Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Every year people say watch out for this team or that team but in the end its usually the same teams year after year. The level of play falls off a cliff outside the top 20. Then there is a big difference from 10-20.

And as far as Spallina, guy is impossible to root for. Cocky, overly physical, coaches to bend rules or take liberties, BUT guy gets more with less than any other coach in the country. If he was at Florida or ND during their strong years he would have won a couple of Naty's, those coaches couldnt coach up great teams when they needed coaching in the tournament

I do not completely agree. In recent years there has only been one team that has been there in the end (Final Four) every year and that would be The Maryland Terrapins. 20 Teams have finished the season ranked in the Top 10 over the past five seasons 2015 - 2019. Nine different teams have made it to the Final Four and three different teams have won The National Championship.

Maryland - 5X Top 10 Finish, 5X Final Four, 3X National Championship.
UNC - 5X Top 10 Finish, 4X Final Four, 1X National Championship.

BC - 4X Top 10 Finish, 3X Final Four.
Syracuse - 4X Top 10 Finish, 2X Final Four.
Princeton - 4X Top 10 Finish.

Penn State - 3X Top 10 Finish, 2X Final Four.
Stony Brook - 3X Top 10 Finish.
Florida - 3X Top 10 Finish.

Navy - 2X Top 10 Finish, 1X Final Four.
Northwestern - 2X Top 10 Finish, 1X Final Four.
Loyola - 2X Top 10 Finish.
USC - 2X Top 10 Finish.
Virginia - 2X Top 10 Finish
Notre Dame - 2X Top 10 Finish

JMU - 1X Top 10 Finish, 1X Final Four, 1X National Championship.
Penn - 1X Top 10 Finish.
Duke - 1X Top 10 Finish.
Stanford - 1X Top 10 Finish.
Towson - 1 X Top 10 Finish.
Denver - 1X Top 10 Finish.

Obviously UNC will be tough to beat, goalie is terrific, team
Defense is excellent, defense and midfielders are extremely athletic and fast , offense is smart and plays with confidence and poise , very unselfish and well coached.

The just held to very good teams to 7 and 5 goals! Not going to lose any game if they keep opponents under 10 goals.

Their offense gets the hype but this team is built from back to front with tremendous speed on the defensive side. In close games that will allow for momentum and game Changing transitions / fast breaks to an attack that can finish as well as anyone.

Northwestern will put up numbers but not sure how their D will be.

Stony Brook is solid but like NU they may have to put up big numbers in order to win.

Can’t wait to watch Syracuse.

Maryland?? Just can’t bring myself to count them out.

Many unfamiliar faces at BC... time will tell.

Loyola will be tough, well balanced , slick and smart. Are they athletic / fast enough to hang with the best?

Virginia looked ok but don’t think they are final 8.

No Idea how Navy will be. Same for USC... we will know soon enough.

Penn State Freshmen getting a lot of hype... with some teams loaded with 5th year seniors it’s going to be tough for freshmen to do the heavy lifting.

Notre Dame? What will make this year different?

Florida? Very good in the goal. D is solid. laxplayer is very good. I will not count them out...

Stanford is supposed to be tough. IdK.

Duke....???? What has happened to them? Don’t think they will finish Top 10.

JMU, always solid. Can they find the magic again?

Towson , another solid program but not sure they will compete with top teams this year.

Denver? Don’t know much about them.

Anyone else out there? Georgetown, Michigan, Hofstra, UMass, Hopkins??? Anyone?