With another light slate of marquee matchups in the college lacrosse world, now seems like a good time to do a deep dive into each conference and where it stands moving into the depths of conference play the next month or so. A few conferences have been playing strictly in-conference games throughout the season, but for many others, now is a crucial time in terms of figuring out who will be in the tournament come May.

We are in the middle of the season, a time where things become repetitive. Game after game, weekend after weekend (with the occasional mid-week game sprinkled in). This is a point where teams will emerge as favorites within the conference race, and others fall to the wayside, lose close games and come up short of their goals in May. Right now, the college lacrosse season becomes a race to the conference tournament. In this different year due to covid, many teams may play each other multiple times, creating some sort of ill-will like we saw in Albany-Binghamton last weekend which resulted in 8 players being suspended. In other instances, it might increase the competition between two teams who have seen each other before.

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

March 25th: Top 20

  1. Duke (1)
  2. Maryland (3)
  3. North Carolina (2)
  4. Syracuse (6)
  5. Rutgers (5)
  6. Denver (9)
  7. Army (5)
  8. Notre Dame (8)
  9. Georgetown (4)
  10. Lehigh (11)
  11. Loyola (13)
  12. Virginia (10)
  13. Umass (14)
  14. Richmond (15)
  15. Vermont (19)
  16. Delaware (18)
  17. Ohio State (12)
  18. Albany (NR)
  19. Hopkins (16)
  20. UMBC (NR)

Dropped out: Penn State, Navy

Duke, Maryland and North Carolina are an interchangeable top-3 once again. Luckily for us, two of those teams will be tested again this week. Duke-Syracuse and Maryland-Rutgers headline the weekend while UNC gets the weekend off in preparation for their 4/1 contest with Duke.

Denver and Cuse move up a couple spots after their wins over Georgetown and Holy Cross, while Rutgers stays put at 5 after needing the fourth quarter to beat Hopkins.

The top of the Patriot League is going to be fun. Loyola has been pouring in goals lately, including 24 in their win over Bucknell. Lehigh and Army were off this past week but should return to play this weekend.

Virginia played Robert Morris real close, and therefore drop a couple spots. A couple big risers in Vermont and Delaware emerge after big wins (Vermont over NJIT and Delaware with a comeback OT win over Towson)

Look out for Albany and UMBC. Albany beat up on Binghamton and then took down Umass shorthanded on Tuesday, while UMBC is now 3-0 on the season and has a couple matchups with Binghamton ahead.

Navy drops out after another weekend on the shelf, and Penn State does not look like their lethal selves from the past couple years as they drop out as well.

CONFERENCE RUNDOWN

ACC

Leaders in the clubhouse: Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse

Middle of the pack: Notre Dame

Outside looking in: Virginia

Virginia has fallen short in two ACC games thus far this year, and in such a tough conference, it should be considered a rough start. The Hoos have plenty of offensive firepower but haven’t seemed to put it all together this year. Dox Aitken is starting to emerge after scoring 3 goals last weekend against Robert Morris, but Virginia isn’t winning games like they should. This weekend’s test with Notre Dame will be a big one for them. They will need to lean heavily on goalie Alex Rode (St. Paul’s) and their defense to slow down Notre Dame who loves to work inside with feeder Pat Kavanagh operating mostly from behind the cage.

Notre Dame has yet to play an ACC game but enters the gauntlet this weekend. They haven’t been tested yet and have not let in more than 7 goals in a single game. Their 10-3 win over Marquette on St. Patrick’s Day was impressive. To me the Irish are a bit underrated simply because their toughest game was Marquette. Six straight ACC games to round out the regular season is a tough road ahead.

UNC sits at 8-0 with a lone ACC win over Virginia. Chris Gray, Will Perry and co are averaging 18.3 goals per game and have a bye week in preparation for Duke on 4/1. Freshman Collin Krieg has been lights out in net and had 20 saves against Virginia a couple of weeks ago. UNC should be a top seed in the NCAA tournament in May.

Saved Duke and Syracuse for last as they headline this WEEK’S slate with their 7pm game Thursday evening. Duke’s depth is something Syracuse should be worried about, as the Blue Devils have 11 players who have scored five or more goals. Syracuse was out grinded in their loss against Army and with Max Adler seeing the ball finally and JT Giles Harris headlining Duke’s defense, Syracuse is going to need Chase Scanlan to pick up the slack offensively and their three headed midfield monster of Trimboli, Dordevic and Curry to get to the goal early and often.

The ACC gauntlet is upon us, but it is quite the give and take as we get extra conference regular season games but no ACC Tournament. The ACC should get all five teams into the NCAA Tournament in May and I see at least four hosting first round games.

Big Ten

Leaders in the clubhouse: Maryland, Rutgers

Middle of the pack: Hopkins, Ohio State

Outside looking in: Penn State, Michigan

We will start in Piscataway this weekend as we get round two of Maryland-Rutgers. Two weeks ago, through three quarters this game was as even as it could be. About a half hour later, Maryland had an 8-2 fourth quarter behind faceoff wins and defensive stops. The final was 19-12. I expect another high scoring game between these two, although this is something Rutgers needs to hold in check to stay in this one. I wish this game wasn’t so soon after the first one, as teams just had one week in between to scheme and prepare. Besides the fact, look for a fast-paced game and these two to exchange blows throughout. Both teams are built around their offense and transition, but the Terps hold the edge defensively. A closer game than game one, but Maryland squeaks this one out.

After starting slow against Ohio State, Hopkins has gone 2-2 and sits in the middle of the pack with the Buckeyes. This team is starting to find its groove offensively and hung with Rutgers for three quarters on Saturday. Connor DeSimone operates extremely well from behind the cage, giving Joey Epstein room on the right side and Cole Williams room on the left. They can hold their own at the faceoff dot but have been shaky defensively.

Ohio State has had their ups and downs this year. Tre Leclaire claimed sole possession of the career goals list this past weekend in their loss at Maryland. But through the first five games I think this team hit its’ peak week 1. The Buckeyes are going to be in some battles in the second half of Big Ten play.

Penn State and Michigan have some work to do. Michigan took down the Nittany Lions this past weekend and Penn State has not looked like its lethal self from the past few years. They struggle to score and aren’t getting help defensively. Michigan put up a fight against Ohio State, and led by a young offense they might have an upset up their sleeve for the second half of conference play.

Right now, the Big Ten is a two-bid league: Maryland and Rutgers. Hopkins is next, but they will need to go 3-2 or maybe even 4-1 and play well in the Big Ten tourney to be considered for a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Patriot League

Leaders in the clubhouse: Army, Lehigh, Loyola

Middle of the pack: Navy, Boston U

Outside looking in: Colgate, Lafayette, Bucknell, Holy Cross

Army, Lehigh, Loyola and Navy (if they can get back on the field) are the four with the best chance to advance to the Patriot League tournament which starts on May 7th. I think Lehigh and Army hold early edges, but it is too close to call right now. The Patriot League split into two divisions and play divisional opponents once with limited games against non-divisional opponents. Army does have Lehigh, Loyola AND Navy on the schedule which will be big games to determine seeding for the NCAA tournament.

I am unsure as of now if both divisions get the top-2 teams into the Patriot League tournament. If so, Boston U is a team to keep an eye on. They are 2-1 so far with their only loss being Army. Besides another Army game on the schedule, they have winnable games in Lafayette, Colgate and Holy Cross.

Right now, the Patriot League is getting two teams (Army and Lehigh) in the NCAA tournament. Loyola sits in the first two out and has some work to do. Navy hasn’t played since Feb 28th and once they get back on the field, they may have some kinks to work out again.

Big East

Leaders in the clubhouse: Denver, Georgetown

Middle of the pack: Villanova, Providence

Outside looking in: Marquette, St. John’s

Denver is sitting pretty in the Big East after running Georgetown out of town and getting one of the best faceoff men in recent memory TD Ierlan eligible starting this past Sunday. Denver is built for May, with experience all over the field. SSDM Danny Logan is one of the best in the country and locks down top midfielders, which is one reason the Pios are allowing only 11.5 goals per game. Their offense is experienced and boasts transfers Jackson Morrill and Lucas Cotler, along with seniors Ethan Walker and Jack Hannah. Denver should go into the Big East tournament #1 and are the odds-on favorite as of now.

Georgetown has come on strong this season, which was expected. After a 6-0 start last season, many people knew they would be a lot to handle in 2021. They suffered their first loss to Denver last week but have plenty of chances to rebound along with another meeting with the Pioneers. Their first came this past weekend in their 14-9 win over Providence when they held the Friars to just 14 shots on goal. They are young and lack experience in big games. They’ll have another against Denver along with the rest of the Big East.

The Big East should get both Denver and Georgetown in, unless one has a major setback or two in the latter half of the year.

America East

Leaders in the clubhouse: Albany, Vermont, Stony Brook, UMBC

Middle of the pack: Binghamton, Umass Lowell

Outside looking in: Hartford, NJIT

In this one-bid league I think Albany has the edge early on in the year. We are going to learn a lot more about these top four teams when they go head-to-head this spring, but after Albany’s upset over Umass on Tuesday I think they proved themselves as a top-20 team in the country. As Quint Kessenich always says, Tuesday is for the hunter. Vermont has been lighting it up this spring as well, and they sit in my rankings.

UMBC has jumped out to a 3-1 start and they have the tools to pull an upset later on this spring. Stony Brook is in the same boat as UMBC right now, and we will learn more about how they contend in the America East when they play Albany this weekend.

CAA

Leaders in the clubhouse: Delaware, Umass

Middle of the pack: Hofstra, Drexel

Outside looking in: Fairfield, Towson

After an opening loss to Mount St Mary’s, Delaware has won six straight after their overtime win over Towson this past weekend. Delaware is 3-0 with five games remaining and they are the highest CAA team in my rankings and the favorite to win the AQ to the NCAA tournament this May.

Umass will be a tough test as they have potential PLL players in their lineup but just dropped a tough one to Albany. Hofstra has been on pause for a couple weeks but don’t count Ryan Tierney and gang out just yet. Hofstra can offensively hang with anyone in the CAA behind Tierney and Concannon.

SoCon

Leaders in the clubhouse: High Point, Richmond, Jacksonville

Middle of the pack: Bellarmine, Air Force

Outside looking in: VMI, Mercer

High Point and Richmond took a similar approach to the first half of the season in scheduling as many top teams in the country as they could. High Point went 0-4 against North Carolina (x2), Virginia and Duke, holding their own in two of the four games. These two will meet in a big SoCon matchup on Friday at 5pm. Both of these teams could be the ones vying for the AQ in May.

Jacksonville is sneakily 2-0 in conference with wins over Bellarmine and Mercer. The Dolphins shouldn’t be considered out of the mix but will take on both High Point and Richmond in their final three games.

NEC

Leaders in the clubhouse: Bryant, LIU

Middle of the pack: St. Joes, Hobart, Merrimack, Mount St Mary’s

Outside looking in: Sacred Heart, Wagner

Bryant is the early favorite to win the NEC, but LIU is nipping at their heels. Mike Pressler has the Bulldogs flying early on with wins over Providence, Vermont and a couple of drubbings in-conference.

MAAC

Leaders in the clubhouse: Marist, Monmouth

Middle of the pack: Manhattan, Canisius, Detroit, St. Bonaventure

Outside looking in: Siena, Quinnipiac

The MAAC looks like it will be a battle between 1-0 Marist and 3-0 Monmouth. The sample size is too small as of now as they started late and have been plagued by postponements.

UPCOMING SLATE

ACC Thursday: Syracuse at Duke (ACC Network)

SoCon Friday: High Point at Richmond

ACC Saturday: Virginia at Notre Dame 

B1G Sunday: Maryland at Rutgers (ESPNU)

The full slate can be found here.

This week/weekend is a huge lacrosse weekend. And it is just the beginning of a two month stretch where we will have big names upon big names going head-to-head vying for their spot in the NCAA Tournament. Forget March Madness, MAYhem is coming soon.

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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