PNCLL Week #5 (3/2-3/8) - Predict, Scores, Discuss

[Dan Wishengrad]

Friday, March 4th
Pacific Lutheran 14 Western Washington 12

Saturday, March 5th
Oregon 13 Gonzaga 4
Washington 14 Simon Fraser 2
Montana 16 Idaho 6
Central Washington 9 Albertson 4
Southern Oregon 12 Lewis & Clark 3
Western Oregon 14 Willamette 4

Sunday, March 6th
Pacific Lutheran 11 Linfield 8
Puget Sound 8 Western Washington 7 (3OT)
Montana 9 Central Washington 4
Whitman 12 Albertson 0


There are some big B games which will have an impact on the standings. Western Washington (1-2) hosts PLU (1-5) and UPS (3-1), Friday and Sunday. All three teams are ranked, and all are members of B-North.

The UPS Loggers grabbed an early lead in B-North with the win over PLU last weekend. Another win at Western will fortify UPS' hold on first place. Goalie Matt Riopelle is saving 72% of shots taken on cage, which is a big reason for the Loggers fast start. PLU already has a win over Western and looks to sweep the season series. A loss to WWU could prove fatal to the Lutes' hope for the B-North crown, so PLU will have to get the offense back on track after scoring only five goals against UPS. The attack trio of Jensen, Olsen and Zubizarreta needs to break out all at once for PLU. Western has a Friday-Sunday doubleheader against its B-North rivals, and with it a golden opportunity to climb right back into the race. The Vikings John Healy, Jesse Savage and Dylan Larrivee have had a few games to get used to one another as the nucleus for the new-look WWU Attack, and Western needs some offensive output from them to take some heat off Goalie Pete Bonoff.

Central Washington (4-2) has a big showdown at Montana (3-1) Sunday for the B-East lead, but first the Wildcats detour through Caldwell, Idaho for a Saturday game at Albertson (0-1). CWU Coach John Pidgeon knows his young squad can't afford to overlook any opponent, so he will have to fire them up for a Saturday game against the unknown Yotes before they can even think about facing the Grizzlies Sunday.

Linfield (5-0) just keeps adding B Division scalps to its collection and, with the B-South title seemingly a certainty already, can extend its win streak at PLU Sunday and in doing so make a bid for top spot in the national polls. Junior Attackman Taylor Brennan has been the PNCLL B Division's top player so far in 2005, with 20 goals and 10 assists to lead all scorers.

In other B games Whitman (2-1)* visits Albertson, Willamette (0-3)* is at Western Oregon (1-2) and Lewis & Clark (0-4)* heads down to Southern Oregon. (* = Whitman reportedly beat Willamette and Lewis & Clark last weekend, no scores posted to pncll.com yet!)

Look for Kyle's preview of the A Division games in this thread later.

[Peter Lewicki]

tough to follow the alma mater when they don't post their scores...come on you slacker-hippies

[Rowelax]

Are these the rankings from the beginning of the year or something?

[Big D]

No. They are from the latest polls, which came out last week.

[Da Wrightstuf]

I am looking forward to playing gonzaga this weekend. But its still hard for me to stomach the idea that a major PAC-10 school isn't able to have a lacrosse team to field. I know that people who go to WSU want to play, I just hope next year someone can organize the program to an acceptable level for the sake of the game.

After Simon fraiser I'm not going to predict any more of our games, but here what I think will happen in the rest of the PNCLL

- UW @ SFU: I think UW will play a closer game than the statistics would predict, but I don't think SFU will have trouble winning at home. lets say 16-7.

- I think that homefield advantage will give Idaho a boost to upset Montana 10-9.

- Central washington will win at Alberston, 14-5

- Lewis and Clark will win over S. Oregon, just because I don't know anything about southern oregon and usually new teams have trouble winning their first few years. 10-5

- Western Oregon will beat Willamette 14-9

- if #11 plays big, PLU will beat Linfield 15-8. if he doesn't come to play I think Linfield can upset PLU 11-10.

-UPS will loose to Western Washington because they won't be able to see the ball under their orange-parking lights that are used to illuminate the field, 9-6

- Montana will rally after a loss to Idaho to hand central washington a loss 11-5.

- Whitman will beat Alberston 9-8. not that Whitman is better, I just know nothing about Albertson other than that they sell quality steaks half price on tuesday.

these are my predictions and they will be right or else!...... they'll be wrong.

- Wrightstuf #40

[ben012685]

What happens divisional ranking wise if Western beats UPS? That could cause a lot of confusion.

[woulax4]

"Western Oregon will beat Willamette 14-9"

People should give WOUs defense a little more credit then that. WOU did hold Linfield to 10 goals and Central Washington to 7(with one of the starting defenders MIA)[/quote]

[PNWLaxer]

After looking at the PNCLL North B division WWU has 7 divisional games listed, PLU has 8 divisional games listed and UPS 7 divisional games listed. Each has 2 games against Evergreen so really WWU has 5 games that count, PLU 6 and UPS 5. This confused me a bit as I thought that only games between divisional teams counted.

In the past a tie between teams was decided by head to head victories. In the scenario presented the only way a three way tie would occur is if all teams went 1-1 between themselves.

The next tiebreaker is head to head goals in the games between the tied teams.

[Kyle Berggren]

The divisional games are all screwed up.... Don't read too much into it.. PLU WWU and UPS all play each other twice for division, and have 2 games outside of that for a total of 8. PLU and UPS play CWU and Montana... Not sure on who for Western... The Evergreen games count as wins...

[Laxfan23]

- Whitman will beat Alberston 9-8. not that Whitman is better, I just know nothing about Albertson other than that they sell quality steaks half price on tuesday.

- Wrightstuf #40

Albertson's defense is very very tough (ask a couple of the Montana midis who had to be helped off the field). They don't have a ton of offense to go with it, but almost the entire team is brand new. Other than their goalie, who transfered from the University of Utah where he played for two years, one defenseman, and one attackman (who was a long stick in high school), every kid on the team just picked up a stick. However, there's a bunch of athletes on the team, which allows them to have a good defense, but their offense is not quite up to par, as the stick skills aren't quite there.

I think they will get better as time goes on...however to win games they're probably going to have to hold opponents to 7-6 goals.

Oh...and you forgot about the preffered card. That can save you a ton of money.

[TheNino57]

Are the Evergreen wins going to even count come play-off time when they are considered as a conference game?

[Ballaholic]

#8B Pacific Lutheran at #14B Western Washington
PLU will bounce back after a tough start and sweep the series, by 4.

#8 Oregon at Gonzaga
UO returns to championship form with a solid win over the Dogs, no less than 10.
Washington at #14 Simon Fraser
SFU riding high from last weeks big win will overlook UW but still win by no more than 5
#25B Montana at Idaho
Montana wins
Central Washington at Albertson
Albertson's Goalie will have 20+ saves and keep it close, CW by 5

#19B Linfield at #8B Pacific Lutheran
PLU ends Linfields run and wins to stay in the Race, PLU by 3
#15B Puget Sound at #14B Western Washington
WWU takes this one by small margin, WWU by 1
Central Washington at #25B Montana
Montana Wins
Whitman at Albertson
Whitman runs through Albertsons and wins by 10

[PNWLaxer]

#8B Pacific Lutheran at #14B Western Washington
Having seen both teams this year, I have to go with PLU by 4.

#8 Oregon at Gonzaga
Kladis and company play hard but the Ducks come out ahead by double digits. I would not be surprised to see Oregon score 20.

Washington at #14 Simon Fraser
The Clan are back after last years slide. Although not playing a run and gun style that was fun to watch at times, there new system and solid D limit UW to under 5.

#25B Montana at Idaho
Montana has a solid squad this year. The Grizz beat the Vandals by 6.

Central Washington at Albertson
CWU beats newcomer Albertson. Closer than some may expect Central by 7.

Lewis & Clark at Southern Oregon
LC beats up on SO. LC by 10.

Willamette at Western Oregon
Western O wins on their home team in a close by 2.

#19B Linfield at #8B Pacific Lutheran
PLU solidifies their position as one of the best B teams in the PNCLL. Linfield battles hard but PLU wins by 4.

#15B Puget Sound at #14B Western Washington
UPS comes off the win vs PLU last weekend and continues with their winning ways. A close one that will come down to the 4th quarter. UPS by 1.

Central Washington at #25B Montana
In a battle that may clear things up in the B div East Montana wins at home by 4.

Whitman at Albertson
Whitman comes out strong and wins by 6. Sadler has a big game.

One fan's opinions. Care to disagree if you choose.

[BearcatLax]

#19B Linfield at #8B Pacific Lutheran
PLU solidifies their position as one of the best B teams in the PNCLL. Linfield battles hard but PLU wins 4 this weekend.

PLU over Linfield? Helluva call, should be a great game. I go for Linfield by 6 or 7.

[Kyle Berggren]

The Evergreen wins will count divisionally for everyone one that had them scheduled.... I'm not sure which teams in the East had them scheduled, but 2 teams did. I assume it was Whitman and Albertson.