US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM MD Girls 2028

Here are the division games....Schedules certainly favor some over others....

M&D Black - Eagle Stix, Coppermine Black, Pride - 2 tough games
Coppermine - Pride, M&D Black, Hoco - 1 tough game
Crush - Hoco, Pride, Nems - 0 tough games
MD United East - Nems, HoCo, Eagles Stix - 1 tough game
Eagle Stix - M&D Black, Nems, MD United East - 2 tough games

They should had M&D Black, Coppermine, Crush, MDU East, and Eagle Stix play a round robin. Woulda had more competitive games for everyone. Plus only one team is gonna come out of the division, so even an undefeated team with a tougher schedule is at a disadvantage as the tie breaker will prolly be goals against or differential. Tournament director coulda done better here IMO.

Yes, 3 teams could finish 3-0 and then the team with the easiest schedule will likely advance, which is unfortunate. And then when they advance they will play Next Level, Xtreme, Stars or M and D red for the playoffs. So, Crush could win the championship without ever playing 1 good team. Definitely not the torunament directors best work.

Its funny that if Crush wins the tourney and doesn't play a good team they could have a worse ranking in US Club lax based on how I think the rankings work vs. the teams that have a tougher schedule and have a close loss. This obviously assumes you care about the club rankings vs tournament hardware.

But NEMS is much improved and may throw an upset or two.

Agree, Crush has 3 easy games then an even easier Championship game. All without playing M&D, Coppermine, MDU or Eagle Stix. All 4 of those teams easily beat Crush. ThinkLax needs to get their Act together.

I am not even sure how most of these tournament directors decide on brackets and games anymore. LLL schedule just came out and the imbalance is even worse and I can't imagine Heros and Coppermine get much from the tournament. It does appear that Coppermine was moved down to the third division but I don't even want to speculate why that would be...

Teams and last years club lax rankings (which if a tournament director has no idea as least is a blueprint)

Top bracket: MDU East (5) plays: Aces (7) YJ Maget (8) NXT (9) and Monster Purple (10)

Second bracket: Heros (4) plays: Philly Blast (14) MDU West (61) and SJ Shamrocks (65)

Third bracket: Coppermine (1) plays: Prime Time (19) Tradition (47) and Monster White (70)

Heros/Coppermine parents honest question- are your teams happy with this schedule? Are your teams missing players so asked to be moved down? I am just trying to understand how this still happens in 7th grade with lots of games played last year

It looks like Coppermine teams are in that 3rd division at most different age groups 2028 and above for LLL, so perhaps team was placed based on assumption that's where they belong based on club, rather than based on the individual 2028's strength. Everyone is complaining about 1 division here or there, but these tournament directors have to make multiple divisions across many different age groups. I assume some just don't take the time to go through each individual division to look up rankings as you just did.

If you are a tournament director its called doing your job. Imagine traveling a long way and getting crappy games or being overmatched/undermatched. Total waste of time and money. The LLL draw is a lot worse than Fall Lax Fest.

Maybe so, but ARE they doing their job in a way that guarantees good matches for all or good matches for most? I'm sure some directors put more care into that others. The LLL placements just seem kind of haphazard.

Something happened on the Schedule as of a few weeks ago, Coppermine was in the Top Bracket. Now it seems they were moved to the 3rd bracket, so this was all the doing of the LLL tourney directors. When players registered the top bracket had Coppermine in it. Always good to get playing reps in so never discount a game, but for 3 games against the current schedule competition, it leaves a lot to be desired. Playing in the top bracket would be a lot better.

Teams also make requests, it's the clubs that request what level of play. Maybe some clubs know certain weekends they will be missing players and request a weaker bracket? It happens more than you think. And then there is travel, some of the ones with flights to catch will ask to play earlier.

Tourney directors have been doing this long enough to know which clubs are strong. AND they want their clubs to do well.

Yes, like Steps White (ended last year ranked 11) and is in one of the bottom brackets against teams in the low 40's and 50's.

Even just switch Coppermine and MDU West- a lot more productive and enjoyable for all

Well they accept a lot of money from the teams in the tournament so they should make the time!

All 4 of those teams "easily" beat Crush ???

Eaglestix has only played them once and lost. The other 3 teams have beaten Crush, how easily is debatable.

Anyway, that's irrelevant to the main point, which is that Crush should be able to win the entire tournament without ever playing a difficult team. In the end, I'm sure most of the girls will be happy just to be back on the field. But it does kind of take away from the "tournament" aspect of it all.

I beg to differ the comment was "All 4 of those teams easily beat Crush", in an attempt to somehow prove Crush can only win because they don't play so called "Top 4" teams. You can't make a statement and then claim irrelevant. Anything unrelated to Elephants is Irrelephant. Crush has both beat and lost to all four of those teams. Crush has to beat any teams on their schedule, regardless of who, to to get to and win Tournament Championship... it is not a given.

Crush has by far the easiest path, that is the point.

And another team (or two) could go 3-0 while also playing some top teams and not make the Championship due to goals against simply because Crush has a very easy path to 3-0. Only Crush parents and players know if they feel relief and are happy to win a tournament while avoiding any top teams or if they would rather have played top teams and possibly lost.

There’s really nothing standing in their way. The only way they don’t go all the way is if another team goes undefeated and somehow keeps goals allowed very low. I guess it’s possible, MDU and Coppermine only have one challenging game each.

When did Crush beat Coppermine?

Chesapeake divisions are out and they seem a lot more balanced:

Purple: Heros, Coppermine, ES, Aces

Pink: M&D, MDU, Crush, Jesters

Sky: Skywalkers, Pride, Hoco, 3d Colorado

Not the PP, but simply put, Crush would struggle to beat any of those 4 teams next weekend. If you take the last year, Crush has not beaten Maryland United or Coppermine. Like it or not, Crush would not be the favorite to beat M&D, Maryland United, Eagle Stix or Coppermine. Also not debatable, Crush' schedule next weekend is very very easy.

Not the PP, but simply put, Crush would struggle to beat any of those 4 teams next weekend. If you take the last year, Crush has not beaten Maryland United or Coppermine. Like it or not, Crush would not be the favorite to beat M&D, Maryland United, Eagle Stix or Coppermine. Also not debatable, Crush' schedule next weekend is very very easy.“

Not sure how you can make this assumption based off last year’s rosters. We have no idea which teams gained/lost talent. Unfortunately, the Fall season isn’t a great time to assess a teams strength as some will be missing players due to soccer, field hockey and other Fall sport’s commitments. I am just happy to see the girls back on the field.

I think this board has been pretty transparent about who gained and lost talent.

It has already been established that there wasn't a lot of movement between teams already in the top 5. So, the only thing that remains to be seen is who had the best pick ups from the lower A/ B teams.

How well crush would fare against any of the other top 4 teams was not the point of the original statement. It was that crush can win the championship with out playing even 1 tough team.

Never stated that Crush could or would beat any of "those" four teams or be favored to do so...Crush has nothing to with schedule but they do have to beat whomever they are scheduled to play to win the tournament...emphasis on "play" not talk.

Hey Coppermine maybe you finally got the asterisk [Censored] off your back looks as if all are ready to assign the big * to Crush, if Crush does win.

Agree, haven't even played yet but those teams not in top 4 or 5 are being discounted to easily... let the play decide

Not the PP, but simply put, Crush would struggle to beat any of those 4 teams next weekend. If you take the last year, Crush has not beaten Maryland United or Coppermine. Like it or not, Crush would not be the favorite to beat M&D, Maryland United, Eagle Stix or Coppermine. Also not debatable, Crush' schedule next weekend is very very easy.[/quote]

Never stated that Crush could or would beat any of "those" four teams or be favored to do so...Crush has nothing to with schedule but they do have to beat whomever they are scheduled to play to win the tournament...emphasis on "play" not talk.

Hey Coppermine maybe you finally got the asterisk [Censored] off your back looks as if all are ready to assign the big * to Crush, if Crush does win.[/quote]

You win the “ Idiotic Post of the Day Award”

Never stated that Crush could or would beat any of "those" four teams or be favored to do so...Crush has nothing to with schedule but they do have to beat whomever they are scheduled to play to win the tournament...emphasis on "play" not talk.

Hey Coppermine maybe you finally got the asterisk [Censored] off your back looks as if all are ready to assign the big * to Crush, if Crush does win.[/quote]

You win the “ Idiotic Post of the Day Award”[/quote]

When in doubt... always revert to name calling

You win the “ Idiotic Post of the Day Award”[/quote]

When in doubt... always revert to name calling[/quote]

When in doubt, revert to the *asterisk nonsense.

Schedules are out and not ideal. I'd expect these game times during the summer season not fall/winter.

Its a shame NEMS wasn't included in the top 3 Divisions. They will be a much improved team from last year and will surprise some top teams. You heard it here first!

Well, they'll get the chance to prove you right this weekend. But how do you suggest they improved THAT much from last year? Didn't their best player go to Crush?

One can appreciate your enthusiasm for your team, but where did the new talent come from. I know that we will get a chance to see it this weekend, but it just seems unrealistic to think a team that went 4-4 in the B division will jump to a top 10 team unless they gained A LOT of talent. It seems that most of the movement that was suspected over the summer has been confirmed, so where did the new improvements come from? I get that individuals can also improve and mature, but that is a big leap.

Heros is gonna have a tough weekend. Skywalkers should easily come out on top.

What do you expect...a tourney sponsored by the Skywalkers Director.

Could be some frosty cold games early in the morning! Hopefully, the weather trends warmer that weekend.

Fall Lax Fest predictions for the Champ games?

National Fall Fest

M&D 28 Black Eagle Stix 28 Blue
Eagle Stix -2

PRIDE 28 RED Coppermine 28 Black
Coppermine -4

MD United 28 East NEMS 28
MD United -6

HoCo 28 Black Crush 28
Crush -5

M&D Shore 28 Phantastix 28 White
M&D Shore -2

M&D 28 Black Coppermine 28 Black
Coppermine -3

NEMS 28 Eagle Stix 28 Blue
Eagle Stix -7

Crush 28 PRIDE 28 RED
Crush -3

HoCo 28 Black MD United 28 East
MD United -7

Renegades 28 M&D Shore 28
Renegades -3

MD United 28 West Integrity 28
Integrity -2

PRIDE 28 RED LOUDOUN STARS 28 Light Blue
Stars -5

M&D 28 Black PRIDE 28 RED
M&D -7

Eagle Stix 28 Blue MD United 28 East
Eagle Stix -2

Coppermine 28 Black HoCo 28 Black
Coppermine -6

NEMS 28 Crush 28
Crush -4

M&D Shore 28 PPLC 28 Green
M&D Shore -3

Crush vs. Next Level. Crush cruises to championship victory.