Discuss report WCLL games March 28th-April 3rd

[glennking]

I'm curious how you figure they got shafted....17 goals is not impressive and probably a main factor in their poll postion.

ASU may have let in 17 goals, but Oregon let in 18!! If the main reason that you feel ASU should be so low is because they let in so many goals then why do you not feel the same way about Oregon? I'm curious how you figure they didn't get shafted.

[wingman3227]

West Coast and Ravaging Beast,
I am really curious to your logic that ASU does not deserve to be ranked in the top ten due to the fact that they let up 17 goals. The last time I checked their are two sides to this lovely game of ours....you don't hear someone saying that Colorado is no good because "they only scored 6 goals agianst Oregon"....
This game was once known as the fastest on Two feet, and just because the Division 1 hierarchy decided defense and ball control was going to be the way to win doesn't mean it is the only way to do it. If the game calls for it, a team must do anything it can to win, wether it is outscoring your opponent or shutting them down....and seeing as how only one team was able to put up more than ten on Oregon before ASU ,because most teams haven't tried to outscore them, fearing their extremely talented offense, how about we give a little credit where it is due, to the ASU offense. Furthermore if you didn't see the game, you have no idea how good either offense or defense was, just looking at the score tells you half the story. The fact that Oregon had 70% more possession time than ASU, could mean that ASU's defense played a great deal better than Oregon's, and obviously with a lot less time with the ball, the offense from ASU played better as well.

They deserved to win that game, and usually when a team outplays a team ranked 12 spots ahead they move up a great deal, in this poll however, teams that had close losses were rewarded more than teams that actually won games. Look at ASU's resume, it is better than many of the teams that are currently ranked ahead of them, that is why they got hosed, in the past teams have moved up many spots for upsetting teams, (ie. Northeastern, 6 spots for beating then #7 U of A)...

I am also interested to find out, what the thought is on teams such as Sonoma State, Florida State, Minnesota Duluth, all having beaten zero teams in the top 13 and being ranked as high as they are. How are teams with at least three losses and no big time quality wins ranked in the top ten. Oh yeah, they all came really close to beating a big name team...I am sorry just felt the need to rant, that being said, it is a poll in March and doesn't mean all that much when it comes to the final seedings, teams that can will take care of business on the field. Other's will sort themselves out. Final thought, is that is just silly to think that ASU does not deserve to be ranked ahead of four to six teams that have an inferior resume...
that of course is just my opinion, I could be wrong

[Ravaging Beast]

I love that you call me by my full name. I do believe that ASU should be ranked ahead of Arizona and a couple of other teams, but you can't move up that fast. You have to inch your way up the poll. After the Michigan game, ASU might inch up even more. And no one in their right mind can claim a team allowing 17 goals has a good defense. Maybe ASU has a decent defense, but not a good defense. I don't think Oregon has an amazing defense either, but they dropped in the polls and ASU moved up. Plus this is the WCLL forum, so I don't feel like bad mouthing Oregon. If ASU is for real, the final poll will reflect that.

[wingman3227]

Ravaging Beast,
I know you like that, what I am saying is that yes someone in their right mind can say that a team giving up any amount of goals (as long as their team scored one more) may have a good defense, In a game that is as up and down, and exciting like the one this past week, the amount of goals given up should not be the issue. As usually stated in games like that, the team with the ball last wins, however, that was not the case, what I am saying is that ASU stopped Oregon's offense many more times on many more long possessions than Oregon's D was able to hold off ASU. Finally I am saying that in a game played with the intensity and up and down style that this one was, I challenge any team in the nation to hold One of these teams to less than 12-14 goals, I am not saying ASU has the best defense out there, but saying they aren't good based on one game( especially an 18-17 thriller) is a bit of an exxageration and I stand by the idea that if you weren't there, you really have no idea...statistics and score don't tell the whole story. And after all, we are not ranking defenses here, we are ranking teams.
again....just my opinion I could be wrong

[CATLAX MAN]

I challenge any team in the nation to hold One of these teams to less than 12-14 goals.....

Ummmmm, have you forgotten these already? BYU -20 ASU - 5; Oregon - 8 BYU - 7; Colorado - 6 Oregon -5

[Beta]

I challenge any team in the nation to hold One of these teams to less than 12-14 goals.....

Ummmmm, have you forgotten these already? BYU -20 ASU - 5; Oregon - 8 BYU - 7; Colorado - 6 Oregon -5

20-5 is pretty looming.

[westcoastlax]

Another one: Sonoma 8 BYU 9

Wingman, your right in saying that we didn't see the game. But niether did ther majority of the poll voters, so the only thing anyone has to go on is purely scores.
In order for a team to be in consideration for top ten they really can't be giving up 17 goals this late in the season, even if they are tired. Hence the reason why oregon dropped two spots.

[CPLaxGM]

I just noticed that both Santa Clara and UCLA had big victories in Texas and wanted to congratulate both squads on their performance on the road. Combine that with ASU's enormous victory over the #1 ranked Oregon Ducks (at the time), and the WCLL has had a lot of success this week.

It's been discussed a lot this season how the WCLL's top 1 or 2 teams are down a bit. Although I agree that we don't have that obvious dominant WCLL squad this year, the league's depth continues to expand and develop which can only be beneficial over the long haul. Looking at the current WCLL records and standings, it struck me just how many solid teams there are right now. When UCLA is in sixth place in a six team division, but is still good enough to knock off the #22 ranked team in the country than the league looks really strong.

Although UCSB and Sonoma are still at the top of the WCLL until someone knock them off, it's good to see so many different teams having successful seasons. In the past, we could already pencil in the WCLL finalists at this point in the season, but right now it's difficult to even predict which teams will be making it into the first round of the playoffs. I know some people hate the word "parity", but I'm enjoying the fact that the outcome of every game cannot be determined before the first whistle even blows.

[CATLAX MAN]

Santa Clara came very close to also knocking off #17 Texas A & M. With the score either tied or Santa Clara down by one sometime in the last 3:00 of the game, SC scored a goal and the goal scorer was cross checked from behind into the crease. One ref called goal and 1:00 minute penalty. Another came in and overruled him, took away the goal, no penalty, and gave possession to A & M. That sequence very well could've changed the outcome of that game. In any case, it was a good showing for them.

The talent around the league is spreading around to other teams and is making for a much more competitive league. Perhaps the day of one or two dominant teams is over.

[wingman3227]

I understand that Oregon and ASU are not going to score 15-20 goals every game, thank you for pointing out that each team has had games where they score less than that. However, what I was referring to was the style of game that was played, I didn't make that clear. In an up and down game where each team was happy to keep pushing the ball, counting on their rides and defense to get the ball back after a mistake, it would be hard to hold these teams down, especially Oregon, In an up and down game, the kind of game that Oregon specializes in, holding them down is difficult so outscoring them is the way to go, the only other team to attempt to go toe to toe with them and beat them at their own game, lost 19-6, Sonoma, Colorado, BYU, all played slow down games with them, in fact Oregon actually slowed the tempo in the BYU game...that is why the scores were low. My point remains, that a team should not be penalized for giving up a certain amount of goals if they score more than the other team...I will give you the BYU game, that was bad defense, there were also well over 20 minutes in penalties, none the less, BYU was a much better team on that day...I think what this last week should show is that ASU is a much different team now March 29, then they were in the beginning of February, and while the loss should remain a big one, I think the goal differential should be put on the back burner. Oregon beat BYU, and regardless of the high score, ASU was obvioulsy on par with them, and I feel Colorado will give BYU all they can handle as well, and ASU is on par with Colorado as well(10-9) even though they gave up double digit goals it was still a close game. I think it is nuts that a team knocks off the then #1 team in the nation in one of the most exciting games of the season, and they are criticized for the way they went about it...man you guys are really reaching...

[westcoastlax]

Sonoma St. vs Chico St. for tomorrow is no longer in Chico. They couldn't get a field or something.

The game will be played in Sonoma @ 2:00.

[P.Wilson]

César Chávez day is a big drinking holiday in Chico. Our athletic Director feels there will be too many drunk students at the game and it will cause an incident.

There goes homefeild advantage, and my César Chávez day

[CATLAX MAN]

They need a holiday to drink in Chico now? Times have changed.

[Ty Webb]

SSU-14 CHICO-8

[DLAX]

UC Irvine, Biola, and Oxy: From all of us at Western Oregon University Lacrosse we just wanted to say thanks for letting us come down and hosting us. It was an amazing change for us to play on dry fields without mud and rain. The majority of the time we are scooping through swamps of mud and our cleats weigh an extra 2lbs because they are soaking wet. All the teams we faced were great opponents, special thanks to Biola, by far one of the classiest teams I have faced in my ten years of play. We look forward to seeing all of you next year, maybe some of you could make the trip to the pncll and take in some of our nature we have in the pacific northwest. Best of luck to all of you guys with your own season games.