OPENING WEEKEND – WEEK 0
Almost 11 months after the Coronavirus pandemic halted the 2020 college lacrosse season and many other sports around the world, college lacrosse began its 2021 season this past weekend, as we saw two games begin the year.
Bellarmine traveled to Mercer for a Saturday faceoff at 11am, and when the news broke that the game would not be live streamed, Cam Herbert, an injured Bellarmine player, took matters into his own hands. Posted to Twitter, Herbert streamed the game from his phone and Periscope, allowing die hard lacrosse fans to watch the first college lacrosse game since last May.
(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)
Bellarmine came out on top by a final score of 9-7, marking their first season opening win since the 2016 season. One main storyline of the day was Mercer’s faceoff man Ashton Wood winning 18 of 19 faceoffs on the day. The opening faceoff he took right down the field and scored to put Mercer up early. Mercer continued with their make it-take it mentality throughout the first half and took a 4-2 lead into halftime. Also notable to know that Mercer was playing without their best offensive player. Attackman Sean Goldsmith led the nation in goals last season, he had 34 goals in only 7 games. He is rumored to be out for about 6 weeks with his injury.
Bellarmine opened the second half with stellar defensive play and quick scoring. In their 4-goal run to start the third quarter, they caused three turnovers and goalie Ian Reilly saved three shots. Bellarmine’s four goals were scored at an average of 18.75 seconds into their possessions. The key to this game was Bellarmine overcoming the faceoff disadvantage they had by maximizing their opportunities through having more saves and turning over the ball less than Mercer. Mercer out shot Bellarmine 31-29 in their loss.
Ashton Wood (MER) went 18-19 at the faceoff X and added 11 ground balls and a goal. Collin Stewart was Mercer’s leading scorer with 2 goals and 2 assists, while Will McCarthy added a goal on 10 shots. Bellarmine had 7 different goal scorers on the day, with Jesse Ross and Eric Rubak both putting in two goals. Brayden Brown and Kyle Playsted both added one goal and one assist.
Bellarmine goes home to Kentucky to take on Utah next Saturday, while Mercer stays at home in Georgia and will welcome Division 2 Lenoir Rhyne to town.
Denver and Utah played a Saturday afternoon game that was also tight throughout. Throughout the offseason and young 2021 season, Denver has already been a part of a couple major storylines in college lacrosse. The Pioneers have landed a few transfers, including three big names from Yale: Lucas Cotler, Jackson Morrill (McDonough), and TD Ierlan. Cotler was a starter at attack for Yale, Morrill finished his Yale career second in total points, and Ierlan has been the best faceoff man in college lacrosse in the past few seasons. That being said, the preseason ranked #5 Denver and “Yale West” is going to be loaded this spring once Ierlan’s paperwork goes through.
Getting to the action, Utah began their third season with a very young squad after losing major contributors Josh Stout and Colin Burke. The game was very sloppy early, and both teams couldn’t execute how they wanted, partly due to a young Utah team and a rebuilt Denver offense, and partly due to the fact that both teams haven’t played since March and are juggling practicing during the Coronavirus pandemic and having limited players at practice sessions.
Utah took a 3-1 lead into halftime as Denver was plagued by 8 turnovers and an 0-4 line on man up in the first two quarters. But the third quarter is where Denver was able to jump on the young Utes and take over. They converted on 5 of their 11 shots in the quarter and the 5-2 third quarter in favor of Denver was the difference in the game. Jack Hannah and Ethan Walker, two of the nation’s best offensive players got things rolling in the second half. Hannah finished with 2 goals and 1 assist, while Walker netted 3 goals and an assist. Denver sophomore JJ Sillstrop found himself Sunday morning on Sports Center as his behind the back goal was #4 on #SCTop10.
Denver heads East to take on Duke and North Carolina next weekend, while Utah will play abovementioned Bellarmine in Kentucky on Saturday.
THE BEST OF THE REST
Plenty has transpired since we last saw college lacrosse just about 11 months ago last March. The PLL, NBA and NHL played in bubbles, while the NFL, MLB and college sports have operated without a bubble. It was reported early this week that Utah returned 0 positive tests upon their return to campus.
College lacrosse, like others, will operate as usual in a very unusual year. The first weekend in February usually brings plenty of games and scrimmages for others, as teams look to get tune ups and quality non-conference matchups in. Each team and conference will be operating differently this season, with some playing full out of conference schedules, others playing strictly conference opponents, and a few taking the season off. On Monday, Yale announced they would not be playing a 2020 season, as the members of Yale’s team had not enrolled this semester due to the uncertainty that they would be able to play this season. This essentially has saved a year of eligibility if they were to play again. The US Lacrosse magazine did an in-depth dive into one of the biggest offseason storylines.
The ACC is stacked this year. My rankings open with all five ACC teams ranked in the top-10.
Kuhn’s Preseason Top-10
- Duke
- Syracuse
- Maryland
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- Denver
- Penn State
- Notre Dame
- Georgetown
- Loyola
Duke opens the year #1 followed by #2 Syracuse, #4 North Carolina, #5 Virginia and #8 Notre Dame. I expect a National Champion to come from one of those five teams, but they will be tested by the #3 Terps, #6 Denver and #7 Penn State.
Duke has assembled a team much different from last years, as last spring’s Tewaaraton frontrunner Michael Sowers made the jump from Princeton to Duke in the offseason. Duke also landed Inside Lacrosse’s #1 recruit Brennan O’Neill out of St. Anthony’s on Long Island. They bring in plenty of experience as they have 13 graduate students on their roster, including starters on the defensive end JT Giles Harris and goalie Turner Uppgren. The Blue Devils will be a team that should be a sure in for the Final Four in May and it’s no surprise they enter the year ranked #1.
Syracuse’s strength is in their midfield, as they return last year’s starting unit in Jamie Trimboli, Tucker Dordevic and Brendan Curry (Calvert Hall). They also bring in a top recruit, IL’s #2 Owen Hiltz out of Culver should contribute immediately on the offensive end. Cuse also has their eyes set on Memorial Day weekend as they haven’t been invited to the party since 2013 when they lost to Duke in the finals.
North Carolina also brings in plenty of experience, something you could argue for most teams this spring after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all those on rosters last season. Chris Gray, Nicky Solomon and Tanner Cook will be three weapons to watch out for when the Heels are on in 2021.
The Terps will be tough to beat this year as well. They will compete with Penn State and Hopkins in the Big Ten with all of their weapons. Jared Bernhardt returned for his final year in College Park and he will be joined on offense by Bubba Fairman and Logan Wisnauskas (Boys’ Latin).
Rounding out my top-5 is Virginia, who gets their guys back from last season as well. Petey LaSalla is back at the faceoff X where he found success last year getting the ball down to Virginia’s talented offense. Matt Moore, Ian Laviano and Dox Aitken are back in Charlottesville, while they welcome in stud transfer Charlie Bertrand out of Merrimack. Alex Rode (St. Paul’s) is back in the cage for the Cavaliers and he will get the ball up and out early to Jared Conners who is as good in transition as he is a lockdown 1 on 1 defender. Connors had 3 goals in 6 games last year and loves to run in transition.
As with any sport played during these uncertain times, the games will be played, somehow, some way, and we as fans are all along for the ride. Yale announced Monday their season will not be played, and it wouldn’t surprise me if other Ivy League teams did the same sometime soon. But the fields across the country will be filled with All-Americans throughout the spring and plenty of games will be televised on ESPNU and BTN. The offseason was filled with big names moving all over. Everyone is excited to get back on the field again. This weekend’s schedule is bigger and better than last weekend, so tune in as we talk through, get excited, watch and break down all of it.
Friday, February 5th
Duke-Denver, 3pm
Saturday, February 6th
Notre Dame-Air Force, 1pm
Virginia-Towson, 4pm
Sunday, February 7th
UNC-Denver, 11am
We made it. It has been almost an entire year, but college lacrosse is back.
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.