Missing Csapo to start the season had some impact. I am not sure what his injury is but hopefully he recovers quickly. I agree on CBU being well coached and a good culture. WPW was talking about how good LMU looked but did not mention CBU was right there with UCI until the end, with both losing by 1. We should see a lot of movement in the 6-15 rankings all year which is great.
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This is a super fair take and I agree that consistency and culture is super key to end of season success. My rankings were solely based off of week 1 results. I think the WCC is the hardest conference to predict this year.
Particularly, the fact that the conference tournament is played in Colorado at the Air Force academy is intriguing. How will playing in the high altitude affect teams, how will the travel east affect teams? Will teams like Santa Clara, Pacific, and CBU be at an advantage because they traveled east during the year? I think in those conditions, we’re in for another thrilling WCC tournament come November.
Similarly to me, it looks like you’re higher on Princeton than the polls. Does that relate to your comment about culture as well or is there something you see there?
I think the level of physicality in college is gonna be perfect for his demeanor.
Fair question on Princeton. They had good success the last two years and some strong returners and an overall consistently improving program of late. Sudden death with UCLA last year and NCAA’s showed well.
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Princeton played UCLA very tough in 2023 NCAA semifinals
They may lack the depth but their starting seven is very strong
In the way games are ref’d today, when there are 10+ exclusions a game, teams need significant defensive depth to be competitive. Theoretically, four players are rolled every game, so teams need a roster of at least 12 players, including goalies, without much drop in level of play. Teams that don’t have three strong center defenders and four solid players on the 1–2 side, where most exclusions occur, will struggle to compete.
Princeton took advantage of post-Covid lenient admissions policies, with optional testing, to build a deep and international roster. That advantage will likely wane in the next two to three years as pre-Covid admission policies return. 2026 is the last year of test-optional admissions at Princeton. I expect they will try to maximize this in the 2026 recruiting class and bring in as many international players as possible.
The rise of Princeton over the past four years is therefore likely to subside in the next two to three years with the new classes.
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Interesting take I had not considered.
Agree
Thanks for posting your insights
It seems that Stanford has gone much more international in its recent recruiting - though they still seem to get their pick or the domestic litter as well
Might the same dynamics which have impacted Princeton apply to Stanford as well?
Or can Flacks just tell the private admissions office he wants a couple guys from overseas each year?
His recruiting approach appears to be a massive departure from his predecessor’s
And seems to be paying dividends in terms of roster construction
Any thoughts about UCLA v. Pro-Recco? UCLA with a clear advantage after pre-pre-season playing at the ‘World University Games’ versus Pro-Recco’s prep for the game, which mainly included taking photos in Times Square with their Speedos 
Game will be broadcasted on Overnght tonight.
is Recco playing all their guys? if so, they will win… I am assuming this is not a hot take
Assuming Recco full roster , they keep it close and fair until second half and then win by 2-4
You guys are really underestimating Recco. Recco has been training everyday per their Instagram. I predict they win 18-6.
Not underestimating, just assuming some they take it light to start the exhibition.
I think Granados could score at will.
I’m not sure if i really agree with your take here. I think the international students that end up going to Princeton, Harvard, and Stanford are typically exceptional students in the classroom as well and the TOEFL is still required to get into all 3 of these schools. I’ve spoken to many internationals who have said that the TOEFL is a harder exam than the SAT. I think as long as Litvak is the head coach, the program should continue being consistently great in the east coast and dominate their conference. However, if he leaves for a Big 4 school which I wouldn’t rule out, the next hire will make or break the program’s future.
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New CWPA poll today:
UCSD over CBU dosent make much sense, but I can see why people look at the lack of quality wins for CBU as a factor to put them 14. I don’t think Harvard deserves to be ranked and leaving Santa Clara out of the top 20 is ridiculous.
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I think Pro Recco will treat this game as any other game, should beat UCLA by at least 10-15 goals. Granados, Di Fulvio, Cannella, Buric, Irving, Fondelli, etc is no chance for a college team. Should be great experience for UCLA though.
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FWIW, in 2019 Recco played an exhibition game against Cal. This was a very young Cal team: Papa and Weinberg were Freshmen, Jack Deely was a sophomore. The Spaniards wouldn’t arrive until two years later. Three days earlier Cal had lost to UCSB 5 to 8. Cal also subbed freely against Recco, giving everyone on the roster a chance to play.
I don’t know how seriously Recco took the game, but the final score was 20 to 9 in favor of Recco.
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What Big 4 job are you expecting to open?
I really don’t understand why any college team would agree to play this game in season. If someone gets injured in an exhibition, it would be a real shame
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I was wondering the same thing. Maybe it’s just the lack of advertisement but the Berkeley exhibition games this weekend seem more like “training matches” which make more sense.