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Crystal Ball Challenge, Week 5

Another week, another long stare into the Crystal Ball for our fearless competitors.  Peter Tumbas has finally tied up King Connor Wilson for the lead and Crave is only 1 game back. Brunelle has been striding in the wrong direction the past few weeks but is still only 3 games out of first place.

This weekend we have some MCLA head scratchers, unabashed homer picks by Crave and Brunelle, and a Maryland turf war in the NCAA.  Plus ConBroWil is making his picks and analysis all the way from the tropics while he’s enjoying a little R&R.  That guy loves lax no matter where he is.

Editor’s note: looking for MCLA Division 2? Check out the Weekly D2 Roundup for top games and players.

On to the picks and analysis.

412’s Peter Tumbas says:

Trying to make moves for first place this weekend.

Hardest game to pick: Loyola vs. Arizona. Arizona plays Colorado State tough then losses to San Diego.

Biggest game of the weekend: Florida vs. Virginia Tech. The winner of this game will prove themselves worthy to challenge FSU for the South Eastern title. Virginia Tech has only played three games but didn’t recently lose to UCSB by 5 a la Florida.

Lock:  Syracuse over Hopkins. Hopkins midfield is in for a long afternoon.

Editor’s note: Read all of 412’s thoughts on this week plus a Fireside Chat with Florida State Senior middie Robert Lee

Connor Wilson says:

FLA their gear is sweeter.  Seriously.

LMU at home gets the slight upset nod.

Duluth.  They play hard. Cal is up and down at times.

Seriously? Michigan. Duh.

Marlyand will win this one and by a comfortable margin.  UMBC doesn’t have the depth to run with the terps and the UMBC Defense is either big or fast but not both.  Expect Catalino and Young to have big days while Farrell shuts down Wimer in the Midfield.

Cuse will roll over Hopkins with ease.  They play like a team and have better players.  Hopkins will be lucky to score 10 goals.

Harvard will win this one which will be close early.  The Crimson should win by a couple.

Denison has a lot to prove and Haverford has been inconsistent.  Big Red by 5.

Ryan Craven says:

Florida +2: Florida has been tested in the early going and came out with only a respectable loss on the road at UCSB blemishing their 4-1 record. Quality wins over Northeastern and a big boy W over Cal Poly make me like them a lot this year. Tech hasn’t had much to look at with only two games so far.

LMU +1: This game might as well be a pick’em. Both ‘Zona and the Lions have dropped games against good teams. I’m going with the home team to take it.  Beauchamp has been a stud along with the rest of the Zona attack but I can’t trust two frosh (Seamans,  Nardi). Plus LMU has a middie named Magnus.

Duluth +6: Easiest one so far.  Duluth dropped a heartbreaker to ASU but I still have faith that they’re the same scrappy, punch you in the mouth squad as always. Cal has been better but that loss to Texas State and a one goal game against a bad Noma squad doesn’t bode well.

Oregon +1: People have been saying that 3 years is too long to go without a loss for Big Blue and my homer-ism likes to hear that.  Having this game moved to a neutral site in Dallas is a huge advantage for the Ducks. Would kill to be there. Damn Tumbas for even selecting this game for the CBC.  Next week we pick Pitt vs (whoever they play)

Maryland +7: Catalino will shoot underhand 15 times.  75% of the time it will go low to low but when he starts changing the plane of his shots he can fill up the net even more than he already has.

Syracuse +3: One thing that the Gtown game proved is that Cuse is talented but if you get into a fistfight with them you can hang around.  Wouldn’t be surprised if Petro kept this game close but he needs to let the Hopkins offense loosen up a little bit.

Harvard +1: Only loss for the Crimson is to GTown on the road.  Brown played Hofstra tough but has less games under their belt. Take the home team in this one.

Haverford +4: Lost like a babe in the woods without ConnorWilsonLAS to guide me on this one.

Jeff Brunelle says:

Florida +2: Coming off a 15-10 loss to UCSB, Florida has back to back games this weekend. Not too worried about the Georgia game on Friday, let’s just hope the Gators come to play against VT on Sat. If they show, they win.

Zona +1:  Zona needs one real bad here. I have no doubt Coach Mickey-Miles Felton is going to get his boys fired up for the game – they’ve just gotta take it to the Lions early and finish the job. Time to rack up another W.

Duluth +4: I’m not too impressed with Cal, and Duluth always plays tough no matter where they are. They’ve also been in Tempe about a week now, heating up after a tough loss against ASU.

Oregon +2: There’s no team I’d rather see beat Michigan than the Ducks. And who are we kidding? It’s about time for a Big Blue loss. Thanks to Peter Tumbas for calling Craven and I out on this one. It’s an honor to pick my Ducks.

Maryland +5: The Terps offense has impressed me the few times I’ve watched em. Catalino makes it rain. UMBC, on the other hand, has been in quite the goalie predicament the past several weeks.

Syracuse +2 – Cuse is solid and Hop hasn’t proved much yet. Look for them to take this one away early if Hopkins can’t find net within the first few minutes.

Harvard +1: The Crimson’s experience plays into the win big time. It’ll be close, but Brown is fresh and unproven. Question: Are Harvard fans a hostile crowd?

Denison +3: Denison seems solid this year. If the defense shows up, Haverford is going to have a rough day.

Now it’s time to have your say.  Agree? Disagree? Let your voice be heard.

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