Lacrosse Playoff Predictions

[Dave H]

Here is my take on the lacrosse playoff situation with 2 weeks to go before the selections. The committee selects 12 teams - 4 AQs, 1 Western Bid, and 7 at-large teams

Hofstra gets an AQ if they win the America East tournament. Hofstra will most likely play Delaware at home in the semis of the AE tournament. They beat Delaware by a goal in the regular season so it should be a competitive game. I would say Hofstra is favored by 3 goals. If they beat Delaware, Hofstra travels to Towson for the final. That game will not be easy. Towson is playing real well. Towson favored by 3.

The Dutchmen can still earn an at large bid if they beat Duke on Saturday and lose to Towson in the AE finals. All of Hofstra'a losses will be against top 10 teams plus they have a quality win against Notre Dame, a top 5 team.

Locks
Princeton 9-1
Syracuse 8-2
Georgetown 10-1
Notre Dame 11-1
Johns Hopkins 6-3
Massachusetts 10-1
Maryland 10-2
Towson 10-2
Loyola 8-2
Bucknell 9-3


Bubble Teams (5 teams fighting for 2 spots)

W-L Remaining games
Virginia 5-6 Ohio State, Butler
Cornell 7-4 Brown, Ohio State
Navy 7-5 Army
Hofstra 7-5 Duke, AE Tournament
Duke 10-4 Hofstra

Quality wins vs. top 10 opponent
Duke - 1 (MD)
Hofstra - 1 (ND)
UVA - 3 (MD, Hopkins, Towson)
Navy - 1 (Georgetown)
Cornell - none

Losses vs. opponents outside the top 10
Duke - 1 (Harvard)
Hofstra - none
UVA - 1 (UNC)
Navy - 2 (UNC, UMBC)
Cornell - 2(UMBC, Penn State)

UVA is most likely to get a bid among the bubble teams but they have to win their final 2 games to have a winning record. If Duke beats Hofstra they are definitely in and Hofstra's only chance is the AQ. If Hofstra beats Duke and Delaware I think it will be very close between Hofstra, Navy and Cornell fot the last spot.

I would also give Penn State a remote chance of getting the last at-large bid.



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Dave H

[the lopper]

Hofstra/Towson rematch in Am East final should be a great game.

UVA could be in real trouble for the post season. It says on alllacrosseamerica.com that Conor Gill is done for the rest of the regular season due to a severe cut in his right hand suffered in ACC tournament. other sources say he'll only miss one game though, so who knows when he'll be back at 100%

Doesn't the ACC champ (duke) get an AQ?

[Dave H]

Dutchmen Advance to Finals!

Hofstra Knocks Delaware Out of America East Men's Lacrosse Playoffs, 11-8...

HEMPSTEAD, NY - For the second straight year, Hofstra University has knocked the University of Delaware out of the America East men's lacrosse tournament.

No. 2 seed and 11th ranked Hofstra scored five goals each in the second and third quarters to take control and post an 11-8 win over No. 3 seed University of Delaware in the America East men's lacrosse semifinals Wednesday night at Hofstra Stadium.

Hofstra (9-5), which downed the Blue Hens 14-4 in last year's title game, advances to the America East championship game Saturday at No. 1 Towson at 1 p.m. Towson advanced with an 18-8 win over No. 4 Vermont Wednesday afternoon. The Dutch, who have won five of the last six America East titles, have now won five straight games and 9 of their last 10.

Delaware, which had won four of its last five games entering the tournament, finished the season at 6-9 despite three-goal efforts from seniors Dave Christopher (Springfield/Springfield, PA) and Jason Lavey (Harborfields/Huntington Station, NY).

Tom Kessler, Adam Hananel, and Paul Defendini each scored two goals and goalkeeper Jack Alaimo recorded eight saves to lead the Pride to the victory. Hofstra had defeated the Blue Hens 11-10 back on April 14 at Hofstra Stadium.

Senior Jason Motta (Lakeland-Panas/Peekskill, NY) added one goal and one assist and sophomore Brad Downer (Annapolis/Annapolis, MD) added a goal for the Blue Hens. Junior goalkeeper Dave Mullen (Ridley/Ridley Park, PA) posted 14 saves in goal for the Blue Hens.

Delaware broke the ice on a goal by Lavey six minutes into the game and Motta gave the Hens a 2-0 cushion with a goal just 10 seconds into the second stanza. But Hofstra reeled off four straight goals to go up 5-2. A goal by Delaware's Christopher 49 seconds before halftime cut the lead to 5-3.

Hofstra opened the second half with two quick goals from Kessler and Defendini and the Blue Hens would never get closer than three goals again. Lavey scored the final goal of the game with 3:53 left to play to cut the lead to 11-8, but the Hens could not score again.

Lavey finished as Delaware's leading scorer for the season, scoring 31 goals and dishing 24 assists for 55 points. He scored at least one point for the 39th straight game and finished his career with 82 goals and 93 assists for 175 points, seventh all-time in Delaware history.

Individual Scoring (Goals-Assists): Delaware - Dave Christopher, 3-0, Jason Lavey, 3-0; Jason Motta, 1-1, Brad Downer, 1-0, R.C. Reed, 0-1, Andrew Benazzi, 0-1, Jamie Andrew, 0-1, Chris Bickley, 0-1, Matt Lehmann, 0-1; Hofstra - Tom Kessler, 2-1, Paul Defendini, 2-0, Adam Hananel, 2-1, Ramar Clash, 1-1, Nick Polanco, 1-0, Steve McTigue, 1-0, Kevin Dougherty, 1-0, Doug Shanahan, 1-0, Scott Dooley, 0-1; Shots: Delaware - 25, Hofstra - 41; Saves: Delaware - 14 (Dave Mullen), Hofstra - 8 (Jack Alaimo); Groundballs: Delaware - 31, Hofstra - 44; Faceoffs: Delaware - 8, Hofstra - 15; Penalties; Delaware - 8 for 6:30, Hofstra - 4 for 3:30; Extra Man Goals: Delaware - 2 for 3, Hofstra - 0 for 8; Clears: Delaware - 17 of 26, Hofstra - 18 of 26.



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Dave H

[dougm]

since drexel slumped - my first bad call this year, i predicted the dragons might get a bid - i gotta back my fellow dutchmen fans and root for hofstra. besides, anything to break the stranglehold on the ncaa by the big 3 - uva, 'cuse & princeton - would be a nice change.

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[Go Hopkins]

Dave H. I am glad Hofstra has a chance, Towson is very tough. Dave, I am a little worried about my Blue Jays. Come on JHU don't disappoint me!

[Edited by Go Hopkins (05-04-2001)]

[Dave H]

Hey -- thanks for checking in, Hopkins.

Yeah -- Towson is a tough team to beat (which we didn't) but we gave them a helluva run for their money.

Anyway, we still made the big tourney.

Here's how it plays out:


Hofstra Men's Lacrosse Makes NCAAs
by John Boell
Newsday Staff Writer

Despite losing to Towson on Saturday in the America East Tournament final, the Hofstra men's lacrosse team made the NCAA Tournament field.

The Dutchmen received the news at 8:18 last night, and the roar of approval and relief from the 100 people assembled nearly sent the roof off the theater of Hofstra's Margiotta Hall.

Hofstra (9-6) qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in six years and meets 1999 champ Virginia (7-6) Sunday at West Point in a first-round game. The winner faces top-seeded Syracuse (11-2) in a quarterfinal game May 19 at Hofstra.

"I didn't know what to think," said Hofstra's Doug Shanahan (Sachem), who thought the Dutch needed to win the America East Tournament to keep its season alive. "I think the win against Duke [April 28] was the way we got in. The Notre Dame win helps, too." Those two top 10 wins helped Hofstra advance instead of UMass (12-2), which beat Hofstra in the Dutchmen's season opener Feb. 24.

"That's why we scheduled the teams we did," coach John Danowski said, "so that if we didn't get [the automatic qualifier], we'd still have a shot."

Hofstra Women at Georgetown. The No. 14 Hofstra women's lacrosse team (16-2) will play at No. 3 Georgetown (14-2) Thursday in an NCAA Tournament first-round game. The semifinals and final will be at Johns Hopkins on May 18-20.

Adelphi at Post in Semifinal. Adelphi (10-2) and 2000 finalist C.W. Post (9-3) will meet in an NCAA Division II Tournament semifinal May 19. In the regular season, Adelphi won at Post, 9-8. Defending champ Limestone (S.C.) hosts Wingate in the other semifinal. The championship will be at Rutgers on May 27.

NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND Saturday at Maryland-Baltimore County: Towson (12-3) vs. Duke (11-5); Loyola (9-3) vs. Georgetown (11-2).

Sunday at West Point: Notre Dame (12-1) vs. Bucknell (10-3); Virginia (7-6) vs. Hofstra (9-6).

QUARTERFINALS May 19 at Hofstra: Virginia-Hofstra winner vs. Syracuse (11-2); Loyola-Georgetown winner vs. Princeton (11-1).

May 20 at the University of Maryland: Notre Dame-Bucknell winner vs. Johns Hopkins (8-3); Towson-Duke winner vs. Maryland (13-2).

SEMIFINALS AND FINAL May 26 and 28, at Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, N.J.


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Dave H