VMI vs. Queens (Over 23.5)

I’m happy for VMI after a nice little win last week. Queens I thought looked decent in the first quarter against Navy last week but then looking back maybe it was just because I was still hung over and not really paying attention. It then fully hit me that Navy played a game 24 hours before and was emptying the bench. I think this will be a game of two really bad teams that will have horrible defense which will allow both teams to score, similar to the Holy Cross vs. Merrimack. Give me the over.

UNC vs. Mercer (UNC -11.5)

My mind is telling me no, but my body, my body is telling me yessssss. At first I thought 11.5 was too many points to cover for UNC but I like what coach Breschi had to say about having a more well rounded offense this year. Not to mention Mercer lost by 10+ basically every time they played a top 15 level team last year. Give me the tar heels -11.5.

Virginia vs. Michigan UVA -6.5)

I’m not sure who votes for the top 20 every week but I’d like to have a conversation with some of those people. How Maryland wasn’t voted the #1 team in the country is crazy to me. Either way Virginia is definitely the second best team in the country. Michigan still has not had its first big time win since going Division 1 and I don’t think they get it on Saturday. If you were going to make one bet this weekend, make it this one. Give me UVA -6.5.

BU vs. Vermont (BU -1.5)

If you were not a military academy or from the Ivy league BU had your number last year. The Catamounts are good people but I don’t want a bunch of snowboarders on the front lines, or running the corporate world. I think BU starts off on the right foot. Give me BU -1.5

Delaware vs. Lafayette (Delaware -6.5)

The blue hens return basically everybody from last year. No chance Lafayette puts up 11 on a Ben Deluca coached team. I like Delaware -6.5

Ohio State vs. Cleveland State (Ohio State -11.5)

The Buckeye offense got off to a hot start last Saturday against a decent Air Force team. Cleveland State is absolute trash and I think OSU barely covers this -11.5.

Quinnipiac vs. Umass Lowell (Quinnipiac -1.5)

There’s the Miracle on Ice, Game 6 Buckner ball game, Maryland vs. UVA 2011 national championship game These are just a few of the best games ever played. When you think of all time classic games this one has to come to mind right? What could be better than a Quinnipiac vs Umass Lowell game in early February? it’s going to suck so give me QU -1.5 strictly because of my loyalty to Coach Zom.

Georgetown vs. Hopkins (Hopkins +5.5)

Georgetown is great and should have another incredible year. My tiny stupid pea brain saw Hopkins play better than I expected in my game of the week last week so obviously I’m going to throw logic out the window and take them to cover +5.5.

Maryland vs. Loyola (Maryland -8.5)

This and Virginia might be the lock of the week. After seeing what Maryland did to Richmond last week I don’t think anybody outside of the top 10 teams in the country will come close to these guys. Terps by a million.

Bryant vs. Providence (Bryant -2.5)

The coaching turn over is a big factor but like I’ve said before Coach P didn’t leave the cupboards bare. They kicked the shit out of providence last year. I think there will be some highs and lows in this one but ultimately Bryant will pull it out by 3-4.

Lehigh vs. Fairfield (Under)

Lehigh is good enough to not let Fairfield to score a ton on them. They also aren’t good enough to score a shit ton of goals. I LOVE the under in this game.

Bucknell vs. Robert Morris (Robert Morris +3.5)

The scumbags of Bobby Mo are back. I fucking love these guys, just a bunch of Canadians just out for a rip down in the states. I don’t think Bucknell is as good as they played last week and I think my boys cover here.

Marquette vs. Utah (Marquette -1.5)

My small brain strikes again. I originally thought this game had Utah as the underdog and I was shocked. After already putting the wrong pick I am holding my ground and I’ve never been so confident in a bet. MARQUETTE ALL FUCKING DAY.

Denver vs. Air Force (Denver -4.5)

Different from Bucknell, I think the Pios are as good as they played last week. Air Force is so average it hurts. Give me coach T’s guys all day.

Towson vs. Mount St. Mary’s (Mount St. Mary’s +5.5)

This line is free money. Towson isn’t good enough to be -5.5 against the 2008 Detroit Lions let alone Mount St. Mary’s.

Saint Joseph’s vs. Sacred Heart (St. Joseph’s -9.5)

Did I mention free money? This is actually the easiest bet of the day. Sacred Heart STINKS. St. Josephs is back and ready to roll this year. There’s more than a zero percent chance they might call this one at half time.

Penn State vs. Villanova (Villanova -1.5)

Penn State might have learned how to score again but Villanova ain’t Lafayette. Check Villanova’s record from last year; they were right there in every single game last year. I think the Wildcats win this one outright.

Syracuse vs. Albany (Albany +6.5)

Cuse shows they stink again and even the second coming of Christ, Joey Spallina can’t save them. This is way too large of a spread, there basically playing Vermont all over again. Give me the Great Danes to cover.

Army vs. Umass (Army -1.5)

Umass always has a good team. I think Army even without Nichtern, is still one of the better programs in the country. I think Army pulls this out by 2-3.

Binghamton vs. Marist (Marist +1.5)

BINGHAMTON IS FAVORED IN A LACROSSE GAME? Marist got skull fucked last week but c’mon Bing hasn’t done shit for them to be favorited over anybody. I’m doubling down on my Comsewogue boys again. I think Marist wins outright.

Bellarmine vs. St. Bonaventure (Over)

These teams suck which means bad defense. I think these guys will end up in a shootout. Give me the over.

Hobart vs. Canisius (Hobart -7.5)

Canisius is snuggled in pretty nicely as a bottom 5 worst team in division 1 lacrosse. Hobart isn’t exactly the 85 Bears but they did kick the shit out of Canisius last year. For that reason and that reason alone I am taking this ridiculous 7.5 spread.

Navy vs. Hofstra (Navy -3.5)

Hofstra might have to Fire Seth mid season. I love him and he’s a great guy but yikes this team is bad. Navy has one more chance to prove me wrong here and show me that they are a good team before I try getting them completely removed from the United States military again.

If you took all my bets from this weekend YA WELCOME. 8-7 is better then 7-8. People are starting to talk that picking Merrimack to win outright might be the best bet since Rain Man.

Lindenwood is dead to me. Shame on me for trusting a division two team, going to be a tough year for the Lions.

Bucknell (Winner) looked good in 6 degree weather. Mercer needs to defrost fast if they want to stand a chance against UNC on Friday.

Navy is full of cowards who left their offense in the locker room until Sunday. I didn’t want to have to do it but I am here again to hate on Navy until they figure it out hot to stop playing close games against Mount St. Mary’s.

Thank god for Joey Spallina having a worse performance than my boy Richie on Saturday to take some of the heat off. Ohio State still did the thing and won pretty easily after pulling away in the 4th.

If you were on campus in Durham on Saturday congratulations because you probably scored. This was the easiest bet of the weekend.

Detroit Mercy STINKS. Good for VMI but yikes it’s going to be a tough go the rest of the way for both of these teams.

Marist is currently filling out a police report for Rutgers being so mean to them on Saturday.

Penn State took advantage of being inside and put up NUMBERS on Saturday. I wish I knew they were playing inside an igloo before I put all my bets in I would have crushed the over on top of them skull fucking the spread.

Maryland is good at lacrosse and probably on their way to back to back nattys. They absolutely dismantled a pretty good Richmond team. I won the under because I’m a fucking genius, but lost the spread because I’m a complete moron.

I fucking hate Syracuse and hope they don’t put up more then 7 goals a game all year. They have a brutal schedule playing basically all the top 20 teams. Will this year be even worse for them than last year? That would be a real shame.

My boys at Holy Cross held it down and beat the fuck out of that spread. WHAT THE FUCKS A FRIAR.

Coach Ts guys started off as you would expect any Coach T team would, with some awesome defense. I thought this one would be closer but good for the Pios.

I would have put my life savings on Jacksonville if I had a life savings. Fuck you Jacksonville.

College Lacrosse is back and couldn’t come at a better time. The week between the super bowl is the Sunday scaries of the football season. A long long look into meaningless Sundays until August. We get started with a really good slate of games this year. Somebody must have read the blog last year bitching about the first game of the year being Bellarmine vs. Mercer. 14 games featuring some of the best of the best in the country.

Bucknell Vs. Mercer

These two kicked off Becknell’s season last year which ended in a 2 goal victory for Bucknell. This time the Bison are home and I think take the dub again. I love the over in this one (24.5). First game of the year we can expect some miscommunication on defense. Bucknell was held under 10 a few times against good competition last year. Going against an inferior team they seem to light up the board. I think Mercer is good enough to get to 9-10 goals here as well.

Navy vs. Mount. St. Mary’s

Navy came on pretty strong last year and had no business losing to MSM in their matchup last year. Both these teams don’t score a ton of goals and for that reason I think it will make it hard for Navy to cover this spread. Navy wins this game but MSM covers.

Ohio State vs. Air Force

Air Force is so boring it almost hurts. They always beat who they’re supposed to and always lose to who they’re supposed to. The Buckeyes also did this last year. They started off hot and then basically went win loss down the stretch of the season. If not for that Lightning Delay at Cornell last year the Buckeyes might still be playing. I think the addition of my boy Richie LaCalandra will help spark this offense early. I’m taking Ohio state with the spread.

Duke vs. Bellarmine

Thanks for coming out Bellarmine. Duke with the spread.

Marquette vs. Lindenwood

You would probably initially think a division 2 team coming and playing a division 1 team should have a spread of 10.5. LIU and Merrimack have shown us these teams can come in and be competitive pretty early on. Lindenwood was not a powerhouse like Merrimack was when they made the jump but they are still a solid team. Marquette STINKS, for that reason I’m taking the new kids on the block to cover.

Detroit Mercy vs. VMI

These two teams help round out the bottom of some of the worst teams in Division 1. I got cooked while coaching high school lacrosse 8 years ago too a couple of kids going to Detroit Mercy and for that reason I will always think they can score goals. I like them to win with the spread.

Rutgers vs. Marist

These two played a tight one last year in Marist’s first game. Rutgers went on to be one of the better teams in the country, Marist went on to a 1-6 in their next seven game record. They then went on a run and switched it and went 6-1 in their next 7 after that. Rutgers is by far the better team here but I don’t think my Comsewogue boy let them cover that 7.5 spread.

Hofstra vs. Merrimack

Maybe the worst game of the weekend? I think Merrimack wins outright. Watch this Hofstra team go out and beat Syracuse at home in a few weeks though.

Penn State vs. Lafayette

I’m still trying to figure out what the hell happened to Penn State in the last few years. The only thing that makes sense is that Covid claimed another victim and killed Penn State. Lafayette is another loveable loser at the bottom of the ranking in division 1. I think Penn State gets started on the right track and takes this one with the spread.

Maryland vs. Richmond

The defending national champs open up at home after losing idk like 100 first round draft picks? It doesn’t matter the Alabama equivalent isn’t about a rebuild there about the reload. As good as they are they did lose a ton of fire power. Richmond has proven year after year to have a top 10 defense under Coach Richards. For this reason I think Richmond covers and I love the under in this one.

Syracuse vs. Vermont

EVERYBODY seems to love Cuse in this game. Do people not remember last year? One of these teams won a playoff game last year, the other went on an 0-6 run down the stretch. I’m very excited to see 22 and 77 to play together but I’m taking the Catamounts to cover in this one.

Providence vs. Holy Cross

Coach Reppert is one of the best people you could ever hope to meet. He is also one of the best coaches in the country. Holy Cross has been horrible but I believe he is making strides. Providence also stinks but have proven to be a much better team then HC. Providence will win but HC will cover.

Denver vs. Utah

Coach T begins his last ride at home against the Utes. I think the team will be fired up all year and play better than their talent if that makes any sense. They are not the 90s tigers but I think this team will give it all and send Coach T out the right way (by playing as hard as they can). I think Denver wins this one but after the last few matchups I think it’s another close one. Utah covers.

Jacksonville vs. Hopkins

This is the game of the weekend for me. Jacksonville is on the rise after an incredible 2022 season. The Hopkins loss in their opener set them on fire and helped edge them over #2 Duke last year. The Dolphins have the Blue jays at their place this year under the lights. Give me Jacksonville all day in this one, 1.5 was way too low of a spread.

Any body looking to collect for taking my advice and losing this weekend can contact Ryan Stern. 631-655-7716

I’m back bitches. The best season is upon us and I can’t wait to tell you all my stupid thoughts that will inevitably not come true. For the 6 people that will read this blog I promise to post more consistently then last year. Enough of the small talk, let’s get down to business.

ACC

#1- Virginia

#2- Duke

#3- Notre Dame

#4- Syracuse

#5- North Carolina

Hard not to put the Hoos back on top after another great year last year. Nunes is back in goal and Petey is back again to continue to smash the UVA face off record into oblivion. With the addition of guys like Terenzi and Jones on offense and defense the Cavaliers are primed to take the conference again.

My brain was telling me to take Notre Dame at 2 and Duke at 3 but I think a kid who just made team USA will make more of a difference then 2 Kavanagh (I totally won’t regret this decision in may). Notre Dame is still awesome and led by the best Goalie in the country. With that, a few Yale transfers and the 50, and 51 ND should still have a great year where they get back to the playoffs after their year hiatus.

I do openly hate UNC but I really think them and Cuse are playing in a different league then UVA, Duke, and ND. I don’t really know much about the UNC roster turnover except for them losing the best player in the country. I don’t see how they replace him and build off of a terrible year.

After maybe the worst season in Syracuse lacrosse history I do think the baby Orange will have a better year this year. The loss of Dordevic is huge but they do gain back Owen Hiltz to partner up with Joey Spallina. I don’t know how good they will actually be but it can’t be worse than last year…. right?

America East

#1- Vermont

#2- Bryant

#3- UMBC

#4- Albany

#5- Binghamton

#6- Merrimack

#7- Umass Lowell

#8- NJIT

Hello Bryant and Merrimack, Goodbye Stony Brook. What a disgrace the America East conference board members are for what they did to Stony Brook last year. This year the conference looks much different and I think Bryant has a chance to make an immediate impact.

Vermont has taken hold of this conference the last few years and I think will continue its run this year. They are coming off a year where they captured the conference title and more importantly got a playoff win. The sideline will look a little different after losing Coach Bernhardt as he goes back home to the Terps. Coach Feifs will want to start faster than he did last year but the Catamounts should be slated for another playoff run.

I think Bryant comes in and makes an immediate impact on the conference. Bryant will be most affected by the retirement of Coach Pressler. The cupboards aren’t bare though, coach Pressler had done a great job recruiting hard nosed kids to help his team win dozens of conference games in the CAA.

UMBC is a tough team that I feel is just always around at the end of the year. They never have a great record or even make a playoff run but when it comes to conference playoffs they always seem to be there.

Albany is the biggest question mark of the entire conference. A tournament championship appearance in 2020 and a pretty subpar year last year should have them trending down but its hard to count out Coach Marr. This year will tell a lot about where this program is heading.

Binghamton has me very confused after last year. They lost a game to Umass Lowell and then beat up on Albany and UMBC. The potential is there but until they can do it consistently I don’t think the Bearcats have what it takes to make a push for the title.

Merrimack is on my very short list of teams I despise and wish nothing but bad things to happen to. The jump to D1 has not been great for them and I’m glad to see LIU has had a little bit more success than them. I don’t know if this stat is out there but it looks like they had maybe the easiest strength of schedule last year and they beat the teams I would think they should beat and lost to the teams I thought they should have lost to. They are lucky they have 2 of the worst teams in Lacrosse history in their conference because I would have loved to have buried these guys more.

Coach Kelleher takes a step back and goes from a not good Manhattan program to one of the worst in the country. He seems like a great guy and I’ll be rooting for him but this will be a tough task.

As a Post kid I think it speaks volumes that a coach that was 1 goal away from making it to the conference finals leaves and goes to literally the worst team in division 1 men’s lacrosse is INSANE. I have an idea why and I will get into it later but it’s still insane. I don’t see much changing here any time soon.

ASUN

1- Jacksonville

2- Utah

3- Bobby Mo

4- Air Force

5-Mercer

6- Bellarmine

7- Detroit Mercy

8- Cleveland State

9- Queens

10- Lindenwood

Jacksonville will come in and dominate their new conference. Utah and Bobby Mo had one of the better conference championship games last year that Bobby Mo took home in an upset. Air force will sniff around and beat some of the lesser competition but I don’t think they make the playoffs. 5-8 are all in similar boats, they can beat each other and maybe even upset one team this year but there won’t be enough consecutive wins to get them to move on. I’m excited to see the new guys compete this year. This conference has a pretty obvious top dog and two pretty good teams in Utah and Bobby Mo. Besides them I think the new guys could come in and be successful pretty early. They weren’t national power houses in the division two level like LIU and Merrimack were so I think they will take some time to be competitive but I think there could be a good future for them in this conference.

Atlantic 10

1- Saint. Joseph’s

2- Richmond

3- Umass

4- High Point

5- Hobart

6- St. Bonaventure

None of these teams have the ability to be a Maryland or Virginia but they are all solid. I think these guys will beat the shit out of each other which will make this a hell of a conference playoff. I think Saint Josephs has so much returning and a lot more to prove after an awesome 2022. Richmond will be Richmond, a really well coached team that will beat all the teams they should beat and have an upset or two. If not for Saint Josephs I think they would take the conference.

Big East

1- Georgetown

2- Denver

3- Villanova

4- Marquette

5- Providence

6- St. Johns

The mighty Big East is very top heavy again this year. I would say Georgetown runs away with the crown this year but nobody runs away with anything from Coach Tierney especially for his last ride (A Tierney love post to come later). For that reason I think Georgetown will briskly walk away with the crown like I would right before I needed my inhaler. Until coach T is gone next year Denver is never out of it but the Pios have still never been the same since their 2015 championship. Villanova is a fun team that I think has a chance to take the number 2 spot over Denver but I can’t give them to them yet until they prove it. Marquette and Providence will compete for the slaughtering spot for who has to take the ass beating from Georgetown for the second time this year. Chris Buscemi is rolling over in his grave after last year’s piss poor performance. The Turri boys will need some time to revive this program.

Big Ten

1- Maryland

2- Rutgers

3- Ohio State

4- Johns Hopkins

5- Penn State

6- Michigan

Maryland is good and everybody else gets out of the way. Maryland has basically become Alabama Football, they don’t rebuild, they reload. I don’t know anything about their roster turnover except Wisnauskas but does it even matter? Coach Tillman just says next up and boom another Tewaaraton finalist. Rutgers will be nipping at their heels again but like Roy Jones Jr. I don’t know if these guys can be stopped. I’m more interested to see if Penn State can rebound off of whatever you want to call last year. Oneonta had a decent chance to beat them in the middle of the year last year. Hopkins is ranked above them strictly because I think John Crawly is the next Bill Tierney.

CAA

1- Delaware

2- Stony Brook

3- Towson

4- Fairfield

5- Hofstra

6- Drexel

7- Monmouth

8- Hampton

Delaware, like the cheese stands alone. I love Stony Brook and I think they will do well this year but Delaware is set up for success under coach Deluca especially with some of the fire power they bring back. The rest of the conference is so boring I don’t even feel like taking the time to write about them.

Ivy League

1- Cornell

2- Princeton

3- Yale

4- Brown

5- Penn

6- Harvard

7- Dartmouth

This league is becoming the Spiderman meme with the 6 head coaches just all pointing at each other. The league is a god damn blood bath and everybody should pray for Dartmouth. I mean 6 teams from one conference getting into the playoffs is insane. How do you strategize that as a coach? Do you go for it all and make the push to be the Ivy league champ, or have an insane year and miss the conference playoff to give yourself a bye week for the actual playoffs like Princeton did. I’m not even going to pretend like I will even come close to getting this league correct but how can you not put two final four teams at the top?

MAAC

1- Marist

2- Manhattan

3- LIU

4- Mount Saint Mary’s

5- Siena

6- Quinnipiac

7- Canisius

8- Wagner

9- Sacred Heart

10- VMI

The league is the biggest group of losers imaginable in one conference. I think Marist, Manhattan, and LIU are decent enough but the rest of this league is holy smokes. Except Dartmouth any other Ivy League team could beat this league’s all star team. I still can’t believe LIU went D1. It still pisses me off. After losing their coach to NJIT, Richie LaCalandra to THE Ohio State, and Will Mark to Syracuse it is going to be tough sledding for the Sharks this year. The administration at this school has made it impossible to truly be successful there. The worst thing they could have done was go D1 in the first place. I could go off for hours about this but that’s for another day. I’m a huge fan of Coach Levine, obviously I support my former team long island brother Troy Reh and I’m the biggest fan of Coach Hays. I think him and Crawley will be the next big thing in division 1 coaching. I think he has the work ethic and brains to become the next Coach Cassese.

Patriot League

1- BU

2- Lehigh

3- Army

4- Loyola

5- Navy

6- Bucknell

7- Colgate

8- Lafayette

9-Holy Cross

This league is broken up into 3 very distinct groups, great, ok , and dog shit. BU, Lehigh, Army, and Loyola could all go out and win a playoff game without anybody blinking an eye. Navy and Bucknell are just ok ya know what I mean? Like mom’s cooking on a Thursday when it’s been a long week and she’s not putting any love into it, it’s just ok. Colgate and Lafayette might not survive the MIAA Championship down in Baltimore. I have all the love and respect in the world for coach Reppert up at HC and for that reason I will say this. Holy Cross is a very nice team. 

At the end of the day, it’s just a couple of Liberty League boys left in the race to the top
of the mountain. How two teams from the same region, let alone the same conference,
ended up on different sides of the bracket is beyond me. Who cares? The best
conference in Division Three is the only one left standing.

To sum up the history between these two teams since RIT joined The Liberty League in
2012 is simple: it’s close. In recent years the only teams in the region to give the Tigers
consistent trouble has been St. John Fisher and Union. On their way to the Tigers’ first
championship, they played 5 games within 2 goals. Union owns two of those games in
back-to-back weeks. Basically what I’m trying to say is this game should be awesome.
Union is led by a very good defense, an awesome goalie, and some strong attackmen.
The sophomore Donahue has been strong all year in between the pipes holding a 9.15
goals against average. His save percentage is just shy of 60% for the year. Belluche
and Puglisi have anchored the defense both with 24+ caused turnovers on the year.
Burnes, the Offensive player of the year in the Liberty League, is the leading scorer by a
wide margin for the Dutchmen with 84 points (59 goals and 25 assists). The biggest
problem RIT is going to have to overcome is the face off unit for Union, averaging just a
smidge under 65% on the year. They dominated Spillane and his unit last time these
guys went after it.

The best way for Union to pull out the victory and their first ever National Championship
is to dominate the possession game. On top of that, they need to be efficient on offense,
getting a good look at the cage on every single possession. If they can win faceoffs
early and not let Quinn Commandant and the Tigers offense get hot like they seem to
always do, that would be their best shot to win this game.

Fair warning, the rest of this blog will be my love letter to RIT. The Tigers have a
shocking FIFTEEN people on the roster with double digit points. The heavy hitters and
usual suspects include Pilcher (87 pts), Commandant (73 pts), Angus (68 pts), Barnable
(60 pts), Bell (44 pts), and the new kid on the block fresh off his 7 goal game against
Tufts, Gaston (47 pts). Hutchison hasn’t been quite as spectacular as his predecessors
Hare, and Nesbitt; but good enough to hold an 8 goals against average. Jensen, the
Co- Liberty League Defender of the year leads the defense with an insane 45 caused
turnovers, 76 ground balls, and 13 points on the year. He’s surrounded by a few more
All – Liberty League selections in Grace and Eistrat, along with Gagnon, Naylor, Camp,
and Commandant.

If the Tigers can match even half the pace they did to start last week’s game they
should have no problem winning this game. I really believe the classic ‘if they play their
game they’ll be fine’ motto here. The most impressive part of their victory over Tufts was
the brilliance of Spillane and Jensen mucking it up and causing absolute chaos on every
face off. If they can do that again this week, it will be a true killer to Union. Best of luck
to the boys, I can’t wait to watch.

Bell, Commandant, Barnable, Angus, Powlin, Jensen, Eistrat, Hutchison, Hollinger,
Naylor, Spillane. If this is the last ride with these guys, it’s been a hell of a run and
unbelievable to watch how this group has taken this program from runner ups to
National Champions. The 2017 team that was star studded with guys like Lee, Levick,
Salama, Killen, Tacket, Nesbitt, Hall, Nally, and Riley helped transform this team to
consistent national contenders. This senior group took the next step and made the
Tigers winners. This group has only lost FOUR, count em’, FOUR times since most of
them have stepped foot on campus back in 2018. This is just an insane number that’s
hard to even fathom. Quinn to Barnable in double overtime and the celebration that
ensued will forever live in my mind. This group gave me one of the best memories I
could ever imagine last year in getting to watch a group of 50-year-old dudes celebrate
like it was ’85 again. That group of guys included my dad and his best friends that I’ve
grown up watching and listening to talk about the good ol’ RIT. #RollTigers

BU had a historic year and the future looks bright for coach Polley. Princeton looks like they have a roster to make a final four appearance this year. One of the broadcasters during the game pointed it out and it’s so true. Princeton, even under Tierney, didnt have the dudes they have now that dominate the middle of the field. Offensively, they spin it as well as anybody and they have big nasty defenders that love to put the ball on the ground.

Saint Josephs played in one of the better games we will see this tournament against Yale. I said Yale didn’t look good coming out of their conference championship loss to Penn a week ago. The stats of this one were basically split down the middle, with the only real advantage going to SJU at the face off X. A big 3rd quarter by the Elis helped them pull away from a very tight game.

I don’t think Princeton vs Yale round two will be as close as round one was. Its crazy to think that being left out of your conference tournament would end up being a blessing for Princeton. Yale had to play 2 extra emotional games than Princeton had to. Yale looks tired and banged up and the time off seems to have Princeton rested and hungry. Princeton takes this one and moves on to its first championship weekend since 2004.

As good as SJU vs Yale was, I think Penn vs. Richmond was the game of the weekend. This game was back and forth all the way through to the end of regulation. Free lacrosse is the best lacrosse and unfortunately for Richmond, Sam Handly was just too much to handle. All eyes were on the big guy and that’s what led to that opening on the crease to the freshman who finished his night with 5 G birds and a dead fish celly to end this classic.

Harvard hung tough in the first half only being down two. The Second half you could see the experience of a much older Rutgers team take over. I could go on another rant about how this should have been Notre Dame but I’ve done that enough. Coach Byrne has a full cupboard of talent coming back next year for the Crimson. As I’ve said before, I think Coach Byrne is primed to do something that hasn’t ever really happened at Harvard, build a consistent winner to compete in the Ivy.

Rutgers will move on to play Penn in beautiful Hempstead, New York. I think the experience again will be too much for Penn to overcome. Yes, Sam Handly might be the most frightening player in the country right now but I think Colin Kirst and the Scarlet Knights defense will have an answer.

Tied at 7-7 going into the second half, I really thought “maybe Bruno can do this, maybe the crowd is really keeping them in it”. We have all been there, when you start drinking too early the brain starts to fall apart and the body can’t keep its composure. The Bruno faithful just didn’t have it in them to stick it to olé Lars for 4 quarters. The second half things fell apart pretty quickly and Connor Shellenberger showed why he’s one of the five remaining finalists for the Tewaaraton. The Hoos showed everybody again why they are back to back defending champs. The rematch of last year’s championship might just be the game of the year and decide who takes home the hardware on memorial day.

I wish Ryan Cornell had another year of eligibility. I absolutely love this kid. If not for him, this game would have been over much earlier than it was. Vermont showed some flashes early in this game with some nice caused turnovers against Wisnauskas and Khan. The Catamounts just couldn’t keep the ship afloat with their offense barely being able to draw a slide and getting beat down at the face off X.

It’s unfortunate that the probable game of the year and game that will decide who wins this year’s championship will take place in the quarterfinals. The names say it all in this one, Wisnauskas, Shellenberger, Moore, Fairman, Donville, Dickson, Saustad, Puglise, Demaio, Matsui, Lasalla, Khan, Long, Cormier, Nunes, Makar, Wierman, and shout out to the kid Garrett Gibbons. I am picking Maryland because, as I’ve said, they are on a mission this year and everybody else is just fighting for second place.

Did the rain delay save the Big Red? I think ultimately they would have been able to pull out the win but it definitely helped them pull away earlier than expected. Coach Stevens used his time wisely during the break to make huge adjustments that shut down the Buckeyes the rest of the game. Can the rookie head coach keep the Big Red moving forward to their first final four since he was a sophomore?

Should we be surprised a Ben Deluca coached team won a game in the NCAA tournament? Yes and no. If you look back a few weeks ago, Delaware was one loss away from seeing it’s conference playoff hopes disappear. They go on a 3-0 run to end the year and find their way as the number one seed in their conference tournament. They go ahead and win 3 more games and see themselves matched up with Georgetown. At this point, you can see why Delaware was playing with confidence. Georgetown on the other hand, had some reason of their own to feel good about themselves. Unfortunately for them, they ran into a coach that had been there and done that. The play of the game for Georgetown has to be that pass they threw away right after a time out. This game gave the Blue Hens the opportunity to draw up one more play and boom, we have an upset. What a year for Georgetown. I can’t wait to see how they bounce back next year.

I originally had picked Cornell to play Georgetown with Georgetown moving on to the final four. Do I dare pick the Hens to beat the Big Red too? I won’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see another upset. Cornell will be able to dive into this film all week and Coach Buczek can preach about how these guys can beat anybody. How many times will we hear that Ben Deluca was both Connor Buczek and Jordan Stevens old college coach? Probably about as many times as goals that will be scored. I have the Big Red taking this game and getting back to championship weekend.

We truly have gotten down to the best 8 teams in the country advancing to the Elite Eight. This weekend is going to be absolutely insane and may be the best weekend of Lacrosse I’ve ever seen. The names say it all: RIT, Salisbury, Tufts, York, Gettysburg, Union, Christopher Newport, Bowdoin. Thirteen of the last twenty national champions are playing in this Elite Eight. I’m the biggest Tiger fan there is, but I really don’t know which of these games I’m most excited to watch.

Union will take on Gettysburg down in Virginia at 3. Union looked shaky against John Carroll in the first half of round two, but besides that, have been lights out all year. Their only other losses come from playoff teams in RIT and St. Lawrence. Gettysburg has had an up and down year with seven losses on the year. Yes, they lost seven games, but they only have one “bad loss” to Swarthmore. The other losses were to Dickinson twice, Salisbury, CNU, Amherst, and York. Gettysburg has definitely been challenged all year, but they have proven more times than not that they aren’t up to those challenges. For that reason, I have Union moving on to Sunday for the Final Four.

Christopher Newport will take on York in what in any other year would be the game of the weekend. Not this year. Regardless, it will be an unreal game that I can really see going either way. York’s only losses on the year come from #1 and #2 in the country in back-to-back games. Christopher Newport only has one loss to Salisbury that the Gulls later avenged in the conference championship. York has been so close to breaking through and making it to championship weekend. Is this the year? Christopher Newport has just been so dominant; I don’t know if York is either athletic or skilled enough to pull it off. CNU hasn’t been in a close game since February. There’s a chance that works against them in this one. As bad as I want to smash the button and have York take down the big bad wolf, I don’t see it happening. CNU moves on.

How lucky are we that we get to see a national championship matchup in the Elite Eight? Salisbury has met Tufts in the championship game four times. Most recently in 2016 with the Gulls pulling out the win. Salisbury has been beaten in their first two rounds of the playoffs, where Tufts has hardly been challenged. As much as I hate them, it’s hard not to pick the twelve-time National Champions. At the end of the day, I hope these two teams beat the shit out of each other and only the scraps remain for the Final Four game the next day. Salisbury wins by 1.

RIT gets to host for the second straight weekend as they take on Bowdoin. Bowdoin has had a great year, but do they have enough to take down the defending champs? Having to travel and play early will be a challenge that will have to be overcome if they hope to have a shot. They also just came off a very emotional win against St. Lawrence. RIT has had the luxury to mix and match their line-up in the second quarter for both of their games last weekend. I have brought it up fairly often because I think it’s extremely important. The teams that have the most legs going into this weekend (especially Sunday), will have the best chance to make it to the championship. If RIT can play the way they are capable of while also winning faceoffs, they should be just fine in this one. For them to have the best chance to make the finals, they will need to do everything they can to match they did to MIT in the first quarter. #RollTigers

I went thirteen for sixteen on my picks for Saturdays slate of games. The most surprising game of the day for me has to be Lynchburg’s loss to WNE. The team I’m most worried about is SLU after they barley escaped an average Cortland team. The team I’m most impressed by has to be CNU. This was the first time I’ve gotten to watch them and even though  they played a middle school team they pop off the screen with their athleticism.

I don’t know which stat I’m more impressed with, Shooting almost 50% when scoring 29 times, 29 face off wins, or 56 ground balls. This was a total shit kicking and very impressive to watch. They move on to play Wesleyan, who took down RPI. Wesleyan jumped on the Engineers early and never let them back in. The stats were basically even in every category but the Cardinals just took advantage of there opportunities in the first half. I picked RPI to move on to play CNU in the third round but that doesn’t effect my decision of CNU still moving on to next weekend. Wesleyan is a good team but similar to Maryland in the division one bracket, CNU is on a mission this year and I don’t know if anybody can stop them.

York started slow and let Southern Virginia hang for a bit but once they turned on the jets, it was over. The stats were basically doubled in York’s favor for this one; which makes sense when looking at the final score. They moved on to play Denison who played in maybe the game of the tournament vs Grove City. This was an epic game which came down to the final minutes and ultimately, GC not being able to capitalize on their last possession to tie it up. York’s coaching staff came up with a master piece of a game plan and shut down Denison by only giving up one goal in the first 3 quarters. I’m basically a genius, and also called this game having York move on. We will have to wait until Sunday’s slate is complete to see who York will play next.

Dickinson took on Stevens Tech in a game that wasn’t very close. The stats weren’t really as lopsided as you would think in a game where a team wins by 14, but Dickinson did it. Gettysburg edged out Roanoke by taking a big first half lead and not letting Maroons back in. Again, not to brag but I also called this matchup. I think the Red Devils improve to 20-0 and move onto next weekend.

Public service announcement for Sean McCusker and the WNE faithful, please skip this paragraph. The game I’m really surprised about has to be the Lynchburg loss to WNE. Coach Koudelka could have used #13 out there slanging that thing around for the Hornets today. I mean no disrespect to WNE, they have had an excellent year, but Lynchburg is a playoff veteran team and shouldn’t be dropping games like this in the second round. John Carroll fought really hard and from what I was watching never let Union get comfortable in the game. Even though Union won, this might factor into the Sunday match up with all the extra effort they had to put in to win this game. WNE has just shown they are not afraid to play anybody and I’m very interested to see how this one plays out. I had Union moving on in my original bracket against Lynchburg and I will stick with that against WNE.

Faceoff wins and ground balls ended up being the big difference in St. John Fischer taking down Catholic. SJF triples Catholic up on face offs and the extra 9 ground balls picked up lead to the extra possessions that kept Catholic from being able to keep this one closer. Tufts putting up 33 points in a playoff game is absolutely insane. Did they possibly over exert themselves for there matchup with Fischer? Only time will tell but this will be must watch lacrosse. Not many times you get number four take on six team in the country in the third round of the playoffs. Before the year started and you told me these two were playing I would have thought it would be for the National Championship. Make sure to have your popcorn ready and pee before the game starts because you wont want to miss a second of this one. The face off factor might be just to much to over come here so I will be picking SJF to move on to next weekend.

Cabrini dominated the stat chart in their game against W&L. The Cavs end up winning by 6 and now move on to play familiar foe, Salisbury. Shout out to Stockton, they went punch for punch against the most dominant lacrosse program division 3 has ever seen (maybe besides Hobart in the 80s). Salisbury was put in a position to have to play there starters all game because after a Seagull score the Osprey would fire one right back. As a Tiger fan I loved every second of it because I know how much effort they had to use to win this game. This might not effect them this weekend but as they move on to next weekend the heavy legs could be a big factor. I have Salisbury beating Cabrini so we will see if my tiny brain is right and the legs become a factor.

Bowdoin never really struggled at any point in there win against Colorado College. Saint Lawrence on the other hand had to fight with everything they had to take down Cortland. I do see this being a huge factor going into Sundays matchup against Bowdoin. I think Bowdoin moves on easily to next weekend.

my last wrong pick of the weekend was Amherst vs MIT. I thought Amherst’s experience playing deep in the playoffs would have been the x factor in them taking down undefeated MIT. Those geniuses over at MIT really stuck it to the kid who took 6 years to graduate college. Regardless of who won this matchup, I still have RIT taking them down in Sunday’s matchup anyway. Coach Coons approach to Saturdays game was genius in my eyes. Starting in the second quarter he cleared his bench and mixed and matched starters with new guys. The entire team got to play a part in there win over Albion. I was talking to my inside source at RIT about how they could have played the starters and won that game 30-3 but instead they get everybody involved and win 23-6, what a day to be a tiger. I believe the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers will win and advance to next weekend. #RollTigers

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

The committee can suck a whole bag of dicks. Donna and the entire committee took two potential final four level teams and told them “too bad, we’re taking the 6th worst team from another conference and putting them in over you.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the Ivy and love what they did after sitting out for  two full seasons. My problem is there has to be some sort of eye test/life test when it comes to putting in some of these bubble teams. Coach Danowski and Coach Corrigan have been two of the best coaches in the game of lacrosse since Vietnam. Most of this argument is focused towards Notre Dame, but them and Duke are seriously two of the better teams in the country right now. Duke literally always has bad loses and look where that gets them… the fucking final four. Every. God. Damn. Year. Notre Dame started off slow but had ZERO BAD LOSSES. The Irish lost to Maryland, ever heard of em? By the way, this was the closest game Maryland had all season by a country mile. They also have a loss to Georgetown are they any good this year? The other losses are Virginia, have they done anything but win back to back titles? Lastly another very deserving playoffs team in THE Ohio State. Harvard has had a good year and I think Coach Byrne will do something that even Coach Tillman couldn’t do, and that’s turn Harvard into a consistent winner. With that being said, are they good enough to be the 6th worst team in a conference and make it in over ND or Duke? If you think so you’re a booger eating moron. Look at it this way, do you think Harvard is taking down Rutgers? I would feel a hell of a lot better going up against the Crimson than Brennan O’Neill and his big swinging dick or the Kavanagh chaos.

I’ve made my bracket and I have the Terps bringing home the hardware (shocker). I’ve said it all year, its a race for  second place this year, the Terps are just to good. Ill go game by game for the first round and update weekly according to who loses. If I’m wrong please feel free to publicly humiliate me and quote tweet the blog all the way “down Charles Street” – Eamon McAnaney.

This pains me to write again but I’ve also been a huge jinx for the Jaspers so maybe me saying they’re going to lose to Vermont will actually help get them the dub. The jaspers are going to need the luck of the green to keep flowing if they are going to over come in my mind a pretty good Vermont team. For those of you that actually read this, you know I have a small brain and that really affects my judgement. Ryan Cornell’s great game against Duke back in February is still stuck in my head and I think he will be the deciding factor for this one. Vermont will then move on to play Maryland and you guys know how this story ends.. kinda like the Red Wedding.

Lars Tiffany takes on his former team and the battle of what might actually kill Larken Kemp. Kempin aint easy and neither will this be on Bruno. Lars comes into town and Virginia should get back to doing what Virginia does. People questioned if 3 weeks was too long to have off for Virginia last year on there way to their second straight championship. After a 17 day hiatus, I think the rest will be another great rejuvenation for the Hoos.

The Ivy train rolls on as Princeton takes on BU. Princeton has had a strong year which included a win over the Terriers and I think the Tigers will make it a 2-0 record on the year after this one.

The NEC Champs come to New Haven and might want to make a stop at Toads on the way home after the loss. Yale didn’t look great in the Ivy championship but St. Joes just doesn’t have what it takes to compete with the bull dogs. This could be a big “get right” game for Andy Shay’s boys that could lead to another final four appearance.

Richmond and Penn could be the best game of the weekend. Paul Richards defense takes on the Freak that is Sam Handly. Penn was lights out offensively but in the clearing game looked like a middle school team. If Richmond can capitalize on those, turn overs I think they can make it close but ultimately I think Penn moves on.

You know my thoughts on Harvard so I wont waste to much time on this one. Rutgers beats Harvard. Somebody needs to right a hand written apology to both Pat and Chris Kavanagh and maybe Nick Ossello.

Cornell takes on THE Ohio State up in Ithaca which should be an interesting match up. I really like what Coach Meyers and Coach Buczek have been able to do this year. I really haven’t seen much of Ohio State this year except when they dismantled those scum bag Tar Heels. Cornell can beat you all types of ways so for that reason I will be picking the Big Red to move on.