DIII Kenyon outlasts Michigan, 15-10

[BigheadTodd]

DIII Kenyon outlasts Michigan, 15-10

Gambier, OH – The #4 ranked University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team opened their regular season with a 15-10 loss at the hands of the Kenyon College Lords on Saturday (February 18) in Gambier, Ohio in frigid temperatures. The two teams were knotted at the half, 4-4, before Kenyon rattled off nine goals in the third quarter en-route to the victory.

Full Story on main USLIA.com page:
http://www.uslia.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=358

[Saul C]

Kenyon is a pretty bad d3 team. What happened here?

[the lax]

Kenyon finished 73 out of 130 D3 teams on laxpower's rankings, I'm not sure if I'd call them pretty bad.

What I would be concerned about is the fact the Michigan graduated All Americans at every position and might not be ready to go early in the season. It will be a trial by fire for these young (age and experience) Wolverines all season long.

[CATLAX MAN]

Kenyon finished 73 out of 130 D3 teams on laxpower's rankings, I'm not sure if I'd call them pretty bad.

Wouldn't that make them worse than more than half of all the teams in D3? What else would you call it then?

[the lax]

Tough quote on laxpower's forums:

"#4 ranked club team lost by five goals to an unranked d3 team, answers the question about d3. Club teams cannot compete with top 25 d3 or any top 10 of d2"

Can Michigan rebound, catlax man seems to think not.

[CATLAX MAN]

Can Michigan rebound, catlax man seems to think not.

I didn't say that at all, nor do I think that. Michigan is a top quaity MDIA team that will do just fine. I was questioning your comment about the relative strength of Kenyon, not commenting on Michigan one iota.

[the lax]

Kenyon finished 73 out of 130 D3 teams on laxpower's rankings, I'm not sure if I'd call them pretty bad.

Wouldn't that make them worse than more than half of all the teams in D3? What else would you call it then?

Well if Michigan lost to a team you consider to be worse than half of the teams in D3, how good can Michigan be? Consider that CSU beat CC last year, a team ranked 36th at the end of last year. Parity or something else Catlax?

[CATLAX MAN]

You're comparing apples to orages here. Varsity programs have many advantages that the typical MDIA programs just don't have at their disposal. Can some MDIA teams beat varsity teams? Yes, there are plenty of examples where that has happened. By the same token, there are many instances where the opposite has taken place. If you want to draw some cnclusions about Michigan, wait until after their California trip when they have played some teams that are comparable to them. Just don't attribute those conclusions to me.

[zolander]

You're comparing apples to orages here. Varsity programs have many advantages that the typical MDIA programs just don't have at their disposal. Can some MDIA teams beat varsity teams? Yes, there are plenty of examples where that has happened. By the same token, there are many instances where the opposite has taken place. If you want to draw some cnclusions about Michigan, wait until after their California trip when they have played some teams that are comparable to them. Just don't attribute those conclusions to me.

I agree with this statement. As you play for a club team or virtual varsity team, you cannot say that just because they are a D3 school (and if they are bad), that you or your team can contend with them. D3 has a lot more advantages like disciplined strength n conditioning, 5 days of practicing, competitive recruiting, academic flexibility, etc.
Last week Florida State just dominated a D2 school, but again Fla State has made it obvious that they want to compete at D1 level.
This is the exception to the rule.
If you think they are that bad of a team, play them and see how you come out, better yet, play Michigan and either way you'll know. They won't just roll over for you.
Its funny to see you guys basing your teams on paper statistics because statistics don't mean jack Sh*t, half of the time they are never right and every time it ALWAYS comes down to game time.

[the lax]

I would consider Michigan's practice regiment to be very stringent and not an excuse. They have at their disposal some of the best facilities in the nation, not the club lax nation, The nation and they took full advantage of them.

In terms of D3 NCAC news, the beating of Wittenberg and the loss to Kenyon may signal change in that Ohio conference. It may also signal as I've said earlier that Michigan is a very young team and will improve over the course of the season due to the tremendous coaching staff they have but will suffer losses early on.

[NKlaxguy]

Honestly the way I look at this is that this game was a scrimmage, and you cannot tell anything from a scrimmage. Quint Kessenich makes a very good point in my opinion on insidelacrosse.com.

"Winning a scrimmage is an oxymoron. Athletic departments that release game reports after scrimmages detailing scoring are bush league. Scoreboards should show time only. And reversibles should be worn, not jerseys. The class programs in Division I lacrosse would never release a detailed game report after a scrimmage."

Which brings me to another point, should we even be posting these game scores with NCAA teams, the recaps, press releases etc? Especially when 90% of the time the teams athletic department doesn’t post these games on their websites (Kenyon, Plymouth State), or if they do they make it known that it is just a scrimmage (Mars Hill). If it was agreed upon that it was a game then I would say yes but that doesn't always seem the case. All I am saying is this league prides itself on how we mirror the NCAA, but the one thing we seem to treat differently is preseason spring scrimmages. Just food for thought.

[Danny Hogan]

i'm pretty sure it was a game. UM has had both scrimmages and (a) games with NCAA teams this year. I think they have been clear about which is which. School athletic departments cop out and some 'games' turn to scrimmages after the fact (CC).

[wheelz33]

im assuming that since the scores are on laxpower that both schools thought of it as more then a scrimmage. both the mars hill - FSU and UM-Kenyon games are posted on there. whether anyone respects laxpower's ratings or not, from what i can tell by reading other posts voters use laxpower as an easy way to check scores. if it were me, i wouldnt take the time to post the score on laxpower for all to see if i didnt think of it as a game. not that i know much, just my opinion.

[horn17]

I agree with some of the points made on this thread...but as a player who has played in both leagues (MDIA and NCAA), I remeber that our coach looked at it as a scrimmage (NCAA v. MDIA)......I believe the reason we are seeing more games of this nature in the spring is due to the new fall ball rules the ncaa set for practice dates, and game dates in the fall....I remember playing a club team in the fall at home, and keeping our scheduled games in the spring....maybe this should be the real issue....does the ncaa treat fall ball "scrimmages" with MDIA schools the same as a regular NCAA scrimmages or practices???? I'm assuming so until someone tells me otherwise...


"Chuck Norris has two speeds. Walk, and Kill. "

[Danny Hogan]

and every NCAA school is different. Most of them likely do count MDIA opponents as scrimmages. However i am pretty sure JP knows which games are "scrimmages" and which are games. He alluded to the Kenyon contest as a game, i'm sure kenyon did as well regardless of what their athletic department website shows.