About halfway into College Lacrosse’s 2018 season, a few teams have emerged as title contenders, while the rest seem to be looking up at the top four. Albany, Maryland, Duke and Denver have separated themselves with their consistency so far this year, and have controlled the rankings in the Top 5 for a few weeks now.
(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)
To date, Inside Lacrosse’s rankings have not changed too drastically over the past few weeks, but their Top 10 is as follows:
1) Albany (7-0)
2) Maryland (6-1)
3) Duke (8-1)
4) Notre Dame (4-2)
5) Denver (5-2)
6) Yale (5-1)
6 tied) Loyola (5-2)
8) Villanova (6-2)
9) Johns Hopkins (5-2)
10) Virginia (7-2)
This past week, Michigan earned their biggest win in program history, beating #4 Notre Dame on the road, 13-12. The game was tight throughout, constantly seeing lead changes and ties. Notre Dame was led by Bryan Costabile (3,0) and Ryder Garnsey (5,1). Michigan shot very effectively, putting 13 out of 15 shots on goal in the cage. Brent Noseworthy (5,1), Decker Curran (2,2) and Kevin Mack (2,2) paced the offense while goalie Tommy Heidt had 10 saves.
Let by one of last year’s Tewaaraton Finalists, Connor Fields, #1 Albany improved to 7-0 and are currently the last remaining undefeated team in Division 1. Albany demolished Vermont 21-5 and rolled over Canisus 19-11 this past week. Fields racked up 9 goals and 9 assists in the two games, while freshman phenom Tehoka Nanticoke added 6 goals and 5 assists. The Danes continue their America East play Saturday at UMass Lowell.
This past Sunday, Rutgers beat Syracuse with the help of a record crowd in Piscataway, NJ. Syracuse was a team that Rutgers had not beaten since 2004. The first three quarters were tightly contested, but the Scarlet Knights pulled away in the fourth, led by Jules Heningburg (6,2) and never looked back. Rutgers improved to 6-2 while Syracuse fell to 3-3. Rutgers begins Big Ten play on April 1st against Maryland while Syracuse continues their ACC schedule against Duke this Saturday.
Speaking of Maryland, they took on Villanova last weekend in a Top 5 matchup, a game that the Terps dominated from the start. Jake Bernhardt (4,1) and Connor Kelly (3,2) paced the scoring for Maryland and goalie Dan Morris had 8 saves.
In a big game before their matchup with Virginia, Johns Hopkins played Delaware and beat them handily after exploding on offense in the second half. Shack Stanwick dished out 5 assists to go along with his 2 goals to lead the Jays on offense.
Looking into this weekend, the Tewaaraton Foundation has updated their watchlist of players for this year’s award. The list can be found here.
Expect to see more updates coming in the future, especially as conference play continues to ramp up and teams begin to work towards the NCAA Tournament and Memorial Day.
Weekend Schedule:
#9 Johns Hopkins @ #10 Virginia 3/24, 11:30AM
Princeton @ #6 Yale 3/24 1PM
#15 Syracuse @ #3 Duke 3/24 1:30 PM
#20 North Carolina @ #2 Maryland 3/24 10PM
#4 Notre Dame @ Ohio State 3/25 12PM
Mid Season Final Four Predictions:
Albany, Yale, Maryland, Denver
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.