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Making Sense: Shhhh, Don’t Jinx It

by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter

Stu Van Ess and St. John's are one of the teams in the hunt for the MCLA Division II national championships, giving the association's junior circuit a tournament candidate pool as deep and talented as the Division I version of the league. Van Ess also picked up a "Game Ball" this weekend.

I almost hate to bring it up, fearful of throwing a jinx on all that has been accomplished so far this year, but it’s got to be said.

The teams in MCLA’s Division II are currently making the Executive Board look very smart for expanding its field this spring in Denver.

As I watched Saturday's game between No. 8 St. John’s (Minn.) and No. 12 Western Washington wrap up with the Johnnies taking a narrow, 8-6 victory, it became clear that there were not only well over 10 teams who have legitimate designs on playing in the national championship game on May 15, but they were also coming from all over the country.

Teams from Michigan (Davenport, Grand Valley State), Utah (Westminster, Utah Valley), California (UC Santa Cruz, Cal State Fullerton), Ohio (Dayton), Washington (Western Washington), Georgia (Emory), Oregon (Western Oregon), Minnesota (St. Thomas, St. John’s), North Carolina (Elon), Tennessee (Tenn. Wesleyan), Pennsylvania (Grove City) and Colorado (Northern Colorado) are all thinking about Denver.

That's 16 different teams from 10 various states.

It’s a daunting fact for a lot of these teams, but at least four listed above are going to be sitting home after the seeds get announced. That’s unfortunate for those squads that might slip through the cracks despite putting together worthy seasons, but it is fantastic news for MCLA’s junior division.

While they had hoped for the best, it was always in the backs of everyone’s minds that the bottom of the newly expanded, 16-team field would be filled out with dead weight – teams that had no conceivable chance of advancing past Tuesday. Now, with the exception of two or three weaker automatic qualifying contests sending their representatives, the tournament is going to be stacked.

I drove the two hours to Faribault, Minn., home of Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school, which owns a lacrosse-lined bubble, in hopes that I would be able to notice a wide talent-gap between St. John’s and Western Washington. That way flushing out the contenders and pretenders for Denver would be easy.

It looked like that was going to be the situation after St. John’s raced out to a 6-1 lead at halftime, but the Vikings made some changes and responded in the second half. The Vikings threatened to cut the lead to one goal on several occasions before bowing, 8-6.

As I left the facililty, it was clear that while the Johnnies were the better team that day, they were not operating on another plane. If the two squads played again – which I hope they do – Western had the potential to beat St. John's if they executed for 60 minutes.

I asked Derek Daehn, St. John’s head coach, what he thought about his game turning into a competitive affair, combined with No. 9 Grand Valley State knocking off No. 2 Dayton earlier in the day.

“Hopefully, now that we have everyone beating everybody it will make nationals even that much better,” said Daehn. “It’s never good when you have four top teams and there is that much gap between the rest. It’s good that everyone is beating everybody and it will make each game important, especially with us playing Grand Valley State next weekend.”

In addition, the Vikings, located in Bellingham, Wash., can head back to the Pacific Northwest with the knowledge they are not competitive outliers.

“We needed to get out here and compete against St. John’s and St. Thomas so we can get a feel for what Denver will be like,” said Adam Extine, Western Washington’s captain. “I think we definitely showed we can compete.”

For all the NCAA types, and probably for the D1-centric MCLA people, the depth of the MCLA Division II candidate pool appears inconsequential. I would argue that it is a watershed moment for the collegiate game.

Why?

Because it’s a huge step forward in further shedding the perception that the MCLA is a couple of well run programs surrounded by a bunch of Gong Shows. The association is on the cusp of reaching its goal of forming a stand-alone division that provides quality lacrosse to schools with different philosophies than the large schools. It's a massive developmental milestone that can should be recognized by everyone and, if I may get a little preachy, appreciated.

Instead of Division I trying to distance itself from the junior circuit, its members can be proud of the competitive balance and high quality of the entire MCLA product. They should embrace it.

I write all this knowing that this is a precarious situation. For all of the strides it has made this year competitively, the specter of a D-II organizational snafu – underfunding, eligibility sanctions, injuries – as the tournament draws near is always hovering about. The sudden forfeiture of a season by one or more teams is certainly well within the realm of reason, but even that is less spooky with the large group of teams ready to fill in the void.

So I’ll issue the MCLA Division II mid-season congratulations for what it has accomplished so far and never speak of the matter again until Denver.

Montclair State’s Missing Link
Nearly all the pieces were back for Montclair State to not only control the Skyline Conference, from which the Redhawks earned a bid to the NCAA tournament, but also be a dangerous regular season opponent for some very good programs. The only missing piece was Thomas Bowers, Montclair’s All-American goalie, who graduated last spring.

Or so the Redhawks’ staff thought.

Senior Anthony Rosado, who had labored in Bowers' shadow for his entire career, has proven that he could pick up right where his predecessor left off. He showed it this past week when Rosado led Montclair to victories over No. 16 Wesleyan and No. 15 Stevens.

“For three years he had to sit behind Tommy. He really played sparingly, but he gained a lot of experience in practice playing against our guys, day in and day out,” said Montclair coach John Greco. “He’s a hungry kid; I hope he’s not satisfied yet.”

So far this season, Rosado has posted a 7.56 goals against average and a 56.9 save percentage for the 3-3 Redhawks.

You can tell that his coach is not only appreciative of how Rosado has answered a big question for the program, but how he dealt with the situation in his first three years.

“I’m proud of him,” said Greco. “He kind of understood all along, but it never changed how hard he worked or how hard he supported Tom when he was the back-up. He just came in every day with the same attitude: I’m here and I’m ready if you need me. He did a lot of extra work over the summer and in the fall it didn’t take me long to realize he was going to be the guy in between the pipes this year.”

Game Balls
Peter Johnson, Goalie, Trinity
With the Bantams clinging to a one-goal lead heading into the four quarter at Bowdoin, Johnson made the advantage hold up. The sophomore made six of his 10 saves in the final frame, allowing the Bantams to capture the 10-8 triumph.

David Kraus, Attack, Ursinus
In a game where goals were at a premium, Kruas scored half of the Bears’ markers in the 8-7 Ursinus victory. The fourth of the sophomore’s goals was the eventual game-winner, which improved the Bears to 6-0.

Spencer Kraus, Middie, Stevenson
The Mustangs established themselves as a tournament worthy-squad with their 18-13 upset of No. 7 Catholic and Kraus was a big reason. The sophomore scored three goals and set up three others in what should lead to a national ranking this week.

Dan MacRae, LSM, RIT
The Tigers held Geneseo to just 15 for 30 on their clearing attempts in Sunday’s 16-9 upset, and MacRae, a senior captain, played a big role. And it wasn’t just on the ride. Thanks to MacRae and company, the Blue Knights could not generate any consistent offense, settling for just 13 shots on goal for the entire game.

Brittney Murphy, Attack, Colby-Sawyer
The Chargers gutted out a win over Commonwealth Coast Conference rival Salve Regina, 15-14, and the sophomore factored in on two-thirds of Colby-Sawyer’s goals. She scored six goals, including the eventual game-winner with 1:55 remaining in the contest, and set up three others.

Stu Van Ess, Goalie, St. John’s (Minn.)
He didn’t get much action, but when the Johnnies needed him, he came up large. With Western Washington creeping to within two goals in the fourth quarter, Van Ess made six stops in the period alone (10 on the day) to allow St. John’s to pick up the 8-6 win. “He’s the backbone of our defense,” said St. John’s coach Derek Daehn. “When we win, it’s because of him.”

Kim Cudmore, Attack, Salisbury
The much anticipated national title rematch between No. 2 Salisbury and No. 1 Franklin & Marshall fizzled, much of it do to the play of the senior. Cudmore scored a pair of goals and set up four others, allowing the Sea Gulls to coast home for a comfortable, 16-11 win over the defending national champions. Cudmore had two goals and two helpers in the first 13 minutes, allowing Salisbury to build a 6-2 lead it would never lose.

Games on Tap
W: No. 6 Colby (4-0) at No. 8 Stevens (4-0), 4 p.m., Monday
It took about a month, but the ladies are finally digging into the meat of their collective schedule and this game might be the best contest in any division this week. The White Mules, in typical NESCAC fashion, are just ramping up while Stevens has been cooking along and has already posted important wins over Union and Bowdoin. If the Ducks can bounce Colby, they’ll be pretty much assured of what they craved last year – an NCAA bid.

No. 7 Oregon (6-1) at No. 9 Michigan State (3-1), 7 p.m., Monday
The Ducks gave Michigan a scare down in Texas, losing in overtime, but Oregon can't rest on that performance. For the sake of their conference, the Ducks need to dispatch Sparty.

No. 23 Utah (5-1) at No. 10 Colorado (2-1), 7 p.m. MT, Monday
We’ll be able to get a better feel for what the Buffs are all about after the Utes take a crack at them. Despite the rebound win over Simon Fraser (which looks less impressive), the loss to UNH leaves me with lingering questions despite the Wildcats' absurdly high rank. If Colorado can slam the door on Utah with purpose, I’ll feel better about their schedule starting next week when they play, in order, No. 2 Chapman, No. 3 Colorado State, No. 1 Michigan and No. 6 Duluth.

No. 5 Middlebury (3-0) at No. 11 Washington & Lee (7-1), 7 p.m., Tuesday (at Georgetown)
The first of two unofficial ODAC-NESCAC Challenge games commences in D.C., with a pair of teams that need a big win. None of Middlebury’s three wins jumps off the page, especially now that we know Wesleyan is not where people thought they’d be. No one is questioning W&L’s defense – it has only allowed more than five goals once, and that was a 7-5 loss the F&M – but the setback to the Dips highlighted the underwhelming nature of the Generals offense. Don’t underestimate the importance of these non-regional games; they tend to pop up in May when the committee is determining the last couple of at-large spots.

No. 9 Tufts (3-0) vs. Skidmore (4-1), 7 p.m., Tuesday (at Hofstra)
The first of two unofficial Liberty-NESCAC Challenge games. With St. Lawrence’s opening day win over Haverford looking less daunting, Skidmore is one of the Liberty team eyeballing the conference AQ. A win over the Jumbos and the Thoroughbreds keep themselves in the Pool C hunt, if necessary. They don’t have the accompanying ranking, but Skidmore is an experienced team that could cause some problems, especially defensively, for the Jumbos.

Colby (2-2) at Union (4-1), 4 p.m., Tuesday (at Stony Brook)
I’m trying to figure out how good both of these teams are. This game will help.

W: No. 11 Middlebury (1-1) at No. 3 Gettysburg (7-0), 4:30 p.m., Tuesday
It’s kind of weird to contemplate, but Middlebury could be the fourth-best team in the NESCAC this spring. However, if the Panthers can subdue Gettysburg that fourth spot will likely be good for a tourney bid. We still have a lot to learn about this Bullets squad. Undoubtedly talented, but the result against Catholic still lingers with me.

No. 1 Gettysburg (8-0) at No. 10 Dickinson (8-0), 4 p.m., Wednesday
You’d have to think this is the last challenge to Gettysburg’s claim to Centennial tournament hosting privileges. The Red Devils’ win over Roanoke didn’t do them any favors in this tilt because there’s no chance that Gettysburg is going to casually prepare for it. Dickinson has caught everybody’s attention. Still, Dave Webster’s defense appears to be good enough to confound Kyle McGrath and the Bullet offense.

No. 13 Nazareth (4-1) at No. 4 Cortland (3-2), 3:30 p.m., Wednesday
It’s always nice to have your confidence running high when you play the Red Dragons and Naz certainly has to be feeling unbeatable after easily handling Bowdoin and WNEC down in Dallas. Both of these teams are odds-on favorites to win their respective conferences, so it’s tough to envision the Pool C scenarios now, but the result could impact seeding. Keep your eye on how many face-offs Cortland’s Chris DeLuca takes. He’s currently operating at an 80 percent clip (20-for-25), but has only taken a quarter of the draws (25 out of 103). With the Flyers operating below even (43 percent) as a team, this could be a huge advantage for the Dragons.

Williams (2-0) at No. 8 Roanoke (7-1), 7 p.m., Wednesday
Last year Williams stumbled out of the gate to a 1-3 record, but still went down to Salem and took the highly-ranked Maroons to overtime before finally bowing, 17-16. This year, the Ephs will probably be 3-0 entering the game while the shine has already come off ‘Noke. The one thing going for the home team is Williams will be playing the day before against Randolph-Macon while the Maroons will be well rested. Roanoke looked awfully good in the second half against Hampden-Sydney.

W: Elizabethtown (3-3) at Messiah (3-2), 4 p.m., Wednesday
This game might appear obscure at first glance, but I think fans who attend this one will get a preview of the MAC championship contest. In addition, the winner has the inside track on playing at home in the MAC tourney all the way until the title game on May 8.

W: No. 13 Tufts (1-2) vs. Buffalo State (2-0), 12:30 p.m., Wednesday (at RPI)
W: Buffalo State (2-0) vs. No. 11 Middlebury (1-1), 12:30 p.m., Friday (at RPI)
The Bengals cap off their three games in five days tour (they play Ithaca on Monday) by facing two of best teams in the NESCAC. Like Stevens, these are the games Buffalo needed to get if they were going to earn a crack at an at-large. Since Cortland looks to be the real deal so far, this was an excellent plan. Just playing the games is important, but a split would be an outstanding result.

No. 14 UCSB (5-3) at No. 4 Arizona State (5-2), 5 p.m., Thursday
After a 1-3 start, the Gauchos are starting to creep up the polls with a four-game winning streak. If they can travel to the desert and pull off the midweek shocker, they’ll likely finish with a 10-4 record and a punched ticket to Denver.

W: No. 15 Union (1-2) at No. 2 Salisbury (9-0), 4 p.m., Friday
The Dutchwomen’s magical misery non-conference tour continues against the soon-to-be No. 1 team in the land. It was about this time last year when a decent Colby team traveled down to the Eastern Shore and bounced the Gulls on their own field, so you know Jim Nestor will remind his squad about that this week. Union will play W&L on Tuesday, which could present problems. If the Dutchwomen are already looking ahead to Salisbury, they could find themselves at the bottom of a 1-4 hole.

The Power Fives
Men's Division III
1. Gettysburg (8-0) – Dickinson on Wednesday; Salisbury on Saturday.
2. Stevenson (7-0) – Roanoke is looming this weekend.
3. Salisbury (8-0) – Eastern Connecticut is not that bad. Really.
4. Dickinson (8-0) – Close shave against Swat; Gettysburg awaits this week.
5. Denison (4-0) – Middlebury could grab this spot with a win over W&L.

Women's Division III
1. Salisbury (9-0) – Grab a seat, Gulls. You might be here for a while.
2. Gettysburg (7-0) – A win over Middlebury would answer some questions.
3. Colby (4-0) – Big mover this week, but White Mules have beat Williams & Tufts already
4. TCNJ (4-0) – The 6-4 win over Drew absolutely causes some concern about the Lions.
5. Hamilton (3-0) – Big game against Cortland State on Tuesday.

MCLA Division I
1. Michigan (6-0) – Wolverines walking a razor’s edge against top teams.
2. Chapman (8-0) – Only one or two more tough games on the schedule.
3. Colorado State (8-0) – Lull in the schedule now before things ratchet up again.
4. Minnesota-Duluth (5-1) – The Bulldogs stifled Cal; Big Blue up next.
5. Michigan State (3-1) – Oregon will slip in here if they beat Sparty on Monday.

MCLA Division II
1. St. Thomas (2-0) – Western Washington and GVSU provide tests this week.
2. Grand Valley State (2-0) – It’s a big jump, but the Lakers play St. Thomas & St. John’s this week.
3. Dayton (4-1) – It’s a cake-walk until April 17 and the Grove City game.
4. Davenport (7-1) – April 15 Grand Valley game is only remaining contest of note.
5. Westminster (5-3) – Can’t penalize the Griffins for losing to a Top 25 D-I team.

Slides & Rides
MD3 Notes
- Was Geneseo’s loss to RIT on Sunday “just one of those games” that you can chuck out the window or is it a harbinger of future troubles for the Blue Knights? The only reason I fear the latter is because this wasn’t a flukey, running-into-a-hot-goalie type of loss. The Tigers dominated the Knights in nearly every category. The most bizarre stat? Geneseo had successful clears on only 15 of their 30 chances. This loss means Genny will be very nervous again on Selection Sunday if they don’t have the AQ in hand. On the flip side, this is the fourth-straight win for RIT, so the light may have come on for the players regarding new coach Jake Coon.

- John Greco, the Montclair State chalks up the wins over Wesleyan and Stevens as being the result of his kids finally fully buying into his 'system.' He said the Redhawks played very well in a 9-6 loss to Dickinson and it finally kicked in over the last two games. “We felt like we right there and we were close,” said Greco. “This was week was satisfying for us.”

- As it turned out, all three of the teams I profiled in Weekend Watch piece about teams rebounding from weak starts lost on Saturday. Lynchburg put up a great fight against No. 2 Stevenson in 12-9 setback, Franklin & Marshall was edged, 8-7, by Ursinus, and Hampden-Sydney fell apart against No. 8 Roanoke, losing, 22-10.

I thought Sydney had a chance to do something special early on as they led, 3-2 at the end of one and it was tied at six apiece at halftime. HSC coach Ray Rostan said he was worried about Roanoke’s potential to turn a game into “make it, take it” and that’s what happened at the beginning of the second half. Over a span of 4:33 early in the third quarter, Roanoke scored six unanswered goals to take a 12-6 lead with 7:27 left in the third. The Tigers cut the margin to 13-10 five seconds into the fourth, but the Maroons ended the game on a 9-0 skein.

- Keep an eye on the Thomas brothers out of the University of New England. Dylan, a sophomore, and Tyler, a frosh, are a potent 1-2 punch for the Nor’Easters, with Thomas the Younger leading the team in scoring with 17 goals and 13 assists (5.0 ppg) and his elder sibling in second with 16 goals and 13 assists. UNE is 4-2, and may not be contenders in the Commonwealth Coast this year, but with the maturation of the Thomases, coach John Hunt has a foundation for the next two years.

- I wasn’t shocked that Denison won. While I picked against them this week because I thought the Big Red had some indicators going against them, they were always a good team. What did surprise me was the efficiency of both their ride and the defense, especially since I thought it was their offense that would lead them. Denison held Haverford – a team that has gone against some pretty decent riding squads – to 15-for-26 on its clear attempts and the Black Squirrels didn’t get on the board until the 8:27 mark of the third quarter. The Big Red probably could have saved themselves the angst of a near-comeback if they took care of their EMO chances; they finished 1-for-8.

- Medaille and Alfred played a gem, with Medaille winning it in triple overtime, 9-8. It was the second-consecutive overtime loss Alfred by the identical score…if you asked me at the beginning of the season whether Clarkson would be 16 goals worse than Cortland, I would have said no…the Landmark starts its conference play on Saturday and, at this point I’d have to say that despite Drew’s win over St. Lawrence, Goucher is looking like the team to beat…even though Babson is only 3-3, they are much better under Brendan Gorman than they were last year…Cabrini just takes care of business, but they weren’t able to get a signature win this season…Conn. College beat Amherst for the first since 2001…the one goal win over Swarthmore wasn’t pretty, but No. 10 Dickinson has won eight straight…Colby is going to be a team no NESCAC team with NCAA hopes want to see in the league tournament…Congrats to Gettysburg’s Kyle McGrath, who hit the 100-point mark in the rout of Muhlenberg…Hamilton could go into the Liberty schedule with a 6-0 record, but the Continentals won’t exactly be battle-tested…I thought St. John Fisher could have some trouble with Oneonta. Nope. Cardinals rolled, 17-8, to improve to 6-0.

WD3 Notes
- What should we take away from No. 2 Salisbury’s comfortable win over No. 1 Franklin & Marshall, 16-11? Well, obviously, the Gulls are the best team in the country right now. However, they have also played more games than most other teams, so they just might be a little bit further along in the maturation process. The northern contenders are just rounding into shape – some have only played two games – so we shouldn’t crown the Gulls quite yet. The only team that appears to have the potential to knock Salisbury off the top spot without the Gulls losing is Gettysburg, but they’d have to beat both Middlebury and TCNJ in the coming weeks to pull of that trick.

- It looks like it’s not just the Stevenson men who are grabbing all of the headlines. On the strength of the Mustangs’ win over No. 7 Catholic, the Stevenson women are now 7-2 with a very important game coming up this Saturday against Mary Washington. What makes Stevenson so dangerous? The win over the Cardinals demonstrated that with six different players recording hat tricks in the 18-13 triumph. That kind of balance always comes in handy in May. If Stevenson can down Mary Washington, a strong finish could get them into the tournament as an at-large (Salisbury is obviously a near lock for the Capital AQ).

- I’d look for Cortland to move up a couple of spots this week after an impressive opening week. The Red Dragons beat No. 17 Washington & Lee on Wednesday, 13-8, before beating Roanoke, 18-12 on Friday. Sophomore Kelly Radigan has been playing terrific so far for the Dragons with seven goals and five assists in the two contests. If Cortland can pull the upset on Tuesday by beating No. 4 Hamilton, then they should be Top 5 next week.

Congrats to Colby’s Amy Campbell for becoming the 11^th player in school history to eclipse the 100-goals mark in a career during the win over Tufts…ditto for junior Michelle Adams of Alfred, who also hit the 100-goal plateau in the Saxons win over Maritime…I was going to make note of Swarthmore’s undefeated 3-0 start to the season. You can ignore that after the Garnet got housed by WAC, 17-5…Drew is a tough team to figure out. The Rangers somehow lose to Vassar and then turn around and stay close to TCNJ in a 6-4 loss…Clarkson has matched its win total from the 2009 season with its 4-0 start this spring…a very boring weekend for the Adrian ladies. Two 21-1 victories will do that to you…Trinity might be the real deal. We’ll find out when they travel to Colby on Saturday.

MCLA Notes
- Should the 5-4 overtime loss for Oregon against Michigan be celebrated as a "near-win"? Is the rest of the association catching up to the biggest bully on the block? Is a Wolverines loss inevitable in the coming weeks now? I suppose one could answer yes to all of those questions, but don’t forget that Michigan still hasn’t lost. Yes, they’ve had two close shaves that might have provided a couple of moral victories, but is that what the rest of the MCLA has been reduced to? A loss is a loss, no matter how close the score, and Michigan still hasn’t had one in 46 games. As for Oregon, this can be a stepping stone only if they beat Michigan State on Monday. A loss to Sparty and all of the good vibes are out the window and the PNCLL would be teetering on the brink of irrelevance this spring.

- As the third quarter was just starting in the St. John’s-Western Washington game, the defending MCLA D-II champion St. Thomas team shuffled into the Shattuck-St. Mary's dome for their game against Oakland (W, 19-4) later in the evening. I had a chance to speak with Derek Michalski, the Tommies All-American defender. He was telling me UST added a bunch of talent in the midfield and attack units and there is serious competition for playing time. I had a brief word with Pete Moosbrugger, who was intently watching Western Washington in preparation for Monday’s game, and asked if everyone was healthy. “We’re healthy,” he confirmed. “We should be; we’ve only played one game.”

- The best player on the Western Washington team is also the guy who does most of the organizing for the team. Adam Extine, the Vikings’ stud close defenseman, made the schedule this year and also helped coordinate much of the fundraising. Since they only get about $5,000 from the school and he charges the players just $750, that means the team has to fundraise about $13,000 just to make the trip out to Minnesota for the three-game swing. I find that type of dedication from college students to be extremely impressive.

- Derek Daehn, the St. John's head coach, had some thoughts on how Western Washington brought itself back from the brink of a rout. “Sometimes when you get into a tight game you get a little impatient and you need to take a deep breath,” said Daehn. “We try to play possession lacrosse, but we got a little too antsy and started pushing the ball. It’s going to be a game of runs and they are a quality team, so they should shut us down and make a run like that. It’s expected, we just need to make sure when we do get our chances to possess the ball.”

This was the first weekend where we had a chance to judge how good Virginia Tech is. I’m still now sure, as staying within a goal of Florida was decent, but needing overtime to beat Georgia seemed odd…it feels like this season got off to a busy start, but is now settling into a reasonable groove. For a while it seemed like there was a key game four nights of the week for a month…Western Washington captain Adam Extine had nothing but good things to say about the St. John’s defense. “Their poles are amazing,” he said. “I was really impressed with them.”