Coyne’s Picks: The D-III National Semifinals
by Jac Coyne |
Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive
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| Even if Tufts is able to solve the Cortland close
defense, the Jumbos still have to find space between freshman
goalie Mike Kaminski (above) and the net. © Darl Zehr Photography |
The NCAA Division III men trim the field down to a pair of title
contenders for Baltimore on Sunday while the women settle the
entire season when they converge on Gettysburg for both the semis
and finals over the weekend.
The teams are split between programs that have championships to
their credit – Salisbury (men), Cortland, Franklin &
Marshall and Hamilton – and those searching for their first
chance to hold the Walnut & Bronze aloft – Salisbury
(women), Gettysburg, Tufts and Stevenson.
Who’ll get a chance at all the marbles this year?
Men
Tufts (18-1)
at Cortland
(17-2), 1 p.m., Sunday
The defending national champs are playing like, well, the
defending national champs. The Red Dragons have locked down on the
defensive end and, with Chris DeLuca slowly cementing his status as
the Player of the Year, the offense is methodically putting the
game away. RIT looked like they had a chance in the first half, but
the team that beats Cortland will have to play nearly flawless for
60 minutes.
Can Tufts do that, and if not, is there anything the Jumbos can do
to alter the course of what appears to be destiny?
Theoretically, yes. They have a goalie, which is one of the wild
cards, along with face-offs, in every game. Steven Foglietta is a
solid netminder – 8.61 goals against average and a 52.5 save
percentage – but he’s not a game changer…yet
(he’s only a sophomore). As for face-offs, Tufts is running
at 52 percent as a team, which doesn’t instill a lot of
confidence against a Cortland team currently operating at a 62
percent clip, led by DeLuca (69%).
It would be helpful if we could go back to the Red Dragons two
losses – 7-5 against Gettysburg and 12-11 against Salisbury
– and unearth an Achilles’ heel, but that was a
completely different team. To wit: DeLuca only took 11 of a
possible 42 face-offs (winning eight) in those contests.
The problem with picking Tufts is there is just not one part of the
field or one aspect of the game that the Jumbos can
unequivocally say they have an edge over Cortland. That’s not
good. In the end, we’ll probably witness a result in the
range of the Red Dragons 16-8 triumph over Middlebury in last year
semis.
Cortland, 14-8.
Stevenson (19-1)
at Salisbury (20-1), 1 p.m., Sunday
I think everyone felt that this was the likely semifinal
match-up in the south and it managed to come to fruition.
Barely.
Although we were a couple of minutes (and goals) away from a
Haverford-Roanoke semifinal, everything worked out the
way these two CAC heavyweights had hoped. Now we have to deal
with with Round III. I’ve tackled the meeting
for the third time issue before, but I’m starting
to think this game is going to come down to one player on each
team.
We just need to know who is going to have the better day: Stevenson
goalie Geoff Hebert or Salisbury face-off man Ryan Finch?
Both players were the difference between a win and loss in the
quarterfinal match-ups.
Hebert made a career high – and, frankly, insane – 27
saves as the Mustangs managed to subdue a feisty Roanoke team. The
Maroons out-shot Stevenson, 72-40 on the afternoon, but because
Hebert came to play (15 of the stops were in the second half), the
‘Stangs advance. If you’re keeping track, that would
mean Hebert has allowed 23 goals in the last two games while making
49 stops, for a save percentage of 68.1. It also means he’s
seeing beach balls right now.
Finch won 18 of the 24 face-offs in the game against the Black
Squirrels, the last one being the most critical. Finch won the
opening draw in overtime, sprinted down the field and potted the
game-winner 12 seconds into the extra session, his second of the
game.
Who’ll make more of difference in this game? I’ve got
to go with Hebert. As Stevenson head coach Paul Cantabene knows,
the face-off position can dictate a game, but when a goalie is red
hot it doesn’t matter. I think this game will prove that the
first match-up – a 16-10 win for Salisbury when Hebert was
out with an injury – was an anomaly.
Stevenson, 11-9.
Women
Hamilton
(20-0) vs. Franklin &
Marshall (16-3), 11 a.m. (at Gettysburg), Saturday
Despite the presence of a pair of championship goalies in
net – Kate Fowler was in the cage when Hamilton
notched its title in 2008 and F&M’s Lidia Sanza
has won titles in ’07 and ’09 – this game will be
about the defense in front of them and which can do the better
job.
The same was true in ’08 when the two teams met in the
championship game. In that case, the Dips couldn’t stop the
Hamilton players crashing the cage while the Continentals were able
to blunt the F&M attack, allowing Hamilton to win the game
comfortably despite Fowler making only six saves.
Will that happen again in this semifinal?
Yes, I think it will.
A trio of sophomores are doing yeoman’s work on the backline
for Patty Kloidt’s squad. Lauren Sokol, Josie Jones and Meg
Pengue have helped the Continentals allow just 18 goals in the last
four games.
In addition, Sarah Bray, who was the MVP of the ’08
tournament as a freshman, is playing lights out. She is not only
scoring goals (28), but also setting up all of her teammates (45
assists). Throw in Liz Rave (42 goals) and four other players with
at least 28 markers, and Sanza is going to be under siege.
Never underestimate F&M, however, because not only does Sanza
have the potential to catch fire, but Blake Hargest (51g, 38a) and
Meredith Lussier (56g, 26a) are deadly when given space. I
don't they'll find any.
The game will be close for the duration, but it’s Hamilton in
the end, 12-9.
Salisbury (19-1) at Gettysburg (18-3), 2 p.m., Saturday
Whereas Hamilton and F&M are hoping to get back to the
top, Salisbury and Gettysburg are still trying to reach the
pinnacle for the first time. One will get a crack at it while the
other will deal with the frustration for another year.
This will be a tough game to predict. Salisbury has more offensive
fire-power, but Gettysburg has an efficient defensive game-plan.
The Sea Gulls are the higher seed, but the Bullets are the home
team. But since I’m duty-bound to select a winner, I’m
going with Salisbury.
Why? Because of the weapons. Despite the presence of two very good
defenses, I think this game is going to turn into a shootout. This
is exactly what the Bullets don’t want – they’d
probably be excited for a game in the single-digits – but
they are going to have their hand forced by the likes of Kim
Cudmore (35g, 50a), Logan Bilderback (47g, 7a), Jessica Chmielewski
(30g, 24a) and three others with at least 40 points this
season.
Although it isn’t always put on display against the top tier
teams, Gettysburg can score, as well. Nina Emala (59g, 21a) and
Hollis Stahl (56g, 15a) make for a deadly combo at the
top of the list while four other players have at least 45 points. I
think the Bullets will score plenty of goals against
Salisbury, but they’re going to need one more when the final
whistle sounds.
It’ll be the Gulls, 15-14.
