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MCLA Fan Upset of the Week

With the MCLA season well underway, we have a good picture of who will be a top dog and who will have to fight for every scrap they can get. Each week through the end of the regular season, we will pick one major upset for each division in the MCLA, then ask you which upset you think will be most likely to happen.

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Not a good week for me folks, but that has to be expected from time to time. I went 0-2 last week with dominating 17-7 performance by Arizona State as they took down the Laxcats of Arizona and a 12-goal second half that helped to lead Palm Beach Atlantic to victory over Florida Gulf Coast.

That’s not to say there weren’t any upsets though! Cal Poly took down Stanford 11-10, dropping Stanford four spots in this week’s poll. Georgia and Georgia Tech pretty much switched places as well with a ‘kind of’ upset of the Yellow Jackets beating the Bulldogs 8-5. Remember, anything can happen during rivalry games – ranks mean very little.

Colorado State came to play Saturday and beat the Buffs 8-3, will anyone beat able to beat the Rams? Seriously. Will anyone? Oregon cracked the top 10 with a solid win over in-state rival Oregon State to the tune of 15-7. Those two teams may be seeing each other again very soon though.

On the D2 side of things, Grand Valley State raised their worth in the polls with a 15-7 win over Dayton and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy kept up their winning ways with a 13-7 victory over Stonehill. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a closet USCGA fan at this point, I have a lot of respect for that program (just don’t tell my father, Go Navy!).

Readers’ Choice

I had to laugh, and I hope you will too. Take a look at last week’s voting and enjoy the only correct pick. Congrats to all four of you (out of the 93 that voted) who guessed Cal Poly upsetting Stanford. Some weeks you got it, some weeks you don’t. I feel your pain.

On to week seven! Pickings are a little slim this week with a lot of teams having finished their regular season, but I think we can still find an upset or two to check out.

MCLA D1

For D1, I found four games this weekend that should be stellar match-ups and two that have the possibility for an upset. First off, #9 Cal makes the trip to #12 Stanford in what will be a huge game for the WCLL D1. Cal and Stanford are #2 and #3, respectively, in the WCLL with just one game separating the two teams. If Stanford can win, they should be able to claim the second spot with holding the head-to-head game over Cal. Very interested to see how this one plays out.

Up in beautiful Boise, Idaho this weekend, THE University of Idaho Vandals will make the 300 miles journey south to take on the Boise State Broncos on the smurf turf. Both of these teams have had less than desirable seasons going 4-9 and 5-8, so with nothing much more than bragging rights on the line, this should be an awesome game to watch. Yours truly will be there to get plenty of game photos and maybe a few videos of the game. #GoVandals

Now for the upsets. The two big games that immediately jump out at me are #21 Arizona vs. #6 UCSB and #23 Northeastern vs. #8 Boston College. After a disappointing loss to Arizona State last weekend, Arizona will definitely be on the hunt for redemption. This is the first round of the SLC playoffs, so you can add that to the mix as well. On the east coast, we have Northeastern heading to Boston College for a great PCLL match-up. If there is to be a big upset this weekend, I believe this one to be it – #23 Northeastern over #8 Boston College.

As much as I’ve always liked the Eagles, if Northeastern comes to play they have a decent chance to upset Boston College. While BC’s record stands at a very impressive 9-0 and Northeastern’s at 6-4, it is definitely worth noting that three of their four losses came in early season match-ups to Cal, Stanford, and UCSB – all top 15 opponents. Based of LaxPower.com, Northeastern also holds the fourth best Strength of Schedule in the country (BC at #14).

At then end of the day, stats only factor in so much. If Northeastern comes to play, they may just take this one.

MCLA D2

D2 is even harder to pick this week with only five of the top 25 teams actually in action after today. Knowing that, my upset pick for MCLA D2 this week is Central Connecticut over #20 Briarcliffe. This game will decide which teams get the #2 seed behind the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in the PCLL D2, as both teams are sitting at 2-1 in-conference.

Central Connecticut has been slowly building up this season, going on a five-game winning streak before losing to PCLL D1 UConn 12-8 last week. I guarantee the Blue Devils will come to play and will be looking to end their five-game losing streak to the Briarcliffe Bulldogs.

Know of a better upset? Tweet it at me @KriegShawLAS. Now it’s your turn, which of these upsets do YOU think is most likely to happen?