ODAC 2024

[thescottharris]

2024 ODAC MEN'S LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
(#) denotes first place votes received

1. Washington and Lee University (6) 95 pts.
1. University of Lynchburg (5) 95 pts.
3. Hampden-Sydney College 78 pts.
4. Roanoke College 77 pts.
5. Randolph-Macon College 65 pts.
6. Shenandoah University 51 pts.
7. Bridgewater College 50 pts.
8. Guilford College 32 pts.
9. Virginia Wesleyan University 31 pts.
10. Averett University 19 pts.
11. Randolph College 12 pts.

So does this mean that more coaches voted W&L #1, but one coach put W&L at #3 also?

https://odaconline.com/news/2024/2/1/02 ... -poll.aspx

Yea I believe that's correct. And through the grapevine, I heard it was Ferrum. Though they are not able to field a team this year, they were given a complimentary vote and put McCabe at 3 because (back in 2022) W&L kept their starters in and put up 31 (!!) goals against the Panthers. Witherall himself had 6 goals.

The point totals show how big the gap is within the conference. The 2 top dogs and then it's a toss up for 3rd between Noke and HSC. I think RMC could close the gap between them and those two, but they'll have to prove themselves. Clock is ticking and it's about time to get this thing going for real as the first ODAC teams play in 2 days!!

Only 11 teams in the poll, 11 first place votes. Ferrum coach obviously did not vote...

[ODAD]

HSC may not recruit any fogos but their goalkeeping tonight has been phenomenal so far. 4-2 HSC over the captains after the 1st.

[Laxattackjack]

HSC may not recruit any fogos but their goalkeeping tonight has been phenomenal so far. 4-2 HSC over the captains after the 1st.

does the video feed keep freezing on you?

[ODAD]

It’s behind a few seconds but so far so good. The camera man needs some work.

[Notgoodatlax]

Fast pace. Cnu offense has started clicking up 11 to 5

[Notgoodatlax]

Outstanding zero clearance goal from hsc attackman

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

No matter the outcome HSC has played well into the 4th 13-8 CNU at the moment but goalie looks very solid and team D to this point has been good. Moving the ball well with assisted goals. Better contest than I’d have thought, considering they are 4-26 on face offs the D hung in they have to be tired. You can’t constantly be defending against a team with that much juice. No answers at the dot. 15-9 time for football. HSC is going to be a tough out again this year

[Lax801]

Does anyone know how the Lynchburg vs Pfeiffer scrimmage went?

[Laxattackjack]

strong showing for RMC yesterday. up 7-0 at one point. there was a lot of talk about how good MW was going to be this season. maybe RMC has things together.

i still think Lynchburg is the top of this conference. but i expect the next 4 to battle things out. will be interesting to see who the 5th team that gets left out of the playoffs. at this point, we haven’t seen W&L or Noke play yet, but i am going with the preseason prediction of Lynchburgh, HSC, W&L and RMC

[JustOneTime]

strong showing for RMC yesterday. up 7-0 at one point. there was a lot of talk about how good MW was going to be this season. maybe RMC has things together.

i still think Lynchburg is the top of this conference. but i expect the next 4 to battle things out. will be interesting to see who the 5th team that gets left out of the playoffs. at this point, we haven’t seen W&L or Noke play yet, but i am going with the preseason prediction of Lynchburgh, HSC, W&L and RMC

What do you mean by 5th team that gets left out of the playoffs? Is the ODAC changing the playoff format for this year and only taking the top 4?

[LAXDADGUILFORD]

Does anyone know how the Lynchburg vs Pfeiffer scrimmage went?

About as well as you would think for Lynchburg. We're up 7 or 8 to 1 at the end of the first. Ran several midfield lines that are very impressive. This team is deep. Defense and Hadley looked stout and face-offs were a huge advantage for the Hornets... very strong unit there. D-mids and LSMs as well. Shoutout Riley Hastings who scored some very impressive goals from X. Gettysburg this Saturday and Lynchburg is looking to start on the right foot.

[Hardhat]

I think the 5,6,7 has been interesting in past several years with Shenandoah, RMC and Bridgewater. Shenandoah hasn’t beat RMC since ‘17 but has played several 1-2 goal games since then in that stretch. RMC has been the most consistent and dominant in this group but I think it’s a tighter gap than some think. Both RMC and Bridgewater have knocked off top 4 teams in recent years. While Shenandoah hasn’t been able to do that yet they did play Lynchburg 2 years ago to 6-6 half before being blown out and have played HSC and Noke to within 5. They aren’t there yet but they aren’t extremely far. The middle 3 teams of the ODAC are solid squads and look to improve every year usually their downfall is depth, but no one below the top 7 would beat any of these teams or make it close.

[ODACtionEmpire]

Coming off a weekend where we saw that bulletin boards, FanLax opinions, and preseason scrimmages truly don't matter, here's what I'm looking for this coming weekend...

RMC @ SMCM - This could give us a great read on the Jackets vs a rising St. Mary's squad. Away game, Friday night lights. Could be a great matchup for RMC to make some noise. The Seahawks are not the underdogs in this one tho.

W&L vs Wash - I don't think Wash is close to York's talent, but can the Gennies overcome a slow but solid showing from last weekend? Better goaltending is a must, and Burns has to play 4 quarters.

LYN vs Cabrini - Given they were without Mitchell, if a couple of rung pipes were goals I think LYN would have come out on top even though they couldn't figure out how to clear. Those opportunities would have swung the momentum away from the Bullets. Clearing should be cleaned up at home. This Cavs team has a fire that will be burning all year long, and it will be a great chance for the bugs to respond. Shellenberger should be ready to rumble come 1 pm. Expect the LYN D to button up their mistakes from Gburg.

HSC vs Rhodes - I see this as a great chance for HSC to find who that next group is. Earn some respect and confidence on the field and maybe mix the lines up. Rhodes is no pushover, but I don't think it will be a close one.

Noke vs Pfeiffer - The Falcons scrimmaged @ LYN, lost to HSC at home, and now make another ODAC stop in Salem. Roanoke looked sloppy so there is room to grow after their Mary Wash game. Need 23 to actually do something if this offense is going to thrive against good teams. His older brother is carrying his weight for sure.

Mary Wash is making a solid case to join the ODAC with this schedule. Currently, they are 1-2 vs ODAC squads with a GD of -1 and a great chance against Bwater this Saturday. Need Bwater to prove that they'll do something this season in this game.
Just thought I'd give them some attention as they are helping with the gauge of some of the middle ODAC teams.

[StevieUAlum]

Had a chance to watch RMC over the weekend against Ursinus. Sheridan has done a quite a job of recruiting some serious hot bed areas and it's paying dividends.

Offensively speaking they have guys from some very good high schools who contribute to a lot of their success.

I believe Sheridan is a Baltimore guy so it make sense that he has good idea of where to go to get his talent.

ODAC will be deeper than usual I believe this year! I'd expect 4-5 teams to be competing for playoff spots come late April.

[ThirdString]

Jackets pull away from St Mary’s to win 13-9. 4 goal margin despite some off games from their top contributors which is hopefully a good sign of depth. Up 13-7 last few minutes but got into some penalty trouble late at St Mary’s made them pay.


Good win for ODAC, not sure why so many had them as underdogs in this as they beat them by 6 in the prior year and both returned similar rosters.

[JustOneTime]

Weekend recap
Lynchburg 18 - Cabrini 5 - Lynchburg looked very good with Rust leading the way. He is a matchup problem for anyone. Scary good offense.
W&L 17 - Wash College 9 - Balanced scoring and great face off play. Goalie play is a ?
Hampden Sydney 18 - Rhodes 10 - Tough to get a good read on this team, played CNU real tough in week 1 but have started slow in games since then.
Roanoke 23 - Pfeiffer 6 - They are plowing through weaker teams, their season starts this week. Is the D better this year?
Randolph Macon 13 - St. Mary's 9 - A nice win for the Jackets on the road. This team has size and will bully you. Need to improve in the clearing game
Shenandoah 13 - Widner 12 - Two one goal wins in a row, exciting way to begin the season and build momentum.
Mary Wash 14 - Bridgewater 10 - The Eagles have a great face off guy and he will need to play out of his mind against W&L this Wed.

[Frank Rizzo]

Jackets pull away from St Mary’s to win 13-9. 4 goal margin despite some off games from their top contributors which is hopefully a good sign of depth. Up 13-7 last few minutes but got into some penalty trouble late at St Mary’s made them pay.


Good win for ODAC, not sure why so many had them as underdogs in this as they beat them by 6 in the prior year and both returned similar rosters.

FOGO torn calf and no back up so you should have won by more. Also their big attackmen who has 7 goals in 2 games is out with an ACL tear.

EMO went 0-4

Thats a good win?

[ODACtionEmpire]

Jackets pull away from St Mary’s to win 13-9. 4 goal margin despite some off games from their top contributors which is hopefully a good sign of depth. Up 13-7 last few minutes but got into some penalty trouble late at St Mary’s made them pay.


Good win for ODAC, not sure why so many had them as underdogs in this as they beat them by 6 in the prior year and both returned similar rosters.

FOGO torn calf and no back up so you should have won by more. Also their big attackmen who has 7 goals in 2 games is out with an ACL tear.

EMO went 0-4

Thats a good win?

Lol making excuses. Who is the attackman you mention bc no one on either roster has 7 goals in 2 games. Either way, RMC is looking like they're on a good track. Thought Tankersley #33 had an outstanding game for the Jackets. They'll look to give their bench some reps against a weaker Methodist team on Wed. I think that's a good move in the schedule as they likely haven't seen many game reps for the younger guys yet.

The big one looming is LYN vs Salisbury next Sat. Yes the Cabrini game was an excellent showing, but I think it was more about overcoming the hype and social media put out by the Cavs than an on-field challenge. 60 man roster vs 27 man roster is just not going to be much of a contest. Still, it was hard fought by Cabrini for the whole 60 minutes - impressed by their continuous effort throughout. Rust was outright unconscious with his shooting and dodging. Was excited to see how his game would evolve this year, and it's blowing up. The absence of Mitchell will be missed as he has always seemed to have Salisbury's # in their matchups.

HSC will have to stay focused on execution in this next one - it was good against CNU but they've played some weaker opponents since.

NOKE has a big week as well. GC is well coached, and they won't be too focused on the loss at RIT. They played that game to test themselves, and they'll use what they learned to get after the Maroons (or the Blazers soon???). It's just a simple overload principle - RIT is like benching 225 and failing and then dropping down to rep out 135 (NOKE). On the other side of the Wolverines is Dickinson. Hope the Defense is ready for a real test.

Thought the Randolph win was pretty exciting!

W&L with Bwater and then Denison this week. The ole McCabe vs Koch matchup should be another great one. I can only imagine Koch will have quite a week of practice readying up for the Gennies and then Lynchburg later on... I didn't watch the Wash game but heard the GK is still a ? for the Gennies. That's not gonna fly against a fiery Denison squad. The Bwater game should help calm any nerves and build some confidence for the keeper.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Gabriel Alexander fogo for Bridgewater is a beast, winning 17/27 drawing 14 gbs to himself against W&L. Stout young man 5’10” 225

[ODAD]

Lynchburg holding on against Salisbury:
Definitely a strong test for the hornets that will pay off in April.
Do they have enough in the tank for another half?

HSC losing to St Mary’s:
Bad loss here. Expected a 5-6 goal win.
That’s going to add some pressure going forward.

Noke v. Denison coming up:
Surely a solid matchup. Hoping Noke puts up enough for the W.

W&L v Denison tomorrow:
Should be a good one!
Predictions?