The wait may not have been worth it, at least for a couple preseason favorites, as today’s Nike/US Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20 reflects the upheaval brought by a tumultuous five days of action.
Defending NESCAC champion and preseason No. 3 Middlebury and No. 5 Amherst each debuted Saturday with a home loss to an unranked league rival, which followed then-No. 2 TCNJ’s stunning loss at unranked Haverford Tuesday. The upsets sent the three powers tumbling out of the top 10 in an early shakeup to the ranking.
Wesleyan, Mary Washington, Tufts and Cortland were among the ranked teams to move up following wins, joining previously unheralded Bates (which beat the Panthers in overtime) and Colby (which knocked off the Mammoths) behind No. 1 Gettysburg. The Fords, meanwhile, couldn’t quite sustain momentum from their stunner over the Lions, falling to Scranton, 13-12, in a result that elevated the 4-0 Royals to No. 20.
Trinity gets its season underway Thursday, and several ranked matchups this week could again shuffle the top 20.
March 4, 2019 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gettysburg | 3-0 | 1 | 3/9 No. 8 Washington & Lee |
| 2 | Wesleyan | 1-0 | 4 | 3/6 Vassar |
| 3 | Mary Washington | 4-0 | 6 | 3/6 at No. 10 Franklin & Marshall |
| 4 | Tufts | 1-0 | 7 | 3/6 at MIT |
| 5 | Bates | 3-0 | NR | 3/6 at Babson |
| 6 | Colby | 1-0 | NR | 3/5 Univ. of New England |
| 7 | Cortland | 1-0 | 11 | 3/5 Union |
| 8 | Washington & Lee | 3-1 | 16 | 3/9 at No. 1 Gettysburg |
| 9 | Bowdoin | 1-0 | 12 | 3/9 No. 16 Amherst |
| 10 | Franklin & Marshall | 2-1 | 17 | 3/6 No. 3 Mary Washington |
| 11 | Salisbury | 2-1 | 9 | 3/6 at Rowan |
| 12 | York | 2-1 | 8 | 3/5 vs. No. 17 St. John Fisher in Clearwater, Fla. |
| 13 | TCNJ | 1-1 | 2 | 3/5 at Ursinus |
| 14 | Ithaca | 1-1 | 10 | 3/10 at No. 20 Scranton |
| 15 | Middlebury | 0-1 | 3 | 3/9 Connecticut College |
| 16 | Amherst | 0-1 | 5 | 3/6 Springfield |
| 17 | St. John Fisher | 1-0 | 14 | 3/5 No. 12 York in Clearwater, Fla. |
| 18 | William Smith | 1-0 | 15 | 3/6 Geneseo |
| 19 | Trinity | 0-0 | 13 | 3/7 at Skidmore |
| 20 | Scranton | 4-0 | NR | 3/10 No. 14 Ithaca |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Brockport, Catholic, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Colorado College, Dickinson, Geneseo, Haverford, Meredith, Rowan, Stockton
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Washington and Lee (+8)
After opening Feb. 16 with a close loss at Mary Washington, the Generals have won three straight — notably one-goal wins over then-No. 9 Franklin and Marshall Feb. 23 and then-No. 9 Salisbury Saturday. W&L faces its third ranked foe of the season this Saturday at top-ranked Gettysburg.
NOT
TCNJ (-11)
Obviously not the only top-five squad to stumble, TCNJ surprisingly surrendered separate three-goal leads in the first half against Haverford Tuesday. The Lions then trailed by as many as four in the second half before settling for a 12-10 defeat. Rare does a team of this pedigree put together such a stretch during a game. Perhaps making matters worse, a Friday game at FDU-Florham was postponed per weather, saddling TCNJ with a full week to stew. The Lions travel to Ursinus Tuesday.
IN
Bates
The Bobcats, playing Saturday their third of five away games to open the season, trailed then-No. 3 Middlebury in the second half, 9-5, before rallying to stun the Panthers in overtime, 11-10. Summer Dias got the winner, her third of the game, to lift Bates to its first victory over Middlebury since 2010. The win also marked the Bobcats’ best since a 2014 defeat of IWLCA-No. 2 Trinity.
Colby
Izzy Scribano made 18 saves, including the clincher with two seconds left, to anchor the Mules’ 6-5 upset at then-No. 5 Amherst Saturday. Colby never trailed.
Scranton
The Royals crack the ranking after a 4-0 start, which begun with a 22-7 whitewashing of then-No. 19 Messiah. Saturday against a Haverford team riding high from its 12-10 upset of then-No. 2 TCNJ, the Royals led most of the way until Christine Olert had to break a 12-12 tie with 6:23 remaining. They’ll get another home test Saturday against No. 14 Ithaca.
OUT
Meredith (previously No. 20)
A victim of idle play and the upsets of the week, the 2-0 Avenging Angels return to action today at Salem.