March Madness College Lacrosse Edition

I don’t think many can say they expected the top three teams to lose this weekend, but in March you learn to expect the unexpected. Through almost two months of play there really is not a true top team. Teams who lost last weekend included #1, #2, #3, #9, #10, #11, #17, #18 and #20. A few of those included ranked losses but many of them were upsets including Michigan over #1 Maryland, Boston over #2 Army, Ohio State over #3 Penn State, Denver over #9 Duke, Rutgers over #10 Hopkins, Richmond over #11 Georgetown, Dartmouth over #17 Penn.  

In last week’s article I described this season as “Up for grabs”. This week that statement may have been multiplied by three or four. Some major shakeup in the rankings and a few conferences that right now seem like there could be four or five teams to win it.  

 Week 7 Top 20 

1. Cornell
2. Maryland
3. Notre Dame
4. Princeton
5. Ohio State
6. UNC
7. Syracuse
8. Penn State
9. Army
10. Richmond
11. Boston U
12. St Joes
13. Fairfield
14. Duke
15. Hopkins
16. Harvard
17. Georgetown
18. Dartmouth
19. Michigan
20. Penn

For the second time this season, we have a new #1 in the rankings as Cornell jumps Maryland after their triple OT loss to Michigan.  

CJ Kirst is beginning to run away with the Tewaaraton Award. In the second quarter of Saturday’s game he had seven goals on eight shots. He finished with 10 points on nine goals which brings him to 50 points in seven games. The supporting cast in Goldstein, Long and Firth is better for Cornell than prior years which puts the Big Red in the “Serious Contenders” column. 

The Wolverines have now won four straight games over Maryland and notch their first ever win over a #1 ranked team. They’ve essentially revived their season and present themselves as a threat in a very deep Big Ten. After going 4-4 to start the season, they have essentially started over with the Big Ten slate and they rode their defense to an opening conference win. Holding a Terps team who has shown they have a multitude of scorers to 10 while putting up 11 against a defense who has held teams like Princeton, Syracuse, Richmond, Virginia to single digits is impressive.  

https://x.com/UMichLacrosse/status/1903518279982785003

Ohio State is up to #5 in the rankings after beating then #3 Penn State Sunday night in Happy Valley. The Buckeyes offense continues to click as they won their 9th straight game. Led by Caleb Fyock “Big Tasty” in goal, Ohio State is looking more and more like a team with National Championship aspirations. Not to take anything away from Ohio State after they raced away with the game in the second half, Penn State had a third quarter goal taken away even after a review. 

https://x.com/upstreamlax/status/1903967689707536584?s=46

The Big Ten didn’t have review last year in their games, so there are still some growing pains there. But if this goal counted Penn State could have gotten some momentum back on their side. If college lacrosse wants to do review, I think they need to put some serious resources into it and not rely on single angle press box cameras for the referees to use when looking at important plays in a tight game. That’s all I’ll say on review for now, I just hope some changes are made and this doesn’t affect the outcome of any games later on (although the lack of review ended Penn State’s season two years ago in the Final Four). 

In other Ivy League news Princeton continues to chase Cornell but they got a big win over Harvard this past weekend, going up early and not looking back. Coach Kirwan and Dartmouth have won six straight with this weekend’s the most impressive of them all, beating Penn. Brown also notched a ranked win this week over Umass and now sit at 3-5. 

Boston U is to Army as Michigan is to Maryland. The Terriers have now beaten Army in five straight games and the Patriot League isn’t so locked up after all. Boston lost the faceoff battle and had less shots but ended up winning the game on the back of their defense. Army may have the best goalie in the country in Sean Byrne, but Will Barnes outplayed him Saturday saving 22 shots en route to a massive road victory.  

I’m excited to see how both Army and Boston match up against Colgate (who plays much much faster) in the Patriot League later on this season. But I think I’m more excited for the Army/Boston rematch in the conference tournament in May. 

Duke and Denver played a 7pm game in Dallas on Saturday and I don’t think many people expected Denver to get out to a 13-3 lead and beat Duke by seven. Another team who won a big game at a perfect time. Denver will compete with Georgetown in the Big East. 

Hopkins lacks a main ball carrier without Russell Melendez. Their loss at home to Rutgers exposed the offense who has looked slow in his absence. Without really any quality wins on their schedule (Virginia doesn’t count this year, but you could make a case for Georgetown/Denver) and a tough Big Ten slate ahead, Hopkins is in jeopardy of missing the tournament if they don’t turn things around. 

Things To Look Forward To:

Plenty of ranked matchups coming up this weekend including a few top-10 matchups.  

UNC travels to West Point before opening up their ACC slate. This puts a high powered offense against one of the best defenses in the country. Army would love to steal one before going back into Patriot League play. 

The ranked Ivy League game this weekend is a big test for Dartmouth–at home against Princeton. I think the Tigers and Cornell are clearly the top two in the Ivy League so I see Princeton winning easily. 

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the ACC become a jumbled mess outside of UVA at the bottom and another one of those teams missing the tournament. After Duke’s loss last weekend, it seems more likely it might be them. They have another tough test in Notre Dame at Arlotta who also can’t afford many more losses. 

I am higher on Syracuse than most. I think their #7 ranking doesn’t paint the whole picture. They are as complete of a team I have seen in a while. They have dominant players at every position. Cuse-UNC are my picks to meet in the ACC title game. Cuse will prove why this weekend, dominating a struggling Virginia team. 

We were lined up for #1 vs #2 until both Maryland and Penn State lost in the Big Ten opener last weekend. Expect a low scoring game in College Park. Ohio State exposed the Penn State SSDMs last weekend with a lot of scoring from their midfield. Maryland uses their attack to initiate a lot more than their midfield but find matchups up top and let their guys run.  

Hopkins travels to Michigan who is hot off knocking off the #1 team. Hopkins laid an egg against Rutgers and has not looked good. This weekend will prove which one if any was a fluke. 

Another great weekend of College Lacrosse in the books. Same can be said about what’s to come. The last weekend in March means conference play and we can start to paint a picture of what to expect in the tournaments in May.