LSA Preseason Poll

[Jason Zantjer]

LSA Div. 1

1.UT
2.A&M
3.SMU
4.Tech
5.TSU
6.BU
7.UNT
8.OU
9.Rice
10.LSU
11.Tulane
12.TCU
13.OSU

LSA Div. 2

1.Southwestern
2.SEU
3.Trinity
4.AC
5.UTA
6.SFASU
7.SHSU

[JW]

I think it is going to be very interesting now that Texas has moved to the South of Division 1. A big Power Shift. It will be unfortunate for a team like Texas State who has been doing so well in the last few years, but running into the A&M buzz saw. Now they are going to have to jump UT and A&M.

But I think a good question is who takes control of the North. Does SMU come back with a vengence after self - reporting themselves. Does Tech reassert it's defensive ability as they did a few years back. Can North Texas' Run and Gun style take them to the finals? Can OU continue to make strides this year and become a playoff contender?

In D2, who will challenge southwestern for supremacy? Can this league get back on track as a formidable league? Is Austin College ready for their number 4 preason ranking? and a question very dear to my heart, can UTA get back to the playoffs after missing the playoffs last year for the first time in its inception.

Good luck to everyone this fall, I for one am quite intigued already.

[Smokey44]

Ranking UNT at #7 is a bit of a surprise....they are returning the League MVP/Offensive player of the year as well as a 2nd Team All-LSA defender.....beat Baylor, Texas State and Tech.....also lost to SMU by 1 in the playoffs. I think with their strong finish and returning the top player in the league, a higher ranking would make sense......

[JW]

Ranking UNT at #7 is a bit of a surprise....they are returning the League MVP/Offensive player of the year as well as a 2nd Team All-LSA defender.....beat Baylor, Texas State and Tech.....also lost to SMU by 1 in the playoffs. I think with their strong finish and returning the top player in the league, a higher ranking would make sense......

I was a little suprised by that also. It could be argued that the goalie they have stepping in is a better Goaltender than the one that started last year. The goalie last year was ok in the semifinal game against a little bit better competition, but could not clear the ball all that well. The guy that played in the Consolation game on Sunday at the championships was very good, very impressive. Stopped the ball well, cleared the ball well, and seemed to have the confidence of the team behind him. I expect them to be better on the defensive end of the field this year.

[benji]

It should be an interesting season with most LSA North teams stepping up the level of play across the board, pursuing more challenging OOC competition and with many teams having solid recruiting classes with great potential.

[theLaxMJ32]

UNT always has a player as offensive MVP

[NT19]

Not sure I understand your reasoning, but UNT finished 07 with the most wins in ts team history. League MVP Trevor Hussey's points totals against LSA North opponents last year:

4g, 3a v. Tech (w)
6g, 2a v. Baylor (w)
1g, 1a v. SMU, (w by forfeit), 1a v. SMU (w bu forfeit)
1g v. UT
3g v. OU (w)

Against South Playoff Teams:
3g v. TSU (l), 3g v. Texas State (w)
3g v. A&M (l)

Although not the best team in the LSA, it seems like both Trevor and his team were pretty consistent. I agree with UT moving to the South it's wide open.

[JW]

Not sure I understand your reasoning, but UNT finished 07 with the most wins in ts team history. League MVP Trevor Hussey's points totals against LSA North opponents last year:

4g, 3a v. Tech (w)
6g, 2a v. Baylor (w)
1g, 1a v. SMU, (w by forfeit), 1a v. SMU (w bu forfeit)
1g v. UT
3g v. OU (w)

Against South Playoff Teams:
3g v. TSU (l), 3g v. Texas State (w)
3g v. A&M (l)

Although not the best team in the LSA, it seems like both Trevor and his team were pretty consistent. I agree with UT moving to the South it's wide open.

I think that in years past you could look at the point totals of the MVP and say maybe they were driven by scoring a lot of goals against weak teams, but should the MVP do that.

Hussey's Goal totals last year seem to be pretty consistent as pointed out, and after watching him play in the championships last spring, I believe he was well deserving of it. There was not another player in the the playoffs that stood out as much as he did.

I am not one to typically pull for UNT, but I think this years team has an opportunity to do some damage. But that said, I think that SMU will come out guns ablazin this year after having to forfeit their spot in the playoffs, and the Proud Tech team will definately want to come out and say that they are back in title contention.

I don't believe there is a lot of rebuilding going on in the North right now, just building. Looking at OU's roster from last year they have kids on their team from top texas high school lacrosse programs, and are a young team, so i would not be suprised to see them begin to move up the south ladder right now.

Like I said before, i believe the graduation of the UNT goalie will benefit the UNT team. They will be more effiecient on the clear, which is almost as important as stopping the ball.

[theLaxMJ32]

Not sure I understand your reasoning, but UNT finished 07 with the most wins in ts team history. League MVP Trevor Hussey's points totals against LSA North opponents last year:

4g, 3a v. Tech (w)
6g, 2a v. Baylor (w)
1g, 1a v. SMU, (w by forfeit), 1a v. SMU (w bu forfeit)
1g v. UT
3g v. OU (w)

Against South Playoff Teams:
3g v. TSU (l), 3g v. Texas State (w)
3g v. A&M (l)

Although not the best team in the LSA, it seems like both Trevor and his team were pretty consistent. I agree with UT moving to the South it's wide open.

you just completely reinforced my statement.

[JW]

I think it might have been when Dunn played for A&M.

I think the reason Tabb did not get much recognition is because A&M had a lot of playmakers on that team, and guys that could step up and contribute. There were a pair of brothers, can't remember their name, but contributed as much as Tabb did in the playoffs.

I believe typically it is the player that is most valuable to his team.

A few years ago i made the argument that Zach Kurzweil was the MVP of the league, not just the defensive MVP, and we saw last year what the loss of Kurzweil looked like... a very average defense.

[theLaxMJ32]

i totally agree

[Karl Lynch]

those are pretty strong accusations that I rigged the LSA awards. You can go to hell you immature brat.

[Jason Zantjer]

I am talking to everyone when I say this, lets not make any more accusations on the forum. If you have a problem with the way the voting has taken place in the past or in the future, contact myself directly. I can assure everyone that voting was correct in the past, after all, it was the teams who voted, assuming everyone turned in a ballot that year.

[theLaxMJ32]

i never said you rigged the awards...there was no accusation intended.

[Karl Lynch]

thelaxMJ23 just keep writing anonymous posts that impugn the integrity of the people that are supporting the league AND YOUR TEAM FINANCIALLY WHEN YOUR SCHOOL WOULD NOT.

Would you like to see the spreadsheets of how everyone voted? Then maybe you would see that I did nothing other than input point totals. It only takes about 12 hours IF you have the information which I usually had to beg for 100 times to get late ballots. Tech turned in its ballots late and was fined.

If I really wanted to influence the votes I would have disallowed every single late ballot, but I didn't because I wanted to make sure everyone's vote was counted even though it made more work for me and delayed the final vote. Then the Div. 2 guys were screaming injustice because the vote for D2 was late when they didn't vote.

Oh wait, turns out that the only school willing to travel to play the LSA southern schools over the past several years was UNT. Guess what UNT players got lots of votes from Southern schools. I guess that's influence.

Oh wait, UNT has a small roster. Consequently, UNT players have more individual opportunities to score and get assists because they have few subs. Same thing happened last year with Baylor and its small roster and Baylor players scored lots of goals and won lots of awards. I guess that's influence.

Keep up the attacks. I think you are going to change my opinion of your remarks real soon.

Good luck Jason dealing with this incredibly informed logic.