BearLaxTraxFax by John Nichols 04.20.14

This week’s Bears Lax Trax Facts goes conference by conference to both recap the games and cover how the outcomes affected the upcoming conference tournaments. Conference tournaments are an important prologue to the NCAA tournament as tournament winners are automatically qualified for the NCAA tournament regardless of their regular season records. This year the NCAA has expanded the tournament field to 18 teams—10 automatic qualifiers (AQs) and 8 at large slots.

BEARS vs. BEARS

Georgetown (Alex Joyce ’12) faced Marquette (Cullen Cassidy ’09) in the week’s only Bears vs. Bears contest. For Georgetown a win was absolutely necessary to keep their post-season hopes alive while Marquette was seeking to lock up their spot in the Big East tournament field. Marquette pulled out the 11-10 victory in overtime. The Golden Eagles were down 10-7 with less than 12 minutes left in the contest, but scored the final 3 goals of the game to force overtime. Marquette won the faceoff to start overtime and maintained possession until they scored the winner 54 seconds into overtime.

ACC: April 25 and 27 at PPL Park in Philadelphia

Maryland (Kellen Miller ’11) and Notre Dame played the final ACC regular season game on Saturday. Maryland pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn a 12-8 win and the top seed in the ACC tournament. Maryland will play Notre Dame again in the tournament semi-finals on Friday. Duke plays Syracuse in the other semi-final game. The winners will meet on Sunday for the ACC title which, for the first time, includes an AQ slot into the tournament.

UVA (Mike Rhoads ’13) and North Carolina face each other in a PRI padding exhibition game on the Saturday between the ACC tournament semi-finals and finals.

Currently, most prognosticators have all six ACC teams making the field. If that is how things work out, that leaves a mere 3 at-large slots for the rest of D-I which significantly raises the stakes in all of the other conference tournaments. Of the six ACC teams, Notre Dame is regarded as the team with the greatest need of a win this weekend.

Atlantic Sun: May 1 and 3 site based on seeding

Furman (Connor Lynch ’13) lost to Mercer, one of the top teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference, 9-8. The game was tight throughout, with neither team ever having more than a one goal edge. Mercer netted the winner with 53 seconds left on the clock and held on for the win.

Richmond’s 13-12 win over Jacksonville on Sunday puts Furman in the position of having to beat Jacksonville and hope for a Richmond loss to VMI so that the tie breaker advantage that the Paladins have over the Spiders comes into play.

Big East: May 1 and 3 at Villanova

Coming into the weekend, Denver (Harrison Archer ’10) and Villanova had clinched spots in the four team tournament with Marquette (Cullen Cassidy ’09), Rutgers, St. John’s and Georgetown (Alex Joyce ’12) all still in the mix for the two remaining slots

Denver (Harrison Archer ’10) stayed undefeated in the Big East with a win over Providence this week. Harrison had two shots in the game. Denver faces Marquette in another Bears vs. Bears game this coming week. The winner of that game locks up the #1 seed for the conference tournament.

In this week’s only Bears vs. Bears game, Marquette (Cullen Cassidy ’09) downed Georgetown (Alex Joyce ’12) 11-10 (see our Bears vs. Bears report, above). Marquette’s win over Georgetown moved the Golden Eagles into the tournament field and eliminated Georgetown from the field.

Either Rutgers or St. John’s will get the fourth seed for the Big East tournament. Rutgers needs a win over Georgetown in order to take advantage of their tie break over St. John’s. St John’s has completed Big East play already. If Georgetown beats Rutgers, St. John’s gets the #4 seed in the Big East tournament.

Colonial Athletic Conference: April 30 and May 3 at the higher seed’s field

Three of the four seeds are set already for the CAA tournament. Hofstra, Drexel (Hank Brown ’12) and Towson are in, but yet to be seeded.  The fourth slot will be decided based on who wins the upcoming U Mass vs. Delaware (Phil Pena ’13, Taylor Valencia ’13) game. Penn State was locked out of the race by the conference commissioners due to their upcoming move to Big 10 next year.

Drexel (Hank Brown ’12) downed Towson 13-7 this week with Hank scoring his first goal of the season.

Delaware (Phil Pena ’13, Taylor Valencia ’13) fell to Penn State 10-6.

ECAC—May 1 and 3 at Ohio State

The NCAA granted the ECAC an AQ slot despite having only 5 teams. For the past several years the conference has fielded the requisite six teams. The field is set for the ECAC tournament, but not the seeds. Air Force, Ohio State (Luke Howard ’11), Fairfield could be seeded 1, 2 or 3 and Michigan is locked in at the 4 seed.

Ohio State (Luke Howard ’11) beat Air Force 8-6 and the Buckeyes now stand as the only team in the ECAC that is undefeated in conference play. The win gives them a head-to-head tie breaker advantage

Ivy League—May 2 and 4 at the #1 seed site

Coming into this weekend, there were five teams competing for four slots and pretty much any combination of four from Harvard, Cornell (Joe Paoletta ’10, Will Joyce ’10, Marshall Peters ’13), Yale, Penn (Will Laco ’11, Garrett Fellows ’13, Peter Laco ’13) and Princeton (Brian Reilly ’09, Jack Strabo C ’10, Justin Murphy ’11, Mark Strabo ’12) was possible.

Cornell (Joe Paoletta ’10, Will Joyce ’10, Marshall Peters ’13) downed Brown 14-9 to get back in the win column after 3 straight losses. More importantly, the win assures the Big Red a spot in the Ivy League tournament and keeps their hopes alive for a #1 seeding. Joe had a goal, a ground ball and two caused turnovers while Marshall chipped in 4 ground balls.

Penn (Will Laco ’11, Garrett Fellows ’13, Peter Laco ’13) downed Dartmouth 9-3. The Quaker’s fourth Ivy League win locks them into the tournament.

Princeton (Brian Reilly ’09, Jack Strabo C ’10, Justin Murphy ’11, Mark Strabo ’12) fell to Harvard to end hopes of making the Ivy League tournament. Despite the loss and missing the Ivy League tournament, some prognosticators have Princeton in the NCAA field with an at-large slot. In the game against Harvard, Justin Murphy was 8 for 19 at the faceoff X and had 4 ground balls. Jack Strabo was credited with a caused turnover while brother Mark had 2 ground balls.

Patriot League: April 22, 25 and 27

The nine-team Patriot League is putting on a six team tournament. Navy (Matt Morrison C ’09, Patrick Keena ’11) plays Lehigh and Bucknell (Sam McDonough C ’10) plays Colgate (Robby Dunigan ’13)—Bears vs. Bears!—in the quarter finals with the winners going on to face #1 seed Loyola and #2 seed Army. With tournament pairings set, play in the Patriot League was more focused on building a good resume for the NCAA tournament. Forecasts for the NCAA tournament indicate while Loyola would likely get an at-large bid if they lose in the Patriot League tournament this coming week, that only the AQ path—winning the league tournament—will provide the rest of the field access to the NCAA tournament.

Bucknell (Sam McDonough C ’10) played #X ranked Loyola, trying to pick up a signature win. Unfortunately, the Bison couldn’t decode the Loyola defense and fell 13-5. Sam had a caused turnover for Bucknell.

Colgate (Robby Dunigan ’13) lost to Army 8-7. Robby had one ground ball for Colgate.

Navy (Matt Morrison C ’09, Patrick Keena ’11) played Johns Hopkins in a historic rematch of long-time rivals. The Midshipmen fell to the Blue Jays 7-6, a frustrating loss considering Navy bested Hopkins in almost every statistical category. Patrick had one assist for the Navy.

American East Conference

Vermont (Coach Ryan Curtis ’96) is in last place in the conference and will not make the conference tournament. This week the Catamounts lost to Hartford 11-7.

April 21 D-I Polls	USLIA Coaches Poll	Warrior Media Poll	Quint’s Top 20	Lax Power Forum Poll
Denver	3	3	5	4
Maryland	5	7	7	5
Penn	10	8	10	8
Virginia	8	10	9	9
Cornell	11	12	12	10
Drexel	17	16	14	17
Princeton	19	20	NR	V
Colgate	NR	NR	NR	V
Ohio State	V	V	16	NR

This coming week:

In addition to the ACC and Patriot League tournaments, interesting games this coming week include:

Cornell (Joe Paoletta ’10, Will Joyce ’10, Marshall Peters ’13) plays Princeton (Brian Reilly ’09, Jack Strabo C ’10, Justin Murphy ’11, Mark Strabo ’12) in a game that will feature 7 Bears between the two teams.

Denver (Harrison Archer ’10) plays Marquette (Cullen Cassidy ’09) in the week’s third Bears vs. Bears match up.

D-III

We are heading into the final days of the 2014 for D-III as well and these teams are also looking to the post-season tournaments for conferences and the NCAA.

Centennial Conference: April 30 and May 3 @ Higher seed

Gettysburg (Wes Lincoln ’10) and Dickinson (Austin Dodson ’10) play in the tough and highly regarded Centennial Conference. The top 4 teams make the tournament. Washington College and Franklin & Marshall are set as the top seeds and Gettysburg and Dickinson are among four teams that could grab the last two slots.

This week, Dickinson (Austin Dodson ’10) beat Swarthmore 9-6. Austin had one shot and two ground balls for the Red Devils.

Gettysburg (Wes Lincoln ’10) fell to #6 ranked and Centennial Conference leader Washington College 13-8. Wes was 1-for-3 in faceoffs.

NESCAC: April 26, May 3 and May 4 at Higher seed

Colby College (Sam Lamson ’12) and Hamilton (Sellers Garrett ’12) play in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, a highly competitive lacrosse league. Eight of the eleven teams in the conference make the conference tournaments. The field has been set but not all of the seeds. Colby is the #8 seed and will face #1 seed Tufts. Hamilton finished 9^th in the conference and there season will not be extended.

Colby College (Sam Lamson ’12) lost to Middlebury 12-6 this week.

Although Hamilton’s (Sellers Garrett ’12) season came to an end this week, it did so on a winning note as the Continentals downed the Trinity Bantams 14-11. Sellers had two ground balls in the win.

North Coast Athletic Conference: April 23 and 26 at Higher seed

Ohio Wesleyan (Tommy Minkler ’11) plays in the tough NCAC where #4 ranked Dennison is the top seed. Ohio Wesleyan garnered the #2 seed for the conference tournament, their only conference loss coming to Dennison.

Ohio Wesleyan finished up their regular season with a win and a loss—falling to league leader Dennison 10-9 then taking a 14-6 decision over Wittenberg. In the Dennison game, OWU built a two goal lead late in the third quarter in what had been a back and forth contest that was tied at 5 at the half. Unfortunately for the Battlin’ Bishops, Dennison scored the game’s last three goals to take the win. Tommy had an assist and a ground ball in the Dennison game. Against Wittenberg, Tommy had 3 goals and an assist.

Ohio Wesleyan plays Kenyon in the semi-finals of the NCAC tournament this week.