Spring Ball: Revised

Spring Ball

I chose to revise this post because as my last lacrosse post I wanted to inform everyone the current rankings as we move into the final week before the championship games. I would also like to give my two cents on a few of the teams and how they might do come May 12th, first round of playoffs.

Original post can be found here

Notre Dame Irish

Regarding the Loyola Maryland vs Johns Hopkins game, if any of you couldn’t watch the game, Loyola had one of the worst starts they have had all year. However, they managed to tie up the game in the last 5 seconds of the game. During overtime Johns Hopkins scored the winning goal giving them the first win over Loyola this year. And as I predicted in my previous Spring Ball post, Johns Hopkins is starting to click with some impressive wins lately. However, with Loyola taking its first lost a few things happened in the current rankings. Notre Dame took the number one seed above Massachusetts at number 2. Loyola was bumped down to number 3 and Duke down to number 4 as well. 

Notre Dame is a very strong team that has always been seeded in the top five for past handful of years. I predict that they well have a good shot during the final four. Massachusetts is as well, dominating this season as they remain the last team undefeated. I would put money on Massachusetts losing at least one game before the playoffs due to the remaining tough games they have. That leaves Duke, Loyola and Johns Hopkins (number 5 seed) all with, in my eye, an equal shot for the playoffs and the final four showdown.

Massachusetts

Duke

The Work Horses

I am slightly bias on this topic but my favorite college lacrosse team is the Syracuse Orangemen. I could be bias because my coach once played for them and they were one of the first teams I had ever watched live. Also the first time I watched the was one of the greatest championship games in the past decade.

In 2009 I traveled down to Boston, MA, to the Gillette Stadium to watch the college lacrosse Final Four. The Final Four is similar to any other sport, the final two teams of both division one and two play for the champion title within their division. The game I need to tell you about is the Syracuse vs Cornell d1 Championship game. The first three quarters were consistent back and forth play, until cornell got ahead three goals in the 4th quarter. With 5 and a half minutes left the consensus was that Cornell would be able to hold the ball and take the title. I think the rest of the game is best described by the actual footage. This clip plays out the clips better than I can retell the gameplay.

Again the Loyola Maryland vs Johns Hopkins game is being played out right now, Saturday 1:00 pm. The game has been talked up for the last week as both coaches are brothers. The game can be streamed from the Loyola website. 

The Untouchable Greyhounds

Loyola University Maryland (Greyhounds) men's lacrosse team has recently been ranked number one by both the NCAA and USILA coaches rankings. Loyola's record is currently 13-0, and so far this season they have been an unstoppable beast. It is a feat within itself to be ranked the number one college lacrosse team but Loyola has claimed another astonishing statistic beyond this. First it is important to know that the Greyhounds have not held the number one position since 1999. It is also important to know that in the beginning of this season, for the first polling, Loyola was not ranked. For a team to enter unranked and rise to the number one seed is not common at all, in fact its only happened once before. The last team to accomplish this was Duke in 2007. Since 1973, when the first polls were taken, only these two teams have been able to pull this off.

Loyola Maryland has always been a fairly decent team, however recently their play has been phenomenal. Watching them move the ball up the field with such ease is a slight to see. And not to mention the teamwork and camaraderie that the Greyhounds have been showing ever so prominently lately. Loyola Maryland will be playing Johns Hopkins this Saturday, April 28th at 1:00 pm. Both of these teams are having strong season and I highly recommend any lacrosse fans watch the game. I am unsure if it will be broadcasted on TV however, it can be streamed live from Loyola Maryland's website.

Duke Reigns Again

Before I get started, if anyone is looking for gear, drills or 'how-to' videos on lacrosse, head over to Lax Lessons Blog and get started today.

In 2010 Duke took the title as the Division 1 Men's Lacrosse Champions. Last year Duke fell in the ranks and played an awful game against Maryland in the Semifinals. However, they must have learned something because Duke just took the ACC mens lacrosse title for the season. Duke is No. 7 seed and they beat the No. 3 seed North Carolina. The ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) is possibly the toughest conference to win. In the ACC are some of the best teams like Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and of course Duke.

No other conference title have been played for yet, most will be played in the first week of May. Then shortly after the NCAA Championship will start. 16 teams compete, and as of right now the top 8 seeded teams are as follows, from 1st to 8th; Loyola Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Notre Dame, Duke, and Cornell. Then again in lacrosse it really is anyones game, if a teams is playing its best all season there is a very good chance that they could take the title.

So far this season there are two undefeated teams, Loyola and Massachusetts. As a few more games play out I will post about the success' behind these teams.

Spring Ball

        With a change in weather we also see the snow melt on the fields and the turfs heat up. College lacrosse has started up again and teams are playing better than ever. Johns Hopkins dominated at home the other day, April 6th. They played Albany and took their 12th consecutive home win. I've always been a fan of Johns Hopkins, they play smart, quick, move the ball well and have some of the best plays. With Dave Pietramala, one of the best defensive coaches I think Johns Hopkins is going to have a very strong season this year.
        The great thing to see about the Blue Jays (Johns Hopkins) this year is that they are really utilizing all there players. Against Albany this Friday, 11 different guys scored of their total 17 goals. Thats a very broad spread for any game or team in this league. In fact it seems like the trend this year to spread the goals out between all the team. Cornell crushed Harvard this Saturday and again 11 different guys scored their total of 14 goals. I think this season is going to bring some unique trends, plays and spotlight a few unanticipated players.