The Lacrosse Blog- May 27

Lacrosse has always been immensely popular in the state of Maryland.  Unfortunately, I know as much about the sport as Kevin Federline knows about ambition.  Therefore, my main man Bryan will be hooking you up with the lacrosse knowledge throughout the season.  Here is his latest installment:

Here is the final lacrosse recap of the season. Lets start with the “Boston Sea (Gull) Party” as the school’s web site called it. Salisbury won their 8th national title in 14 years with a 19-13 win over Cortland State. Kylor Berkman had 5 goals and 2 assists to win the Most Outstanding Player award. Bruce Richardson also had 5 goals for the Sea Gulls.  Nick Fiorentino also stepped up with a career high 14 saves. He will now join the Sea Gull coaching staff as a graduate assistant. Here are some amazing stats for Salisbury. They were 22-0 this season. They carry a 45 game winning streak into next season. In the last 6 years they are 124-2 with 5 national titles and lost in overtime in the sixth title game. Greg Titus missed the 2006 season but came back to play in 2007 and 2008. His final college record is 85-0. Not much more to say about this dynasty.

 

In division one Johns Hopkins pulled off a huge upset when they beat Duke 10-9 on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays slowed the pace of the game down by holding the ball on offense which frustrated Duke and forced them into making mistakes by trying to force passes and shots that weren’t there. In the other semifinal Syracuse beat Virginia 12-11 in double OT. The game winner was scored by Mike Leveille. It was his fifth of the game. Those two games set up the unlikely final of Johns Hopkins and Syracuse. Johns Hopkins started strong leading 4-2 after the first quarter. Unfortunately they had to keep playing and Syracuse dominated the second quarter to take a 6-5 halftime lead. Mike Gvozden kept Hopkins in the game with a couple great saves in that quarter. He would finish with 20 saves for the game. In the second half it was more of the same. Syracuse eventually would build a 13-8 lead and Hopkins never got back in the game. Hopkins had 23 turnovers and a couple defensive lapses which proved costly. Paul Rabil tried to keep Hopkins in it with 6 goals in his last game as a Blue Jay but it wasn’t enough.

 

Syracuse and Salisbury both are deserving 2008 champions.

The Lacrosse Blog- May 23

Lacrosse has always been immensely popular in the state of Maryland.  Unfortunately, I know as much about the sport as John Daly knows about dieting.  Therefore, my main man Bryan will be hooking you up with the lacrosse knowledge throughout the season.  Here is his latest installment:

Here is the last weekend preview for this season. All of this weekend’s action takes place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Mass. On Saturday you have two great division one semifinals. At noon it will be #2 Virginia and #3 Syracuse. Virgina won the regular season game 14-13 in overtime.  This should be a face paced game which will be a nice change from the normal slow down style that prevalent today. I like Syracuse in a 2 or 3 goal game. Then at 2:30 you get a rematch of last years national championship game when #1 Duke plays #5 Johns Hopkins. Duke won the regular season game 17-6 in Durham. This was the last loss before Hopkins’ started their current 7 game winning streak. Duke will want to turn this game into a face paced track meet. Johns Hopkins will want long possessions to keep the ball away from the very dangerous Duke offense. I think Duke will find a way to pull out a one or 2 goal game possibly in overtime. Both games will be on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD. The winners will meet Monday at 1pmon ESPN and ESPN HD for the championship. I like Duke to win the title in a high scoring game over Syracuse. Sunday is when the division three championship game will be played. At 1:30 Salisbury will look for back to back perfect seasons and championships when they play Cortland State. Cortland State beat Salisbury 13-12 in overtime to win the 2006 title and the Sea Gulls got revenge with a 15-9 win in last years title game. I think the Salisbury goalie situation could be a huge factor in this game. Nick Fiorintino is going to have to play very well for the Sea Gulls to win this game. I see it going into overtime then Salisbury will find a way to win it. This game will be on CBS College Sports.

The Lacrosse Blog- May 19

Lacrosse has always been immensely popular in the state of Maryland.  Unfortunately, I know as much about the sport as Roger Clemens knows about monogamy.  Therefore, my main man Bryan will be hooking you up with the lacrosse knowledge throughout the season.  Here is his latest installment:

Here is the lacrosse recap for an amazing weekend of lacrosse. In division three Salisbury and Cortland State will meet for the third straight year in the national championship game. The two teams took very different routes to get there though. Cortland State cruised into the game with a
16-5 win over Ithaca College yesterday afternoon. Salisbury on the other hand had to work very hard to beat Gettysburg. During the day on Saturday word started to spread that the Sea Gulls’ first and second string goalies had been kicked off the team. According to a letter of apology written by Zach Krissoff the former starting goalie on May 16th he destroyed the personal property of several residents of a Salisbury neighborhood. He is accepting responsibility for his actions and will accept whatever punishment he is given. The players have also been kicked out of school. This situation meant that Nick Fioentino would be making his second career start in the cage for Salisbury. The Sea Gulls ended up with a 11-10 victory in double overtime before 1,411 people. The game winning goal was scored with 2:48 left by Kylor Berkman. Here is a quote from Coach Jim Berkman about his new starting goalie’s play. “I think Nick’s performance today was a tribute to all of the guys that had been on the sidelines over the past 20 years that probably didn’t play as much as they wanted to, but they worked hard every day in practice. It is a reflection of all of the guys that have been behind the scenes that have been integral parts of Sea Gull lacrosse.”  The national title game is next Sunday in Foxborough Mass. Game time is 1:30 and it will be on CBS College Sports.

In division one 17,017 turned out at Navy to see Saturday’s doubleheader. In the first game Maryland led for most of the game but the turning point came when Travis Reed scored to give Maryland an 8-6 lead. The goal ended up being disallowed because he stepped in the crease. Although Maryland got the ball back because of a loose ball push against Virginia they would not score again. Virginia eventually tied the game at 7 then in overtime Ben Rubeor scored the game winner to send UVA to the final four.  In the second game Johns Hopkins held Navy scoreless for 33 minutes to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 8-3 lead and eventually won the game 10-4. Hopkins next opponent will be Duke who beat Ohio State 21-10 yesterday behind 6 goals and 5 assists from Zach Greer.  Virginia will play Syracuse who came from behind to beat Notre Dame 11-9.  So next Saturday in Foxborough it will be Virginia and Syracuse at noon followed by Johns Hopkins and Duke at 2:30. Tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 ESPN2 will have a one hour special to review the season and preview the championship weekend. I will give you my preview of the division one semifinals and division three championship game on Friday.

The Lacrosse Blog- May 16

Lacrosse has always been immensely popular in the state of Maryland.  Unfortunately, I know as much about the sport as Roger Clemens knows about monogamy.  Therefore, my main man Bryan will be hooking you up with the lacrosse knowledge throughout the season.  Here is his latest installment:

Here is my preview for the division one quarterfinals and division three semifinals. Lets start in division one. Tomorrow they are expecting a crowd between 20 and 30 thousand if the weather is good to watch two great lacrosse games. At noon #2 Virginia plays #7 Maryland for the third time this season. Maryland won the regular season meeting in College Park and UVA won the rematch in the ACC tournament in Charlottesville. Virginia will win by 2-3 goals.  At 3PM #5 Johns Hopkins will try to beat Navy for the 35th straight time. Hopkins won the regular season meeting 12-5 on the same field. I am predicting that this game will be a lot closer but Hopkins will come out the winner again. Both games will be on ESPNU if you can’t make it to Annapolis. On Sunday the scene shifts to Cornell University in upstate New York. At noon #1 Duke plays Ohio State. Duke has two much fire power and will advance to the final four. Then at 3PM #3 Syracuse plays #6 Notre Dame. This might as well be a homegame for Syracuse. I like them to get back to the final four after a 2 year absence. ESPNU also has these two games. In division three Salisbury beat Cabrini 15-7 on Wednesday night. Cabrini’s fans provided a little extra motivation for Salisbury by trying to interrupt their walk to the stadium. It was 8-2 at haltime and although Cabrini tried to get back into the game in the third quarter Salisbury outscored them 4-1 in the fourth quarter to seal the win. The Sea Gulls will host Gettysburg on Sunday at 1PM in the semifinals. The Bullets beat Washington College 12-5 on Wednesday. It was the third time they beat the Shoremen this season. Salisbury came back from a 7-2 halftime deficit to win the regular season meeting 11-8 on the road. I like Salisbury to win this game by 3-4 goals. Ithaca College travels to Cortland State in the other semifinal. As I predicted at the beginning of the tournament I like Salisbury vs. Cortland State for the third straight season in he NCAA title game. I will recap all of the action on Monday and set up the NCAA championship weekend in Boston.

The Lacrosse Blog- May 12

Lacrosse has always been immensely popular in the state of Maryland.  Unfortunately, I know as much about the sport as Roger Clemens knows about monogamy.  Therefore, my main man Bryan will be hooking you up with the lacrosse knowledge throughout the season.  Here is his latest installment:

Here is your weekend lacrosse recap. The quarterfinal games are set in divisions one and three. In division one Navy upset #4 North Carolina 8-7 and Johns Hopkins beat Hofstra 10-4. Navy and Johns Hopkins will meet Saturday at 3 PM in a quarterfinal game. That game will take place at Navy which is a predetermined site. The other quarterfinal game at Navy will be #7 Maryland who beat Denver 10-7 and #2 Virginia who beat UMBC 10-9. That game will start at noon. If the weather is decent there will be a big crowd for these two games even with the Preakness on the same day. The other two quarterfinals take place at Cornell on Sunday. #1 Duke who beat Loyola 12-7 will play Ohio State who upset

#8 Cornell 15-7. That game is at noon. Syracuse who is the #3 seed beat Canisius 20-3. They move on to play #6 Notre Dame who beat Colgate 8-7 in overtime. In division three Coach Jim Berkman became the NCAA all time wins leader when Salisbury beat Ohio Wesleyan 13-5. Coach Berkman has a career record of 327-35. The Sea Gulls move on to host Cabrini College on Wednesday night at 7:30 in the quarterfinals. Washington College beat Lynchburg 12-9 yesterday. The Shoremen travel to Gettysburg Wednesday for a quarterfinal game. The winners of the Salisbury game and the Washington College game will meet next weekend for a birth in the national championship game. I will preview the division one quarterfinals and the division three semifinals on Friday.

The Lacrosse Blog- May 9

Lacrosse has always been immensely popular in the state of Maryland.  Unfortunately, I know as much about the sport as Roger Clemens knows about monogamy.  Therefore, my main man Bryan will be hooking you up with the lacrosse knowledge throughout the season.  Here is his latest installment:

Here is your preview for the first round of the NCAA tournament. In division one ESPNU will televise all eight first round games. They will start at noon, 2:30, 5:00, and 7:30 both tomorrow and Sunday. The local schedule starts at noon tomorrow when Maryland hosts Denver. After that game Loyola travels to Duke at 2:30. The last local team in action tomorrow is Navy who travels to North Carolina tomorrow night at 7:30. On Sunday Johns Hopkins hosts Hofstra at 2:30 and UMBC travels to Virginia at 5:00. In division three Salisbury hosts Ohio Wesleyan tomorrow night at 7:30.  Salisbury won the first meeting between these teams 14-10 back in March. This is a night game because the undefeated and #1 seeded Salisbury women’s lacrosse team hosts the first and second rounds of their NCAA tournament tomorrow and Sunday.  Washington College hosts the only Sunday game in division three when they host Lynchburg at 1:30. This game is Sunday because of Lynchburg’s graduation. The winner of this gae will have very little time to prepare for their next game on Wednesday most likely at Gettysburg who has already beaten Washington College twice this season. I will recap and give you the quarterfinal match ups on Monday.

The Lacrosse Blog- May 5

Lacrosse has always been immensely popular in the state of Maryland.  Unfortunately, I know as much about the sport as Roger Clemens knows about monogamy.  Therefore, my main man Bryan will be hooking you up with the lacrosse knowledge throughout the season.  Here is his latest installment:

Here is the lacrosse recap and NCAA tournament preview. This weekend in division one Hopkins beat Loyola 9-6. Maryland beat Yale 16-10 and UMBC came back from 9 goals down to beat Albany 14-13 to win the America East automatic birth. The NCAA bracket has some interesting first round games. Fifth seeded Hopkins will look to avenge one of their losses when they host Hofstra. The winner of that game get the winner of Navy and #4 North Carolina. Loyola gets to travel to #1 Duke in the first round. The winner of that game plays #8 Cornell or Ohio State. The other bracket with local teams in it has #7 Maryland hosting Denver and #2 seed Virginia hosting UMBC. The last bracket is #3 Syracuse hosting Canisus and #6 Notre Dame hosting Colgate. I like a Duke and Syracuse National Title game with Duke winning their first championship. In division three Washington College lost to Gettysburg 12-7 in the Centennial Conference championship game but made the tournament. The Shoremen host Lynchburg next weekend. It is tentatively scheduled for Saturday but so is Lynchburg’s graduation so they are trying to work something out. Salisbury will host the winner between Kenyon College and Ohio Wesleyan next Saturday. The Sea Gulls beat Ohio Wesleyan 14-10 earlier this season. I like Salisbury and Cortland State to play for the National Title for a third straight season. Salisbury will win it but they will have to work a lot harder then they have in past years. They could have a rematch with either Washington College or Gettysburg in the semifinals. Either way that will be a huge challenge. I will preview the NCAA tournament on Friday.

 

The Lacrosse Blog- May 2

Lacrosse has always been immensely popular in the state of Maryland.  Unfortunately, I know as much about the sport as Roger Clemens knows about monogamy.  Therefore, my main man Bryan will be hooking you up with the lacrosse knowledge throughout the season.  Here is his latest installment:

Here is your lacrosse preview for the last weekend of the regular season. In division one Johns Hopkins looks to continue its 4 game winning streak when they travel up Charles Street to play Loyola. A win for Hopkins would cement a NCAA birth. Loyola is already in the tournament. UMBC beat Binghamton 6-5 in overtime last night in the America East semifinals. The Retrievers are probably already in the tournament but they can lock up a birth with a win over Albany in the Championship game tomorrow night at 7:30 in Catonsville. In division three Salisbury is off but Washington College travels to Gettysburg for the Centennial Conference tournament. The Shoremen play Haverford today at 4:30 with the winner moving to Sunday’s championship game. One other note Hobart’s Board of Trustees has decided to stay in division one instead of moving back to division three. There was to much pressure from parents, players, and alumni after word of the decision to move got out so they are staying. The NCAA tournament fields will be announced Sunday night. CBS College Sports will have the division 1 and 3 brackets at 9PM. If you want the first look at the division one brackets your best bet is either ESPNU or ESPN News at 9PM. I will recap the weekend and give my NCAA predictions on Monday. Right now I am thinking Duke in D-1 and Salisbury in D-3. Will that change? Tune in Monday to find out.