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DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Hey y'all the second whitest sport (just ahead of polo but just behind yachting) is in their national tournament again! This is pretty much the only time anyone pays attention to it! Awesome! With last night's selection shows, the field is set.

USELESS PLAY-IN ROUND ON 5/7 TO SEE WHO GETS MURDERED BY DUKE & SYRACUSE
USAFA vs. Richmond
Bryant vs. Siena

FIRST ROUND (all times eastern)
#8 UVA vs. Johns Hopkins (5/11, 1:00PM ESPN2)
#5 Denver vs. UNC (5/10, 7:30PM, ESPNU)
#4 Penn vs. Drexel (5/11, 3:00PM, ESPNU)
#3 Loyola MD vs. Albany (5/10, noon, ESPNU)
#6 Notre Dame vs. Harvard (5/10, 2:30PM, ESPNU)
#7 Maryland vs. Cornell (5/10, 5:00PM, ESPNU)

#1 Duke vs. USAFA/Richmond winner (5/11, 5:15PM ESPNU)
#2 Syracuse vs. Bryant/Siena winner (5/11, 7:30PM ESPNU)

QUARTERFINALS - May 17-18
James M. Shuart Stadium, Hempstead, NY
Albany/Loyola MD winner vs. Harvard/ND winner (Noon, TV TBD)
Cornell/Maryland winner vs. Bryant/Siena/'Cuse (2:30, TV TBD)

Delaware Stadium, Newark, DE
USAFA/Richmond/Duke winner vs. JHU/UVA winner (Noon, TV TBD)
UNC/Denver winner vs. Drexel/Penn winner (2:30, TV TBD)

SEMIFINALS & FINALS
May 24, 26 at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
Where it should loving stay forever.


Compared to years past, this is actually a pretty wide open bracket. Duke (defending champion) and Syracuse had great years but don't appear to be runaway favorites. UNC/Denver is probably the best first-round matchup and there will be at least 25 goals in it, and whoever wins should kill the Penn/Drexel winner. ND is still as defensive-minded and possession heavy as ever, and while the NCAA won't admit it, the new stall warning timer is basically the Notre Dame Rule. Duke, Loyola and Maryland all have a lot of "been there before" experience. Virginia appears to be the dark horse this year and were very dangerous in the last few weeks.

Your semifinals are still likely to have some combination of typical powers Duke, 'Cuse, UNC, Loyola, and maybe Denver, but upsets are not uncommon. Notre Dame, Cornell, Maryland and UVA are all very dangerous as well, and there's usually one smaller team that either pulls an upset somewhere, or scares the crap out of a top seed, which makes things pretty fun.

TV wise, ESPN has done a really solid job of covering the games over the last few years. Paul Carcaterra and Quint Kessenich are fantastic color commentators and most of the play-by-play guys (save Joe loving Beninati) are at least inoffensive.

In spite of the bro culture that is all over the sport, lacrosse is a shitload of fun to watch. For those new to it, lacrosse can be thought of as a weird hybrid of basketball, hockey, and soccer. The ball moves quick around the field, players usually running at almost full sprint, and shots can break 100MPH pretty easily. Teams will typically score around 10 goals per game (if not more), and 3-5 goal swings are common and can happen within minutes. It's a very physical game as well. The stick checks from defenders must target an opponent's stick but often don't. Players get punished pretty hard for trying to cut close to the goal mouth and around the crease.

Watch some loving lacrosse!

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DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Yesterday:

Albany shocked Loyola 13-6, ND beat Harvard 13-5, Maryland beat Cornell 8-7, and Denver beat UNC 9-5 which is really low scoring for those two.

Today!

Hopkins vs. UVA at 1:00PM on ESPN2

Drexel vs. Penn at 3:00 PM on ESPNU

Air Force vs. Duke at 5:15PM on ESPNU

Bryant vs. Syracuse at 7:30 PM on ESPNU

The later two games shouldn't be much, and I don't know much about Drexel and Penn but Hopkins/UVA should be a blast. :toot:

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Double post :argh:

DJExile fucked around with this message at 15:16 on May 11, 2014

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


UVA all over Hop in the early going

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Hopkins with 3 straight. Now it's fun

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


The logo on the hopkins helmet rules.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


5 straight. Hopkins is not loving around :staredog:

Edit: 6!

DJExile fucked around with this message at 18:37 on May 11, 2014

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Long stick goal for 7 in a row. Holy poo poo.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Uva finally gets one back after giving up 8 straight.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


And 2 straight within 15 seconds for virginia. This loving game.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


9-5 Hopkins at half. Hell of a game.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


UVA back. Goddamn. Yall should be watching this

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


That loving shot :jebstare:

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


That should about do it for Hopkins. Their offense looks fantastic.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Penn up early on neighbor Drexel

swizz
Oct 10, 2004

I can recall being broke with some friends in Tennessee and deciding to have a party and being able to afford only two-fifths of a $1.75 bourbon called Two Natural, whose label showed dice coming up 5 and 2. Its taste was memorable. The psychological effect was also notable.
Joe Breschi is a bad postseason coach, that's all

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


I'm not the only person here! :toot:

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


holy poo poo drexel with 1.9 left

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


that 4th drexel goal owned

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


that hit :stare:

E: holy poo poo he's really lucky that's only 1 minute

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


more high hits, jesus

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


that's a hell of a man-down goal for penn

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


DREXEL :stare:


E: 2 goals in 4.4 seconds holy poo poo

E2: AHAHAHAHA ANOTHER ONE

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


I love Penn's football helmet golf cart just hanging out on the track.

Also goddamn Drexel's faceoff guy is phenomenal

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


penn not dead yet :munch:

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


grats drexel

shyduck
Oct 3, 2003


DREXEL SPORTS!

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


shyduck posted:

DREXEL SPORTS!

haha sup dude

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


6'5" 240 holy poo poo this duke kid :stare:

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


fadeaway shot with 2 seconds? shiiiiiit duke

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


God drat Duke is going to be really hard to beat in this tournament if they keep this up.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Bryant could give Cuse a war. Their goaltender is fantastic.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Hell of a start for Bryant, goddamn

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


wow that's an incredibly lovely call against bryant

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Should be an awesome ending.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Welcome back Cuse, goddamn

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


oh poo poo! 7 seconds!

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


BRYANT GOALIE HOLY poo poo WHAT SAVE

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


QUARTERFINALS feature 4 unseeded teams for the first time ever.

May 17th - Both games at James Shuart Stadium, Hofstra University
Bryant vs. #7 Maryland
Bryant might have the best goalie in the tournament, and he was the major difference against Syracuse. Maryland needed a goal in the last 2 seconds to beat a pesky Cornell squad, and that was their only lead of the game. Still, Maryland's been here before, and it's Bryant's first ever time in the quarterfinals. Bryant has lost some bad games in the regular season, but they're a brutal matchup for some teams and play a fantastic zone defense.

Albany vs. #6 Notre Dame
Albany's offense is just sick, and their upset of Loyola-MD was only an upset on paper. They can score on anyone and the Thompson brothers can put on a hell of a show. They were not known to be defensively strong this year but they were really on point against Loyola. Notre Dame is one of the best defensive programs in the country, but they're in a little bit of transition this year after a senior-heavy year. Their offense finally opened up late this season and they had no problems handling an overmatched Harvard. Expect to see a lot of stall warnings/timer-on calls against ND as they'll try to keep it away from the Thompsons as long as they can.

May 18th - Both games at Delaware Stadium, Univ. of Delaware
#1 Duke vs. Johns Hopkins
Hopkins did some phenomenal work against a great #8 Virginia squad. They can score goals in bunches and Dave Pietramala is one of the best coaches in the business. Defensively they are not the strongest but they can score at will. Schneider in goal has done very well for them too. Duke is the overall #1 for a very good reason. They are probably have the most scoring depth of anyone in the tournament, which makes them a nightmare for opposing defenses. Myles Jones should be on their football team, he's a 6'5" 240lb midfielder and had 3 goals and 5 assists against Air Force.

#5 Denver vs. Drexel
Bill Tierney is one of the best coaches you could want in May. He was at Princeton for years, now he's turned Denver into a monster. They have owned UNC for the last 3 years and are a constant threat in the tournament. Denver shoots a ton and will make your goaltender beat them. Drexel was largely unknown until they destroyed neighboring Penn. Nick Saputo is one of the best faceoff specialists in the country and scored 2 goals on his own in less than 12 seconds to take the lead at the end of the first half against Penn. They can score plenty but were prone to giveaways that Penn couldn't capitalize on. Drexel has never been to the quarterfinals and Denver should be ready for them.

The winners of the May 18th games should make for a hell of a high scoring semifinal.

DJExile fucked around with this message at 03:32 on May 12, 2014

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DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


So much for Bryant. Yeesh.

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