Bill Wagner: Coach Cindy Timchal wonders why Navy women’s lacrosse was left out of NCAA Tournament | COMMENTARY
Legendary coach Cindy Timchal could not hold back the tears as she spoke to the media outside the visiting locker room at Ridley Athletic Complex on Saturday evening.
Second-seeded Navy women’s lacrosse had just turned in a superb performance that almost produced a stunning upset of top-seeded Loyola Maryland in the Patriot League Tournament championship game.
A back-and-forth contest that featured seven ties came down to overtime with Loyola winning the opening draw and never giving up the ball. Standout attacker Georgia Latch made a strong dodge to the right side of the field and scored the game-winning goal off a short shot that deflected off Navy defender Caroline Stefans and into the net, lifting Loyola to a thrilling 12-11 victory.
The Midshipmen were devastated and Timchal was still extremely emotional after meeting with the team inside the locker room. However, Timchal took solace in the belief Navy had just proven it could go toe-to-toe on even terms with one of the best teams in the country.
It turns out the near upset of Loyola and overall body of work was not enough to get Navy (15-4) into the NCAA Tournament. The Midshipmen were among the most notable snubs when the 29-team field was announced Sunday night.
Colorado and Navy were the top two teams left out of the tournament. Duke and Fairfield were the last two teams that got in.
Timchal felt confident Navy would earn an at-large berth as she stood in the bowels of the Ridley Athletic Complex on a rainy Saturday night. However, the Midshipmen’s fortunes took an unexpected hit Sunday afternoon when Niagara upset Fairfield in the final of the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.
That surprising result suddenly put a program with a strong profile into the at-large mix. Sure enough, Fairfield earned one of the final at-large berths based largely on being No. 16 in the Ratings Percentage Index rankings. The Stags had notable early-season wins against Connecticut and Albany, both of which were nationally ranked at the time.
Perhaps the result that put Fairfield over the top was a 12-5 defeat of Drexel, which also earned an at-large berth.
No one involved with Navy women’s lacrosse would complain about losing out to Fairfield as there were valid reasons — based on the stated criteria — why it would go that way. However, it should be noted the Midshipmen had a better strength of schedule (43 versus 59) than the Stags.
Also, Fairfield lost its season opener to Holy Cross, which Navy routed 19-5 in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
Navy’s women’s lacrosse watched the NCAA Tournament selection show from the Akerson Theater room inside the Terwilliger Center for Student-Athletes and everyone was stunned when Duke popped up on the screen as an at-large entry.
Duke finished with 10-8 after losing three of its last four games. Late-season performance (last six games) is a secondary criteria to be considered and the Blue Devils were blown out by Notre Dame (19-7) on April 6 and Boston College (19-5) on April 24.
What was most upsetting to Timchal was that Navy had a much higher RPI (22 compared to 31) and beat Duke head-to-head — 10-9 in the season opener on Feb. 9. Speaking to The Capital following the selection show on Sunday night, the Hall of Fame coach was utterly flabbergasted that the Blue Devils got in over the Mids.
“It’s disappointing to know that a team we beat that had a 10-8 record and a lower RPI got in and we didn’t,” Timchal said. “It’s as if our victory over Duke didn’t matter.”
Timchal has been coaching Division I women’s lacrosse for more than four decades and knows well how the selection process goes. She understands the importance of RPI, strength of schedule and head-to-head matchups.
That is why Timchal strategically creates a schedule that assures Navy has a chance to rate highly in those critical categories. Duke was put on the schedule for this very reason: to serve as a resume builder in case the Mids found themselves fighting for an at-large berth.
“If they’re really trying to take any kind of subjectivity out, then they need to look carefully at RPI, wins and losses and head-to-head. We win in those three categories,” Timchal said of the comparison with Duke. “I don’t know how you get past the head-to-head. It’s just very disappointing.”
Other tough nonconference contests provided mixed results for the Mids. Navy routed two programs — Villanova (18-9) and Jacksonville (17-9) — that are normally strong but were not this season.
Navy picked up an impressive 14-5 victory over eventual Atlantic 10 Conference champion Richmond, which was ranked at the time.
However, Navy suffered costly losses to Drexel (13-12) and St. Joseph’s (14-13). In fact, that former head-to-head result is a big reason why the Dragons got one of the last at-large berths over the Mids.
Mercer coach Samantha Eustace, chair of the NCAA women’s lacrosse selection committee, made several contradictory statements when discussing the final field with Lacrosse Magazine.
First and foremost, Eustace said “significant wins” were a major factor in determining seedings and at-large berths. While quality of wins is one factor to consider, it is not supposed to trump RPI, strength of schedule and head-to-head.
“Significant wins were important in the evaluation process. Because there were so many upsets, it was not as clear as in years past and [created] lots of extra work for the committee,” Eustace said.
Having a high number of “significant wins” was a major reason why Maryland received the fourth seed despite going 2-3 in April. Eustace said one “significant win” was what got the Blue Devils an at-large berth. Duke beat Virginia, which drew the fifth seed, 15-10 on March 30.
“For Duke, their win over UVA was what put them in,” Eustace told Lacrosse Magazine. “It’s always really tough when you get to the last couple of teams and they don’t play each other or have common opponents.”
That latter comment does not ring true because Navy and Duke DID play each other and the result apparently was not considered.
Liz Wacienga, the NCAA assistant director for media coordination, issued a statement on behalf of the women’s lacrosse selection committee in response to a question about why Duke got into the tournament ahead of Navy despite the head-to-head result.
Wacienga repeated the importance of significant wins in the evaluation and selection process.
“The committee does its best to select, seed and bracket teams based on defined principals and selection criteria, one of which includes quality wins,” the statement said. “Specific to your question, Duke’s win over Virginia gave it a slight advantage over Navy and Colorado, which both lacked a top 20 win despite having outstanding seasons.”
Colorado (13-6) was another deserving program that was snubbed. It had an RPI seven spots higher than Duke and beat Penn State, which was awarded an at-large berth. The Buffaloes also deserve credit for playing top-seeded Northwestern tough, losing 19-14.
Eustace said Colorado was left out because it did not beat any Top 20 opponents.
Timchal could have accepted Navy being beaten out by Colorado because it would have been based on the established criteria. Ultimately, the inconsistent way in which the various metrics were applied is what left the veteran coach so frustrated.
Head-to-head mattered when it came to Drexel beating out Navy. However, head-to-head didn’t matter when determining between Duke and Navy.
RPI was critical in terms of Fairfield being selected ahead of Colorado and Navy. However, RPI was not as big a factor as strength of schedule when it came to Duke being compared to Navy.
“It’s just very difficult to understand if it’s all about analytics,” Timchal said. “We feel like we earned the right to be in the NCAA Tournament. I think Navy was very deserving based on our overall body of work.”