is strong, far less off-field issues. We're proud of the young men.
Hopefully that will lead to additional alumni and College support, including with Admissions.