PNCLL Week #6 (3/8-3/14) -- Predict, Scores & Discuss

[Dan Wishengrad]

Friday, March 10th
Nevada vs Gonzaga (at Oregon)
Oregon 15 Missouri 9

Saturday, March 11th
Oregon 15 Texas 11
Montana 18 Willamette 3
Central Washington 14 Southern Oregon 12
Missouri 12 Gonzaga 7
Oregon State 19 Nevada 9
Whitman (something) Lewis & Clark (something less)

Sunday, March 12th
Montana 18 Pacific Lutheran 14
Central Washington 9 Lewis & Clark 2
Linfield 11 Willamette 1
Missouri 13 Oregon State 12
Texas vs Nevada (at Oregon)

Tuesday, March 14th
Oregon 13 Minnesota-Duluth 4
Oregon State 10 Texas 9

As Final Exams and Spring Break descends on campuses around the Northwest, teams from the LSA, the UMLL, the GRLC and the WCLL descend on Eugene to participate in The Ducks' first-ever regular-season tournament. #18 Chico State, #21 Minnesota-Duluth, Texas, Nevada and Missouri arrive to battle the Ducks, Beavers and Zags over a seven-day span concluding a week from this coming Thursday. Kyle will discuss these games further in his A Division preview later.

A a light schedule for the B Division is highlighted by a rematch of the 2005 title game when Montana plays at PLU Sunday. The Grizz are rolling along after an impressive start to the '06 campaign, and first up for UM is a game in Salem on Saturday against the Willamette Bearcats. On Sunday all eyes will be on Tacoma and the Grizzlies-Lutes match-up. PLU has been on a roller-coaster of ups-and-downs all season. The Lutes began the year with two A-Division foes, opening with an upset of Gonzaga and a one-goal loss to Washington. That was followed by a tough trip to California where PLU dropped three straight to ranked B teams. The Lutes rebounded from the 1-4 start with an impressive win over ranked Western Washington, only to lose at Southern Oregon before beating Linfield this past weekend. An upset of the Grizzlies would give PLU a huge boost in both the B-North standings and in team morale, while a loss would drop the Lutes further down into the tangle of teams fighting for a playoff spot.

Lewis & Clark hosts a pair of games in Portland. First up for the Pios is traditional rival Whitman, follwed by Central Washington on Sunday in a game where one team will no longer rank among the winless in PNCLL play. Central Washington starts out its weekend road-trip in Ashland against Southern Oregon, which has won three in a row over 2005 playoff teams and become one the PNCLL's most pleasant surprises in '06.
Also on Sunday Linfield plays at Willamette.

[Laxfan23]

I know this is a little ahead, but it is a light B week so I don't feel too bad about it.

I'm starting to think that probably the most interesting road trip the first half of this season is going to be Albertson visiting Western and Southern Oregon next weekend. If Linfield doesn't step up soon there is actually a chance that TWO of these teams could make the play-offs, and it's looking almost certain that at least one of them will. Fairly excited for that one.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

You bring up a great point. I think we've all been surprised by the way the South Division has been turned upside down. . .with Linfield, the pre-season ranked team nationally disappointing a bit, and Albertson, WOU and SOU all playing incredibly well and knocking off perennial powerhouses like Whitman and PLU. . .

I think we all thought this fall that the North division was the tougher division, with PLU, WWU, UPS, Whitman and an up-and-coming CWU team that played great in 2005.

Instead we have Montana (possibly the best team in the nation???), SOU, Albertson, WOU, and Linfield in the South that have really taken it to the North division for the most part.

Is there any doubt now that the B division SOUTH is better this season than the NORTH overall??? Top-to-bottom, it's really hard to argue for the North at this point.

Look at the breakdown. . .the "tale of the tape"

North vs. South

PLU vs. Montana. . . .edge Montana (game this weekend)
WWU vs. WOU. . .edge Western Wash. (won 7-6)
UPS vs SOU. . .edge SOU (beat UPS and PLU this weekend)
Whitman vs. Linfield. . .edge Linfield (beat Whitman 9-4)
CWU vs. Albertson. . .edge Albertson (beat CWU 10-9)
L&C vs. Willamette. . .draw

[TheNino57]

Is there any doubt now that the B division SOUTH is better this season than the NORTH overall???

It's about time we saw some life from down south. It makes for much more exciting match-ups knowing that any team can win on any day. Good bye blowout wins in the B ranks.

[Kyle Berggren]

Well, there's too many games this weekend, I just got to spend 3 hours finishing my poll voting, now I'm going to get this done earlier in the week... but I'm only going to preview the teams... I won't comment on Jason's diatribe from earlier, but if I did my math correctly, which is a stretch, the conferences each have 6 wins against each other...

Well Oregon will be home to just 8 PNCLL games, and every A contest this weekend... I hope the officials will be in good shape, that's a lot of running to do from Friday to Tuesday ( I didn't mention the neutral site games).

From Laxpower we have in order

Duluth vs. Oregon
Oregon vs. Missouri, Texas, & Duluth
Oregon State vs. Nevada, Missouri, & Texas
Texas vs. Oregon, Nevada, & Oregon State
Missouri vs. Oregon, Gonzaga, & Oregon State
Gonzaga vs. Nevada & Missouri
Nevada vs. Gonzaga, Oregon State, & Texas

Now I know that its still probably a bit early to rely on laxpower, but its an order, and it helps me...

Duluth:
Has been relatively untested outscoring their opponents 52-9. The one real test they've faced was Division B Top 5 team St. John's, which they won 11-4. They have 4 attackmen averaging over 3ppg... That's right, 4 attackmen. Without facing much competition they've been able to get their 4th attackmen in, and he's been a major part of the offense, assuming the position is listed correctly. The bottom line is that a solid Division B team held Duluth to 11 goals. Last season in Blaine, Montana beat that Division B team by 5. Duluth will have to keep their scoring up to walk away from their game with a win, or possess the ball keeping Oregon on the defensive.

Oregon:
Well, it's Oregon. They just had their first real competition this past weekend, but left Canada with a win. They then played a UW team that has really be stepping to the plate. Matt Cone has his guys on the same page, and Ozan is playing incredibly in cage. The tighter than expected game against UW should not reflect on Oregon's talent or ability, nor should the rivalry game against the Clan. Oregon will be ready for their competition, and the only team that won't have to travel.

Oregon State:
5-1 with a disappointing loss early in the season. They just came away from SFU with a 1 goal win, the same margin as Oregon, and should be ready to play. Oregon State has 3 players above 3 ppg, with Jordan Phillips leading the way at 4.4 averaging 3.6 assists/game. Oregon State has been a question mark for poll voters after that early loss to Stanford, but since then they've rebounded, and a great showing in Eugene could put them into poll-voters minds for the next ballot.

Texas:
5-0 (1 game not reported), including a 12-11 win over Missouri this past weekend. Missouri has been their toughest test so far, but they've squeaked out another 1 goal win against Southern Methodist University. The team spreads the scoring around which is evidenced by zero players averaging over 3 ppg. However, Attackmen Eric Zissman leads their team in scoring & assist at 2.4ppg & 1.4 apg. Every team that plays Texas should keep Zissman in mind when planning their game. Stopping him just may slow their offense down enough get the win.

Missouri:
Lead by Attackman Chris Wolf (5.29ppg) will come into Eugene well tested playing 7 games with a 4-3 record, but to this point, have not travelled well. They started off hot at 4-0, but came to Texas leaving with a 3 game losing streak. They'll be motivated and ready to prove themselves against some of the PNCLL's best. All scoring is run through the Missouri Attack, but the midfield is lead by Mark Wolf who has 12g & 2a on the year.

Gonzaga:
Coming off a tough game against 2005 PNCLL B Champions Montana last weekend, the Zags hope to rebound. The Zags spread the ball around on Offense and will be lead by their excellent keeper and strong D-poles. Watch for Kladis' boys to move the ball quickly and try to control the tempo of their games right from the start. Gonzaga could be a sleeper this weekend, they can and do capitalize on other team's mistakes.

Nevada:
I'm not going to lie, I don't know much about the Nevada team. They are the Wolfpack for those of you that didn't know, but they're also 1-3. Notable games are losses against Chico State (12-3) & Cal (11-7). The Stats page is fighting me right now, but I've got nothing left, I'm back to work.

Good luck to all this weekend, it should be interesting.

[Dan Wishengrad]

"Oregon" then played a UW team that has really be stepping to the plate. Matt Cone has his guys on the same page, and Ozan is playing incredibly in cage. The tighter than expected game against UW should not reflect on Oregon's talent or ability, nor should the rivalry game against the Clan. Oregon will be ready for their competition, and the only team that won't have to travel.

Kyle, Ozan Unlu played Saturday against Oregon State and it was Tony Maack who played Sunday vs Oregon. Both our Keepers had very strong performances in their respective games.

[OSUGrad]

but since then they've rebounded, and a great showing in Eugene could put them into poll-voters minds for the next ballot.

I would hope so...beating the #24 team should be enough to put them in the minds of the poll-voters.

Laxpower already has them at #24 (and actually has Simon Fraser still at #19)

[Basquelax]

PNCLL B Division Championship of 2005 ended up with the Lutes trailing by 2 at the end 15-13. Since then the lutes lost 6 of their starters that played in that game. (combined for 7 goals, 8 assists) PLU this year has been able to fill some holes with new players such as Nick Tcachuk who dropped 8 points on Linfield last Sunday. PLU¨s biggest test will be in cage with a new goalie going up against one of the strongest B division attacks in the country. Montana however will keep the same players from last year and add even more new talent. Not to say that Montana doesn´t, but PLU has always played with heart and tenacity which might be able to make this a closer game than people think. This will also be a home game for the lutes playing at home and hopefully at Gonyea! This should be a pretty exciting game, I´ll be lookin forward to seeing the results!

[Chris Long]

3/10
GU 13, Nevada 7
UO 14, Mizzou 3

3/11
UO 9, UT 6
Mont 22, Willamette 2
SOU 15, CWU 5
Mizzou 11, GU 8
OSU 15, Nev 6
L&C 9, Whitman 3

3/12
Mont 16, PLU 8
L&C 12, CWU 11 (OT)
Linfield 16, Willamette 4
OSU 12, Mizzou 8
UT 15, Nev 10

Tuesday, March 14th (UPSET TUESDAY)
MD 12, UO 10
UT 11, OSU 9

As always - good luck to all.

[Steno]

L&C 9, Whitman 3

How do you see us falling to winless L&C after WOU beat them 14 - 1 and we beat WOU? I'd love to hear some reasoning behind these claims.

[Juergy]

I guess when you put it that way, it does sound a little absurd. Whitman, despite the loss of Sadler, is still 2-1 in league (the SOU game was not a league game) and from what I'm told, pretty easily handled WOU. I doubt they're a title contender this year (UM is going to take that easily) but I'm sure they'll make a strong playoff push. After all, they have the "dean of coaches" in the PNCLL who always finds a way to mold a team. I'm sure their "diaper dandies" will grow and help them to some wins. I don't see them losing to L&C, much less by nine goals.

[Grizzly01]

6 goals

[Chris Long]

Probably was a 'quick pick.' I haven't been doing that well in the 'B' lately.

P.S. It's always good to see guys on the "same page."

[Laxfan23]

I don't think Whitman will lose...let me get that out of the way. However, I don't think saying "we beat A and A beat B so we'll beat B" means a whole lot this year. By those standards you could say:

Albertson beat Willamette 20-2, Whitman only beat Willamette 8-3, Whitman beat Western Oregon handily, therefore Albertson will dominate Western Oregon.

However, I don't think anyone is willing to say that Albertson is going to blow out Western Oregon right now, it's looking to be a really exciting game. This league (mainly in the B division), is full of A beats B, B beats C, C beats A scenarios. I would wait closer to tournament time before we start comparing scores.

[woulax4]

Was I at a different game. I dont know if losing 8-5 is getting it handed to you, and if anyone watched the game they would know that WOU lost the game, Whitman didnt win it.

ohh yeah by the way WOU played Willamette too and won 17-1.