It's time to decide the final bids to the D-III College Championships!
May 3, 2024 by Calvin Ciorba in Preview with 0 comments
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There are few more exciting portions of the ultimate calendar than spring College Regionals. For some, these events will be the culmination of a season — or even college career — while for others it’s just another step on their path toward the D-III College Championships. Count on plenty of dramatic action and unexpected results along the way as every team fights to ensure they fall into the latter group.
With a majority of D-III Men’s regional representatives for Nationals already determined, there is just one region left: New England. We’ve got you covered on the storylines to watch.
New England
Score Reporter
Location: South Portland, Maine
Favorites: #4 Middlebury, #3 Williams, #13 Bates
Contenders: #22 Bowdoin, Bryant
Nationals Bids: 3
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
After a couple years of South Central dominance, the New England region is back on top, earning three bids and having two teams in our top five. While the back end of the region is not as strong as usual, the top teams in the region have a legitimate shot at winning Nationals, a chance to bring it back for the first time in the 2020s. With decent weather in the forecast, it should be a fun weekend in South Portland.
With their historical dominance and stellar season, #4 Middlebury will play the favorites this weekend. It’s been a hard season to interpret results for this iteration of the Pranksters, as they barely even reached ten games, and in those ten games weather played an extreme factor, leaving scores questionable. However, despite these difficulties, Middlebury made the most of the season, going 8-2 and only losing to #3 Williams by two and D-I national qualifying Texas by one in game that ended early due to thunderstorms. On paper, this roster is filled with some scary names including reigning DPOTY Malachi Raymond, ROTY first runner-up Geir Hartl, and Second Team All-American Ethan Lavallee. Unfortunately for Middlebury, one of their stars Louis Douville Beaudoin broke his collarbone on the first point of Centex, and will be out for the rest of the year. While the Pranksters didn’t recruit any YCC freshman for the first time in who knows how long, at least a third of the team played club this summer, an astonishing amount for D-III. Not to mention, these were high level club teams in the likes of Sub-Zero, DiG, TireBizFriz, and Sprout. Despite not having a coach, Middlebury plays disciplined ultimate and doesn’t rely solely on their stars. Their sideline presence is overpowering and can win them games this weekend. Don’t be surprised if Middlebury takes down another New England championship even after their loss to Williams earlier in the season.
#3 Williams WUFO enter as close challengers and will most likely easily make it to the finals. After not earning a bid last year due to a shaky regular season, WUFO easily earned one in 2024. They cleaned up, going 17-1, with their only loss being against the D-I National-qualifying Ottawa. WUFO have been on a fantastic trajectory, with Coach Will Savage helping steadily improve the squad these last couple of years, and proved they belong in title contending status. All American Second Teamer Danny Klein is one of the best throwers in the division and pairs with one of the best defenders, second runner-up DPOTY Charlie Tantum. The team has more depth than ever before – Reed Kendall, Minh-Huy Le, and Reece Overholt are names you need to learn come Nationals. If Williams can beat Middlebury again this weekend, expect big things for this program in Milwaukee.
One of the surprise stories of this season has been the #13 Bates Orange Whip, who slipped in on the very last strength bid spot. Not much is known about Orange Whip besides their glowing 17-2 record that includes two wins over their greatest threat, #22 Bowdoin. A two point loss against Middlebury and a win over a strong Dartmouth at Conferences demonstrates this Bates squad could mean serious business if they make Nationals. If they qualify, this will be Bates’ first ever trip to Nationals in program history.
But it’s hard to beat a team multiple times, and Bowdoin will try to prove that in South Portland against Bates. The odds are stacked against Clown after a disappointing regular season, as opposed to their undefeated run last year. Going 10-3 but with no marquee wins means Clown will need to step up their game come Regionals. Expect Homer LaBranche to lead the way if the team is to qualify for their first Nationals since 2019.
The rest of the region falls off quickly in talent, but look for WPI Whisper and Eric Impink to make some noise along with Liam Hickey and the Bryant Craze to shake things up. After their D-I Regionals qualification last year, Middlebury B Branksters decided to pick on someone their own size and enter this tournament as the seventh seed.
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