2023 Upcoming Best Games

[Dr. Tact]

In Lexington, getting ready to watch Bullets and Spartans

enjoy Doc!

Beautiful day until the game started I joke...Bullets came out hot and stomped the Spartans. Never in doubt. The takeaways were:

• *Team speed - Gettysburg was too fast for York
  *The Bullet's weave confused York - need a coaching solution for that
  *Gettysburg is coached to emphasize when they get contact - This led to 6 or 7 YC on York - leading to alot of goals on the unreleasables.
  * York was sloppy and not very good with contested ground balls, in contrast, Gettysburg won nearly every contested ball

Gettysburg played like they deserve to play next Monday. If they are consistently that good, they will make the assumed Middlebury championship close. I don't think they beat Middlebury, but they were definitely the best team of the weekend at W&L

Is (bolded above) this a nice way to say they are coached to FLOP?

I dont want to be claiming that. I should take that back.....I cant prove that and it sounds like complaining....Whether they are coached to do that or not, the results were effective. York's box score didnt get it right, there were 6 Yellow cards on York and 2 on Gettysburg. Gettysburg was the much better team. So I apologize to any Bullet fans for taking an observation and thinking it out loud in virtual print.

[Farfromgeneva]

In Lexington, getting ready to watch Bullets and Spartans

enjoy Doc!

Beautiful day until the game started I joke...Bullets came out hot and stomped the Spartans. Never in doubt. The takeaways were:

• *Team speed - Gettysburg was too fast for York
  *The Bullet's weave confused York - need a coaching solution for that
  *Gettysburg is coached to emphasize when they get contact - This led to 6 or 7 YC on York - leading to alot of goals on the unreleasables.
  * York was sloppy and not very good with contested ground balls, in contrast, Gettysburg won nearly every contested ball

Gettysburg played like they deserve to play next Monday. If they are consistently that good, they will make the assumed Middlebury championship close. I don't think they beat Middlebury, but they were definitely the best team of the weekend at W&L

So they are also going to moonwalk past WS as well like the winner of Tufts/Wesleyan was going to? I’ll tell my daughter we shouldn’t watch the WS/Gettysburg game weekend, thanks!

Sorry, no. I wasnt thinking....no offense. I thought they were playing F&M. That would be a moonwalk, IMO

Wasn’t sure if that’s what you meant and then double checking the WS schedule and seeing Gettysburg and thinking “damn another cat who thinks WS is overrated trash who can’t carry the NESCAC jockstrap”. Looks like a generally good matchup, WS does well at the draw and in clearing which seems to be where they can pull away. Compared yesterday’s results vs their Salisbury game earlier in the season which is the best comp this season for them.

[lovelax]

Good games yesterday. WSmith dominated Tufts which was a surprise to me. WS got after it early and Tufts never recovered because they could not win the draw or sustain any momentum. Only 11 shots on goal by Tufts isn't getting it done. Their zone D was excellent. I have seen them play a few times and WS is very athletic. WS's midfielder is the best I have seen this year.

Gettysburg has been playing great after a rough 2-3 start. I was surprised they lost to F&M in the CC finals after dominating them earlier in the season. F&M coach adjusted, and GB did not play well. GB still salty after last year's semi loss and will play better this year. D looks great. I see a low scoring game with WS zone and GB tough man to man D. Both teams are great on the draw so that will be a battle. Tough one to call as I already sold WS short in the elite 8 game. I'm afraid I might be "overcorrecting" but think WS wins this.

F&M expected to go to Salem so no surprise there. Midd jumped out 8-1 on Colby and cruised from there but Colby was within 3 before Midd pulled away. The closest game for them is 5 goals so maybe the Colby game was a wakeup call? I think Midd wins this game by a handful. Too much speed and talent for F&M.

Two unbeaten teams in the finals? I'm not sure that has happened in the last 20 years.

It should be a great weekend with teams that earned their way to VA.

[Bart]

In Lexington, getting ready to watch Bullets and Spartans

enjoy Doc!

Beautiful day until the game started I joke...Bullets came out hot and stomped the Spartans. Never in doubt. The takeaways were:

• *Team speed - Gettysburg was too fast for York
  *The Bullet's weave confused York - need a coaching solution for that
  *Gettysburg is coached to emphasize when they get contact - This led to 6 or 7 YC on York - leading to alot of goals on the unreleasables.
  * York was sloppy and not very good with contested ground balls, in contrast, Gettysburg won nearly every contested ball

Gettysburg played like they deserve to play next Monday. If they are consistently that good, they will make the assumed Middlebury championship close. I don't think they beat Middlebury, but they were definitely the best team of the weekend at W&L

Is (bolded above) this a nice way to say they are coached to FLOP?

I dont want to be claiming that. I should take that back.....I cant prove that and it sounds like complaining....Whether they are coached to do that or not, the results were effective. York's box score didnt get it right, there were 6 Yellow cards on York and 2 on Gettysburg. Gettysburg was the much better team. So I apologize to any Bullet fans for taking an observation and thinking it out loud in virtual print.

Was not there so I have no clue other than it is happening more and more which is why I asked. Should be a 2 minute penalty.

[Farfromgeneva]

In Lexington, getting ready to watch Bullets and Spartans

enjoy Doc!

Beautiful day until the game started I joke...Bullets came out hot and stomped the Spartans. Never in doubt. The takeaways were:

• *Team speed - Gettysburg was too fast for York
  *The Bullet's weave confused York - need a coaching solution for that
  *Gettysburg is coached to emphasize when they get contact - This led to 6 or 7 YC on York - leading to alot of goals on the unreleasables.
  * York was sloppy and not very good with contested ground balls, in contrast, Gettysburg won nearly every contested ball

Gettysburg played like they deserve to play next Monday. If they are consistently that good, they will make the assumed Middlebury championship close. I don't think they beat Middlebury, but they were definitely the best team of the weekend at W&L

Is (bolded above) this a nice way to say they are coached to FLOP?

I dont want to be claiming that. I should take that back.....I cant prove that and it sounds like complaining....Whether they are coached to do that or not, the results were effective. York's box score didnt get it right, there were 6 Yellow cards on York and 2 on Gettysburg. Gettysburg was the much better team. So I apologize to any Bullet fans for taking an observation and thinking it out loud in virtual print.

Was not there so I have no clue other than it is happening more and more which is why I asked. Should be a 2 minute penalty.

There last name is all Kavanaugh.

[Nigel]

In Lexington, getting ready to watch Bullets and Spartans

enjoy Doc!

Beautiful day until the game started I joke...Bullets came out hot and stomped the Spartans. Never in doubt. The takeaways were:

• *Team speed - Gettysburg was too fast for York
  *The Bullet's weave confused York - need a coaching solution for that
  *Gettysburg is coached to emphasize when they get contact - This led to 6 or 7 YC on York - leading to alot of goals on the unreleasables.
  * York was sloppy and not very good with contested ground balls, in contrast, Gettysburg won nearly every contested ball

Gettysburg played like they deserve to play next Monday. If they are consistently that good, they will make the assumed Middlebury championship close. I don't think they beat Middlebury, but they were definitely the best team of the weekend at W&L

Is (bolded above) this a nice way to say they are coached to FLOP?

I dont want to be claiming that. I should take that back.....I cant prove that and it sounds like complaining....Whether they are coached to do that or not, the results were effective. York's box score didnt get it right, there were 6 Yellow cards on York and 2 on Gettysburg. Gettysburg was the much better team. So I apologize to any Bullet fans for taking an observation and thinking it out loud in virtual print.

Was not there so I have no clue other than it is happening more and more which is why I asked. Should be a 2 minute penalty.

Theyr last name is all Kavanaugh.

100% Ffg

[lovelax]

Interesting gams yesterday. F&M played well but could not handle Midd's team speed. Dips hung in there but too many runs by Midd's attack did them in. Dips also were controlling the early draws until F&m fogo was hurt, then the tide turned on the circle. F&M attack has some success against Midd's defense. No surprise Midd won this game but I was surprised the game was so high-scoring

Bullets were too fast and deep for WS. WS's star middie was in a knee sleeve and lacked her usual burst and quickness. GB face guarded her until they realized she was not herself and then just played man to man. Not enough offensive threats on WS to make GB pay for the faceguard. Two great teams on the draw and Bullets won that battle despite losing their best player on the circle to two yellow cards early in 3rd quarter. Great season for WS but their depth hurt them on a hot day in Salem.

Now we have a rematch from last year's semifinal 18-5 Midd win. GB much better this year and came out of their brutal regional playing well and with confidence. They definitely earned their way to the finals. This game will be much closer. I also think Midd is better than last year as their attack is deep and fast. D is excellent although they had some lapses v F&M. Both teams clear well and Midd's ride is the best I have seen this year. Midd won draw battle 20-6 last year and GB will need to flip that script to win this game. Both teams are very fast but I think Midd wins this one to threepeat.

Two great programs that have been in the top echelon for the last decade. Hope bad weather will not be a factor.

[Farfromgeneva]

Interesting gams yesterday. F&M played well but could not handle Midd's team speed. Dips hung in there but too many runs by Midd's attack did them in. Dips also were controlling the early draws until F&m fogo was hurt, then the tide turned on the circle. F&M attack has some success against Midd's defense. No surprise Midd won this game but I was surprised the game was so high-scoring

Bullets were too fast and deep for WS. WS's star middie was in a knee sleeve and lacked her usual burst and quickness. GB face guarded her until they realized she was not herself and then just played man to man. Not enough offensive threats on WS to make GB pay for the faceguard. Two great teams on the draw and Bullets won that battle despite losing their best player on the circle to two yellow cards early in 3rd quarter. Great season for WS but their depth hurt them on a hot day in Salem.

Now we have a rematch from last year's semifinal 18-5 Midd win. GB much better this year and came out of their brutal regional playing well and with confidence. They definitely earned their way to the finals. This game will be much closer. I also think Midd is better than last year as their attack is deep and fast. D is excellent although they had some lapses v F&M. Both teams clear well and Midd's ride is the best I have seen this year. Midd won draw battle 20-6 last year and GB will need to flip that script to win this game. Both teams are very fast but I think Midd wins this one to threepeat.

Two great programs that have been in the top echelon for the last decade. Hope bad weather will not be a factor.

GBurgs ride was strong yesterday as well. Our goalie was confounded by a little pressure on the clear regularly.

[laxfan22]

Where middlebury excels to me is the transition game is so fast. A mistake on offense led to a number of breaks yesterday and middlebury got the ball up fast and scored.

[lovelax]

FFG you are correct on GB ride. It was great. Midd just too fast but they did cause some Midd TO's in their ride. As someone else pointed out GBurg was big strong and fast and WS not prepared. Also WS's weaker schedule did not prepare them for the type of competition in the final 4. Both Centennial teams played well but WM played like a deer in the headlights.....as their coach acknowledged after the game. Inexperience impacted GB last year v Midd but GB was ready this time. F&M never gave up and put up 13 goals v Midd. Dips should be proud of their effort and return most of their impact players next year.

Midd would not be stopped, and the team is the best I have seen over the last decade, maybe ever. The closest game was a five-goal win in a game they started up 8-1. They were never behind after any quarter and were strong under every metric. Looking at the starting lineup, the team is soph heavy and graduates only 3 starters. As another poster noted, 18 of 21 top players are returning. yikes. Bullets also played with grit and kudos to the first-year coach for getting them to the finals with the toughest path to get there.

Congratulations to the Panthers on a dominating season.

[Farfromgeneva]

FFG you are correct on GB ride. It was great. Midd just too fast but they did cause some Midd TO's in their ride. As someone else pointed out GBurg was big strong and fast and WS not prepared. Also WS's weaker schedule did not prepare them for the type of competition in the final 4. Both Centennial teams played well but WM played like a deer in the headlights.....as their coach acknowledged after the game. Inexperience impacted GB last year v Midd but GB was ready this time. F&M never gave up and put up 13 goals v Midd. Dips should be proud of their effort and return most of their impact players next year.

Midd would not be stopped, and the team is the best I have seen over the last decade, maybe ever. The closest game was a five-goal win in a game they started up 8-1. They were never behind after any quarter and were strong under every metric. Looking at the starting lineup, the team is soph heavy and graduates only 3 starters. As another poster noted, 18 of 21 top players are returning. yikes. Bullets also played with grit and kudos to the first-year coach for getting them to the finals with the toughest path to get there.

Congratulations to the Panthers on a dominating season.

Competition aside as I think that can be a factor but is overrated because absence of evidence is not evidence of absence which I needed to point out to a guy who loathes Tufts on the men’s side. What surprised me was how they boat raced tufts they game prior who was supposed to walk into FF by the experts here and then looked afraid of their shadows against GBurg.

[lovelax]

I'm quoting the WS coach about inexperience. Agree WS is an excellent team in a weak conference which does not make them weak, just untested.

[lax410]

I'm quoting the WS coach about inexperience. Agree WS is an excellent team in a weak conference which does not make them weak, just untested.

I’d love to see WS strengthen their OOC schedule. Gettysburg and F&M also don’t have a lot of challenging conference games (beyond playing each other and Haverford, who has been decent the past 2 yrs). But they play a more demanding OOC schedule. W&L also challenges itself in OOC play. Didn’t work out for them this year but I have to think on balanced that’s the better approach.

[Farfromgeneva]

I'm quoting the WS coach about inexperience. Agree WS is an excellent team in a weak conference which does not make them weak, just untested.

Sure but that argument is used every time a “inexperienced” team losses at another level. But then when those teams do blow through the next level on a first try and it happens plenty of times across sports, enough to matter, I don’t hear any revision of that.

[lovelax]

So, your point is experience does not matter.... until it does?

[Farfromgeneva]

So, your point is experience does not matter.... until it does?

My point is it’s falling into the psychological trap of narrative fallacy. It’s just a specious argument to make or position to take, unprovable.

[laxguy95]

Tufts goalie Courtney Kaufman heading to Duke next year