BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) 2021-2022 Women's DI-III College Lacrosse Season

Please use this thread to discuss the 2022 Women's DI-III College Lacrosse Season


Previous Posts from the 2021-2022 College Season thread:

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)?


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).

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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.

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

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Most Recent Post:

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?

Syracuse will not be in the Final Four, North Carolina does not always have the most talent, UNC is very unselfish, UNC coaching will above average.

16 of the best programs over the past 10 years are in the preseason Top 20 and 16 of the best 22 programs over the past 5 years are in the preseason top 20. UConn, Jacksonville, Drexel and Rutgers are the only new comers or non traditional Top 20 programs that are getting some attention due to their performance in 2021. I do not believe any of those teams except Rutgers would have finish in the Top 20 last year if the Ivy's were in action and the BIG 10 played out of conference games.

Conclusion, the game has grown, the athleticism and skills have improved across the board but in the end the majority of the best players tend to go to the traditional Top 20 programs. Going forward I think Clemson will become competitive quickly, Michigan will continue to be a Top 20 program, Dartmouth will continue to push Princeton and Penn and will most likely be the third IVY to consistently be ranked and make the tournament. USC should be back in the Top 20. Drexel did look good last year but they lost their coach so who knows. Not sure what the deal is at Penn State they had a strong freshmen class last year but they lost some players. Has Duke stopped their slide? Will the Blue Devils be back to being a Top 10 Program? Does Maryland get back to the Final Four? Can BC repeat? Will first year Syracuse Coach guide The Orange to The Final Four? Will the Ivy's be rusty after being off for so long? Don't think Stony Brook will be Top 5 at the end of the Season.

Anyone have a dark horse they think will surprise?

Good luck to all.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I WOMEN’S PRESEASON TOP 20

​​1. Boston College
2. North Carolina
3. Syracuse
4. Northwestern
5. Stony Brook
6. Maryland
7. Notre Dame
8. Duke
9. Loyola
10. Florida
11. Virginia
12. James Madison
13. Princeton
14. Stanford
15. Denver
16. Rutgers
17. Drexel
18. Jacksonville
19. UConn
20. Penn

Also considered (alphabetical order): Johns Hopkins, Louisville, Michigan, Penn State, Richmond, Temple



Below is cut and paste from previous thread ...

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.

In the first couple weekends we should know a lot about the old guard, and most importantly know if there will be some new challengers. SU v Stanford, NW v BC, UNC v JMU to name a few.

I also think Duke and Princeton are going to be much improved.

Who are the surprise players that need to step up for teams to win-we know North, Smith, Hall , Ortega, Masteroni, trenchard, Carney, Cooper, Hawyschuck, Scane, Sears, Donovan, Jenner, All these players have to play well we know even for team to have a chance.

Very well said. Beginning of season will say a lot about how teams stack up in 2022. The Big 3 of UNC, Cuse and BC have a clear edge based on performance last year and talent returning. But each also have a few key questions that have to be answered. All 3 great on the draw. Cuse is so talented on the offensive side of ball but how will playing philosophy change under Treanor and Kent. They also lost few key defenders in Simpkins and Defliese and have a new goalie. UNC absolutely loaded with talent all over the field but how well will ball move on offense with loss of Hoeg. They also lost 3 great defenders and added a few new middies in Aldave and Dirk's so chemistry might take a while to develop. Lots of alphas on offense at UNC - will they play "me ball" or will they gel especially in the big games. BC midlfield was a bit thin last year and they lost Court Weeks. They also lost Urbank who was one of best all-round attackers in the game. Do think their defense will be very good this year. Think teams like Florida, ND and SB take a step back this year. See Princeton, Duke, MD rounding out the Top 6 but will take time for them to prove themselves based on strength of schedule.

If last year taught us anything, it is that it’s a long season and you have to let it play out. Nobody would have predicted BC winning early in the season when they were blown out by UNC and Syracuse. I would love to see some non traditional programs make some noise but I think we will see many of the usual teams in the Top 10.

Northwestern will be in the mix.

As for the strength of schedule for Princeton, Duke and Maryland they all play relatively tough schedules. However, Duke does have a weak out of conference but obviously their ACC schedule is very difficult.

Here are there OOC schedules for Princeton, Duke and Maryland:

Princeton - Virginia, Temple, USC, San Diego State, Penn State, Loyola, Stony Brook, Maryland.

Maryland - St Josephs, Florida, Delaware, William & Mary, Villanova, JMU, Georgetown, Princeton.

Duke - Gardner Webb, Elon, William & Mary, High Point, Wofford, East Carolina, Penn, Davidson, Liberty.

Notre Dame has been guilty of having a weak out of conference schedule in recent years but I think this years OOC schedule is Okay.

Stony Brook has really improved their out of conference schedule over the years , 2022 might be the toughest OOC ever. Should be interesting to see how they do.

With the addition of Pitt and Clemson ACC teams will have fewer OCC games on their schedule in the future.

Stony Brook to join CAA

Monmouth as well

Where will JMU go? Will they stay inn the CAA for Lacrosse?

They have joined the Sunbelt Conference - along with Old Dominion

https://www.jmu.edu/news/2021/11/05-sunbelt-announcement.shtml

I do not believe The Sun Belt Conference has women’s lacrosse.

They will need to find a new lacrosse conference as the CAA has removed all JMU sports from theirconference. JMU womens lacrosse will play a CAA conference schedule this year but are not eligible for the CAA playoffs. The only way they get to NCAA's is through an at large bid

They do not. I believe JMU, ODU and CCU will be only SB schools with WLAX. Presumably JMU will join a different conference for WLAX and FH. Which one remains to be seen.

Maybe the AAC would be a good fit for JMU, not sure where else. The CAA has done this before with conference playoffs/championships when schools announce they are leaving the conference. It seems a bit petty to me, yet once again in college sports we see kids being punished for something they have no have no control over.

JMU lacrosse should be fine, traditionally they are strong enough to make the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid as they are one of the best programs year in and year out.

Although I dislike the whole Pre-Season thing, I will say congratulations to all who are recognized. Tar Heels should be tough to beat again this year... going out on a limb here picking UNC to win it all. : -)

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/arti...-represented-led-by-nine-tar-heels/58797

Wow!!

North Carolina with 50% of the Top 10 players.... Goalie, Defender, 2 Midfielders and an Attacker... Obviously, they are the definite front runners again this year. Good luck to all teams.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/slideshow/2022-womens-tewaaraton-top-10-watch-list/163?slide=0

JMU along with HPU have a lot more ability then most to get athletes through admissions.

What is the point/reason for your post? There are many programs that have the ability to get just about any athlete that they want through admissions? Why are you pointing to those two programs?

Whats going to happen to the AEC? Hartford left now SBU..

Preseason ILWomen - IWLCA Poll... Not much different than the other poll.

1 Boston College
2 North Carolina
3 Syracuse
4 Northwestern
5 Notre Dame
6 Stony Brook
7 Florida
8 Duke
9 Maryland
10 Loyola
11 Virginia
12 James Madison
13 Stanford
14 Denver
15 Princeton
16 Drexel
17 Rutgers
18 Jacksonville
19 Penn
20 Johns Hopkins
21 UConn
22 Temple
23 Michigan
24 UMass
25 Penn State


What teams not mentioned have a legit shot at being top 20 at the end of the season?

Dartmouth, USC, Colorado, Arizona State, Towson???

There are a lot of great early season OOC match ups should be fun to watch. Duke once again has weak OOC schedule.

Interested to see early season games.

Northwestern Vs BC
Maryland Vs UVA
Princeton Vs UVA
Syracuse Vs SBU
Florida Vs UNC
JMU Vs UNC

Good Luck to All

Gilbert wil lhave to step up for Northwestern with Scane out.

Stony Brook & JMU must win the majority of their non conference games or they risk missing the NCAA Tournament. Both play a tough non conference schedule so there is not a lot of wiggle room. This could be SBU’s toughest non conference schedule ever. Looks like 5-7 very tough games (UVA, Syracuse, Dartmouth, Florida, Northwestern, Hopkins, Princeton) as well as Hofstra, Brown and Arizona St which are all relatively competitive. If they lose to 5 of the first 7 named I don’t think they will make the tournament. As for JMU they have (UNC, VA tech, Penn State, Rutgers, UVA, Maryland) throw in UConn, Ohio State and Richmond which could be challenging for them. Again, if they lose to 5 of those teams who knows what will happen with the tournament. Keep in mind I’m talking about losing 5 games to top teams… if they lose 5 but knock off one or to of the powers i.e. UNC, Syracuse, Maryland, Northwestern, Princeton, UVA , Florida they should be fine.
It stinks for these teams to not have a chance to compete for a conference championship and automatic bid but it makes their non conference games more interesting and important.
Good Luck,

Stonybrook vs Virginia is just a scrimmage.

Does anyone have any insight if the interim coach at Richmond will become the permanent coach?

Still a challenging out of conference slate. If they do not win at least 2 of 4 vs Syracuse, Florida, Northwestern and Princeton They will have to win the rest of their games or they will be on the bubble unless Hopkins and Dartmouth are Top 20 at the end of the season and they have wins over them as well. I think for the first time Stony Brook has their work cut out for them because they will not get the AQ. I think if they go 0-4 vs SU, FL, NU and Princeton they will have a tough time getting an at large bid.

It does add more pressure with OOC games for both teams. JMU is already somewhat used to it since the CAA is more competitive than AE, and the AQ is not always a sure thing for them. I just hope SB and JMU are not held to a higher standard than ACC/Big Ten teams that also don’t have wins against UNC, NU and SU. Quality wins against other tournament teams - yes - but a top 5 or even top 10 win should not be necessary. For example, Maryland only has two top 10 teams on their schedule since they are not playing UNC and SU this year, and I’m not sure one of them (FL) will stay top 10. Duke will not beat the top ACC teams like usual yet still get in with a high seeding in spite of a really weak OOC schedule.

Yup!

Who won? Score?

So fun to see all the LI players out there from both teams The teams ran a practice together before playing which I’ve never seen before and it was neat to see the different drills for the kids . Fun day SB won by four

What are you talking about? Why would they be held to a higher standard? We don’t know what teams will have played top 10 teams until the end of the year, so you have no Idea how many Top 10 teams MD will have faced. Duke has only made the tournament 2 times in the past 6 seasons and they were not seeded in either appearance. ACC and Big 10 teams in most cases have difficult in an out of conference games so they can get quality wins both in and out of conference. If the traditional power team on SBU’s schedule Syracuse, Florida, Princeton and Northwestern finish in the Top 10 as they have several times in recent years Stony Brook will have to win at least two of those games and probably Win the rest of their games as well. Unless another team on their schedule is ranked high most wins wins will not count for much. Quality wins are always a major consideration for at large bids so unless there are some surprises in the rankings at the end of the regular season Stony Brook will not have a lot of room for error.

So fun to see all the LI players out there from both teams The teams ran a practice together before playing which I’ve never seen before and it was neat to see the different drills for the kids . Fun day SB won by four

Got to watch the scrimmage , the game seemed pretty much even I believe 9-8 then a lot of new players were put in and SBU seemed to pull ahead . If they have played during the season I would say it easily could go either way although I know both teams were missing at least 1 key player each . I think SBU will struggle on offense and UVA on defense . Looking at both teams schedules not getting to play in their conference tournament will make SBU season interesting but I think they will lose 3 games this year and will make the tournament . UVA plays what looks to be possibly the hardest schedule I have seen of any team and if they can manage to go over 500 I think they get in , 500 or under and not in .

It will all depend on where Syracuse, Florida, Princeton, Northwestern, Dartmouth and Hopkins finish the regular season and how Stony Brook does against those teams (other teams matter as well but those are the teams most likely to be Top 10 - 20 at the end of the season). Although Stony Brook usually has a very good record their record vs teams that finish in the Top 10 is not very impressive. Should be an interesting season.

Was also there it was very entertaining and for an early season contest I thought both teams sticks looked very good with very few turnovers These teams will all change. Was interesting that Virginia only had 8 or 9 subs very small bench. Tbh was impressed with both teams and think both will have great seasons. So much speed for both teams. My eye test saw Virginia little more individual based and transition (scored one fabulous one ) on offense while SB was more ball movement with many coming off off feeds. (SB also had two gorgeous BehInd the Back goals) was a fun day tho daughter and friends loved the action. 1st quarter 4-2 SB. 9-8 uva at half 13-10 SB after 3 and 15-11 end score SB. Can’t wait for the weekend and actual games

Duke was a 7 seed last year. Their only wins against tournament teams were High Point and UVA. SBU was an 8 seed. Lost to UNC and SU just like Duke did, beat two tourney teams, Hofstra and Towson. Held to a higher standard it appears since Duke was seeded ahead.

Agree SBU does not have a lot of wiggle room but I think they can get an at large bid with a win over NU, SU, FLA or Princeton, assuming those teams stay top 15 and SBU wins all their other games. Maybe JHU will be a challenge. Wonder if SBU tries to add another quality OOC opponent.

---- "Duke was a 7 seed last year. Their only wins against tournament teams were High Point and UVA. SBU was an 8 seed. Lost to UNC and SU just like Duke did, beat two tourney teams, Hofstra and Towson. Held to a higher standard it appears since Duke was seeded ahead.

Agree SBU does not have a lot of wiggle room but I think they can get an at large bid with a win over NU, SU, FLA or Princeton, assuming those teams stay top 15 and SBU wins all their other games. Maybe JHU will be a challenge. Wonder if SBU tries to add another quality OOC opponent." --------

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Let's try this again.... Below are some actual facts...

Duke was in fact seeded 7th last year, it was Dukes first NCAA appearance since 2016 so it's not as though they get an at large bid to the Tournament with a suspect record.

Duke played 9 games vs teams that were ranked in the Top 20 at the end of the regular season.They were 1 - 8 vs Top 20 teams with their lone quality win coming against Virginia.

Stony Brook played 2 games vs teams that were ranked in the Top 20 at the end of the regular season. They were 0 - 2 vs Top 20 Teams with 0 quality wins.

Stony Brook was not held to a higher standard considering the fact that they had no quality wins (wins vs Top 20 teams) and they played a weak schedule compared to Duke.

It would appear that Stony Brook may actually be held to a lower standard due to the fact that it is unusual for a team with no quality wins and a relatively weak schedule to receive a seed.

Stony Brook has been overrated and overhyped for many years garnering high rankings due to lopsided W L record vs weak competition.

Based on their pre-tournament Rankings, Stony Brook has under performed each year in the NCAA Tournament.

When you look at how Stony Brook has performed Vs Top 10 - 20 Teams, Stony Brook is pedestrian.

Since 2012, Stony Brook is 5 - 21 vs Top 10 Teams (end of season ranking)

Since 2012, Stony Brook is 22 - 25 vs Top 20 Teams (end of season ranking)

Stony Brook always seems to be given the benefit of the doubt (or held to a lower standard) in the preseason polls as well so when they lose one of their OCC games they do not fall too far in the polls.

Based on Stony Brook's actual performance vs competitive teams I'm guessing they would have to schedule OOC teams the same way Duke does in order to insure a .500 record and a chance at an at large bid to the Tournament if they were in the ACC or Big 10.

Stony Brook is very young this year, talented but very young. I like that Spallina never uses that as a crutch and speaks about goals of Final 4 etc. But they will be young and have their work cut out for them. Think they will lose 2/3 games but be in the mix for a 7 or 8 I have seen many other coaches (Florida this year) use the youth as an excuse. Not having the Auto Bid will be interesting but looking at SB schedule they have done a good job with OOC games and teams that will boost RPI obviously wins are best but just playing those games plus Hartford not playing this year will keep that RPI high. You win a few of those and they will maintain a high seed.

Regardless I think a bigger story is JMU and SB being At Large teams will knock others out.

Division I Women’s Lacrosse

Rank Institution Points (FPV) Last Poll
1 Boston College (0 - 0) 648 (24) 1
2 North Carolina (0 - 0) 620 (2) 3
3 Syracuse (0 - 0) 602 2
4 Northwestern (0 - 0) 569 4
5 Notre Dame (0 - 0) 519 6
6 Stony Brook (0 - 0) 509 5
7 Florida (0 - 0) 450 7
8 Duke (0 - 0) 441 8
9 Maryland (0 - 0) 440 10
10 Loyola (0 - 0) 434 9
11 Virginia (0 - 0) 371 11
12 James Madison (0 - 0) 341 12
13 Stanford (0 - 0) 314 16
14 Denver (0 - 0) 285 13
15 Princeton (0 - 0) 265 NR
16 Drexel (0 - 0) 221 15
17 Rutgers (0 - 0) 210 14
18 Jacksonville (0 - 0) 183 18
19 Penn (0 - 0) 163 NR
20 Johns Hopkins (0 - 0) 136 17
21 UConn (0 - 0) 107 21
22 Temple (0 - 0) 88 19
23 Michigan (0 - 0) 83 NR
24 UMass (0 - 0) 78 NR
25 Penn State (0 - 0) 63 T-23

Division II Women’s Lacrosse

Rank Institution Points (FPV) Last Poll
1 Lindenwood (0 - 0) 524 (20) 1
2 UIndy (0 - 0) 496 (1) 3
3 Queens (0 - 0) 478 2
4 Le Moyne (0 - 0) 464 5
5 East Stroudsburg (0 - 0) 404 4
6 West Chester (0 - 0) 403 6
7 Florida Southern (0 - 0) 397 8
8 Rollins (0 - 0) 362 10
9 Regis (CO) (0 - 0) 328 9
10 Roberts Wesleyan (0 - 0) 317 7
11 Adelphi (0 - 0) 306 14
11 Tampa (0 - 0) 306 T-12
13 Limestone (0 - 0) 289 11
14 Grand Valley State (0 - 0) 243 17
15 Mercy (0 - 0) 237 16
16 Bentley (0 - 0) 231 T-12
17 Mount Olive (0 - 0) 192 15
18 Seton Hill (0 - 0) 169 20
19 Pace (0 - 0) 162 19
20 Assumption (0 - 0) 118 18
21 Saint Anselm (0 - 0) 102 22
22 New Haven (0 - 0) 95 21
23 Saint Leo (0 - 0) 63 23
24 Colorado Mesa (0 - 0) 48 24
25 Davenport (0 - 0) 31 25