The End of the Regular Season is Here

The last weekend in April is here and that means we near the home stretch of the NCAA lacrosse season. The regular season has already wrapped up in the Big Ten, and the rest of the country follows them this coming weekend. Plenty of teams will see their seasons come to an end, and a few more will ride into the conference tournament with the hopes of winning a conference championship and securing an NCAA Tournament berth on selection Sunday May 5th.

Despite it being the last weekend of the regular season there is still a lot to be settled in each conference. A few top seeds up for grabs and more teams clinging to hopes of making the big dance.

Let me quickly run through the highlights from this past weekend and my updated rankings before getting into each conference and what is yet to come.

April 22nd Top 20

1. Notre Dame

2. Princeton

3. UNC

4. Syracuse

5. Richmond

6. Cornell

7. Ohio State

8. Virginia

9. Hopkins

10. Georgetown

11. Army

12. Maryland

13. Yale

14. Harvard

15. Penn State

16. Duke

17. Towson

18. Utah

19. Loyola

20. Rutgers

 

Ohio State 9-8 over Michigan. One of four (Hop, MD, PSU) to claim Big Ten regular season title. Ohio State won with under five seconds left on Friday night.

Hopkins 9-8 over Maryland. Jays grit out a win on Saturday at Homewood due to Gelinas’ 14 saves.

Princeton 15-14 over Harvard. Cambridge might be the toughest place to play in the country. Harvard has been struggling lately and need to win one down the stretch.

UNC 16-15 over UVA. Heels almost blew a late lead as Virginia scored with :01 to tie it.

Notre Dame 7-6 over Duke. Defensive battle in Durham with a couple of goalies playing very well. Duke comeback was too little too late.

Syracuse 14-7 over Colgate. Joey Spallina broke all time points record at Syracuse, passing Mikey Powell.

Lets fly under the radar with Georgetown and Cornell. Both of which have been overlooked multiple times this year, but down the stretch have been solid. Teams that can win in April are teams that you can trust in May.

Ill update my bracket prediction next week once the conference tournament fields are set. There is still a bit of work for some teams to get done this coming weekend. Let’s quickly run through each conference.

America East

All four teams are locked in. Albany is the top seed. UMBC, Bryant and Vermont all have two conference losses and will battle for seeding this weekend.

ACC

Duke has been eliminated from contention which most likely means their season is over. Notre Dame, UNC and Syracuse all sit at 2-1 and can take the top spot, however Notre Dame controls their destiny there. Virginia is also in.

Atlantic Sun

Utah, Air Force and Jacksonville are alive for the top spot and Mercer is also in. There are some tiebreaker scenarios for this weekend if Air Force and Jacksonville both win. This would put three teams at 4-1 in conference and give the #1 seed to Jacksonville based on goal differential between the tied teams.

A-10

Richmond-High Point this weekend for the #1/#2 seeds. The Spiders are currently a 7.5 goal favorite. Umass and St. Joes will round out the field next week in Richmond.

Big East

Like I said earlier, Georgetown is quietly rolling along right now. They will have their biggest game in a while Saturday against Villanova for the 1 seed. Providence is hosting this year and they will be in, sitting at 2-2 right now. Denver has been struggling so far in the conference season and plays Marquette for the final spot. Denver is favored by 4.5 on Friday night.

Big Ten

These guys are already into the conference tournament with all six teams getting in. Four teams tied atop the Big Ten this year, but Hopkins came away with the tiebreakers and 1 seed. Penn State received the other bye. Ohio State has a rematch with arch rival Michigan this weekend while Rutgers “hosts” Maryland.

CAA

The CAA is tricky when it gets down to it. Towson (1), Drexel (2) and Stony Brook (3) are all locked in. The 4 seed could be a three way tie between Fairfield, Hofstra and Monmouth. Here’s how that shakes out: Monmouth win and in vs Fairfield. Monmouth loss and Hofstra win, Hofstra in. Hofstra and Monmouth losses means a three way tie which goes to goal differential. Long story short the goal differential will probably go to Hofstra.

Ivy League

Cornell hosts and is the #1 seed with a win over Harvard. If Harvard wins then Princeton is the #1. Yale and Penn are battling it out for the last spot in the tournament. Both also are squarely on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. A couple of additional games (and maybe a win) could help their cases.

MAAC

A weird format with five teams making the tournament and a play in game on Thursday. Siena and Marist have clinched semifinal spots. Quinnipiac has a fast track to the last bye into the semifinals, only needing to win against Manhattan. Sacred Heart has dropped three straight after starting 10-0 and Merrimack will likely join them in the play in game.

NEC

Robert Morris will host LIU and Cleveland State. VMI, Wagner and Detroit are still alive and if VMI are to beat Detroit they are in. A loss brings into question tiebreakers.

Patriot

Save the best for last or it may have just been alphabetical order. Pretty much every team has beaten each other in the Patriot League. Army, Boston U and Loyola are all 5-2 and have a chance to host the tournament. All three beat each other in the regular season. The tiebreaker scenarios are a mouthful so let’s just leave it at all three should want to win this weekend and all need help to host the tournament. Colgate has also clinched a spot and Bucknell, Lehigh and Navy remain alive. Expect mayhem on CBS Sports Network.

Folks we are almost there. Selection Sunday is near and the games are higher stakes. Seasons will end this weekend and for others it will continue. Enjoy the weekend of lacrosse. The field will shrink this time next week.