Contrarian
Picks Five bold predictions that go against the grain
1
PAT SPENCER WILL UPSET DYLAN MOLLOY FOR THE TEWAARATON AWARD.
The words “best player in the country” surfaced in many rival coaches’ assessment of Loyola, as they fawned over the sophomore attackman who came out of nowhere to pile up 89 points (37 goals, 52 assists) as a freshman. A late bloomer who had a big growth spurt between his high school sophomore and junior years, Spencer will have the Greyhounds back in the final four.
2
NOTRE DAME WILL WALTZ UNSUSPECTINGLY TO ITS FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.
The Irish, preseason darlings in 2016, peaked at No. 1 in March. Perhaps that was too early. Now they return to sleeper status. Notre Dame has proven it can reload on defense and showed flashes of brilliance on offense even when since-
graduated Matt Kavanagh underperformed. Shane Doss will emerge as the best goalie in the NCAA tournament and lift the Irish to the Promised Land when least expected.
3
TOWSON WILL BEAT YALE BACK TO THE FINAL FOUR.
The Tigers have been there more recently (2001) than the Bulldogs (1990), but Yale has been a popular breakthrough candidate for a few seasons now. Shawn Nadelen could have jumped on the coaching carousel with Princeton calling, but instead he doubled down on Towson and perhaps knows he has a great shot with dynamic duos on attack (Ryan Drenner and Joe Seider) and short- stick defensive midfield (Jack Adams and Zach Goodrich).
4 SCARLET IS THE NEW BROWN.
Snubbed by the NCAA tournament committee despite beating Johns Hopkins twice, Rutgers nonetheless made significant strides after committing to the same kind of helter-skelter pace as the Bears did. The Scarlet Knights enter year two in the new system with five of six starters returning, including Adam Charlambides, coming off a monster summer Minto Cup performance.
5
JEFF TEAT WILL SET BIG RED ROOKIE RECORDS.
Cornell limped to a 6-7 finish due to its anemic offense (9.31 goals per game). Enter Jeff Teat, a heralded freshman who put up the most points in Ontario Junior A ball since John Grant Jr. was a wee lad in 1994. The lefty can feed or finish and could emerge immediately as the focal point of the Big Red attack.
48 US LACROSSE MAGAZINE February 2017
DIVISION I MEN
USlacrosse.org
NCAA PREVIEW
©GREG WALL (PS); ©MARCUS SNOWDEN (SD); ©JOHN STROHSACKER (SN, AC, JT)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68