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

Yup! If they can’t score, they can’t win!

Defense wins championships” - (Coach Bear Bryant)

I have no idea how Maryland or any other team will perform this season. However, looking back over the past 10 seasons not a lot has changed. There have been a total of 40 programs that have finished the season ranked in the Top 20.

20 programs have finished the season ranked in the Top 20 five times or more over the past 10 seasons. They are:

10 - UNC
10 - Maryland
10 - Boston College
10 - Northwestern
10 - Florida
10 - Virginia
10 - Syracuse
10 - Princeton (actual 9, they did not compete in 2021 but no reason to believe they would not have been top 20)
10 - Penn (see Princeton above :-) )

9 - Stony Brook
9 - Notre Dame

8 - Loyola

7 - Penn State
7 - UMass

6 - Duke
6 - JMU
6 - Denver

5 - Stanford
5 - Dartmouth
5 - Hopkins

Several teams have finished 1 X and some others 2 or 3 times but none are consistently ranked.

Looking at just the past 5 seasons not much has changed...

36 programs have finished the season ranked in the Top 20 over the past 5 years.

22 of those programs have finished in the Top 20 more than once during that 5 years. They are:

5 - UNC
5 - Maryland
5 - Boston College
5 - Northwestern
5 - Florida
5 - Virginia
5 - Syracuse
5 - Princeton (see above)
5 - Penn ( see above)
5 - JMU
5 - Stony Brook

4 - Notre Dame
4 - Loyola
4 - Denver

3 - UMass
3 - Navy
3 - Colorado

3 - Dartmouth (see Penn and Princeton above)

2 - Stanford
2 - Michigan
2 - USC
2 - Duke

Penn State and Hopkins have fallen off a bit while Navy, Colorado, USC and Michigan appear to be on the rise.

Will Boston College be the next program to go on a run? Only time will tell.

BC will be a Final Four Team with and without CN the next 3 years, just like they were for 3 straight years before CN. Their 2020-2023 classes are loaded and their defense will be the best they have ever had the next 3 years. People forget that BC was awful with CN in 2019 and they beat UNC last year on a day when CN was very average. CN is the best player in the sport but there is much more to the BC team. JMO

UMass & Denver do not get enough credit. They are very good programs.

Why don’t we just crown them National Champs?

Wow someone that finally watches the sport and doesn’t just spew BS.

CN didn’t have an average game versus NC. She actually had an outstanding game as she played very smart lacrosse. She drove from her right hand side and created the slide. Instead of trying to beat the double team she moved the ball which created offense for the BC team which was very well schooled and prepared for what was going to happen. BC has very good players that then took it from there. But without the slide CN created that was the start of it. She also had a huge momentum changing goal in that game. It is the little things she does that great big things.

Now you are losing credibility. An "outstanding game" by CN standards if not 2 for 8 shooting and zero draw controls no matter how you spin it. Beating UNC was an absolute team win and it was the defense, caused turnovers and great goal keeping that won the game. Best player in the sport but BC plays the ultimate, unselfish team game and have big game players and coaches.

Biggest difference in the game was saves.

Agree total team effort.

Team Defense is what wins… redefining, 7 v 7 Defense and goalie play.

BC will obviously be competitive but so will many other teams.

That’s why they play the games.

Bingo. Rachel Hall had the game of her life at the right time. UNC had more shots and shots on goal than BC. Hall had more saves than Moreno (11 to 8). That's the game right there. Both played well, Hall got hot. Flip it, and we aren't having this conversation.

Back to how “Defense wins games”

To be exact I just looked NC was 10 for 34 shooting. That will probably cost you some wins. BC played great. Hall as mentioned was 20 percent higher in save percentage in that game versus season average. She played great. Team win.

The bulk of the shots were taken by three players, combined for 19 shots with only 9 shots on goal and only 3 goals. That’s less than 50% on goal and 15% shooting percentage. Not trying to diminish the goalie’s effort here, but the above assessment is correct, shooting was an issue.

Well that was last year-

Who wins it this year? Does North repeat as Tew winner? What players emerge to lead teams vs last year? Who will lead the freshmen class(lots of redshirts last year)?

It is doubtful that BC Repeats as Champions.

Comes down to who wins the duel between Hall and Moreno. Great goalie play making a difference in the tourney in a key spot has been the key to the last two champs (Megan Taylor and UMD in 2019 and Rachel Hall as discussed here).

I think UNC is the favorite, regardless of the rankings.

Would be shocked if both UNC and BC don't make the Final Four. Would also be shocked if either Cuse, UNC or BC don't win it all. It comes down to who gets hot down the stretch of the season. UNC as always will have the best talent but do they play unselfishly as a team and can they overcome their average coaching?