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Message: [QUOTE="OrangeXtreme, post: 1785915, member: 41"] [B][URL="http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DI/2015-16/news/061016_early_2017_rankings_no_1-5"]Early 2017 Rankings: Nos. 5-1 (MD1)[/URL][/B] [B] [/B] [SIZE=4][I][B]No. 5 NOTRE DAME[/B][/I][/SIZE] [I]2016 record: 11-4 (3-1 Atlantic Coast) Last seen: Having few answers for North Carolina at either end of the field in a surprisingly lopsided NCAA quarterfinal loss. Senior starts lost: 76 of 150 (50.7 percent) Senior scoring departing: 90 of 252 points (35.7 percent) Initial forecast: It would be overly melodramatic to suggest the Fighting Irish missed the best chance they'll get to break through for their first national title. But it isn't an exaggeration to assert this was a missed opportunity based on the depth of the program's senior class. Still, outside of a rout of Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, this is a bunch that lived a bit dangerously against most of the good (and a few of the average) teams on its schedule. There will be holes at the defensive end next season, and while the memory of North Carolina shredding the Irish at will is still fresh, it's worth remembering the Tar Heels were the only team to score 10 on Notre Dame in regulation this season. History suggests the defense will be fine, and a nucleus of Ryder Garnsey, Sergio Perkovic and Mikey Wynne is a decent place to start at the other end. Notre Dame will be fine next year, but there shouldn't be as much national title chatter as there was coming into 2016. [/I] [SIZE=4][I][B]No. 4 JOHNS HOPKINS[/B][/I][/SIZE] [I]2016 record: 8-7 (3-2 Big Ten) Last seen: Absorbing a trouncing in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the hands of Brown, a team that proved to be the Blue Jays' nightmare matchup. Senior starts lost: 26 of 150 (17.3 percent) Senior scoring departing: 85 of 294 points (28.9 percent) Initial forecast: A little high for Hopkins? Maybe. It's easy to bullish about one of the field, but not the one that historically is the most reliable for a Dave Pietramala team. The Blue Jays never had Connor Reed and Joel Tinney in their midfield and lost Drew Supinski halfway through the season, and yet they averaged 12.3 goals and made the most of what they had. In short, coordinator Bobby Benson and the offense maxed out what they had, and the return of a lot of midfield talent should more than offset the graduation of attackman Ryan Brown (41 goals, 16 assists). The other end of the field is a bit dicier, especially since much of the same talent will be in place from a unit that was startlingly vulnerable throughout the year. Patrick Foley and Robert Kuhn are fine pieces to build around after solid freshman years, though it's not difficult to envision Hopkins getting into its share of 14-13 and 13-12 games next spring. That won't be much fun for Pietramala, but Hopkins has enough firepower to come out on the front end of a lot of those sorts of contests. [/I] [SIZE=4][I][B]No. 3 NORTH CAROLINA[/B][/I][/SIZE] [I]2016 record: 12-6 (3-1 Atlantic Coast) Last seen: Celebrating the program's first national championship since 1991 in the wake of Chris Cloutier's extra-man goal in overtime against Maryland on Memorial Day. Senior starts lost: 47 of 180 (26.1 percent) Senior scoring departing: 115 of 353 points (32.6 percent) Initial forecast: North Carolina loses only five players off its national championship team, so there's great temptation to anoint the Tar Heels as the early favorite for 2017. Yet while Joe Breschi's bunch finally obliterated the narrative of North Carolina continuously falling flat upon arriving in postseason every year, this was still a team that entered May at 8-6. In short: Expect the Tar Heels to be quite good, but they're one of several credible national title contenders. Carolina must find another lead attackman with Steve Pontrello (49 goals, 21 assists) graduating, but the Tar Heels enjoyed enough success with moving pieces around this year that they'll probably thrive just fine. Over the long haul, North Carolina's defensive questions will pop up again like they did throughout the regular season this year, only the Heels won't have the benefit of second team All-America short stick Jake Matthai to solve some problems. And then there's the question of expectations, something that will return to Chapel Hill after a one-year hiatus. Bottom line: North Carolina will be talented and capable and quite frightening at its best. Whether it will be consistent remains to be seen.[/I] [SIZE=4][I][B]No. 2 DENVER[/B][/I][/SIZE] [I]2016 record: 13-3 (5-0 Big East) Last seen: Taking back-to-back losses to close out the season, including a 10-9 setback against Towson in the first round of the NCAA tournament to quickly end the Pioneers' title defense. Senior starts lost: 26 of 160 (16.3 percent) Senior scoring departing: 61 of 359 points (17.0 percent) Initial forecast: The early postseason exit left Denver out of sight and out of mind, but this was still a team that was 13-1 in early May, can dominate possession thanks to Trevor Baptiste and should have one of the best players in the country next year in senior attackman Connor Cannizzaro. Overall, the Pioneers will return four first team All-America picks (Zach Miller and Christian Burgdorf are also back). In short, a couple late-season losses do not portend the collapse of a program that's delivered on a consistent basis since it first reached Memorial Day weekend in 2011. There are areas for improvement, particularly a defense that hid some of its vulnerabilities thanks to the team's penchant for playing make it/take it. Foes shot 29.4 percent against Denver, a considerable jump from 25.8 percent the year before and the highest since Bill Tierney arrived in the Mile High City. Tighten up the defense, and Denver will find itself contending for another national title.[/I] [SIZE=4][I][B]No. 1 MARYLAND[/B][/I][/SIZE] [I]2016 record: 17-3 (5-0 Big Ten) Last seen: Nearly bring an end to a 41-year title drought, only to allow the final three goals to North Carolina in one of the best national championship games in recent memory. Senior starts lost: 78 of 200 (39 percent) Senior scoring departing: 102 of 363 points (28.1 percent) Initial forecast: No, Maryland did not win the national title this year. But it was the most complete team of 2016, with the fewest vulnerabilities, and one of the benefits of that is it has fairly established answers for nearly all of the graduation hits it absorbs. The entire starting attack returns, including second team All-America choice Matt Rambo. After running two midfields heavily this spring, the Terrapins can better handle losses in that area. Bryce Young saw plenty of time and is a good bet to slide into Matt Dunn's old starting spot. Matt Neufeldt will return from injury and reclaim his long pole spot from the graduating Greg Danseglio. Goalie Kyle Bernlohr leaves a substantial hole, but "fourth-year junior who played well in limited work" describes Dan Morris going into next year just as well as it did Bernlohr entering 2015. One of these days, Maryland will break through and finally win its first title since 1975. It had an excellent chance to do so this year, and its window for winning a championship is far from shut. No one should be surprised if the Terps make it back to Memorial Day for the fifth time in seven years next spring.[/I] [/QUOTE]

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