10lax

Overall it was an exciting tournament. Congratulations to Hutchinson for winning. Their goalie was the difference making numerous tough saves against Harpeth Hall. Hapeth Hall was fatigued but I am not sure that it really mattered. Also congratulations to Hannah. Her customized semi-final T shirts were awesome and supportive of the players on all four teams.

If Harpeth Hall and Ravenwood are the two best teams then whoever wins the title will have beaten either Harpeth Hall or Ravenwood. It does not matter who finishes second, third or fourth. The goal of all four teams remaining is to finish first.

Where is the TSSAA going to get the money to fund a fully operational lacrosse program? Most public schools would not to divert funds from their limited budgets to finance a lacrosse program. The players and the parents would have to bear the burden of the cost of equipment, travel, etc.

The Harpeth Hall v. Ravenwood game may be the best game of the playoffs because they are rivals and have played in the finals for the last 3 years. However, Hutchinson is a very good team and may have an advantage in the finals because they play the 6:00 game rather than the 8:00 game. With the finals at 10:00 on Saturday, the winner of the Harpeth Hall - Ravenwood game may be too physically and mentally exhausted to play their best game.

Harpeth Hall 17-6.

Do you know what the scores of the games? Actually, Harpeth Hall plays Father Ryan tonight for the opportunity to play Ravenwood.

The game was suspended with Ravenwood leading 2-1 at the end of the first period. Ravenwood scored on a fluke goal as the first period ended. I think the MBA officials and referees made a mistake in even starting this game. There was lightning in the area from the start of the game. The game will be continued at 3 today. MBA has cancelled their game against CBHS in Memphis today.

It is going to be a good tournament. Computers help crunch numbers, but lets not go BCS. There are strong teams and there are developing teams. Unfortunately girls lacrosse is not to the stage where strong teams only schedule strong teams. Ravenwood does have a high strength of schedule in laxpower. However, their schedule is very comparable to Harpeth Hall's. Harpeth Hall's strength of schedule is weakened by a game against Knoxville that was not even on their schedule. Houston played a good schedule but they had to play two teams that were 0-8, which brings down their strength of schedule. If you wanted to just use laxpower then Houston would be the number 1 seed and Harpeth Hall number 2 even though Harpeth Hall beat them and has not lost to a school from Tennessee in 2 years. Pulling the starters mid way through the second half against Ensworth obviously hurt Harpeth Hall in the eyes of the computer since they only won by 8 rather than 10 or more. Against the top 6 schools these are the head-to-head records: Harpeth Hall 6-0 Ravenwood 3-5 Houston 1-3 Hutchinson 3-1 GPS 1-2 Franklin 1-4 The level of girls lacrosse is better than ever. Many of the head-to-head games were decided by one goal or in overtime, which is why it is going to be such a good tournament.

The state tournament is going to be very competitive this year. I think Harpeth Hall is a slight favorite based on their head-to-head performance with the other teams. Ravenwood is recovering from a slow start and their convincing victory over Franklin shows that they are peaking at the right time. Houston and Hutchinson are also playing well and have strong goaltending. GPS could also contend, but is hard to gauge their team since they have not faced Houston and Hutchinson. Franklin appeared to be in the mix, but three losses at the end of the year have them going in the wrong direction. The tournament will likely be decided by ball control and defense.

Should be a very good game. I would guess Ravenwood 7-6 in overtime reversing the score of their previous game.

My prediction is that Mother Nature is going to storm through Middle Tennessee tomorrow night and spare Franklin's perfect season. Otherwise Ravenwood wins.

Harpeth Hall capped off a perfect 6-0 week with a 10-9 double overtime win Friday night at Houston and then battled Hutchinson in a 5-4 victory Saturday morning. Both Houston and Hutchinson play a physical game and have outstanding goaltending. The Houston goalie was unbelievable Friday night in defeat.

Harpeth Hall had a tough 10-4 victory over Franklin. Early on it looked like Franklin with their zone defense was going to give Harpeth Hall problems, but patience and good passing allowed Harpeth Hall to prevail. Harpeth Hall's defense and goal tender also played well.

JV 5:30, Varsity 7:00

If you are a Franklin player you are way overconfident. Franklin is the only undefeated team in Tennessee. Go to laxpower.com you will see that the schedule Franklin has played and games to be played is rated 78.8. The top D1 teams have played competitve schedules which far supass Franklin's. Ravenwood's is rated 87.2, MBA's 90.5, McCallie's 88.7, MUS 88.2, CBHS 88.2. These teams have scheduled the top teams from Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Texas, Missouri and Maryland. They have not won them all but they have truly elevated Tennessee lacrosse. Franklin is no doubt the best team in D2, but next Tuesday when you play Ravenwood it will be the your biggest challenge by far. You will see what a difference playing a tough schedule makes. I believe that Ravenwood will win the game it may be by 1 or it may be by 10 the spread doesn't matter.