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Post by bfoley82 on May 8, 2024 21:23:55 GMT -5
Since it is only a six team league, I would assume HC should have some second team all-league members.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 8, 2024 21:22:25 GMT -5
Holy Cross competes presently with the middle of the pack in Hockey East each year and should beat the bottom teams each year. Can we be a top team in Hockey East right away? No. But if we look at results the past few years, even going back to those Berard teams, we are better situated to compete than our women's team. Women's team was a weird quasi D1/D3 program with a mixture of players. This year we were 2-0 vs UConn (8th in HE), 1-0-1 vs. UML (11th), 0-0-1 vs. MC (10th). I think right away we would be better than last place in HEA. Year previously we had wins over UNH and BC (exh) but lost to UVM and MC. Little bit different playing week in and week out in Hockey East compared to getting up for five games against Hockey East squads which the HE squads might play a backup goalie or not take their opponent as serious as they should. It is tough to get your team up for a road game in a glorified high school rink.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 7, 2024 13:39:50 GMT -5
Not gonna happen, but it would be great if it did - and we could then tell the obstinate guy who owns the Railers to stick his exclusive rights to hockey a the DCU where the sun doesn't shine. I think his exclusivity clause was for three years or so to help the team get established. Of course an extension could have been negotiated at lease renewal for a puck or two. Unfortunately the Railers are being de-established as time wears on according to attendance trends. H.E. has it all over AHA in prestige and geographic footprint. But I really like the way Coach Riga is building a winning program in AHA and naturally don't enjoy Women's Hockey continually losing in H.E. Everything that glitters isn't gold. Ideally a college team earns one or more championships at it's current level and moves up from a position of strength but these days many other considerations are involved. It's great to be a contender in the AHA at present. Not sure how Holy Cross is going to be able to compete in Hockey East without a collective for Men's Hockey
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Post by bfoley82 on May 6, 2024 22:10:51 GMT -5
Army is left out of the NCAA Tournament, despite finishing with an 11-3 record and good wins over Maryland and Syracuse, who were both at-large teams. They also had two losses to BU and lost to PL fifth place finisher Colgate. Army did NOT play Maryland this season and they only beat two NCAA teams in Syracuse and Lehigh.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 6, 2024 16:56:11 GMT -5
Has UConn ever really been challenged in the Big East from anyone besides Notre Dame?? They were challenged somewhat for a decade by Rutgers, who got to the championship game five times between 1998 and 2007, culminating with a win over UConn in 2007.. UConn though DOMINATED the regular season going 16-0 in Big East play and Rutgers went 12-4. The Scarlet Knights caught them on a bad day in 2007.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 6, 2024 15:32:24 GMT -5
Agree. Rest of conference is terrible and seemingly getting weaker. Geno does a pretty good job playing a lot of top teams in the OOC but they definitely will not be challenged in conference. Gee, aren't you overstating, at least a little bit, the demise of the Big East? they were the 6th ranked conference in most of the services and 8 of their teams were in the top 100 and everybody but Xavier was top 140. Yea, Providence got into the WNIT with a top 100 RPI. They went 13-21 overall and 6-12 in the Big East.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 6, 2024 15:31:02 GMT -5
It is not a good trend for UConn to have such a big gap between themselves and the rest of the Big East. In other words, the league is not strong enough after the Huskies Has UConn ever really been challenged in the Big East from anyone besides Notre Dame??
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Post by bfoley82 on May 5, 2024 23:33:23 GMT -5
Thanks. I guess Bronagh does have what a power conference is looking for, just like Avery did. Unlike Wisconsin when Avery joined, Villanova has a winning team. Although they lost a close one 50-48 to Marquette in the Big East Tournament first round, they made it to the championship game of the WBIT, playing five post season games against three P-6 teams and two A-10 teams. Bronagh brings experience in two post season games to join the Nova returnees with five. The Wildcats will be a good team to follow next year with a chance to do quite well. I wonder if Bronagh will start like Avery or be a solid rotation contributor and veteran leader like RJ Evans was during his season at UConn? Villanova's top player Lucy Olsen has transferred to Iowa. They will have to replace her 23.3 PPG. The next leading scorer for the Wildcats scored 8.3 PPG. apnews.com/article/iowa-hawkeyes-lucy-olsen-82371bb061f4a96efd1779db5cb00def
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Post by bfoley82 on May 5, 2024 22:45:11 GMT -5
The issue to me is starting the season in the middle of the winter and waiving the period of time the sport was meant to be played in. Perhaps limiting play in the New England Invitational-good name idea RGS-to three weekends in May, with teams going deep in their league tournament receiving a bye for one or two weekends, would address conflicts with final exams. If teams were guaranteed two games in the post season it might allow them to cut down on games played in the winter. It would also give teams like HC something to shoot for since they are shut out of the PL tournament. I was luke warm about Southern trips for Spring sports anyways but the tragedy with the rowing team made me think about ways to extend Spring outdoor sports deeper into the appropriate weather for them. It also would give HC a chance to play more local teams. Other than Hockey East for the women, HC student athletes spend a ton of time on busses traveling out of the region for league games. BU doesn't have an excuse as they are entering the PL tournament with a 49-4-1 record with non conference wins over Big Ten members Minnesota, Michigan State (2x). They also have an extra inning loss to South Carolina and lost to Duke who was top ten at the time by two runs. Last I knew, the BU indoor facility isn't anywhere as good as Luth.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 3, 2024 19:46:34 GMT -5
BU defeats Army 11-10 in overtime to advance to the final
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Post by bfoley82 on May 2, 2024 8:57:51 GMT -5
However, some players do have NILs, I believe that Donnelly has one with Epsilon for example. They are just modest ones. I know there are some at Providence getting NIL based on a large billboard in the city of Providence for a health care center.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 1, 2024 20:38:24 GMT -5
The Olympics was once for amateurs but no longer Yea tell that to the USSR's miltary members of the basketball teams
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Post by bfoley82 on May 1, 2024 20:35:32 GMT -5
This job opening is for a contractor to Holy Cross. It is not a Holy Cross job opening. Whatever way you want to say it but this position is listed as "overseeing and generating all of the corporate partnerships and sponsorship revenue as the multimedia rights holder of their Athletic Department."
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Post by bfoley82 on May 1, 2024 15:34:05 GMT -5
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Post by bfoley82 on May 1, 2024 5:44:46 GMT -5
Why did the announcement come from Naples, Fl.? The league office is in the Boston area, right? Naples is where the coaching convention usually is...might be this week but not sure.
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 30, 2024 22:41:07 GMT -5
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 30, 2024 21:39:48 GMT -5
This is an interesting development, but I guess it really doesn't change anything for us. Atlantic Hockey was already running CHA before....just brings them under one name.
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 30, 2024 12:29:33 GMT -5
Final ooc game tonight (6pm) at home vs. Brown, overall 9-26 record (4-14 Ivy). This is our 46th game of the season but only our 10th at Fitton where we're 7-2 (How our players keep up with their academics is admirable). I do not believe any D.1 team in the country has played as many game as we have up to this date. The reason for that is the Patriot League having four game weekends and finishing the season a week early. BTW, Lafayette has played 45 games heading into today and Navy 44
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 30, 2024 5:47:58 GMT -5
Exactly my point, Bucknell has two NCAA berths in the 2000's and eight regular season patriot league championships in that time period. Holy Cross has none of those in their HISTORY. When Bucknell earned those NCAA berths, and when Bucknell won all of those regular season championships, they had exactly 0 scholarships. The first scholarships they ever gave for lacrosse were in the last two years. But it’s become a lot tougher to win without having a good number of scholarships. Beyond the money issue, Bucknell for many years was more successful than Holy Cross due to better facilities, a winning tradition, and incredible continuity of staff. As a matter of fact, Bucknell has had lacrosse for 58 years and has had two head coaches in that time. That has traditionally made recruiting much easier and also has created an incredibly loyal and supportive group of alums. But as I mentioned, it has gotten a lot tougher in recent years. Well it got tougher when Loyola and BU joined
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 29, 2024 21:59:25 GMT -5
Paige was playing the 3 this season anyways...I wouldn't expect her to change next year. Chen is better offensively than Arnold and Shade. Paige was nominally playing the three in a 3-guard offense. The only difference between her role and that of the two guard was due to her being a tmuch player with an ability to put the ball to the floor. She guarded the SF defensively because she was much taller than the other two UConn guards And a far better rebounder. I had a pretty good view of Paige this year on a few occasions.
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 29, 2024 21:58:28 GMT -5
I know some of the other teams in the conference are not fully funded.... Bucknell men’s lacrosse currently has about three scholarships although that is going to rise to about six over the next two years. Exactly my point, Bucknell has two NCAA berths in the 2000's and eight regular season patriot league championships in that time period. Holy Cross has none of those in their HISTORY.
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 29, 2024 12:45:59 GMT -5
Princeton's Kaitlyn Chen to UConn and Bryant's Mariona Planes Fortuny to Maine. UConn backcourt very crowded if everyone is healthy next year. Paige, Azzi, Chen, KK Arnold, Ashlynn Shade, and incoming McDonald’s All American recruits in Allie Ziebell and Morgan Cheli. They could really use a dominant frontcourt player like Beers from Oregon Stare but she’s dragging her feet deciding between UConn and Oklahoma. Paige was playing the 3 this season anyways...I wouldn't expect her to change next year. Chen is better offensively than Arnold and Shade.
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 29, 2024 12:42:56 GMT -5
You would think Holy Cross would succeed as many of the best high school programs in the country are elite prep schools or suburban schools in metro areas Those players like scholarship aid, too. Even a partial athletic scholarship is a bragging point over a walk on to a similar quality school. As I understand it, HC is pushed by one anti-discrimination measure, title nine, to discriminate against men's lacrosse schollies in favor of women's schollies. Not required to exactly but probably the best work around they can come up with. Although I doubt women's lacrosse has that much aid to give, they have some and the men have none I believe. I know some of the other teams in the conference are not fully funded....
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 29, 2024 6:48:39 GMT -5
Lacrosse is a pretty simple sport. You need at least a couple of middies who can draw a slide, an attackman or two who can finish, a fogo who can win more than 50% and a well coached defense. That’s a baseline, obviously not a PL championship winning formula. But we lack most if not all of those. Takeaway D, depth, d pole beaters at Attack and Middy are what legit programs have. Thats where scholarships and academic flexibility need more application (I think). It’s really not that hard to do, but HC doesn’t want to. BU figured it out in like 2 yrs. I know lax isn’t important to everyone, but I just think all alums need to be concerned that our supposedly high caliber educational institution can’t successfully field a sport that more and more people care about. As was mentioned none of our sports are for-profit, but they all reflect our brand and pride in where we attended. You would think Holy Cross would succeed as many of the best high school programs in the country are elite prep schools or suburban schools in metro areas
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 28, 2024 21:36:56 GMT -5
Congratulations Caitlin. Make a splash and get drafted. It will be fun to compare Weimar's stats with BPC's next year. I wonder if Bronagh will have any involvement with Ireland's national team's quest to get to the Olympics. I'm not sure how countries qualify for the Olympics and if Ireland has any realistic shot of making the games in WBB. I think if she wanted to play for the Irish National Team for a year she could use her remaining Covid season of NCAA eligibility in the 2025-6 season if she chose. Ireland WBB has never appeared in the three major international tournaments (Olympics, Eurobasket or FIBA World Cup). I don't see a single appearance by BPC on the senior national team which had a player from DeSales on their recent Eurobasket 2025 qualifiers.
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