PNCLL Div 2 Playoff Preview

[Kyle Berggren]

Don't get me wrong, it's been a while since I've seen that trophy... but OSU was the first name engraved...

Weird to think of OSU in D2, PLU & Whitman in D1 at that time... That was the year before PLU beat SFU... which is now making me feel old.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

The playoff race for the D2 was updated at the top of this thread.

Please again keep in mind that some teams will end up with an unequal number of games in that Lewis & Clark folded and four league games are now officially "No Contests."

For playoff seeding no games against Lewis & Clark will be counted. The unplayed games are not forfeits, but "No Contest,". . .and so none of their 4 league losses will count for the teams that defeated the Pios.

[woulax4]

It looks like the first round of the playoffs will be played at Western Washington (#3 seed) and Central Washington (#4 seed).

[TheBearcatHimself]

Out of curiosity: I'm pretty sure D2 still has 4 at-large bids for nationals, but is UPS ineligible for that at-large because they did not play any OOC games? It would be a shame to miss a bid for that reason.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Out of curiosity: I'm pretty sure D2 still has 4 at-large bids for nationals, but is UPS ineligible for that at-large because they did not play any OOC games? It would be a shame to miss a bid for that reason.

For that very reason the only PNCLL team with a shot at an at-large is WOU if they were to fall in the league Championship game. . .with only 4 at-larges, it's pretty difficult to get one of those if you're not ranked in the final poll's top-10.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

It looks like the first round of the playoffs will be played at Western Washington (#3 seed) and Central Washington (#4 seed).

This is exactly right. . .

Western Oregon and UPS will be the #1 and #2 seeds. . .with WOU needing to beat Willamette to clinch the #1 seed.

Western Washington is the #3 seed, and CWU earns the #4 seed and a home playoff semifinal game.

The Whitman vs. Southern Oregon game will likely be only for seeding purposes, with the winner getting the 5 seed and a trip to Ellensburg, and the loser making the trip to Bellingham to face WWU.

Willamette can sneak in with a major upset of WOU and two losses by SOU. . .but otherwise the playoffs will look like this:

1. WOU
2. UPS
3. WWU
4. CWU
5. Whit/SOU winner
6. Whit/SOU loser

Quarterfinals:

#6 at #3
#5 at #4
#1 and #2 have byes to Missoula

[PNWLaxer]

It would be disappointing for a team to miss out on an At Large bid due to lack of OOC games. Looking at the current situation in DII, it does not look like the PNCLL would send 2 teams to Dallas even if every team did play the required # of games.

Currently four of the teams that will receive AQ's to Dallas are outside of the top 12. The top GRLC team is #14, the LSA's top team is #16, the PCLL's top team is #25 and the WCLL's top team is unranked. The top team in the PNCLL is #12. That means for a team to get an At Large it has to be in the top 7.

The 4 At-Large teams are currently Dayton #4 (CCLA), St Thomas #5 (UMLL), Grand Valley at #6 (CCLA) and Fort Lewis at #7 (RMLC).

[Car RamRod21]

Does anyone know if the quarterfinal games will be held on Saturday the 26th or Sunday the 27th?

[chat sauvage]

"Quarterfinal games will be held on the Saturday before the Final Four in Missoula. Those dates were set in September." I will ask that our game be switched to Sunday as I have a potential conflict on Saturday.

[UCLABruins]

Playoffs should be played on Saturday because of traveling for some teams will take such a long period of time. There should be NO prior engagements such as other games that should change the playoff schedule.

[TheBearcatHimself]

Playoffs should be played on Saturday because of traveling for some teams will take such a long period of time. There should be NO prior engagements such as other games that should change the playoff schedule.

I agree in terms of game conflicts, but I brought this very question earlier in the thread because if my school had made the playoffs we would have been unable to travel due to a school wide academic event that would have taken many players. At many schools academic requirements spill into the weekends. I know nothing will ever be perfect, but I believe that our league should be able to come to a sort of "gentleman's agreement" that a game can be moved to Sundays if BOTH teams agree.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

If both teams AND the officials are able to accommodate a switch from Saturday to Sunday, I honestly don't have a problem with it. Sometimes field availability, for example, can be a problem .. .but everyone knew these dates in advance so it would require ALL parties being in agreement in order to play the game on Sunday rather than Saturday.

[Movin' a Couch]

I just want to note the demographics of the playoff teams. 4/6 are state schools. Here are my predictions for the next decade:

1. DII - The private schools won't be able to compete, and the league will be restructured in some way (that could include UPS, Whitman, PLU going the way of Linfield and Lewis and Clark).

2. DI - The sport will keep getting bigger on this coast, and U of O will go varsity first (depending on Nike's mood and commitment to a new sport) and be followed by UDub, OSU, etc.

3. DI - Simon Fraser will have to join the NCAA, which is possible as of 01/08 (and they're already considering it; I looked it up), in order to keep playing league games against somebody.

Who thinks I'm wrong?

[TheBearcatHimself]

1. DII - The private schools won't be able to compete, and the league will be restructured in some way (that could include UPS, Whitman, PLU going the way of Linfield and Lewis and Clark).

Who thinks I'm wrong?

I will respectfully say that I couldn't disagree with you more on this first point. While yes, the current teams in power are state schools, the private schools are going to be able to hold their own based on their MUCH larger possibility of recruiting from a more traditional lacrosse base like private schools and eastern schools.

For my team specifically this season out of just our starting 10 we started players from WA, OR, CA, CO, NY, IL, and NH. And that's just our starting 10. We also feature players who played in every game from AZ, ID, OH, and MN (check our roster at wulax.com). If you look at Western O or Southern O they simply feature players from Oregon with the occasional (though rare) player from WA and CA. So in that respect, the onus on recruiting well within the state of Oregon is much greater for those schools, so while they MUST get local talent (which we most likely all agree is still more limited than back east) the private schools can do fine even if they don't get any in-state recruits. And now that at a school like Willamette the groundwork and precedent is in place for non-NW recruits, it will be easier to actually recruit more non-native talent to come.

You may be more familiar with the situation at Whitman than I am, but our schools are very similar in that they can cast a very wide recruiting net, whereas at SOU and WOU players like Jamison Whitehead are certainly not the norm.

Schools like Lewis and Clark and Evergreen and Linfield lost their programs because either the long term framework was non-existent (L&C and Evergreen) or their short term commitment just wasn't there (Linfield). At the schools you mentioned (WU, WC, PLU, UPS) I am a firm believer that the framework and commitment inducers (coaches) are in place to continue solid competition from future squads.

To further disagree, I would point out that I have personally met with 8 potential lacrosse recruits this year with a simple system arranged with our admissions department to flag potential players. I literally haven't even sat down and tried to create a recruiting system yet and players are falling into my lap quicker than I can communicate with them enough to really convince them one way or another. I can only imagine in years to come when I have more time to commit to actual real life recruiting and maybe even a budget for recruiting!!!

Oh the places we'll go PNCLL!!

[Steno]

1. DII - The private schools won't be able to compete, and the league will be restructured in some way (that could include UPS, Whitman, PLU going the way of Linfield and Lewis and Clark).

Who thinks I'm wrong?

I will respectfully say that I couldn't disagree with you more on this first point. While yes, the current teams in power are state schools, the private schools are going to be able to hold their own based on their MUCH larger possibility of recruiting from a more traditional lacrosse base like private schools and eastern schools.

I think that this point can be considered moot to a certain degree because "traditional lacrosse hotbeds" will be changing significantly in the next decade. Kids all over the West are starting super young these days.