It’s that time of year again. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and the NESCAC spring sports season is in full swing. Tennis, golf, and crew resumed play after the winter lull, track has moved outdoors, and baseball, softball, and lacrosse are on the field for the first time in a year. Perusing the NESCAC standings, it’s clear that parity has hit the NESCAC, and this season promises to be a battle to the end. And so without further ado, here are this writer’s observations on this spring’s NESCAC action:
First off, check out the NESCAC lax standings when you get a chance. Middlebury, once considered the golden standard to which all other NESCAC lacrosse squads should hold themselves, is in a sixth-place tie in the women’s standings and is one of five 3-3 teams on the men’s side. This is unfamiliar territory for the Panthers, who have hosted the men’s and women’s tournaments all but one year since the NESCAC became a playing conference in 2001 (Tufts hosted the men’s tourney in 2007, while Tufts hosted the women’s championship last year).
So what’s wrong with the Panthers? It isn’t so much what they’ve done as what the teams around them have done. Much as various commentators have noted that the 78-game winning streak by UConn women’s basketball will spur improvement by other teams, so too has the Panthers’ success brought on widespread improvement by its fellow NESCAC members. Wesleyan has been the biggest thorn in the Panthers’ side the past few years, having defeated Middlebury in the regular season three times from 2006-09 (a feat unmatched by any other NESCAC club in that time frame) and taking down the Panthers in the conference title game last spring.
Bowdoin and Tufts, no slouches to begin with, have also risen to new heights in recent years, and Conn. College sits tied with the Jumbos atop the NESCAC standings this year. Even Williams, generally a middle-of-the-pack lacrosse school, has come onto the scene with a bang in recent years, becoming the first team other than Middlebury to win the conference title in 2008. Similarly, on the women’s side, Trinity, Tufts, and Colby have emerged as the biggest threats to Middlebury’s dominance, with Colby taking down the top-seeded Panthers in the 2008 semifinals and going on to win back-to-back NESCAC titles. A few years ago, it was a certainty on the level of death and taxes that Middlebury would host six lacrosse games the first weekend in May. Now, the Panthers are struggling to get a mere home game.
–No, you didn’t read that last paragraph incorrectly. A year after finishing last in the conference standings with a 1-8 showing, Conn. College is tied with Tufts atop the NESCAC men’s lacrosse standings at 6-0. What’s made the difference? The Camels aren’t scoring much more than they did last season—averaging 10.90 goals per game, compared to 10.67 in 2009—but have tightened things up on the defensive end. Last season, the men from New London had a goals-against average of 10.44 in NESCAC contests (allowing 94 in nine games); this year, that figure is down to 6.67. That increased emphasis on the defensive end has paid off, as three of the Camels’ six NESCAC wins have come by a single goal (including an 8-7 victory over Middlebury). Saturday’s contest at Tufts matches up the NESCAC’s top offense (the Jumbos average 13.67 goals per game) against one of its stingiest defenses and will almost certainly decide the NESCAC regular-season champion. Prediction: Conn. College 8, Tufts 6.
No sport better emphasizes the difficulties of building up a program in the NESCAC than tennis. On the women’s side, five NESCAC teams are ranked in the top 20 nationally: Amherst (1), Williams (2), Bowdoin (11), Middlebury (15), and Tufts (17). The conference has even more men’s teams ranked: Middlebury (ranked first nationally), Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Trinity, and Bates. Those teams have also combined for nine national championships since 1999, including seven by Williams. In many NESCAC sports, there are a few teams at the top and then everybody else, making the challenging part breaking out of the middle of the pack and into the elite tier. In tennis, the challenge is simply competing in a league that features almost unheard-of top-to-bottom strength.
And finally, Wesleyan baseball is back. After a few lean years, the Cardinals are almost certainly headed to the NESCAC playoffs for the second straight season and are in the driver’s seat in the NESCAC West race. Wesleyan features the top two players in the NESCAC in hits, runs scored, and RBI, as well as its leaders in doubles, total bases, and strikeouts. The Cardinal pitching staff ranks second in the conference in strikeouts with 154; while the team stands fifth in the NESCAC in ERA (5.43), much of that is attributable to the season-opening high-scoring contests out West, as the team has allowed just 29 earned runs in nine NESCAC contests thus far (six of which came in one game). Trinity is still the class of the conference until someone takes down the Bantams, but all indications are that the old guard will be back atop the NESCAC when all is said and done.
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