The weekend brought plenty of near misses, but not a lot of upsets at the top of the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings.
No. 1 Boston College trailed Syracuse by two at the half, but rallied behind Sam Apuzzo's nine points to beat the Orange 14-12.
No. 7 Northwestern trailed Duke by two late on Sunday, but stormed back to win a wild shootout 21-20.
Finally, No. 9 James Madison was tied with winless Connecticut at halftime on Sunday, but then scored the first 10 goals of the second half to post an 18-9 victory.
Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Women’s Top 20
Feb. 18, 2019 |
W/L |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston College | 2-0 | 1 | 2/21 at Massachusetts |
| 2 | Maryland | 2-0 | 2 | 2/24 vs. No. 3 North Carolina |
| 3 | North Carolina | 3-0 | 3 | 2/24 at No. 2 Maryland |
| 4 | Florida | 1-1 | 4 | 2/23 at No. 20 Loyola |
| 5 | Stony Brook | 0-0 | 5 | 2/22 at No. 15 Colorado |
| 6 | Penn | 1-0 | 6 | 2/23 at No. 16 Johns Hopkins |
| 7 | Northwestern | 3-0 | 7 | 2/24 at No. 8 Syracuse |
| 8 | Syracuse | 2-1 | 10 | 2/18 vs. Coastal Carolina |
| 9 | James Madison | 2-1 | 8 | 2/23 vs. High Point |
| 10 | Princeton | 1-0 | 9 | 2/23 at No. 13 Virginia |
| 11 | Penn State | 2-0 | 11 | 2/20 at Duquesne |
| 12 | Denver | 3-0 | 15 | 2/24 vs. No. 5 Stony Brook |
| 13 | Virginia | 2-0 | 16 | 2/20 at Richmond |
| 14 | Notre Dame | 3-0 | 17 | 2/22 at Ohio State |
| 15 | Colorado | 1-1 | 20 | 2/22 vs. No. 5 Stony Brook |
| 16 | Johns Hopkins | 2-0 | NR | 2/23 vs. No. 6 Penn |
| 17 | Georgetown | 2-0 | NR | 2/23 vs. Drexel |
| 18 | Duke | 2-1 | NR | 2/23 vs. Virginia Tech |
| 19 | Stanford | 0-1 | 18 | 2/21 vs. Fresno State |
| 20 | Loyola | 0-1 | 12 | 2/23 vs. No. 4 Florida |
Also considered: Massachusetts, Michigan, Navy, Towson, USC, Virginia Tech
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Colorado (+5)
The Buffs bounced back from their season opening defeat to Florida with a convincing 17-6 road win at Virginia Tech. Samantha Nemirov scored five goals and Miranda Stinson had four goals, three draw controls and three caused turnovers.
A tough early season stretch continues for Colorado as it hosts No. 5 Stony Brook on Friday and undefeated Michigan on Sunday.
Denver (+3)
Denver dominated Louisville 18-2 and saw several teams ranked ahead of it falter. The Pioneers are off to a 3-0 start and have allowed just 13 goals in those three victories. Starting goalie Carson Gregg has a 60.0 save percentage and a 4.19 goals against average thus far.
The stakes get raised this weekend when Denver welcomes No. 5 Stony Brook to campus on Sunday.
Virginia (+3)
The Cavaliers raced out of the gates with two goals in the opening 74 seconds, eventually jumping out to a 7-1 lead in an 11-4 road victory over a solid Elon squad. Sophomore Ashlyn McGovern had her first career hat trick and Maggie Jackson had a goal and four assists for the 2-0 Cavaliers.
NOT
Loyola (-8)
Slow starts are nothing new, so the Greyhounds may very well turn things around quickly. A 13-11 loss on Saturday marked the fifth straight year that Loyola opened the season with a loss, and the third straight year it opened with a loss to Johns Hopkins.
Loyola went scoreless for the final 10:24 of the first half as Hopkins went on a five-goal run to take a 10-7 halftime lead. After the Greyounds had pulled to within one goal at 12-11, they went scoreless for the final 17:57 of the game.
IN
Duke
The Blue Devils lost for the first time this weekend, but taking No. 7 Northwestern to the wire in a 21-20 loss in a week when several teams ahead of them faltered helps move Duke (2-1) into the Top 20. Olivia Jenner had five goals, four assists and eight draw controls in the losing effort for Duke, and her younger sister, Maddie, had 13 draw controls.
Georgetown
The Hoyas improved to 2-0 with a 10-7 victory over Towson, scoring the final three goals of the game. Francesca Whitehurst had a game-high four points on a goal and three assists, and notched the goal and one of her assists during the game-closing run. Taylor Gebhardt scored three times for the Hoyas, who beat Saint Joseph's in its season opener last weekend.
Johns Hopkins
The Blue Jays are 2-0 after following up last weekend's win at Drexel with a 13-11 victory over rival Loyola on Saturday. Sophomore Shelby Harrison had a career-best four goals in the win over Loyola and the Hopkins defense shut down the Greyhounds offense for the final 17-plus minutes of the game.
OUT
Navy
The Mids narrowly avoided an 0-2 start by scoring five goals in a span of less than three minutes late in the game to hold off Saint Joseph's 12-11.
Towson
A season with big expectations has gotten off to an 0-2 start as the Tigers have struggled to get things going offensively. Towson has combined for just 14 goals in losses to Penn State and Georgetown. Towson beat both of those teams last season, combining for 35 goals in the victories.
Virginia Tech
For the second straight season Virginia Tech got blitzed by Colorado. Last year, the Hokies turned around and beat Denver just three days after losing to Colorado 18-3. After getting beat 17-6 by the Buffs this year, the Hokies will have another chance for a quick turnaround with a home game against Cincinnati on Wednesday and a road trip to No. 18 Duke looming this weekend.