Fellas it's D3 time. There's so much fucken lacrosse to cover within D3 that there's no way I could ever get to it all, so let's go over the big dogs, the teams to watch, and the teams that deserve to be ripped on.
Who's Good:
Salisbury. Shocker. Already off to a 4-0 start with some high horsepower teams eating their dust. They beat Gettysburg and Grove City by a combined score of 31-19, and looking at the rest of their schedule, the only team they might lose to is CNU (unless they shit the bed). Attackman Jude Brown (SMCM transfer from last year) leads the Gulls with 20 points in 4 games, which against the competition they've seen, is pretty electric.
RIT. They've only played 2 games so far but they've scored 44 goals, which is more than most D2 schools will score all season #D2IsntReal. 22 goals a piece against two solid squads in Denison (shoutout the Belchner) and Grove City. The Tigers never went anywhere but they're back again and I can't wait to watch them beat Tufts in the regular season.
CNU. Also starting off 4-0, with (in my opinion (which is always right)) a harder schedule down the line than Salisbury, this team looks just as sick as last year. They've got 4 kids with 14+ points through 4 games. Their offense is absolutely humming and they're set for another deep tournament run.
Who's Fun:
Stevens. My second alma mater #RollDucks🦆 dropped their first game to #5 Dickinson in overtime (total bullshit) and then disposed of Springfield immediately after. Stevens has one of the sickest fields in D3 (google their field) and are starting their season with 7 consecutive home games. Not even sure how that's allowed but #NiceScheduleBuildingGene. This team is gonna run through their conference later in the year and is currently ranked #16 on the IL poll and #17 on the USILA poll. Should be fun.
RPI. These boys are undefeated at 4-0 and have played some good teams already. They beat #10 York 8-7, which I didn't get to watch but must have been a fucken barnburner, as well as SUNY Geneseo who they put away 19-11. Geneseo is going to be a fringe Top 20 team all season so that was a good win too. Keep an eye on these boys because they've got some fun games coming up 🔜.
Hot Seat:
The NESCAC. I thought these teams were supposed to be the best of the best and 1/11 teams have started their seasons. We get it, you're all in New England where it's cold and snowy. Who the fuck cares, it's cold in half the country. Grow a pair and schedule some February games. There are 4 NESCAC teams in the Top 20 and we haven't seen any of them yet. Shits so annoying. Tufts is out here playing an alumni game while the rest of the Top 20 are playing each other already. Speaking of which, great to see Conrad Kennedy IV returning to his old stomping grounds #ConWasCaptain.
Rosemont College. For the amount of glazing this OnlyVarro fella gets from the lacrosse community, that team is hilariously awful. They lost their opener to Neumann 21-3, and this past weekend to Delaware Valley 12-8 (no clue who either of those schools are) and idk if you've ever seen their field, but it's literally a light grey turf field. There's no way that whoever's idea that was is still with the athletics department #BringBackGrass #ColoredTurfIsOnlyCoolWhenYoureGood. Also must be a nightmare for all of our colorblind D3 athletes out there. One of my teammates back in college once ran directly out of bounds because he couldn't see the color of the lines of the field we were playing on. Didn't believe that colorblindness existed until that moment. Anyways, if you're looking for a good laugh, here's the link to Rosemont's 2024 schedule.
I'll be following D3 a lot more closely as we move into March and more of the big teams get rolling. Been heavily involved in D1 with the success of #PowerTan so far (7-5 how's ya motha) but D3 is my home. Drop some schools/conferences in the comments or in my IG DMs that I should be following and I'll try to get some coverage on them.
Stay gritty my D3 boys, and remember, lacrosse is fun but so is partying, booze and drugs.
Great shout for all the colorblaxers #niceinclusivitytan