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Way Too Early LAX Rankings

Team (1st-place votes) - Total
1. Richmond (6) – 48 pts

2. High Point (2)- 41
3. Air Force – 36
4. Jacksonville – 33
5. Mercer – 22
6. Furman – 19
7. Bellarmine – 15
8. VMI – 10

2020 Preseason All-Southern Conference Team
Asher Nolting, High Point, A
Sean Goldsmith, Mercer, A
Ryan Lanchbury, Richmond, A
Jack Dolan, Jacksonville, M
Evan Tyler, Jacksonville, M
Mitch Savoca, Richmond, M
Quentin Carlile, Air Force, D
Jordan Young, Jacksonville, D
Jason Reynolds, Richmond, D
Alec Van de Bovenkamp, Furman, G
Ashton Wood, Mercer, FO
Zack Deaken, Jacksonville, SSM
Sean Menges, Richmond, LSM
 
Quint’s Top 20 2/24

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/arti...-ivy-climbing-and-moving-on-from-upsets/56028

16. Richmond For teams like Richmond, playing an arduous February schedule is laying the foundation for success in the SoCon regular season and tournament. A lopsided loss on Sunday at South Bend must provide lessons. They pocketed wins over Navy and Marist and sit at 2-2 with a trip to Durham on Friday (5 p.m. ACC Network). Chris Cotter and I have the call. Hopefully, a postgame trip to Dames Chicken and waffles will be on the itinerary.

Watching this team on tape there is an abundance of skill. Clever passing and finishing. Tall lefty freshman Richie Connell looks poised to score a ton of goals surrounded by playmakers Ryan Lanchbury, Ryan Dunn, Mitch Savoca and Tyler Shoults.
 
Villanova loses to an unranked Drexel and moves up in the poll from 15 to 14?
What am I missing?
 


Men’s Lacrosse Ranked No. 18 In US Lacrosse Magazine’s Early 2021 Rankings



2020 record: 4-3 (1-0 Southern)
Last seen: Routing Mount St. Mary’s and VMI by a combined 31-11 margin after a February that included one-goal losses to Maryland and Duke.
Initial forecast: The Spiders return more or less intact, with their top eight scorers back in the fold along with two starting defensemen and goalie Jack Rusbuldt (.556 save percentage). Richmond was well on its way last year to what’s become its usual season arc, creating all sorts of headaches for high-end opponents in non-conference play before making a run at a Southern Conference championship and a potential NCAA tournament berth. So it will probably go in 2021 if there’s a season. Ryan Lanchbury (14 goals, 16 assists), Richie Connell (19 goals, second among all Division I freshman in 2020) and Mitch Savoca (13 goals, six assists) were the key offensive cogs in the spring, and they are a fine place for coach Dan Chemotti’s offense to start from this time around.
 
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The season is still five months away, but that’s not stopping us from looking ahead at the pecking order for 2021!


16. Richmond

Key returns/additions: A Ryan Lanchbury (14/16/30 in 7 games); Richie Connell (19/3/22 in 7 games); A Mitch Savoca (13/6/19 in 7 games); D Ray Baran (25 GBs/12 CTs in 7 games); G Jack Rusbuldt (56% save percentage)

Key losses: None

Everyone’s favorite underdog is back for another go around in 2021 and so is essentially the entirety of the team. The entire starting offense, two starting defenseman, and Rusbuldt in goal. The Spiders again nearly played spoiler last year; falling in OT to Maryland and Duke in games they probably should have won. They were 4-1 against the remainder of their schedule and looked like the favorite in the SoCon, as they seem too every year.

Dan Chemotti has built one of the most consistent mid-majors in college lacrosse and with an experienced, talented roster back in the fold for 2021; Richmond should be poised to once again possibly pull off an upset of a top ranked team and win the SoCon en route to a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
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The season is still five months away, but that’s not stopping us from looking ahead at the pecking order for 2021!

I don’t think calling our lacrosse program a mid-major Is appropriate. Lacrosse is not a basketball program, unless they are using that term based on the size of the school.
 
in college lax the power conferences are B10, ACC, Ivy, maybe the Big East.

CAA, PL, SoCon, MAAC, America East are ”mid majors”
 
in college lax the power conferences are B10, ACC, Ivy, maybe the Big East.

CAA, PL, SoCon, MAAC, America East are ”mid majors”
Admittedly, I have never heard that used in conjunction with lacrosse. Obviously, well known for basketball and football designations, but never heard used for lacrosse.
Call me a homer, but the schedule we play does not lack traditional lacrosse powerhouses, which I suppose is not the measure the sportswriters use.
Teams like Towson in the CAA and Navy in the PL aren’t usually considered lower level teams.
This is just a matter of semantics- but the Spiders are becoming a high major in my book. :)
 
NIKE/US LACROSSE
DIVISION I MEN’S PRESEASON TOP 20

1. Duke
2. Syracuse
3. Maryland
4. Penn State
5. Virginia
6. North Carolina
7. Denver
8. Yale
9. Cornell
10. Notre Dame
11. Georgetown
12. Ohio State
13. Loyola
14. UMass
15. Army
16. Lehigh
17. Richmond
18. Penn
19. Rutgers
20. Johns Hopkins

Also considered (alphabetical order): Albany, Brown, Bucknell, Hofstra, Navy, Providence, Villanova
 
19. Richmond Spiders

The Richmond Spiders are, without a doubt, the best team and favorite in the SoCon. Returning their top eight scorers, including Ryan Lanchbury, who is back for a fifth season, Richie Connell, and Mitch Savoca on offense, and returning goalie Jack Rusbuldt, and LSM Sean Menges, in addition to multiple other major contributors on defense, this Richmond squad could be its most talented ever.


 
Please don’t let him have a reason to leave- I see years of success with Coach Dan.

“The system, the system, the system. They have the nice Canadian finisher Lanchbury, and they have a couple other really talented players that we’d all want, but what a system he puts those guys in. The defense, they’re out there at the 40-yard line, the short sticks are cross-checking you and making contact points and pushing you where they want you. That guy needs to get another job. Someone needs to hire Dan Chemotti. We’ve got to get him another job and get him out of there, please.”
 
Without Ivy League on hiatus we would have a tough time staying in the polls. Pulling for breaking into the win column on Saturday!
 
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