The 2021 College lacrosse season continues to move along in March, for many teams this is an odd time where they itch to get into the conference season, for others (like the Big Ten, Big East, Patriot League), they are knee deep into their conference slate. Each game serves as a massive step towards the first goal of making the conference tournament.

The ACC had an out of conference weekend, with all five teams taking home wins. There are a few top teams emerging in the Big Ten, and the same goes with the Big East. The Patriot League should be a battle of the top-4 Lehigh, Loyola, Army and Navy.

Last Saturday was full of blowouts among the top names in D1 lacrosse, while this weekend featured plenty of close games, capped off by Saturday night’s overtime thriller between Colgate and Holy Cross.

UMBC is off to a 2-0 start after winning their second straight OT game, this time over Stony Brook. The Terps took home a win in the Rivalry after a second half outburst of goals. Rutgers and Denver have both scored 20+ goals in two straight weekends, and both Virginia and Bryant joined them in the 20-burger club this week. Lehigh and Penn State both got big conference wins over Loyola and Ohio State. Syracuse and Notre Dame were both tested by out of conference foes but came out on top.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Duke (1) – The Blue Devils continued their early season tear, beating Richmond 13-6 on Sunday afternoon. Duke is very balanced offensively, and they essentially have a starting attackman running out of the midfield each game. Michael Sowers orchestrates from X, but Duke has plenty of others who can create on their own. Duke gets High Point on Wednesday before Jacksonville next Sunday.


North Carolina (2) – UNC stays #2, as they had a good tune-up win over Mercer to just about wrap up their out of conference slate. Chris Gray leads this team, with 40 points in just 6 games. But UNC has midfielders in Tanner Cook and Will Perry who find their shots as well. They have mostly ACC opponents coming up, with Virginia on Thursday.

Maryland (3) – The Terps took home the Rivalry this past weekend. Their game against Hopkins was close throughout the first half, but Maryland exploded in the third quarter behind Logan Wisnauskas (Boys’ Latin) (2g, 7a) to win 18-10. Nick Grill has been lock down for the Terps thus far. The top-2 teams in the Big Ten go head-to-head next weekend when Maryland takes on Rutgers.

Georgetown (4) – My top 4 remains unchanged after Georgetown took down Marquette 20-13. The Hoyas are averaging 18 goals per game which should make this weekend’s game against Denver entertaining.

Rutgers (5) – One of the faster paced teams in the country, Rutgers enters the top-5 behind their 22-12 drubbing of Michigan. The Scarlet Knights might be having Tony Soprano give the pregame speeches, because this team knows how to get er done. 55 goals in three Big Ten games. They have a balanced offensive attack and a goalie saving the ball at a clip of 63%.

Army (6) – Army had a close game at the hands of Boston University, only winning 12-10 to begin their Patriot League play. The Black Knights will have their hands full this spring in a tough Patriot League. Looking forward to seeing how they fare against Loyola, Lehigh and Navy.

Syracuse (7) – Cuse was coming off a drubbing of Virginia, but they struggled against visiting Vermont this past weekend. Although Vermont outshot Syracuse, the Orange only had three shots go off cage, and were therefore able to get their offense on track. Vermont was tough and didn’t go away. Syracuse is going to need to sure up their defense in upcoming ACC play.

Virginia (8) – Virginia got out to a fast start, scoring 10 in the first quarter, and didn’t look back. They looked like a team that had something to prove after their deflating loss against Syracuse. Their offense flexed its’ muscles, despite Dox Aitken only having 1 goal on 5 shots. Charlie Bertrand had 4 goals and an assist while Alex Rode had 9 saves only allowing 2 goals.

Notre Dame (9) – The Irish didn’t impress me in their win over Bellarmine this weekend. An 8-5 game late in the third, the Irish ended up pulling away to win 12-6 behind stellar defensive play. An offense that looked sloppy against Bellarmine’s zone, Pat Kavanagh (6 assists) and Quinn McCahon (4 goals) were the bright spots this past weekend. They fortunately have some time off before two more tune up games against Marquette and Cleveland St. And then its’ onto the ACC gauntlet.

Denver (10) – Two straight 20 goal games for the Pios who are suddenly clicking. As I mentioned before, they seem to be clicking due to being seven games into their season. They come off of this into a big matchup this weekend with Georgetown. Two teams whose offenses have been clicking as of late, this should be a fun one.

Penn State (11) – The Nittany Lions notched their first win this weekend over Ohio State. They led most of the game and fought off a couple runs out of the Buckeyes. TJ Malone had 5 goals and 2 assists, while Mac O’Keefe had his best game yet, scoring 3 goals, two of them late to pad the lead. Penn State is sitting with Hopkins and Michigan on the schedule, and they could sit third heading into the second round robin.

Lehigh (12) – In just their second game, Lehigh knocked off Loyola in an impressive win that saw Loyola only have 23 shots. Operating behind their defense and goalie James Spence who had 17 saves, Lehigh was precise on offense and did just what they needed to do to win.

Ohio State (13) – After their opening win over Hopkins, Ohio State has dropped two straight to Rutgers and Penn State. They played this weekend without Ryan Terefenko, a do-it-all senior midfielder. They host Michigan this weekend in a rivalry game that is a must win for both.

Loyola (14) – A tough deflating loss for the Hounds this past weekend against Lehigh. They were stifled offensively and rarely had the ball after losing 16 of 19 faceoffs. They hope to regroup this weekend against Lafayette.

Albany (15) – In their second game of the year they got a nice season win over Hartford. Tehoka Nanticoke had a 3 goal 4 assist line in his first game of the year. Next weekend against Vermont will be an interesting test for the Great Danes.

Umass (16) – Umass and Hofstra were scheduled to play this past weekend, but the game was postponed to March 30th. Umass would love to start their season against Fairfield this coming weekend in CAA play.

Navy (17) – Navy is on the shelf due to a campus wide shut down from COVID. They hope to be back on March 20th against Lafayette.

High Point (18) – High Point was off this past weekend but takes on Duke Wednesday after losing to UVA last week. They played Virginia to a 1 goal game on a fourth quarter comeback. Their offense is electric, with D3 transfer Kevin Rogers scoring and Asher Nolting looking to feed heavily. They will race with Richmond for the SoCon championship this spring.

Richmond (19) – Richmond hosted Duke this weekend and fell victim to the Blue Devils fast start. Richmond is 1-3 but has held its own against Loyola, UNC and now Duke. Their matchup with High Point in a few weeks should be a good one.

UMBC (20) – UMBC jumps into the Top 20 after their second OT win this time over Stony Brook. A big start to America East play for them, they should be a threat to compete for a spot in the championship this spring.

Dropped out: Hofstra

There is our updated top-20 as we brace ourselves for another weekend of college lacrosse action. There are plenty of games on this week and weekend’s slate that stick out to me.

High Point vs Duke – Wednesday, 7pm

High Point has an offense that can put up goals with anyone, but Duke looks to be the complete package. Duke’s advantage comes in their fourth attackman who can run out of the box for an advantageous matchup against any shortstick. High Point is going to have to keep pace with Duke offensively, and I think the Blue Devils will go on a run during this game that High Point cannot recover from.

Virginia vs North Carolina – Thursday, 7pm

The weekday ACC matchup we have been waiting for. UNC and Virginia will be a tight matchup. Both teams have offenses that can score at will. The question here is which offense will show up for Virginia. We have seen both sides, one that was held to just 10 goals in their meeting with Syracuse and one that poured in 20 two times so far this season. I expect this to be a tight game but give the edge to North Carolina.

Georgetown vs Denver – Saturday, 12pm

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.

Hopkins vs Penn State – Saturday, 12pm

These two strap up for a must win game in the Big Ten. With both sitting at 1-2 and chasing Rutgers and Maryland, a secure seat in the top-4 for now is at stake. Mac O’Keefe is coming on at just the right time for Penn State, scoring three goals last weekend. Luckily for the Nittany Lions, Dylan Foulds and TJ Malone look to be coming on as well operating the offense. Hopkins held its own against Maryland last weekend until a third quarter run. Joey Epstien is catching fire the past couple weeks, if he and Cole Williams can click offensively the Jays will make this a close one. If Penn State shows us the offense they had last weekend they will take this one by 4-5.

Maryland vs Rutgers – Saturday, 3pm

A battle of the top two in the Big Ten. I think this should be a preview of the Big Ten Championship later this spring. Rutgers likes to play fast compared to Maryland’s slow methodical way of tearing you down, but don’t get me wrong, Maryland can pour it on if they have to. Led by Logan McNamey and Nick Grill on the back end, they’ll have to be sharp to slow down Rutgers high powered offense. Rutgers is in the process of a special year, and I think they will have their biggest win in recent memory this coming weekend over the Terps.

Other quick hits:

UMBC takes on Binghamton in a very winnable American East game. With a win they would move to 2-0 in conference early and likely jump a couple spots in the rankings.

Bucknell will try to take down Lehigh who looks like one of the top teams in the Patriot League after beating Loyola last week.

Towson gets Hofstra in their 7th game of the year. They have had an up and down year so far and hope to get their first CAA win this spring. They need a better offensive showing averaging just over 8 goals per game.

Sam Kuhn
Sam Kuhn

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.

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