2009 Predictions...

Teams to watch and/or preseason rankings?

I think that Waunakee is going to be the one to beat this year. Assuming their goalie gets better, they will definitely be my preseason favorites.

yes Waunakee is always good, but what other teams are there... other than the Arrowheads, and Wausaus and the normal programs that get to state...? And possible dark horses.

In no particular order - (Teams that could do some damage this season)
Arrowhead
Waunakee
Wausau
Marquette
Sun Prairie
Verona
Appleton
Neenah
Kettle Moraine
Middleton

As much as I love to have high hopes for my high school...Arrowhead has some rebuilding to do this year. Not sure if they will be able to put together the same caliber of team that they have the past few years.

i think both waunakee and middleton are going to be pretty hard to beat this year, both teams only losing a couple of players form last year(Talking in terms of starters). Also, Waunakee returns 5 or 6 players that are seniors this year and have been starting on varsity since they were freshman. I'd say that experience is hard to beat.

i actually dont think that arrowhead will loose that much. we lost some of our defense but thats about it a few midfielders here and there but i think we will still be solid

Marquette will be the team to beat. They return the best offensive player in the state, and boast a defense that could be the deepest in Wisconsin. On paper, they are very well the most talented group I've seen since the 05-06 Verona team. Hopefully, this is the year where they find a panacea for their playoff ills that have dogged them over the past few seasons.

I think Verona is a year away from competing for state. I'd pick them for 3rd in MALA behind Middleton/Waunakee but they have a lot of talent coming up so they could surprise a lot of people.

i think it would be very interesting to just have a small, round robin tourney at the beginning of the season with marquette, middleton, waunakee and arrowhead just to see how each team competes. I think those seem to be the top 4 in the state this year according to everyones posts so far, and to see who comes out on top would be very intriguing.

maybe throw in wausau there too? i never saw them last year, but they must be pretty good

lax4life91011 wrote:

i actually dont think that arrowhead will loose that much. we lost some of our defense but thats about it a few midfielders here and there but i think we will still be solid

I thought you weren't from arrowhead?

lax4life91011 wrote:

how do u know i am from arrowhead. cause im not

Wausau has produced high quality teams the past few years, I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the state tourny again.

mkexlax wrote:

Marquette will be the team to beat. They return the best offensive player in the state, and boast a defense that could be the deepest in Wisconsin. On paper, they are very well the most talented group I've seen since the 05-06 Verona team. Hopefully, this is the year where they find a panacea for their playoff ills that have dogged them over the past few seasons.

Best offensive player in the state? That is a prima donna statement if i've ever seen one...

Possibly best for his age, last years class sent kids to multiple NCAA schools including Division 1, and a very well respected Division 3 school.

from marquette... is it gebhard youre talking about? sorry if i completely botched the spelling.

Yes, that's who they are talking about.

yea i'd imagine that's who tom is talking about. marquette should be pretty solid this year, i think they are the strongest competitor from the milwaukee area.

Milwaukee Area
1) Marquette
2) AHS/KM
2) AHS/KM
4) USM
4) Eastside
4) Brookfield
7) Northshore
Kenosha?

i'm basing these predictions on absolutely nothing.

Menasha
Notre Dame
GB Southwest

Or wait, what are we talking about?

Having played Wausau, Middleton, Waunakee, Arrowhead last season, Wausau was by far the most interesting of the bunch, very difficult to figure out where the next possession was going to, where with the other three are very, very good teams but there became some predicablity of what was going to be run. Our team was not equiped to deal with any of these teams and it showed on the score board.

This season out of MALA I see Waunakee out of the Red Division and Middleton out of the White fighting for the city title, but that being said there is a whole lot of lacrosse to be played before then.

middleton picked up a new coach this year, he played back in the day at a big lacrosse school... maryland or cuse... not sure (i know some middleton guys can say for sure or not). they are also debating on the school sport aspect...could be good or bad regarding grades with some of the players.

I think it's always a good thing if a team becomes a 'school sport'...regardless of how it affects the team. Its a good move for Wisco lacrosse.

Jace- Are you still coaching Middleton?

I've been thinking about helping out with the Stoughton team next year but I also might ref. I'm still undecided. Hopefully the team will have more success than we did last year.. and better luck without top players getting injured and players quitting.

Jace -- He's from Syracuse. Last name is Armani.

Nate wrote:

Jace- Are you still coaching Middleton?

I've been thinking about helping out with the Stoughton team next year but I also might ref. I'm still undecided. Hopefully the team will have more success than we did last year.. and better luck without top players getting injured and players quitting.

no, i'm not coaching for middleton. i moved to milwaukee to finish up school, i might help out with a team here though... we will see my schedule is pretty full as it is now.

Nate wrote:

Jace- Are you still coaching Middleton?

I've been thinking about helping out with the Stoughton team next year but I also might ref. I'm still undecided. Hopefully the team will have more success than we did last year.. and better luck without top players getting injured and players quitting.

Would love to have you on the sidelines but you need to let me know.

Marquette isn't going to be as good as everyone thinks there going to be

SB wrote:

Marquette isn't going to be as good as everyone thinks there going to be

Care to elaborate at all? Do you have any reasons or support to back that claim?