With 23 years at Wesleyan soon in the books, head coach John Raba offers valuable perspective on the NESCAC. So when asked if he’s ever seen the conference this tight — Amherst, Bates, Tufts, Wesleyan and Williams are all in contention — he has a simple response.
Never.
“It's unbelievable,” Raba said. “Five teams in the top 11 in the country. These games will make such a huge impact on the national scene and how it goes with pool C and all that.”
When the NCAA tournament is drawn in early May, the impact of these late-season NESCAC games should be profound. Look no further than Amherst, he said, which pushed for a No. 1 national spot earlier in the year, but has recently dropped games to Williams and Tufts. With injuries stacking up, they’ll even face Bates this weekend.
Are they a bad team? Not in the slightest, Raba said, but that’s just life in the NESCAC.
“It's attrition, no question, of who can survive and who can stay healthy,” Raba said. “That's a big part of it all. And is just round one getting through these teams. There's still more to come with playoffs.”
It’s often about surviving and advancing, a fact the defending national champions know well. They faced Tufts three times last year, winning only when it mattered most in the NCAA quarterfinal round.
There’s always the threat of injury, too, and Wesleyan has learned that the hard way. Senior attackman Carter Hawthorne, 30 points from second all-time in his career (257), missed the Cardinals last four games with a leg injury.
Hawthorne is expected back this weekend, Raba said, and junior Tom Martello admirably filled his shoes, recording 10 goals and one assist across the last three games. But Hawthorne’s injury came in the last five minutes in practice before a 14-9 loss to Amherst on March 3.
“We didn’t really have a good secondary gameplan since he's so involved in a lot of what we do,” Raba said of Hawthorne’s injury. “He's the quarterback and used to touching the ball a lot.”
Raba added they were “holding their breath” with Hawthorne’s injury, but he was also impressed with the team’s response. They’ve since rattled off wins over Tufts, Trinity and Bowdoin in NESCAC play, serving up a valuable lesson.
“To win the Tufts game without him,” Raba said, “that was a really good confidence booster for our team that we can beat these top teams even without our best player.”
It’s also given space for the defense to thrive and reaffirm its place as Wesleyan’s backbone. Junior goalie Otto Bohan has personal records in goals against average (8.27) and save percentage (59.7), while juniors Colin Malarchuk and Tommy Clejan have been rocks on defense. At short-stick defensive midfielder, Raba called Sean Penney and Corey Aviles “most athletic kids in New England.”
“That's the biggest part I felt that's come together,” Raba said. “When things aren't going great, we can always rely on our defense keeping us in it.”
With the NESCAC race tight as ever, Wesleyan will need much more of that.
St. John Fisher Looking to Make Statement Against Stevens
In many ways, the St. John Fisher head coach job represented coming home to the Rochester, N.Y., for head coach Dave Dobbins. He’s from nearby Webster and his wife has roots in nearby Irondequoit, all with extensive family a short drive away.
So what’s that like for Dobbins, whose previous coaching stops include Ohio State and Salisbury?
“It's great to be back,” he said.
The reflections come ahead of a vital Empire 8 game on Sunday against defending champion Stevens in Hoboken, N.J. St. John Fisher, at 12-1, lost to the Ducks in last year’s conference tournament final.
Whatever the result is, Dobbins knows it carries massive weight.
“You lose to Stevens and you're still in the mix for an at-large bid if the Empire 8 ends up being a two-team conference, which it could be,” Dobbins said. “You could even still host the tournament, so it’s a big one.”
Dobbins, who was associate head coach at St. John Fisher for one year before taking over the lead reigns, said he feels like it’s “coming together” for the Cardinals as he shapes the program. Next year’s class will be the third he’s fully recruited, and this year’s group is pushing the national standard – especially on offense.
St. John Fisher is tied for the third-most goals (18.31) in Division 3 and the second-highest goal differential per game (11). The strength of schedule isn’t necessarily there – RIT’s only top-20 opponent was RIT, a 13-5 loss on March 20 – but the talent is.
There’s perhaps no greater example of that than sophomore attackman Nicholas Miller, who’s third nationally in points per game (6.23). A left-handed sharpshooter, he has 58 goals and 23 assists, benefiting greatly from the play of freshman Ian Evans at X.
“Nick has matured tremendously since his freshman year,” Dobbins said. “He was outstanding then, but at times he played like a freshman and he's playing more like a senior right now than he is a sophomore. He's got a great deal of talent and confidence. I think he can shoot the ball as good as anyone in the country.”
There’s also sophomore faceoff specialist Joe Post, who’s ninth nationally in winning percentage (.718). He started his NCAA career as a linebacker at Hobart, then transferred into St. John Fisher. There’s also junior goalie Darin Eakins, who previously starred at Genesee Community College and has experience with the German national team. Don’t count out senior midfielder Zach Wagner in midfield, junior defender Kyle O’Drea or sophomore LSM Roger Panara either.
They all help form a St. John Fisher team that could make a statement against Stevens.
“I feel like we're heading in the right direction,” Dobbins said. “It’s all happened pretty quickly.”
Gettysburg Staying Humble
As the regular season winds down in the Centennial Conference, Gettysburg finds itself in the driver’s seat. Ursinus and Franklin & Marshall are nipping at the Bullets’ heels, but they hold their own destiny.
Coach Hank Janczyk, now in his 32nd year on the Gettysburg sidelines and second in NCAA history in men's lacrosse victories, understandably likes where his team is at. But he also knows much work remains.
This 11-day break before facing McDaniel allows for exactly that.
“The key is we're trying to keep our inertia going,” Janczyk said. “It's not over-analyzing and beating it to death. It’s being disciplined and trying to learn and grow. I really think that's what we're doing.”
There have been lumps, though. Gettysburg, hovering around the No. 10 spot nationally, has dropped games this spring to Salisbury, York and Franklin & Marshall. But there’s also been marked progress forward, knocking off Ursinus, Dickinson and Stevenson — all ranked opponents.
It’s all part of a drawn-out process, one that Janczyk knows is about building towards May.
“It's humbling,” the legendary coach said. “You have to show up every day, nothing is easy. You have to stay humble and keep working hard.”
This is also familiar territory from Gettysburg, having made three national semifinals in the last four years, with the most recent in 2018.
So is that a fall-back plan for the Bullets? Not in the slightest, Janczyk said.
“Any time you think you can rely on the past or what you've done, that and a book will get you a chili dog,” Janczyk. “Everything is new and everything is different and everything is fresh. Even the game is different with the new rules.”
Let’s call it a dose of wisdom from one of the game’s most-respected coaches.