It seems like there's a bit more of a "blue blood" advantage
by Tex Francisco (2024-05-28 09:56:36)

In reply to: Should our success in lacrosse be any different from hockey? *  posted by zahm82

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in hockey. College hockey has a longer history than lacrosse, and for many top hockey schools, hockey is the preeminent sport on campus. The blue blood hockey programs are also almost all located in or around the regions of the country that produce the majority of hockey players, i.e., Minnesota, Michigan, and Massachusetts. Even though ND isn't located in a lacrosse hotbed, it seems like there's a perfect synergy between the schools and regions that produce lacrosse talent and the types of kids who want to go to ND. A lot of good academic schools play lacrosse, but other than Duke and UVA, I'm not sure many other schools can offer the athletics/academics combo that ND can. There are several very good Ivy League lacrosse programs, but I'm guessing they don't have anywhere near the big-time athletics infrastructure that the ACC and B1G schools have. Hockey recruiting is, from what I understand, quite a bit different than lacrosse, with lots of kids not going straight from high school to college. A lot of the top hockey prospects are already on a professional track before starting college, so academics is going to be a lot less important to them.

All this being said, I certainly think ND can win a title in hockey. We've already come close on multiple occasions. I do, however, think that lacrosse has some advantages that hockey does not.

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