PNCLL Week #4 (2/22-2/28) -- Predict, Scores and Discuss

[Dan Wishengrad]

Wednesday, Feb. 22nd
Utah 14 Simon Fraser 8

Thursday, Feb. 23rd
Simon Fraser 13 Utah State 9

Saturday, Feb. 25th
Oregon 19 Idaho 2
Simon Fraser 14 Washington 6
Montana 20 Southern Oregon 8
Western Washington 12 Puget Sound 4
Boise State 14 Linfield 9
Whitman 8 Western Oregon 5
Oregon State 15 Gonzaga 8
Albertson 20 Willamette 2

Sunday, Feb 26th
Oregon 20 Gonzaga 4
Montana 16 Western Oregon 12
Puget Sound 9 Lewis & Clark 4
Linfield 13 Albertson 11
Southern Oregon 7 Whitman 6
Pacific Lutheran 11 Western Washington 9
Oregon State 16 Idaho 6
Boise State 1 Willamette 0 (F)

Rankings edited 2/22

Week #4 is a jammed-pack affair with every PNCLL team except Central Washington hitting the field. It also marks the 2006 debut of Idaho as the final "A" Division team to play a game and also Montana, Whitman and Southern Oregon of the "B" Division seeing their first action of the new season.

The B Division has plenty of important matchups. Western Washington is at UPS and PLU, with the Vikings getting a chance to assert 2006 supremacy over the B-North division if WWU can win both games. A pasting of Linfield at home last week bodes well for the Vikes, who struggled the previous week in a come-from-behind win at Western Oregon. The Loggers of UPS are winless in two games against the A Division, and WWU will be another stern test for Coach Berggren's young squad. PLU needs to rebound after a grueling and disappointing road trip to California, and desperately needs a win over WWU to "right the ship".

Defending B Champ Montana invades Walla Walla for a pair of neutral site games against Southern Oregon and Western Oregon. The Grizzlies return PNCLL All-Stars Townsend Hall on Attack, Travis McCarthy on Midfield, Ryan Frey at Defense and Gil Thompson in Goal to lead a deep squad apparently infused by even more new incoming talent this season. The Raiders will counter with returning All-Stars Kyle Chrisman at Midfield and Dan Snell on Defense, but Southern will certainly have its hands full with a potent Montana team. On paper the Grizz could dominate the B Division and be a legit national title contender, and this first weekend could be the coming-out party. The Sunday game vs WOU might prove to be a tougher test for UM, as the Wolves have impressed in their first two games of the young season, hammering Lewis & Clark and losing a one-goal heartbreaker to WWU. A strong showing against Montana would certainly prove that the WOU is for real.

Whitman also debuts aginst both WOU and SOU at home. The Missionaries will be playing without Ben Sadler for the first time in four years, and those are huge shoes to try to fill. Peter Baker moves to Middie for the Missionaries, with Senior Andrew Poole and host of "diaper dandies" left to man the Attack. Whitman returns Chris Juergens on Defense along with Goalie Kevin Wilson, but will also have to replace graduated long-pole Eli Block. Dave Schmitz is the undisputed "Dean of Coaches" in the PNCLL, however, and most observers expect him to mold Whitman into a competitive squad before the year is done. The Missionaries have made a reputation for starting slowly and then coming on late in the season. In any case Walla Walla should be jumping with four good lacrosse games on tap.

Fresh off their first PNCLL win against CWU last week, Albertson hosts Linfield and Willamette. If the Yotes are forced to play only 11 players again, the Bearcats could have a chance for their first win Sunday against a tired opponent. UPS hosts Lewis & Clark after playing WWU the day before, and the Pioneers also will look to take advantage of a tired opponent if they can, to earn a much-needed conference victory. Willamette and Lewis & Clark also face A Division Boise State on the trip to Southern Idaho.

Kyle will preview the A Division later in this thread.

[Chris Long]

2/22
Utah 9, SFU 6

2/23
SFU 15, Utah St 7

2/25
UO 26, Idaho 3
Montana 22, SO 4
WWU 14, PS 11
BSU 13, Linfield 8
Whitman 11, WO 6
Gonzaga 10, OSU 9
SFU 14, 'Feel Good Team of 2006' 8
Willamette 7, Albertson 5

2/26
UO 19, Gonzaga 9
Montana 14, WO 3
UPS 9, LC 6
Linfield 11, Albertson 3
Whitman 8, SO 3
WWU 15, PLU 13
OSU 12, Idaho 5
BSU 17, Willamette 6

Good luck to all this week.

[Ballaholic]

gilbert thompson is no longer the starting goalie for Montana. It is now Dave "Killer" Crosby from Lake Oswego, OR. Also, we added last years B division coach of the year to our roster, Kevin Flynn, who will be starting at D-pole along with 2 fellow seniors.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

I know it will be nice to have Kevin on the field this season. . .but honestly, how big of a hit are you going to take in the coaching box? I hope you've found someone solid to replace Coach Flynn, because he made a huge difference in the way Montana came through in tight games last year. (thus, the Coach of the Year)

Coaching has a huge impact when evenly matched teams play one another. I hope your gain on defense cancels out the huge loss from your sideline. . .

Good luck in Walla Walla to the Grizz. . .

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Any word on SFU vs. Utah???

[Sonny]

Any word on SFU vs. Utah???

Live scoring updates in the new forum:
http://forums.uslia.com/viewforum.php?f=35

[Hi-Line Lax]

Well thank you Jason for the compliments, but I'm really looking forward to getting back on the field. Our head coach, Zach Krug, is a friend of mine from high school and is very knowledgable of our team and of the game. We will also be getting a huge help at the assistant level from John Pidgeon, formerly of Central Washington. We'll see how it all works out this weekend.

[grizmid]

i have to agree with kevin, zach is a very good coach and has a very knowlegable about the game and even last year while he was playing was a coach. pidgeon is also gonna be a huge help.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Sonny,

The new live game report area of the forum is a great addition. . .especially for these mid-week contests. Thanks!!

[Dan Wishengrad]

Utah 14 Simon Fraser 8 (Wed)
Simon Fraser 13 Utah State 9 (Thurs)

The Clansmen go 2-2 on their two-state road trip...

[Laxfan23]

No love for Albertson on the predictions eh? I think the Yotes will probably go 1-1 this weekend, and I think 5 and 3 goals are way too little.

Being from the area I'm probably a little biased, but the D did hold Central to only 2 goals in the second half last weekend (takes a while to get those first game jitters out), and a stellar attackman who missed last week will be returning so that Cody Hart does not have to carry the entire load. We'll see how they handle two games in one weekend with short numbers, but again, 1-1 is my prediction.

[Kyle Berggren]

And as usual.. I'm late getting to this.... The Clan went 1-1 during the week. They're playing tough games, getting themselves prepared to take on the Ducks.

Saturday,

Speaking of the Ducks, Oregon hosts Idaho. This will be the Vandals first game this season, should be interesting. Oregon averages 21.5 ppg, with Ryan Warren & Julian Coffman leading the way averaging 4.5ppg so far this season. Matt Connors, Trevor Tesar, & Chris Nelson are all at or above 2ppg, and it will be a major test for the Vandals to make a dent in Oregon Armor.

Simon Fraser is at Washington and has been well tested so far this season, still sitting at 3-2. The Dawgs are unbeaten, but have only faced 2 PNCLL B teams, and are still working out the kinks with a new coaching staff. UW is young, and their top 3 scorers are Freshman. SFU will try and take advantage of that youth and force mistakes with their aggressive poles and phenominal keeper. The Clan has 4 men above 2.2ppg, with Senior Mike Christians leading the way at 5.2ppg.

Another team is making the trip to Boise to take on the Broncos, this week its Linfield (0-1, with a 16-4 loss to WWU). BSU (1-2) will host a team trying to iron out a few wrinkles early in their season. Linfield quitely won the B South last year, beating UPS & playing PLU tight along the way. UPS & PLU both played last season's BSU team tightly, both coming up short in Boise. The Bronco's will be tough at home, and Linfield should be better than their showing their first week in action.

If the Zags make it to Corvalis, they'll take on the Beavs (bad joke, Steven's is closed due to avalanche). Both teams should have gotten the wrinkles ironed out (or at least started), and this early division contest will be important come playoff time. The game should be faught tooth and nail, start to finish, and both teams need to focus on winning the ground. The extra possessions will be key (as usual, I know)!

Sunday,

We have a quick switch in Oregon, the Zags will move to Eugene, & the Vandals will head to Corvalis. As usual, Oregon will be the PNCLL measuring stick for Gonzaga & Idaho will get a chance to see how they stack up against the Zags by comparing their scores the same weekend.

Willamette is off the Boise to face the Broncos. This must be a pleasant surprise for the Broncos, thinking they'd have zero home games, this will make 3 early in the season! The Bearcats (anyone ever figure out what that was?) will get a chance to rebound after a tough loss to what is still probably an under-rated WWU team (#15).

Good Luck to all this weekend. The B will have several key matchups giving us an idea of the final 6 for the playoffs, and the A will begin to settle things on who will make their final 4.

[ZagGrad]

If the Zags make it to Corvalis, they'll take on the Beavs (bad joke, Steven's is closed due to avalanche).

Apparently, Kyle, you've never driven to Oregon from Spokane...maybe you have via Seattle, but that's way too slow. I don't believe we'll be taking any passes in order to get there. Oh, and remember, GO STEELERS!!

Should be a good, fun, trip--looking forward to some good competition.

[Kyle Berggren]

Chris, I'm going to go out on a Limb here and say it, "No one likes you."

Good Luck!

[ZagGrad]

Hahaha...nice.