What has happened since my last D3 Luv blog? Somebody other than Salisbury, Tufts,
and RIT took over the number 1 ranking. The Tigers lost their first game since 2019
(Yes, you read that correctly). A division 3 defenseman was taken in the PLL draft.
What a time to be a division three lacrosse fan. I’m getting jazzed up for these playoffs
on Saturday. Some of these first-round matchups have a semifinals / finals feeling to
them. Salisbury in the North, CNU coming out on top as the #1 team in the country, and
Stevenson out of the equation. Let’s take a look at what just might be the most
interesting playoffs we have ever seen, especially at the D3 level.
My first round (play in games) I went 3/4; only missing the Sewanee over Benedictine
game, so let’s start from there. Christopher Newport has made a big jump this year to
take down perennial powerhouse, Salisbury in the regular season. This win catapulted
CNU to the number one ranked team in the country. Coach Thompson and crew have
been impressive this year, and should have no problem doing that thing they do: score
20+ a game in an easy win over Sewanee.
Southern Virginia has had a very nice year, competing in basically every game they
have played. The only problem with them is that they matched up with an absolute
buzzsaw in York. York is one of my favorite teams in the country. What coach Whitcher
has done with this defense, first as an All-American player, and now as a coach has
been incredible to watch. If not for Salisbury and RIT, York would probably be a multi
time national championship winner at this point. York continues to dominate and buzzes
right past Southern Virginia.
Denison vs Grove City has to be up there as one of the most anticipated games of the
weekend. Both teams are battle tested, and have competed in basically every game
they have played. Both of these teams have battled hard through the beginning of their
schedules, and haven’t looked back since ripping off 10+ wins in a row. Grove City’s win
over Denison in the middle of the year has me thinking revenge tour for the Big Red in
this one.
Wesleyan, the former national champions, take on one of the more physical teams in
the country in RPI. The engineers have stumbled down the stretch but have one of the
better wins on the year with a one goal win over RIT. Wesleyan has beaten the teams
they were supposed to as well as fallen to the teams they were supposed to lose to. My
heart is telling me RPI and my brain is telling me Wesleyan. For that reason, I’m picking
RPI because I’m a god damn idiot.
Stevens being a play in team sucked so bad for Maritime. Those boys didn’t stand a
chance. This year you can almost set your clock to it, they play a ranked team and they
lose, when they play a non-ranked team and they win. This trend doesn’t bode well in
the playoffs, especially matching up against one of the only undefeated teams left in the
country. Dickinson has been just good enough to hold off all of the top teams they’ve
played this year. I really like the Coach Peluso and the way his guys play. I’m not sure
Dickinson is as good as their undefeated record, but they’ll have another chance to
prove me wrong in the thirst round. Dickinson moves on.
John Carroll and Union are both 2 loss teams, but when you compare schedules they’re
not in the same category. Union’s losses both come in Liberty League play: one against
RIT, the LL champions, and St. Lawrence, the LL runner up. They have beaten
Williams, Fischer, and they smacked around Tufts just as much as Tufts could possibly
be smacked around. The Dutchmen move on to round three.
Both Roanoke and Gettysburg have been fairly even this year. That rings true, except
for one win over Stevenson. These teams don’t beat ranked teams. The bad news for
Roanoke is that Gettysburg is ranked. The Bullets shoot into the next round.
Austin Stewart isn’t walking into the locker room for the Hornets and dropping 109 goals
on everybody, but lucky for them, they won’t need him (for this round at least). Western
New England has had a good year, but they’re not playing at the same level as
Lynchburg right now.
The Police will need to be called about 7 and a half minutes into the Tufts game against
Norwich. There will be assault, robbery, and hurt feelings pretty early in this one.
Thanks for coming out Norwich.
Stockton is similar to Salisbury in the way they play: big and athletic while trying to put
the fear of death in you. The only problem is Stockton does that to Keystone College,
and Salisbury could do that to North Carolina. It’s going to be a bad day to be an
Osprey.
Catholic has had a nice year, but they haven’t had to run with a team like Fischer all
year. Fischer is like a ‘Little RIT’, but they ain’t that little no more. They have the skill on
offense to beat anybody in the country. The killer for most teams is even if you have an
equally as good, if not better team, they’re going to face off at OVER SEVENTY (70%)
PERCENT AND SHOVE THE BALL DOWN YOUR THROAT. Best of luck with that
Catholic, see you next Tuesday.
Washington and Lee vs Cabrini may just be one of the better games of the tournament,
and we get it in the first round. Cabrini started off slower, but have really picked it up
recently, and could be peaking at the right time. W&L dropped one in their conference
semi-finals, but before that hadn’t lost in a long time. Their last loss was one of the
closer games CNU has played all year. I have a small brain, and because Cabrini won a
championship recently, on top of the fact that I got recruited by coach Colfer back when
I was an athlete, I’m going with the Cavaliers.
Cortland did that thing they do and went undefeated in conference play while on their
way to their 28th SUNYAC title. Dorothy, we are not in Kansas anymore. SLU is the real
deal. Their losses this year all come from top 10 teams, Union, Fischer, and RIT twice.
SLU beat the Dragons by 6 back in late March and I think we see something along
those lines in this one.
Bowdoin has lost two games in a matter of twelve days, falling to Tufts twice. Besides
that, it’s a clean sweep through the NESCAC, which is no easy task. I don’t think they
will be challenged much in this matchup against Colorado College. Polar Bears move
on.
MIT joins Dickinson as the only other undefeated team left headed into the playoffs.
They take on fifteenth ranked Amherst. I’ve gone back and forth on who I think
advances from this one more than any other game in the bracket. MIT has some quality
wins over Williams, Springfield, and Babson, but haven’t been challenged much with the
rest of their schedule. Amherst has dropped six games but has played some high
competition throughout the year. For that reason, I see the Mammoths advancing with a
close win over MIT.
Last and certainly not least, the defending national champion RIT Tigers take on Albion.
No team can be overlooked, but I think coach Coon and company aren’t too worried
about this one. As the biggest Tigers fan this side of the Hudson River, I will be kicking
my feet up and enjoying Salisbury, Tufts, and Fischer kick the shit out of each other on
the way to meeting the Tigers in the semi-finals. #RollTigers
Off Ball 