April 27, 2005

The Wednesday National Notebook takes a look at college lacrosse being played beyond Division I.

Previewing the WDIA National Tournament
The Wednesday National Notebook this week takes a look at the 2005 US Lacrosse Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates National Championship that is being held in Blaine, Minnesota.

This year the women's field expanded from 12 to 16 teams and will begin on Thursday, May 12 and finish by crowning the 2005 champion on Saturday, May 14.

Last season, No. 8 seed Santa Clara was the big surprise as the Broncos marched all the way to the title game against defending champion Cal Poly. The clock struck midnight for the Broncos, though, as the Mustangs won their fourth consecutive WDIA National Championship.

But that was last year.

Now it's time to look at the 2005 field. Who is going to be this year's Santa Clara? (Arizona State) Will Cal Poly win a fifth consecutive title? (No) Is UCSB the team to beat? (Yep!)

Find out more about this year's field. Below are the opening-round games.

Note: The teams are numbered by their seeds and the team records and rankings are from the last WDIA Top 25 poll on April 21, 2005.

No. 1 UC-Santa Barbara (13-1) vs. No. 16 Minnesota-Duluth: Tough draw for 16th-seeded Minnesota-Duluth in its home state as it faces No. 1-ranked and top-seeded UC-Santa Barbara. The Gauchos are a young team this season and look poised to take over the reigns that Cal Poly have been holding onto for the past four years in the WDIA. UCSB got bounced by Michigan last year 13-11. In 2005, the Gauchos are 13-1 and the team to beat. Will they lose? Who knows, but the Gauchos have one of the best chances to engrave their team name on the WDIA championship trophy. Besides, our trophy engraver is tired of carving Cal Poly onto the plaques.

No. 2 Colorado State (6-1-1) vs. No. 15 Lindenwood (15-0): Last year, Colorado State garnered a 10th seed in the WDIA National Championship but this year's team is stacked and poised to make a strong push for the title. One highly respected WDIA coach even said third-ranked CSU is the best team in the tournament. That's bad news for 22nd-ranked Lindenwood.

No. 3 Navy (18-1) vs. No. 14 Washington: Navy was the top seed in the 2004 WDIA National Championship, but that didn't last long. Navy had to go through three game stoppages, due to rain and lightning, and watched its six-goal halftime lead disappear in the second half. Eighth-seeded Santa Clara scored the game-winner with six seconds left to win 12-11. Fourth-ranked Navy returns more focused and experienced and is the toughest team from the East in the tournament. Navy senior attacker Nicole Telesh, the reigning WDIA Attack of the Year and a first-team All-American, will give the Huskies fits. Washington makes its first appearance in the WDIA National Championship after defeating Oregon in overtime in the NWWLL championship.

No. 4 Cal Poly (10-2) vs. No. 13 Texas A&M (10-1): The four-time defending WDIA champion Cal Poly returns once again to defend its title. Is it a good or bad omen the Mustangs are the fourth seed? They are definitely down a little this year after graduating a strong senior class. This game according to the seeds may be a mismatch. But according to the WDIA rankings this has the makings of a really competitive game. The Mustangs are the second-ranked team in the poll with the Aggies checking in at No. 9. The Aggies have a great scoring threat in Megan Korce, who is the offensive leader for A&M. But if history is any indication don't count out the Mustangs out so early in the tourney. Besides, they are the only champion the WDIA has ever had.

No. 5 Michigan (9-3) vs. No. 12 Rhode Island (9-1): This match-up sounds like a great men's basketball match-up in the late 1990's - with Rhode Island's Lamar Odom going up against Michigan's Robert "Tractor" Traylor - doesn't it? Okay, maybe not. But in the WDIA Top 25, these teams sit next to each other with Michigan on top at the 12th position and Rhode Island right below them at No. 13. Do the Rams have the ability to knock off the mighty Wolverines? Sure. Will they? Nope.

No. 6 Florida (10-2) vs. No. 11 Delaware (7-1): Florida is making its third straight appearance at the WDIA National Championships. Last year, the Gators made it to the semifinals before losing to Santa Clara. Delaware, ranked 19th, is making its first appearance since 2002. The experienced Gators, ranked 7th, are the easy pick.

No. 7 Colorado (7-1) vs. No. 10 Santa Clara (9-6): This is the most intriguing match-up of the first round. Colorado, ranked 5th in the polls, is the only team to have beaten Navy this season and it did it in Annapolis. Santa Clara was the Cinderella of the 2004 WDIA National Championships. The eighth-seeded Broncos marched all the way to the championship game before bowing out to Cal Poly 15-4. Can the Broncos do it again? Sure, but they need their senior class to step up. SC, ranked 10th, graduated goalie Teresa Martini last year and freshman Rebecca Milo transferred to Stanford and walked onto its Division I varsity team. Colorado is the slight favorite, as the Buffalos are making their WDIA National Championship debut. But don't let that fool you as SC relishes the underdog role. Just look at last year. Whoever emerges from this game will give Colorado State a tough game in the quarterfinals.

No. 8 Maryland (9-3) vs. No. 9 Arizona State (9-4): Two teams making their WDIA National Championship debuts square off in No. 8 vs. No. 9 game. Arizona State, ranked 11th, is a hot team who can make some noise in this tournament. Don't confuse the 14th-ranked Terrapins with the UM varsity Division I team. You won't see Coach Cindy Timchal on the sidelines, All-American and All-World Jen Adams running up and down the field or a UM championship, which happened seven consecutive years for the Terps 1995-2001. Maryland's WDIA version can win this game, but won't get past top-seeded UCSB.

So who will be raising the championship trophy at the end of the tournament? Only time will tell. There were upsets last year and there are sure to be upsets again this year. You just have to wait and see how it plays out. Remember to log onto www.uslacrosse.org throughout the IA Championships to get all of your men's and women's scores and game recaps live from Blaine, Minn.

Line of the Week
4 goals, 5 assists
Bryan Griffin - Senior Attack
Tufts University
In his third game back from recovering from a knee injury Griffin scores nine points (4g, 5a) against No. 20 Bates on Saturday to lead No. 13 Tufts to a big 16-9 victory in the NESCAC. Two weeks ago in the Wednesday National Notebook the idea of a Lacrosse Magazine jinx was brought up because the Division II and III Preseason Player of the Year were out with injuries. Since then Le Moyne's Brandon Spillet and Griffin are back and throwing up big numbers like nothing was wrong. Now the Jumbos just need to make it into the NCAA Tournament. The win over Bates places Tufts into a three-way tie for fourth place for the NESCAC Tournament but the Jumbos get in because they own the tie-breaker.

From the Men's Sidelines
Division II: Props to No. 8 Molloy for its 13-12 overtime victory against No. 3 Mercyhurst. Molly's James Sampson scored the game-winner with 22 seconds remaining in the first overtime period. Molly goalie Joe Labella made 22 saves. The `Hurst still has to face No. 2 Limestone in two weeks.
Division III: What has happened to Nazareth? When was the last time two losses, near the end of the regular season, have sent a team that was such a sure thing for the NCAA Division III Tournament to a bubble team? The Golden Flyers in a two week span lost to RIT and then dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Ithaca last week. Nazareth had to beat Elmira on Tuesday just to enter the Empire 8 Tournament as the fourth-seed.

From the Women's Sidelines
Division II: It has been a tough week for No. 5 Lock Haven as its season ended with back-to-back losses. On Saturday, No. 2 West Chester stomped the Lady Eagles 22-6. Then Tuesday, Lock Haven lost in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference semifinal 12-10 in double overtime to No. 8 Bloomsburg.
Division III: No. 1 Salisbury took care of arch rival Washington College 26-5 on Tuesday. The Salisbury-Washington match-up has been dubbed the "War on the Shore" in men's lacrosse. Hopefully for WAC fans the women's game is not a precursor of what's in store this Saturday when the No. 1 Salisbury men's team plays a visit to Chestertown to face No. 8 Washington.

Wednesday National Notebook Archives
4-20-05: Salisbury's Forgotten Weapon
4-13-05: Lacrosse Magazine Jinx?
4-06-05: Cortland Gets Revenge, Eyes Final Four
3-30-05: Bates Turns It Around
3-23-05: Limestone's Home Away From Home
3-16-05: Colorado State Exacts Revenge Over UCSB
3-09-05: Gannon Ready To Make Run
3-02-05: Young Generals Make Statement