Tag: Lafayette College

Each year Field Hockey Corner does a statistical analysis of the records of all 77 division one schools and ranks them using variables such won loss records, strength of schedule and margin of victory. Although they have several methodologies the most used is RPI. We can use this as a proxy to look at the Patriot League in total, and to individual programs.

Here are the RPI’s of all the Patriot League Schools and their RPI by year. The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) is calculated by .25 win/loss record + .5 strength of schedule +.25 of opponents’ SOS.

TEAM 2014   2015  2016   2017   2018    5 year average

BU         19        13.      15.     20       24          18.2

AM        37        30.      18.     39       34          31.6

BUC       22        40.      29.     38       40          33.8

Laf         38        43.     45.      53      50          45.8

HC.        77.       66.     54.      60       69          65.2

Col        62.       77.     73.      73       73.          71.6

Leh.      66.       68.     55.      65       74.          65

AVG.    45.8.    56.7    41.3.  49.7     52.          49.1

 

As can be seen, the trend for the league has not been favorable in recent years. It should also be noted that the rankings are bifurcated with a spread of approximately 53 places on average between the top and bottom teams. The rankings over the past 5 years have been fairly consistent. The bottom three teams have coaches that have been there 3 years or less. The top four team range from 38 years for BU and 6 years for Lafayette.

Does RPI matter?? If our best team wins the PL tournament and they are then seeded by RPI, it can diminish the chances of a PL team advancing. For the bottom teams the goal is to get to the league tournament, so coaches would naturally concentrate on those games between the bottom four. The top teams would like to do well in the non conference schedule to raise the league’s and it’s own RPI. Even if they lose with a small margin in tough non-conference games, their SOS can favorably effect their RPI.

It seems to me, the league can improve their RPI and their individual RPI’s by improving their results in the out of conference schedule. Losing badly to a non-conference foe can reduce  the League’s RPI and reduce other PL team’s strength of schedule once they get into the Patriot part of the season.  Another way to improve, is to search out other decent teams and take them on as associate members of the Patriot League.

All the patriot league teams are in different stages of development and one can only wonder what team has been helped by this recruiting season. I must admit I am a homer and think Lafayette has a good mix of talent ( recruits and veterans that can produce significant wins). I see no reason why Lafayette cannot get into the mid-20’s in 2019. In 2013 they finished the season in the high teens.

Lehigh has 8 recruits at the moment, seemingly with an emphasis on scoring talent. Colgate will return a significant number of veterans.  For Holy Cross this will be a crucial class. Bucknell will need to restock next year as well, and will use local talent to do it. American will rely on a lot on their veterans but they seem to always get a key foreigner to fill in the blanks. I am impressed with BU’s recruits and my sense is that they are not finished.

Spring training is approaching and that is when veteran players develop the fastest. I am looking forward to it, as I am sure the players are!!

 

Max Sports is reporting six commitments for Lehigh in 2019 but last week Lehigh added on their twitter page two more. The two they reported would certainly fill some gapping holes in this 3-15 team. Lehigh had 19 players on the roster and lost 3 to graduation, so by picking up a net of 8 , it would bring their roster to 24, a reasonable size for a division one program with 18 regular season games. However, that 24 will only include two seniors.

The Mountain Hawks and Leopards met in the first league game of the season and the game was worthy of the rivalry as  for the second time in as many years, it went to overtime. This time the Leopards prevailed 3-2. Lafayette had 20 shots and Lehigh goalkeeper was forced to make 10 saves. Regardless of the record, head coach Kaitlyn Dallmeyer appreciates the importance of the “Rivalry.” Next year if the Patriot League rotates the schedule as it has in previous years Lehigh will be the last league game and many of the underclassmen will be veterans at that point.

The two recruits announced by Lehigh and presumably signed NLIs are Maddie Kahn a goal keeper and Abbrianna Gatto an attacker. Last year Lehigh suffered several key injuries, one to their starting goalkeeper, who was lost for four games. Their only replacement was a walk on sophomore.

They also only scored 24 goals against 74 scored against then. They took 180 shots but saw 331 shots in response. Dallmeyer seems determined to improve on that record.

Maddie Kahn:

Maddie is a goalkeeper from Ocean City High School and played for WC Eagles as many good recruits have. She seems to be an intense athlete and has impressive physical assets, At 5’10″she has reach and her personal statement reflects her determination. She describes herself as “smart, physical, aggressive and vocal on the field.” She also says one v one she is ” not afraid to go to  the ball then use the body to take out someone and protect the net.” Coach Dallmeyer a former all 2007 American GK at Duke should appreciate that.

She was an all league and all American watch list player and a Junior Olympian. In 2018 she made 131 save including 29 saves in her final game in the state tournament.

Adrianna Gatto:

She is a forward with amazing statistics. She comes from Upper Perkiomen  and played for X-Calibur. If you count the goal she scored in a senior all star game she has scored 100 goals in her career. She is a 3 time all state selection  and all conference selection. At 5′ and 115 pounds she is speedy and elusive on the field. She also plays lacrosse which is alway good to see in elite athletes as they can use their athleticism in various sports.

The following were listed by Max Field Hockey as Lehigh commitments

Paige Schaefer:

 

 

Paige is an all state midfielder from Pierson High School on Long. Island. She plays club field hockey for East End. The future engineering major is one of two division one recruits on her small high school team.

 

 

 

 

 

MJ Schwab:

 

 

MJ was the top defender for Bishop Eustace in Haddenfield while also playing for South Jersey Edge. I could not find any additional stats except to say she is 5’4″ and also ran track. She will be a defender for the Mountain Hawks

 

Anna Piecuch:

Anna comes from the Selinsgrove Area HS in Pa, and played for the PA Power field hockey club. She an All state AA selection as well as all conference. She listed as M/F. Her local paper reports she has scored 41 goals and 28 assists in her career. Anna featured her search on the Patriot League schools before settling on Lehigh.

Sophia Hartman:

 

 

 

Sophia played her field hockey at Broadneck High School in Maryland and SPARK field hockey club. She was an All Met  defender, all league and multiple all state selection.

 

 

CeCe Slaughter:

 

 

 

Also hails from Maryland and the Bryn Mawr School where she was an all conference selectee. She played her club hockey at TNT. She will probably be penciled in as a defender

 

 

 

 

Sydney White;

Sydney completes the contingent from Maryland coming from the Annapolis Area Christian School as a defender. She played her club hockey at Spark. I will try to add her stats as they become known.

 

In coming days I will have a summation and impressions of these Patriot League recruits with a general comment on the status of the League. I will also first post some impressive  video of. Lafayette recruit Tara Hamilton who did not appear on the Max Hockey list.

If anyone has comments I will gladly see they are posted appropriately.

Four year head coach Lindsey Jackson faces a big challenge where she must find enough talent to replace scorers who supplied 16 of their 28 goals last year. There are four seniors to replace but none is more important than Emily Loprete who scored 13 goals last year and Suzanne Noone who scored 3 more. She does see the return of her outstanding goalkeeper who she found on the ice hockey team in 2016, Marcia Laplante. Marcia stopped 75% of the shots against her and there were plenty. She was required to save 189. shots last year. Lafayette has had trouble beating Jackson coached teams as she had beaten the Leopards 3 times in row before losing 3-2 this year. In those three years the losses to Holy Cross were a factor in qualifying for the PL tournament. Lafayette put 24 shots to Holy Cross’ 7 during last season’s game. The last Holy Cross goal was by Loprete with less than a minute to play.

Jackson has one foreigner on the team and the rumor is she will be hunting overseas for additional talent. For the moment, I could find 2 recruits committed to Crusaders

 

Emily Donne:

This Mass. native is from Chelmsford High School and played her club hockey with the Wizards. She is a field player who contributed key assists in Chelmsford,s state tournament run. I have not been able to get some stats on her or a picture I could lift from the internet. I look forward to seeing more about this recruit in future Holy Cross releases.

Gabriella Venezia:

Is also a Wizard player from Mass. and played for the highly regarded  Watertown HS field hockey team. She was named to the Boston Herald all- Scholastic team behind her 22 goal 10 assist 2018 performance. She was also named the Middlesex League MVP. Gabriella is a multisport athlete having played lacrosse as well. She will join her sister Olivia who will be a junior when Gabriella matriculates. Olivia, by the way scored a goal against Lafayette in last season’s match.

Lafayette adds fifth recruit

Lafayette announced a fifth recruit yesterday. From North Vancouver BC, Tara Hamilton. I have some nice video of Tara which I will post next week. She looks like a game changing attacker for the Leopards!!

April Cornell the third year coach for Colgate Raiders will return 23 veterans next year to  a squad that had no seniors. Colgate’s record was 4-14 with 0-6 league result. However, they gave Lafayette a good game falling 4-5 on a cold rainy Hamilton, New York morning.  It was the most goals scored by Colgate last fall. Although efficient their offense during the season managed only 21 goals for 7.9 shots per game and only 70 corners.

They have to date only 3 recruits that I can discover, one goalie, and two midfielders. That doesn’t mean more are on the way or perhaps are their foreigners in the pipeline to beef up the current squad?

For the moment here are the known commitments:

Sloan Isen:

She will join two other goalkeepers on the Raider team. A Pa. native she will come from Westtown Prep and WC Eagles.

Emily Kness:

This midfielder/ attacker comes from the very successful Lakeland HS program in New York and played for the Hudson Valley Hockey Club

Mari Kniezewski:

She is the other Pa native and went to Mt St Joseph and played for Mystx. She will be a midfield/ defender for the Raiders

Sally Starr and the Boston University Terriers have four committed recruits to replace their six graduating seniors. The Terriers won the league with a 12-8 record going through the Patriot League unblemished at 6-0. Against Lafayette there were two games that could have not been more different. Despite internal stats in the first game the Leopards lost the first one 7-4 on a streak of of 6 unanswered goals before the Leopards responded with 3 of the their own to add to their first goal in the first half. The second game, the first of the playoff games was entirely different with the Leopards playing the Terriers tough before a goal which ricocheted off a Lafayette defender leg put Boston ahead for the win 2-1 with five. minutes left. Boston ultimately lost to Ohio University in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Defense has always been the hallmark of a Starr team and the Lafayette first  game notwithstanding their 44 goals all season stood up because of their ability to win lower scoring games on the backs of an excellent defense. Boston will lose a fine defenders in Ally Doggett and Ally Hammel as well has their starting GK. They have managed to sign a Goal Keeper and three others before bringing in their usual foreign player from their Australia and New Zealand pipe line.

Caroline Kelly:

A goalkeeper from Episcopal Academy in Pennsylvania and the WC Eagles, is their answer in the cage. While at Episcopal she sported a gaudy 89 percent save percentage. Her coach Gina Buggy described her as ” undoubtably among the very best she has coached,” Gina spent the summer in Holland to refine her goal keeper skills and played overseas for the WC Eagles when they traveled. She is also a the goalkeeper for the ice hockey team. An honor student, she hopes to major in film at Boston.

Rachael Borzymowski:

A defender who describes herself as a midi and defender demonstrating her ability to score goals when needed. She seems to fit the Starr player mold. She played her high school field hockey at Notre Dame Prep in the Baltimore area and the H2O club team. The pre med student was in the top 100 recruits named by Max Preps and was an all metro team selectee.

Giama Pantaleo:

Giama is the second recruit from the very successful Episcopal Academy field hockey program. She is a forward who was an all league and all Delco first team selection. She was also a top 100 Max prep selection and was a junior. olympian . In her junior year she scored 48 points and 18 goals. Like her teammate she also played for the WC Eagle field hockey club.

Ellie McIntyre:

Ellie played her field hockey in Lafayette’s home town of Easton at Easton Area High School. She will be playing on Rappolt Field next year but as Boston Terrier. This talented athlete scored an unbelievable 43 goals last season and 17 assists last year. She scored  136 goals in her four year career. She listed her club team as WC Eagles and x-Calibur. This honor roll student was an all league and all state selection and top 50 max sports field hockey selectee.

 

 

American University fell short in the playoffs last year losing to eventual winner Boston University by one goal. In addition, The Leopards beat the Eagles 3-1 during the regular season, giving up the goal with no seconds left on a penalty stroke. American loses 6 seniors to graduation and so far American’s coach Steve Jennings has replaced them with 3 mid/forwards. Not only has he to replace 6 roster spots but. he is losing all league and region players in Rubas and Goal Keeper Jacobs. In alphabetical order…..

Haile Arrington:

Haile has had a stellar career with Worcester Prep in the Delmarva area. She hails from Salisbury Md. and was the ESIAC player of the year. This past season she score 18 goals and 10 assists. She was has received multiple all league and all region honors and was. on the Max Sports players to watch. She is also a National Honor Society member and a member of the National Art Honor Society. She is planning to major in English/ Art at American.

Her press accolades are numerous and her high school coaches have high praise for this future attacker for the Eagles

Isabella Hite:

 

Another m/f Isabella played at Woodson HS and for Rampage Hockey Club. Originally, a soccer player she fell in love with hockey in high school. I am sure Jennings was impressed with her versatility as a three sport athlete, also playing soccer and track.  Jennings though had to be focusing on her all region and state accolades. She sports a 4.03 GPA and has an interest in the stem fields and computer science.

Abigail Krieder:

This New Jersey native made her mark at Blair Academy. This all state player scored 21 goals and 19 assists and also played the New Jersey Stars. She also found her home at the midfield/forward position . She credits her mom for being her coach from 2nd to 8th grade.

All. three should fit in well to a Jennings attacking style of play.

 

It’s been over a month since the official signing day arrived, when recruits can return National Letters of Intent to their college coaching staffs. The Lafayette coaching staff as does most of the Patriot League schools chooses to wait until the class is completed to announce their recruits. There a several reasons. First foreign players tend to commit later in the process. Second, student athletes who have committed at some point change their mind before signing an NLI.

However,  many student athletes prefer to let their decision be made public through the press, their high schools, or club teams. So, the names I have gleaned come from those sources. In additions some personal information will not be revealed until the official announcements are made by their chosen schools. So after a month and a half, Lafayette commitments as revealed by Max Sports, or PhilaFieldHockey follow.

Lafayette will have 5 seniors graduating from their 23 member squad. MaxSports as of this writing is reporting 3 committments:

Natalie Fuertsch:

Natalie will graduate from Owen J. Roberts HS and is a defender for the Pennsylvania school.  She played her club hockey for X-Calibur. A potential Biology major she was an NFHCA HS National Academic Squad member. ” I choose Lafayette because it has a beautiful campus with a lot of new opportunities. The coaching staff and team are very welcoming and have a family like atmosphere which I love . I felt very welcomed visiting the campus and meeting the coaches and the team, ” she states in her article in PhiaFieldHocky. She was an all state player as a defender.

Shea Balderson:

Shea hails from New Jersey and attends Moorestown High School. She played for Mystic Field Hockey Club and is also a defender. This year she scored 2 goals and 2 assists and was named as one of the top 40 players to watch in New Jersey. She was a Group 3 all state player

Sydney. Woolston:

Also a New Jersey native she attends Eastern Regional High School and plays for Jersey Intensity as a defender. She was also in the Top 40 players to watch scoring 4g and 2 assists this year. She was on the 3rd team all-state team.

Hanna Lewis *******

 

Just reported in local papers that Hanna Lewis from Cedar Crest High School in Pa. has signed to play with the Leopards next year. I have little information except she is a forward and in one game scored five goals!!  I look forward to getting more info.

If anyone has additional info on any recruits or would like to add to the information I have, they can PM me through this site.

In coming weeks, no doubt there will be additions to this exclusive list from the US and abroad. Lafayette returns a veteran squad and their is no reason why they should not be competing as  a top 25 team and make a return trip the Patriot League playoffs, at least.

Meanwhile I will be reporting on other Patriot League team’s recruits. My last post had Lehigh with 5 commitments, they are now up to six according to MaxSports.

It has been the practice of Patriot League schools not to announce their signed recruiting classes until the late spring. Even then, there are additions ( mostly late season recruits from overseas) during the summer. But US Club teams and other online resources have already posted commitments of the high school graduates for 2019. Max Sport, a go to resource has posted division one commitments from across the country.

Most Patriot League schools carry 21-23 players on their roster during the season and as seniors graduate ( as they most ofter do in the League), replenishment is on the mind of every coach. There are however some interesting needs and even at this early date, fans can get in the mind of head coaches to see what they are thinking.

First of all, one must keep in mind the Patriot League does not allow red shirts except for medical reasons. So for the most part the career of a Patriot League player is 4 years. Second the NCAA allows 12 equivalencies, total, for a division one field hockey team. Those 12 scholarships will be divided over 4 classes and can be awarded partially to individuals.

So, in alphabetical order here are the number of graduating seniors, and current roster sizes for each Patriot League team.

American 6/22, Boston University 6/21, Bucknell 7/25, Colgate 0/23, Holy Cross 4/23,  Lafayette 5/23, Lehigh 3/19

According to Max Sports the same schools have received the following number of US commitments as of this date..

American 3, Boston 2, Bucknell 4, Colgate 3, Holy Cross 2, Lafayette 4, Lehigh 5

The numbers suggest several things to me. Colgate will field a veteran team, Bucknell has a heavy lift for the recruiting class replacing some key people, Boston will probably dip into their New Zealand and Australia pool to add to their roster, Lafayette has almost reached their goals but will we see some foreign players later on, and American usually will add foreign players to their roster. Holy Cross has lost key players but must look to replace their very fine goalie.

In the coming weeks, I will try to get a line on each class commitments to date keeping in mind they may have not yet signed an NLI yet. First up, our Leopards who according to Max Sports has 4 commitments.

 

 

 

Lisa van der Geest the junior captain of the Lafayette Leopards was named to the third team all American squad. Lisa has been a starter and mainstay of the Lafayette Field Hockey team ever since her arrival on college hill. She is the second Lafayette player to be named to an all American team in the last three years. Amanda Magadan ’17,  now with the US National Team, was named to the same squad by the NFHCA after the 2016 season.

As one of three from the Patriot League selected this year, ( the other two were Ally Hammel from League champion Boston University and Rafaela Rubas of League runner up American University), Lisa was a key member of the Lafayette squad that made a late season run for the title, and qualified for the League tournament, only to lose to the eventual champion Boston 2-1. It was the first. time since 2015 the Leopards have appeared in the post season.

Van der Geest led a defense that allowed just 13 goals in the last seven games. The Oegstgeest, Netherlands native was also tied for the team lead in scoring. She has been a three time all-Patriot League defender and an all-Academic  selectee. Lisa had game winning goals against Drexel. and Colgate.

She has always impressed me with her leadership on and off the field. To me, Lisa was like a “coach on the field,” directing and urging on her teammates. She rarely leaves the field of play displaying amazing fitness and value to her team’s results. Lisa is a winner in every respect, and a student of the game. She evokes competence and leadership as a person and as an athlete. Unlike the other two Patriot League selectees Lisa van der Geest will be back next year, as the Leopards will challenge for a League championship.

She is an intense competitor and her leadership is infectious. Lisa deserves every accolade and we all look forward to her final season next year as a Leopard. Well done Lisa!!! You have already defined “Success” for this team.