BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) 2020-2021 Women's Division I, II & III College Lacrosse Season

Please , other than a Loyolla team that looked like they have not played or practiced in 11 months it’s been a long time since Cuse has beaten a top 5 team . Calling them the team to beat seems like maybe wait till they beat an actual top 5 team .

Teams rarely face guard her or really double team her. Season just started - lets see how it plays out. Might be a defender this year!

Pretty sure Syracuse made it to the Final Four in 2017 which technically one of the last 3 Final Fours... I would say they are in elite company.

Syracuse Zone defense and others are in three seconds for 5 through 8 seconds at a time. This is how a good zone D becomes a great zone D when refs do not enforce three seconds in the 8M. It was ridiculous today. Also Loyola was pushed back to free position shots when they caught ball in tight. Smart strategy to jump the shooter and foul them at 3m and push them back to 8M.

If refs called three seconds the zone becomes much less comfortable to execute

Seriously your basing they are the team to beat on their final four appearance in 2017 . A few things about that , that’s sad , they did not make final four as they got blown out by BC earlier than that , I would ask when was the last time they won the ACC or made the final four but you would just make up more nonsense . They are a good team with a legit chance this year but until someone beats UNC they are the team to beat as I think they have earned it by winning the ACC the last several years , making the actual final four the last 2 , bringing back virtually all their starters and adding a stud 5th year transfer or 2 and adding a top ranked freshman class .

Completely agree, officials refuse to enforce 3 seconds. It’s become a joke. Love the teams that have confidence in their Athletes and play man to man. Well coached teams that can execute their offensive strategy will beat a zone every time. When teams cheat and violate the 3 second rule repeatedly and intentionally the zone becomes more difficult to break. Good coaches will still beat the “cheating zone” if their offensive scheme is sound and their players are disciplined and smart.

Sorry, not the one saying Syracuse is the team to beat. Just believe they are an excellent team this year and certainly one of the Top 8 - 10 Programs. Also, my mistake, Syracuse did not reach The Final Four in 2017. However, they did advance to The Final Four in 2015 and 2016 that’s two of the past four final fours. Once again they are in elite company.

Wouldn’t that be 2 of the last 5 . Again basing the team to beat on a final four 5 years ago seems odd

Again, I’m not the one saying that Syracuse is the team to beat but they are definitely one of the Top Programs. Two trips to the Final Four is pretty darn good, probably better than all but two or three programs. Only time will tell but Syracuse should be very good this year and they are one of the teams with legit shot at Final Four. Other teams with legit shot IMHO are:
- North Carolina
- Northwestern
- Stony Brook
Not sure who else... MD, PSU, Virginia, Florida??
I do not think Notre Dame will be there in the end.

The flopping in women’s lacrosse makes the game unwatchable . I thought it was supposed to be a point of emphasis this year for the refs .

The cup is UNC’s to lose... they’re the best team this year (and were last year too) that said the “best” team doesn’t always win.. Syracuse is special this year as is NW and ND... Penn State will go as far as their frosh middies can take them but it won’t be to a final. The terps will be good but not great no final 4 for them this year.

Agree with the exception of ND...

I agree with the above post. UNC has the most talent on the field. However, Syracuse and ND and it only been one game seem to move the ball to much better. Cuse plays SB this weekend so we will see if this happens again. ND not sure when protocol ends. NW, we will no nothing until they play PSU and MD.PSU playing second game helped them v MD.

Team play and great goaltending will win at the end.

Carolina, Carolina, Carolina... Lets see, they have 4 of the past 5 Inside Lacrosse #1 ranked recruits and I am guessing more Under Armour All-Americans and Inside Lacrosse Top 40 - 50 recruits than any other program (maybe not Maryland IDK), all of their starters are back from 2020 (several that are already DI All-Americans) a stud 5th transfer and the top rated freshman in the country. They have an excellent goalie, they are fast and athletic on defense and at the midfield, they have some great finishers and they are well coached. My guess is that they are deeper than any other team as well.

Does anyone have the chemistry to beat them? I don't think anyone is more athletic or as well balanced. Is there a JMU hiding out there? Holding two quality teams 5 and 7 goals is very impressive, if they keep that up nobody will touch them.

This Carolina Team reminds me of the 2019 Maryland Team. Like Maryland, UNC has an excellent goalie, is fast and athletic, plays great man to man defense and is loaded with Seniors / 5th year starters... I think 9.

I am going with Northwestern and Syracuse as the teams with the best chance of beating them. I know Notre Dame is getting a lot of hype but until I see The Irish beat a Top Tier team I will hold off. I watched the MD vs PSU game and both teams are solid but not sure they are Top 5. Who will emerge?

During the Duke vs Virginia Tech game the announcers were discussing the opportunities for some other programs to make the NCAA Tournament with The Ivy League not participating. Most years The Ivy's send two (Princeton & Penn) sometimes three teams to the tournament. Safe to say there will be at least two openings possibly three as Dartmouth has been pretty tough the past few years. Each year there are competitive teams on the bubble who come up just short, which teams will benefit the most from the absence of the top Ivy's?

UNC is the favorite until someone beats them . That said they seem vulnerable . Their defense and goal play has been outstanding so far this year but the same exact group looked not good in their final game last season against the fast paced NW .The offense looks very different this year and seems a bit lost , is it the loss of Dowd as they have never won the whole thing without her, is it the defenses they are playing against (they scored a bunch against HPU but it was ugly run to goal to get my points) ,is it chemistry, is it offense takes longer to come together after the long layoff or a combination of those things. Time will tell but Cuse looked very strong , weak at the draw to start but made adjustments in the second half at the draw and it showed. Will be some great ACC games this year.

The Terps showed last year that they took a huge step back, and should be ranked on the lower half of the top 20 at this point. Good for Penn State, they got the massive benefit in the polls by beating a way over ranked MD (never seen a jump like that before, especially on a win on a spiraling team). Probably neither should be top 10. Loyola loses to a very good Cuse, a game they are supposed to lose and free falls in the polls? And many teams who did not play at all, somehow lose and gain position. At one point I thought the "experts" did a great job with these polls, I am starting to think these polls are about as good as what you and I could come up with.

Loyola lost by 12 goals. To say that they lost to a team that they were supposed to lose to is a little misleading to say the least. I believe Loyola was ranked just one position below Syracuse in last weeks poll. Loyola was not competitive this week. That said, I think they will bounce back and be much more competitive as the season progresses. I would bet Loyola finishes the season in the 11 - 15 range. Maryland lost to a competitive Penn State Squad, I would not call them "spiraling" just yet. I believe Maryland graduated 8 or 9 starters from their 2019 team (a team that was dominant) so yes they are rebuilding but I am confident that they will be back in the Top 10 by seasons end. As for the polls / rankings I agree with you, you and I and any number of fans could do just as good a job.

Beautiful day for a game at Stony Brook.

Prediction...

Stony Brook 15 USC 10 with SBU putting a couple in late to pad it up...

SB looked very sharp. Score could have been much worse.

Did the superstar freshman do anything?

Joe actually pulled the plug on the horses, score could have been 25-3 had he let it go that way. You don't see him do that often, probably a kind gesture to say thanks for coming out to east coast to schedule a game against us. That being said, USC has a long way to go and might be headed in the wrong direction.

There was a freshman that scored a bunch

Take your bitterness and jealousy and slither back under the rock.

Yes 2 goals on 4 shots . Not bad , thanks for asking .

Stony Brook plays Syracuse in four days, that’s the main reason for resting players.

Can’t wait to watch that game, should be a good one.

Guess there must be more than one superstar freshman. The one I was asking about shows no points in the box score. Just looked. Nice job to the unexpected performance. Keep it up!

SBU parent of said horse in stable ... “Joe” pulled the plug 🙄😂

Would have expected more!

You mean ponies? The horses play at UNC😂

I see BC handling USC pretty easy, thinking 17-8. Can’t wait to watch SB vs. SU. Battle of zone defenses. I think a one or two goal game either way.

Different girl

Think BC USC will be a very good game BC by a couple

[quote=Anonymous]You mean ponies? The horses play at UNC😂

Absolutely horses number #1 recruit and former YJ commit leading the charge for UNC

Different girl

What happened to all those highly touted YJ girls that went to SB?

All depends on if BC shares the ball, can’t always depend on one player, even if it’s the best offensive player in women’s lacrosse.

Is there just not enough talent to go around? I know JMU shocked the lacrosse world by winning the National Championship in 2018 and Navy surprised everyone by advancing to the Final Four in 2017 but C'mon man... can we get some parity? Stony Brook has done a great job and is recognized by most as a Top 10 Program But they have not made it to Championship weekend. Virginia, Princeton, Penn, Florida, Notre Dame all Top 10 Programs but its been a while since they were in the Final Four or won a Championship. Not even sure if Notre Dame has ever gone to The Final Four. Duke has fallen off and has not been Top 20 the past few years. Penn State looks to be heading in the right direction after a couple of down years after back to back Final Four years.

You would think that with the growth of the sport it would be attracting more "Athletes" but it appears as though the same 10 - 15 teams are able to land just about all of the top players.

Michigan had a great year in 2019 but it looks like they might have taken a step back. Georgetown has fallen along with Hopkins.

I guess when you look at the Top 15 -20 Programs they cover all the bases for recruits. If you want to go out west USC and Stanford are excellent schools with competitive (although not yesterday for USC) programs. In The MidWest you obviously have Northwestern and Notre Dame. If you want warm weather and the south you have Florida, Duke and North Carolina. Big State School there is Maryland, Virginia, Penn State... Ivy you have Princeton and Penn (Dartmouth?). Northeast / New England / Boston area obviously Syracuse, Boston College (Dartmouth?) Want to stay on Long Island there is Stony Brook. Want to be in the Swamp AKA DC you have Georgetown. Hopkins is a great school with a good program if Baltimore is your thing, Loyola is right up the road and is a great fit for a lot of student athletes. Navy has become a strong program for the very special individual who wants to challenge themselves in that environment.

The top recruits can usually find their "Fit" at one of these schools... City, Country, Suburban, South, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, New England, Med-West, West Coast, Big School, Small School etc... They all excellent schools.

Just my thoughts on why it is so difficult for other programs to attract top talent.

couple hundred you mean.....BC by at least 12

Can we just put the SBU freshman animonsity to bed . I get that the US team tryout selection was disgraceful and the hype machine is over the top but these are 18 year olds who honestly did not ask for all the hype. I am pretty sure the next AK is a little embarrassed with all that has gone on and how she has performed. Freshman year of college is hard enough , add in Covid and unrealistic expectations and do we really need to pile on .