When asked about his team’s identity this year, RIT head coach Jake Coon pauses and then fires away.

“This has been an interesting group of guys,” Coon said. “At times you think we're not as good as past teams, but when it's all said and done, I think this group is more of a scrappy bunch. They're going to work for it, they're going to put the time in. I'm not saying we haven't been scrappy or hungry in the past, but it's definitely there.”

His answer is partially rooted in how the Tigers have been atop the D-III lacrosse world for the better part of this decade, coinciding with Coon getting the job in 2010.

RIT, winners of every Liberty League title since 2012, have fallen in the 2013 and 2017 national championship games. Trips to the NCAA semifinals were also in the cards in  2011, 2014, 2015 and 2018. Aside from Salisbury and Tufts, few programs have mirrored such success as of late.

But RIT also isn’t basking in the past. On Wednesday, it won its 11th straight game, beating Union 12-9 to capture the Liberty League regular season title.

“We’re facing a great team, traveling on the road the day of on a bus, get off and play one of the best teams in the country,” Coon said before the game. “If we're not in the moment it's going to be a tough day. So just staying in the moment is critical. You can use those past seasons as reference points and what to do or not to do. But the focus is on the here and now.”

Coon said the Tigers are strongest up the middle. That starts with goalie Walker Hare, a Second Team All-American last year, and continues to the long-stick midfielder spot with Trevor Smyth and Matt Pogue. There’s also the faceoff duo of Nick Montemorano and Landon Nolta, both of whom are underclassmen. Defensemen Quinn Fettig and Chandler Allen are both strong, as are midfielders Cam Isaac and Ryan Barnable.

The only critique of RIT this year, if it can be called that, is there isn’t a 100-point scorer or thereabouts likes years past. In 2018 it was Kyle Killen and 2017 had Ryan Lee and Chad Levick.

Coon doesn’t view that as a problem, though, especially with a balanced offense led by Shawn Nally, a First Team All-American last spring. Nally missed time to injury, so his team-leading 66 points can be misleading.

“We have four or five guys playing at a high level on offense,” Coon said. “Then when you team that up with transition play and winning faceoffs, making saves, riding the ball back, clearing the ball, we've done a great job with all that. That gets you the results you want.”

But RIT has also proven imperfect, losing to Amherst, 17-16, in mid March at the Mustang Classic. That result, Coon said, was an important evaluator. It also made apparent that an undefeated season – RIT was 21-0 until last year’s NCAA semifinal loss to Wesleyan – is nearly impossible to attain.

“We sat back and asked why we lost that game, really looked at the film and tried to dissect why,” Coon said. “In the end, I think we were just careless with the ball at times. We live and die by our style, and unfortunately we were a little too sloppy at the end of the day.”

Sloppy perhaps, but this scrappy bunch has come out better on the other side. And now, just like every year in Rochester, N.Y., lofty goals await.

Haverford a 2020 sleeper?

On a national level, Haverford coach Nick Taylor knows an April 6 win over Dickinson, then No. 10, didn’t garner a ton of national buzz. Certainly not out of spite or animus, he’s perfectly at terms with that.

“I think people saw it as a flash in the pan,” Taylor, in his first year, said. “Maybe some, 'It's a good win for Haverford, but Dickinson had an off day.' Whatever they say, they say.”

But after last weekend’s win over Ursinus, then also No. 10, Taylor is hopeful that others noticed. The Fords might not be home to the Centennial Conference’s elite, but those results certainly say something.

“It validates that not only do we belong, but we can go about making some noise,” Taylor said. “I think it's exciting for us, but I think we also really like the fact we're flying under the radar some.”

Whichever tact you take, Haverford has a young core – both with players and coaching – to possibly make further noise in 2020. Taylor said he feels attackman Sean Mowatt-Larssen is is one of the best freshman in the country, goalie Ethan Donlon is only a sophomore and most of the starting defensemen are underclassmen.

Then there’s Taylor himself, working his way up the coaching ranks from 2009 until this recent job in Philadelphia, Pa. Haverford also has senior leadership, but the foundational elements are starting to show.

“Haverford absolutely has the model of a place where you can be nationally competitive,” Taylor said. “We're basically a NESCAC school in the south in terms of the profile. For 2020, we want to be more consistent.”

Much work remains to enter those conversations, but the Fords have some history to stand on. They made NCAA tournaments from 2008-10, even winning the Centennial Conference the latter year.

But to make any postseason progress this spring, the Fords needs plenty of results – six, to be exact – to go their way. In pursuit of a No. 4 seed in the CC tournament, they’ll need to not only beat Swarthmore, but hope for other results to prove favorable.

It’s not an ideal set of circumstances, Taylor admits.

“It’s really tight, no room for error,” Taylor said. “We're happy to be in this position the last week of April to be in the mix, but know it’ll be tough.”

If the Ursinus and Dickinson results are any indication, perhaps 2020 will be stress-free when late April rolls around.

Different tact for Cortland in 2019

There’s a famous idiom that the only two guaranteed things in life are death and taxes. Perhaps they could add Cortland winning the SUNYAC into the mix.

The Red Dragons have won 26 of 30 such titles and made the NCAA tournament every year since 2001.

But the New York state school has taken a different approach in 2019, head coach Steve Beville said. They’re used to reloading, much like a Salisbury or RIT does, with juniors and seniors who were waiting in the wings, but now are almost rebuilding.

The key? Nearly 10 underclassmen in big roles, Beville said.

“We've taken a different route,” Beville said. “Since I've been here, we’ve never this many freshmen and sophomores before.”

That hasn’t come without its lumps and bruises, though. Cortland’s first loss of the year, a 15-9 one at Ursinus, sparked that resurgent tale in the Centennial Conference. They then laid an egg in a 13-5 loss to Wesleyan, and a 14-10 defeat to RIT wasn’t too much better

Then there was the 19-15 early-season home setback to Tufts, when Beville said the youth really showed.

“Absolutely we took some shots, some punches,” Beville said. “Particularly the Tufts game, we started a bunch of freshmen and they took advantage of our youth. But the young guys have stepped up, they've watched a lot of film. We've improved tremendously since the first month of the season.”

There are still some experienced leaders at Cortland, though. The attack unit is led by upperclassmen Dean Riley, Joey Panariello and Terrence Haggerty. Beville said Mike McNaney, a senior, is one of the top short-stick defensive midfielders in D-III. Midfielders Alex Waelder and Corey McMahon also bring some wisdom, as does faceoff specialist Brian Williams.

As May rolls around, their roles should prove just as vital in the SUNYAC and beyond. The Dragons wrapped up the regular season SUNYAC title with a 19-7 win over Oswego on Wednesday.

“There's enough experience there to know what do and how to prepare this time of year,” Beville said. “We'll see. Everyone is good at this time of the year and nothing is promised now. It's one at a time.”

But make no mistake, this year’s Cortland team has a youthful make-up. That always comes with a cautious step.

“The younger guys have done a great job of listening, and they’ve handled the adversity in a positive way,” Beville said. “I think we're getting better every day.”