There are now just three days worth of lacrosse left before we establish the field for the 2014 Division III Men’s Lacrosse Tournament and they promise to be among the best three days of the season. Automatic bids up for grabs, Pool B teams looking to solidify their place among the non-AQ programs, and Pool C dreams rising and falling with every goal scored by a lower-seeded team. Is there another St. Mary’s out there this season ready to upset the delicate balance of the established upper tier? We can only hope so.
Photo credit Flickr/gomustangs
Liberty League Highlights Friday Slate
RIT vs. St. Lawrence, 4:00 p.m.
Union vs. RPI, 4:00 p.m.
The unbeaten RIT Tigers have held the No. 1 spot since roaring back to beat Stevenson months ago and since then have rolled through their non-conference and Liberty League schedules without breaking more than just a single sweat. They wrapped up their regular season on Saturday with a 19-12 win over St. Lawrence and will face the Saints again Friday afternoon. Four Tigers have passed the 50-point mark this year and that firepower should hold up – at least for one game. Prediction: RIT, 20-9
Union flew up the polls back in mid March when they went on a run of eight consecutive wins over teams like Wesleyan, Springfield College, Williams, St. Lawrence, and St. John Fisher. The Dutchmen have bested every team they’ve played save for RIT and Cortland. This game is a rematch of an April 12 game that saw RPI push the Dutchmen to double overtime before Jonathan Andrews buried one in the back of the net. Expect a good game, but not that good. Prediction: Union, 11-7.
Saturday Could Reveal Pool C Favorites
CAC Championship: Salisbury vs. York, 2:00 p.m.
Centennial Conference Championship: Washington College vs. Franklin & Marshall, 1:00 p.m.
Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship: Endicott vs. Western New England, 3:00 p.m.
CSAC Championship: Cabrini vs. Marywood, 3:00 p.m.
Empire 8 Championship: Ithaca vs. St. John Fisher, 4:00 p.m.
MAC – Commonwealth Championship: Stevenson vs. Albright, 7:00 p.m.
NEWMAC Championship: Springfield College vs. Babson, 1:00 p.m.
Skyline Championship: Montclair State vs. Kean, 1:00 p.m.
SUNYAC Championship: Cortland vs. Plattsburgh, 1:00 p.m.
Within that group of eight games will be eight teams guaranteed to make the tournament through automatic bids. That means that half of those teams – a group that could include Franklin & Marshall, York, Plattsburgh, and St. John Fisher – will be waiting with bated breath to find out if they made the cut for one of the five at-large bids up for grabs in 2014. All of this takes out of consideration the ODAC and NESCAC Tournaments, which will be playing semifinal games that same day.
Let’s say, hypothetically, that RIT, Cortland, Montclair, Springfield, Tufts, and Ithaca all take care of business and win their respective conferences up North. That would leave Union, (No. 3 in Regional Ranking), Amherst (No. 5), and Wesleyan (No. 7) all on the outside looking in for the Pool C at-large bids. Down south, if Salisbury, Washington College and Roanoke take care of business that leaves Lynchburg (No. 6), York (No. 7), Washington & Lee (No. 9), and Franklin & Marshall (No. 11) sitting on their hands.
Predictions: Salisbury, Washington College, Endicott, Cabrini, Ithaca, Stevenson, Springfield, Montclair, Cortland clinch AQ bids.
Sunday Championships Keep Us on Edge
Liberty League Championship: Semifinal winners, 12:00 p.m.
Little East Championship: Semifinal winners, TBA
NESCAC Championship: Semifinal winners, 12:00 p.m.
ODAC Championship: Semifinal winners, TBA
Fortunately for the selection committee, Amherst will play Wesleyan on Saturday for a spot in the NESCAC final and Lynchburg will face W&L in the ODAC. The winners of those games will have an inside track should they fall in their conference finals, making for a slightly easier selection process.
If the Liberty League comes down to RIT and Union, both teams will likely make the tournament regardless of the outcome. The NESCAC and ODAC are in similar positions, meaning that we won’t have a clear picture of the tournament until Sunday afternoon at the earliest.
