MBSLA Top 10 After Week 2

Another blizzard hit Minnesota on Wednesday night (April 16) and cancelled more games and will threaten a few more in the next several days, but a few games were played in week 2 of the MBSLA season.  St. Paul opened play with a resounding win over the new Stillwater club team.  Top 10 team St. Cloud North also opened play against a couple top ranked teams and dropped a close one to Proctor in OT and then were beaten by top ranked Duluth.  St. Louis Park bounced back from their loss to Becker to trounce Top 10 team Grand Rapids.  STMA stayed undefeated on the season with a win over Wayzata early in the week.  By virtue of their undefeated record, they jump 2 places to #8 while Grand Rapids and St. Cloud North, both winless after 2 weeks, drop one spot.  The remaining teams stay the same.  After two weeks of play here is the Northern Lights lacrosse MBSLA Top 10:

Laxpower MBSLA Rankings

It's really early in the season and LaxPower doesn't have a lot of data to base their rankings on, but two weeks into the season, here are LaxPower's MBSLA rankings:

           Norm    Reg
Rnk Team                       PR     In    Cor   Chp  WL Pct  W  L  T
  1 Duluth                    90.20  96.40  0.01  0.00  1.00   4- 0- 0
  2 Becker                    84.81  89.41  0.02  0.00  1.00   1- 0- 0
  3 St Paul                   84.78  86.97  0.00  0.00  1.00   1- 0- 0
  4 Hudson                    84.07  90.05 -0.02  0.00  0.50   1- 1- 0
  5 St Cloud North            80.38  91.44 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
  6 St Louis Park             79.92  84.92 -0.02  0.00  0.50   1- 1- 0
  7 Proctor                   79.34  81.82 -0.01  0.00  0.67   2- 1- 0
  8 St Michael-Albertville    79.25  80.17  0.05  0.00  1.00   3- 0- 0
  9 Red River Valley          76.97  76.00 -0.02  0.00  0.40   2- 3- 0
 10 Wayzata LC                74.94  78.02 -0.01  0.00  0.50   1- 1- 0
 11 Grand Cities              74.47  76.60 -0.04  0.00  0.33   2- 4- 0
 12 New Century               74.26  76.29 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
 13 Grand Rapids              69.10  74.42 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
 14 Stillwater LC             66.43  73.31 -0.05  0.00  0.00   0- 2- 0
 15 Brainerd                   0.00   0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00   0- 0- 0
 16 Mankato                    0.00   0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00   0- 0- 0
 17 Shattuck-St Mary's         0.00   0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00   0- 0- 0
 18 Waconia                    0.00   0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00   0- 0- 0

LaxPower's power ratings for high school lacrosse are based on margin of 
victory calculations, including a 10-goal limit constraint, a correction
factor for teams over- and underperforming their power rating, win-loss
records, and championship bonus points. In addition to the power rating
and national ratings calculations, information is provided on strength 
of schedule and quality wins, although the latter two are not used in 
the power rating formula.

Criteria

Information on the five criteria are displayed on ratings pages:

(1) Margin of Victory
(2) Strength of Schedule (not used in Power Rating Formula)
(3) Quality Wins (not used in Power Rating Formula)
(4) Win-Loss Records
(5) Polls (used only in Coaches-Computer Rating (CCR)

MBSLA Top 10 after Week 1

With only a few games played in Week 1 of the MBSLA season, there were surprisingly, some great match ups. And, after week 1, we'll already see some significant movement in our rankings. Ten games were played in Duluth at beautiful Malosky Stadium last Sunday including a match up between #1 ranked and defending state champion Hudson and #3 ranked Duluth.  This one started out as we expected with both teams trading goals and it looked like it would be a tight battle with the last team with the ball at the end of the game likely taking the win.  However, Duluth had other things in mind playing at home, and controlled the ball and the game by taking a decisive early season victory over Hudson 13-4.  Faceoff man Cooper Carlson fared well against last years all-state midfielder and FOGO McKay Potter.  Duluth got scoring from all over the field with 5 different players scoring including a nice 5 goal 2 assist game from attackman Dan O' Connell.  The Duluth defense looked solid as well, holding a high powered Hudson team to only 4 goals.  Duluth also picked up a win against Red River Valley 18-3, in an indication of the youth and relative inexperience of the former Fargo team.  Hudson picked up a decisive win over #7 ranked Proctor.  However, Proctor looked solid in their other two games, both wins, and finished the weekend 2-1.

In the other game of the week against two top-ranked teams, #5 Becker picked up a solid 10-6 win over #2 ranked St. Louis Park.  This game was tied at halftime 4-4 before Becker pulled away in the second half.  This early in the season, we don't want to read too much into these top 5 matchups, but both Becker and Duluth appear to be strong this season.  Hudson and St. Louis Park are sure to be there in the end, and will use these early season losses as motivation for the remainder of the season. 

Duluth moves up to #1 with their victory over Hudson.  If you beat the best and pick up another win, you deserve to ascend to the top spot in the poll.  St. Paul moves up to #2 even though idle.  We still think St. Paul will be very strong this season.  St. Paul kicks off their season with a match up against an unknown Stillwater club team tonight.  Becker vaults two spots up to #3 with a win over a very good St. Louis Park team.  Park drops to #5, just behind Hudson at #4.  We saw enough of Proctor this weekend to see that they will be a solid team despite the loss to Hudson.  They remain at #7.  Red River Valley lost all three games over the weekend and drop out of the Top 10.  STMA, with two wins and looking improved over 2013, join the Top 10 at #10.  The remainder of the Top 10 teams were idle.  With some movement at the top and bottom, here is our MBSLA Top 10 after week 1:

Duluth Home Games to be Streamed Live on iFan.tv

Duluth Chargers home games will be streamed live this season on iFan.tv If you can't make it to the game or you'd like to watch a little Northern Minnesota lacrosse, check it out!

Post by Ifan Sports Network.

Despite All Odds, First Weekend of Lacrosse Goes On in the North!

Despite a late season blast of nearly a foot of snow in Duluth on Thursday night into Friday, all of the lacrosse games over the weekend were played except for the Friday night game between Duluth and Grand Cities which was postponed.  A lot of lacrosse was played over the weekend with 10 games played over two days.

STMA varsity had a successful trip up to Duluth going home with two victories, one over Red River Valley and one over Grand Cities.  Proctor also had a successful weekend picking up wins over Red River and Grand Cities while dropping one game against Hudson.  In the other Saturday game, the Duluth JV defeated STMA's JV 4-0.

On Sunday, Duluth's varsity squad got off to a great start with two wins.  Early in the day, Duluth

defeated Red River Valley 18-3.  In the marquee matchup of the weekend, #3 ranked Duluth took on #1 ranked and defending state champion Hudson.  Duluth controlled much of the game and came away with a big early season win, 13-4 over Hudson.  On the JV side, Duluth defeated Hudson 6-4.

Look for a new MBSLA Top 10 towards the end of the week.

2014 MBSLA Pre-Season Top 10

The first games of the 2014 MBSLA lacrosse season are scheduled to be played this weekend in Duluth.  Of all places in the state, Duluth is hosting the season's first games.  Fortunately, Duluth has reached an agreement with University of Minnesota-Duluth to play the games on the recently cleared turf at Malosky Stadium (there were areas on the field with over 3 feet of snow that needed to be cleared).  Unfortunately, another major winter storm has been predicted for Thursday night into Friday.  It's looking questionable whether the first game on Friday night will be played. It looks like a repeat of last season with too much snow, indoor practices and the start to the lacrosse season in doubt for many places in Minnesota.

This pre-season ranking is a best effort and certainly not definitive.  To come up with our rankings, we looked at last years performance, the number of seniors lost, top scorers and players returning from last year and returning all-conference and all-state performers.  Please feel free to comment on the rankings and let us know why we're right or why we're wrong.

MBSLA Pre-season Top 10: 

1.  Hudson - Last season's MBSLA State Champion Hudson will begin the season ranked #1.  Until someone challenges them and knocks them off their perch, they'll remain the pre-season favorite.  Hudson does return one of the best players in the State in senior McKay Potter, an All-State selection at both midfield and faceoff.  They do however lose some of their scoring punch with the graduation of All-State Attackman Brandon Schwartz, 2nd Team All-Conference Attackman Taren Motte, and 2nd Team All-Conference Midfielder Riley Collins.  They do have several returning contributors from last year to complement Potter including All-State LSM senior Cole Bjork and All-State Goalie senior Jordan Madden.  In addition they return  1st Team All-Conference Defenseman sophomore Gabe Franck and 2nd Team All-Conference Defenseman senior Connor McGill.  If Hudson can replace a couple major contributors at attack on offense it looks like they return several key players including an all-state goalie on the defensive side of the ball.  Hudson should remain a tough team to beat and a favorite to take home another state championship.

2.  St. Louis Park - St. Louis Park proved once again that they are a contender once playoffs arrive.  For the 6th time in 7 years St. Louis Park made it to the MBSLA Championship game.  And, St. Louis Park should be loaded for 2014 as well.  The Orioles return All-American midfielder, senior Carlos Sequenza along with much of their scoring punch in All-State attack junior Matt Harkema and 2nd team All-Conference performers, attack freshman Brody Ilstrup and midfielder senior Henry Albrecht.  While losing all-conference performer Eric Speicher on Defense and solid goalie Will Harkema, they return some younger defenseman including senior Joey Kramer, a 2nd team all-conference performer last season.  St. Louis Park looks to have the firepower to compete for a 7th state championship in 2014.

3.  Duluth - Duluth had a remarkable year in 2013 finishing the season in 3rd place and finishing up with a 19-1 record, perfect in the regular season.  But for this Chargers squad, 3rd place wasn't quite good enough.  Nothing short of a shot at a championship in the title game will be satisfying enough for Duluth in 2014.  It looks like they might just have the firepower to get there.  The question mark for Duluth remains with the defense.  Duluth begins the season needing to replace All-State performer, defenseman Tanner Fritszinger and All-Conference Honorable Mention defenseman Hunter Wieczorek, a solid presence on the other side.  Duluth will look to senior Seamus Mackinaw, a 2nd team All-Conference performer, to lead the young defense this season.  Capable juniors, defenseman August Cadotte and LSM Mike Nowicki, both All-Conference Honorable Mention performers last year, will help solidify the defense.  Duluth also loses 1st team All-Conference goalie TJ Vallie.  Freshman goalie Mitchell Pelkey will have to step up big for Duluth and he has the ability to do so.  Fortunately for Duluth they return all of their scoring punch.  The midfield will be led by All-State Honorable Mention senior midfielder Cooper Carlson and 1st team All-Conference midfielder sophomore Bryce Holak.  The Chargers return all 3 attackmen from last year as well, 1st team All-Conference senior Brody Carlson, 2nd team All-Conference junior Jesse Larson and All-Conference Honorable Mention junior Dan O' Connell.  This team should be able to put some points on the board in 2014.  The question mark will be if the young defense can step up.  If they can, this team should have a good shot a their first title game in club history.

4.  St. Paul - St. Paul is another team that has a great shot at a title game appearance in 2014.  They return possibly the best player in the state from last season, All-American attack, senior Jesse Rice.  St. Paul also returns an important cog in their defense with the return of senior All-State defenseman Noah Johnson.  The only significant losses for St. Paul were the graduations of 2nd team All-Conference performers attack Billy Tapio and defenseman Andy Broadnax.  St. Paul returns several young contributors all over the field led by 1st team All-Conference midfielder junior Josh Galkowski, and 2nd team All-Conference performers, junior goalie Garrett Goskey, junior midfielder Brady Olson, and junior LSM Austin Cameron.  I'm predicting that St. Paul will be one of the top two teams in the state by the end of the season.

5.  Becker - Becker is another team to keep a close eye on in 2014.  An early season match-up with St. Louis Park should give us a pretty good idea what this team may be capable of in 2014.  The young Becker squad took Duluth to the brink in the 3rd place game last season and should be even better this year.  Led by 1st team All-Conference attack senior Tyler Kruse and 1st team midfielder sophomore Milan Kent as well as 2nd team All-Conference performers senior attack Ethan Boutin, senior midfielder Ben Gilchrist and junior defenseman Adam Ewald the Bulldogs will be tough to beat.  Add in a few more improving young players and this team has a good shot to make it back to at least the 3rd place game in 2014.  Watch out for the Bulldogs!

6.  Shattuck-St. Mary's - Shattuck once again should have a great squad.  As always they won't participate in the playoffs, but should have a good shot to make it through the season undefeated.  They have a guantlet of tough games against the top 4 teams in the MBSLA in Hudson, St. Louis Park, Duluth and St. Paul so it will be interesting to see how they fare against these top teams.

7.  Proctor -Proctor is a team that will surprise people in 2014.  They finished the 2013 season strong and they are my prediction of a team on the rise this year.  With a dynamic attackman in 1st team All-Conference junior Luke Hannan and a speedy midfielder who can bring the ball upfield to feed Hannan or score in 2nd team All-Conference senior Frank Napoli, Proctor should be able to put points on the board.  It's the defense that could be Proctors achilles heel in 2014.  Led by solid 2nd team All-Conference defenseman junior Jake Wick, the young defense will have to grow up quickly.  The addition of several good athletes to Proctor's squad in 2014 should bolster their chances.  The numbers are growing in Proctor and this team could challenge Duluth for the top spot in the North.  A late season match-up with Duluth after some of the younger athletic players have had a chance to grow and develop some chemistry should be a game to watch.


8.  Grand Rapids - Grand Rapids will once again have a strong squad in 2014 and could also challenge Duluth in the North.  It's fun to watch teams like Grand Rapids and Duluth and now Proctor grow and develop and become perennially good teams in the MBSLA.  They've come a long ways from the days when one win on the season was a major victory and it's evidence that lacrosse is here to stay in the North.  While Grand Rapids did lose some scoring punch with the graduation of 2nd team All-Conference performer and leading scorer Chase Hunter and 2nd leading scorer Jackson Schwartz, they return many strong young players led by 1st team All-Conference LSM senior Graham Gallop and 1st team defenseman junior Logan Anderson.  They also return 2nd team All-Conference performers midfielders Carl Kasse a senior and Nick Zerfas a junior.  Senior goalie Grant Gunderson, an all-conference goalie in 2012 also returns.  All-Conference Honorable Mention, senior midfielder Trevor Hopkins adds to the strong midfield core for Grand Rapids.  With the addition of some promising young attack and defense, Grand Rapids can compete for a top 5 spot in the state and a shot at the top spot in the North.


9.  St. Cloud North - St. Cloud North should be good again in 2014, but they'll have to replace the departures of All-State performers defenseman Tyler Minkel and midfielder Matt Worzala who both graduated.  St. Cloud North should be strong on offense with the return of second and third leading scorers attack junior Carter Kasianov and senior Jake Nelson, both 2nd team All-Conference in 2013.  The defense may be their question mark where they lost both Minkel and 1st team All-Conference defenseman Tucker Isaacson.  Senior Logan Smoley, a 2nd team All-Conference defenseman will have to lead the defense in 2014.  1st team All-Conference goalie senior Tyler Demenge will bolster the defense as well.  St. Cloud North is looking like the primary threat to Becker for supremacy in the West in 2014.

10.  Red River Valley - Formely Fargo, Red River Valley will have a tough time repeating their successes of 2013.  With the loss of the top scorer in the MBSLA, attack Carter Shulke to graduation, it will be tough for Red River Valley to put as many points up as they did last year.  Red River Valley also lost 2nd leading scorer Alek Halverson to graduation.  The Polars will need 1st team All-Conference junior midfielder Aric Foster and All-Conference Honorable Mention sophomore Connor King to step up.  This young team will fare as well as their young players develop and could be a challenge later in the season.

Honorable Mention:  
Stillwater Club - We don't really know what to expect from this club team from a big school with a strong high school lacrosse tradition (exactly what we said about Wayzata last season).  They could be very good, or not.
Brainerd -Brainerd should be improved over 2013 and have a lighting fast midfielder in Bodin Nicols that should turn some heads.
Grand Cities - Grand Cities is young this year and could develop into a solid team as the season progresses and the young players build some chemistry.

Look for updated Top 10's as the season progresses.