It is already midway through March, and the college lacrosse slate has reached its midpoint. We are two months from the beginning of the NCAA Tournament and about a month and a half from the beginning of the conference tournaments.
COVID issues continue to plague plenty of teams, with six games this past weekend cancelled due to teams having issues within the program. With games getting more important in the upcoming weeks we hope to see less of this as teams prepare for late April and early May. Army had their game this weekend postponed against Colgate. They will see Holy Cross on March 20th. Navy is still dealing with their campus wide shutdown. They are set to play Lafayette on Saturday.
It was announced on Monday that former Albany and Yale faceoff man TD Ierlan is set to join Denver’s roster after announcing he would be transferring there early in February. Ierlan has been one of the best faceoff men since he began his tenure at Albany. He will join Alec Stathakis at Denver who has a 108-164 line thus far this spring. Denver and Georgetown’s matchup was moved from this past Saturday to Tuesday due to a major snowstorm. Ierlan will not be eligible to play in this huge Big East matchup but the two teams will meet again later this spring. Expect to see a heavy dose of Ierlan on Sunday against Villanova.
(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)
This past weekend was good for the sport. There were plenty of marquee games throughout the week, with Duke/HPU Wednesday, Virginia/UNC on Thursday, Cuse/Stony Brook Friday and the slate we had BOTH Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Expect to see more of this as plenty of ACC games are scheduled for weekdays and the Big Ten plays plenty of games on Sundays. An opportunity to spread out the weekend and give the fans more to watch instead of picking games to watch on Saturday.
A few new names added to the Top 20 this week.
March 16th: Top 20
- Duke (1)
- North Carolina (2)
- Maryland (3)
- Georgetown (4)
- Army (6)
- Syracuse (7)
- Rutgers (5)
- Notre Dame (9)
- Denver (10)
- Virginia (8)
- Lehigh (12)
- Ohio State (13)
- Loyola (14)
- Umass (16)
- Richmond (19)
- Hopkins (NR)
- Penn State (11)
- Delaware (NR)
- Vermont (NR)
- Navy (17)
Dropped out: High Point, Albany, UMBC
Although the Terps took down a very good Rutgers team, I leave them at #3. These top three should all be treated as a #1 team, because they all could sit in the top spot. Maryland and Rutgers delivered the best game of the weekend. The first half was back and forth enough to have the game tied at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The third quarter was slower, but Maryland raced out in the fourth to win this 19-12. Jared Bernhardt and Nick Grill led the way for the Terps, as Bernhardt scored 6 and added an assist, while Grill was able to shut down the Rutgers O when it mattered. The Terps are deep all over the field and after this win have their sights set on the Big Ten Championship. Rutgers played fast for the first 45 minutes but were let down to start the fourth quarter. Maryland dominated the faceoff X and converted on the offensive end. This Rutgers team is still very scary and can score at will. They’ll need to sure up their defense and faceoff play to bring more consistency to their Top 10 play. A big game with Hopkins looms.
Hopkins notched a huge win this past weekend in their beatdown of Penn State. The Nittany Lions looked bad all over the field and after taking a 2-0 lead they suddenly saw that disappear to a Blue Jays 13-1 run. Behind stellar faceoff play, crisp offensive possessions and shut down defense, they held Penn State to 0 shots in the third quarter. Connor DeSimone, Cole Williams and Joey Epstein lead the way offensively and DeSimone has turned into their primary ball handler from X. There were fans at Homewood, but no band…yet. Hopkins has another chance to move up in the polls when they welcome Rutgers to town next week. The biggest drop of the week comes in Happy Valley, as Penn State is back to the drawing board after their performance against Hopkins. It is mind boggling to see a team that has been so offense driven the past few years not attempt a shot in the third quarter Saturday. I am hearing they have had COVID issues along with some injuries which they’ll need to take care of ahead of their meeting with Michigan.
Duke ran over the SoCon this week after taking down High Point, whom they smushed 27-8 and Jacksonville 17-6. High Point has now allowed 27 goals twice this season, and Duke put it to them. Brennan O’Neill scored ten times in two games and proved he is the best freshmen in the country. With some time off before the ACC slate, Duke will use this time to rest and prepare for a gauntlet of a slate ahead. They sit well going into the biggest part of their season.
North Carolina retains their #2 spot after taking down Virginia on Thursday night. The Heels controlled most of the game, but Virginia was pesky and came back late. If it weren’t for freshman goalie Collin Krieg who had 20 saves, this would have been a completely different game. It is worrisome to see Virginia come back late, but North Carolina will have a week and a half off to sure up their defensive midfield play before they take on Air Force and then the rest of the ACC. Virginia remains a Top 10 team because I still think they will make some noise in the ACC because their offense is scary. They shot the ball 62 times against the Heels, but they don’t seem to be clicking. Dox Aitken hasn’t been himself and the offense isn’t playing together. To become an ACC title contender, they will have to begin playing as a unit offensively to create goals by moving the ball to make the defense move.
Lehigh sits just out of the Top 10 despite their blowout of Patriot League opponent Bucknell. They played a similar style of defense that was led by goalie James Spence (71% SV %) and got the ball to their offense using Spence and by Mike Sisselberger winning 16-23 faceoffs. Lehigh has an opening this weekend, as does Syracuse due to opposing teams COVID issues, and the two could see a matchup this coming weekend.
The Buckeyes capped off a good weekend for O-H as both the basketball and lacrosse teams beat Michigan. Although Michigan was pesky enough to not stay away, Ohio State led from start to finish. They played again without two-way threat Ryan Terefenko, and Tre Leclaire tied the school’s all-time goals record with 147.
Loyola started slow but rolled Lafayette 16-6 behind Aidan Olmstead and Evan James both scoring 6 points.
Umass opened their season against Fairfield with a 13-9 win. Umass was very balanced offensively and will set up to run things in the CAA.
Delaware off their drubbing of Drexel, they are 5-1 and have won 5 in a row. Sitting at 2-0 in the CAA, they should also look to be in the CAA mix.
Vermont is also a newcomer to my poll after jumping out early against Albany and holding on for a 14-12 game. They also love to score and have scored 60 times in 4 games.
Upcoming Weekend Slate
Quick hits this coming week/weekend
Biggest game I see is the Top 10 matchup between Georgetown and Denver, officially set for Tuesday at 2:30pm as it was postponed from this past weekend due to a snowstorm. Their first of two meetings, both of these teams have offenses who love to score. If you love goals, this is going to be your game. Both offenses are experienced and deep which will prove to be a hurdle one team needs to climb to win this game. I think Georgetown holds the edge in defense in a game that is going to come down to just that. Georgetown in a close one.
Delaware / Towson: Saturday, Noon
This CAA battle should be a good one. Delaware is rolling off wins, now 5 in a row and Towson has a good opportunity to prove themselves in a conference that could be deeper than we think. I think Delaware has the edge in this one, but Towson could be a spoiler to their win streak.
Ohio State / Maryland: Saturday, Noon
Ohio State is going to try to slow down the Terps who are rolling as of late. I think the Terps biggest test will be Rutgers but if Ohio State has Ryan Terefenko back, they will have a better chance to play spoiler. Maryland is battle tested and has a top-3 team. Ohio State will need to convert early and often and rely on depth offensively.
Hopkins / Rutgers: Saturday, 1pm
Might be one of the better matchups of the weekend. Hopkins looks to be finding its groove a few games into the season as Rutgers needs a win to bounce back from their first loss of the season. If Hopkins can get stops on defense and convert on the offensive end, they should be able to hang with a Rutgers team who loves to push transition and score quickly.
Villanova / Denver: Sunday, 11am
TD Ierlan’s first game for Denver comes this Sunday. It is unsure how many faceoffs he will get but should see some reps. Depending on how Denver and Georgetown go, the Pios may be sitting pretty in the Big East. Either way I think Denver will roll Villanova in this Big East contest.
A potential Syracuse-Lehigh matchup is in the works after both teams had their Saturday games cancelled due to COVID. This would be a big game for both teams, especially Lehigh who has started off hot and could prove themselves as a top team after knocking off an ACC.
Lacrosse Analyst
Sam Kuhn currently is the graduate assistant for the men’s lacrosse program at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio and is working to complete his Masters of Business Administration in 2020. Sam graduated from the College of Wooster in 2018, where he received his Bachelors Degree in English and played lacrosse as well. In his four years, Sam was a two time All-NCAC selection, a first team All-Region selection in 2018, and surpassed 100 goals for his career, one of seven members in program history to do so. Sam has interned with Inside Lacrosse, and wrote for the sports section of The Wooster Voice.