Boston College and Maryland gave us one of the best games of the season a year ago — Sam Apuzzo scoring back-to-back goals late in the second half in the Eagles 15-13 victory in the NCAA semifinals.
May is still a long way off, but it appears we may be heading towards another epic showdown between the sport’s most decorated champion in Maryland and the new kid on the block — one led by a former Terp.
Acacia Walker’s Boston College squad continued to march forward and meet the exceedingly high expectations in a season that began with them at the top of the polls. The No. 1 Eagles had one of their best showings of the season on Saturday, winning at No. 3 North Carolina, 14-8, to improve to 11-0.
North Carolina scored less than two minutes into the game, but BC calmly answered with five straight goals and the Tar Heels never got closer than two goals the rest of the way.
Stars like Apuzzo (53g, 17a), Kenzie Kent (24g, 41a), Dempsey Arsenault (31g, 12a), Elizabeth Miller (48 DC, 18 GB, 8 CT) are doing their part, but a big boost has also been provided by sophomore Abbey Ngai. Since taking over as the starter in goal, Ngai’s a perfect 7-0 and has posted a 52.0 save percentage, which is one track to be the best single season figure at the school since 1996.
Meanwhile, No. 2 Maryland quietly improved to 10-0 by dismantling Penn State, 17-6, on Thursday night and then dominating reigning NCAA champion James Madison, 18-5, on Sunday.
The Terps needed overtime to beat North Carolina and Syracuse earlier this season, but have since won by an average of 11 goals in their last four victories. In those four games, senior goalie Megan Taylor has made 37 saves while allowing just 20 goals. She leads the country with a 58.5 save percentage.
Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Women’s Top 20
March 25, 2019 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston College | 11-0 | 1 | 3/30 vs. No. 7 Virginia |
| 2 | Maryland | 10-0 | 2 | 3/27 vs. No. 16 Princeton |
| 3 | North Carolina | 8-2 | 3 | 3/27 at Virginia Tech |
| 4 | Syracuse | 10-2 | 4 | 3/27 vs. Albany |
| 5 | Penn | 8-1 | 5 | 3/31 at No. 8 Northwestern |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 9-1 | 7 | 3/31 vs. No. 3 North Carolina |
| 7 | Virginia | 9-3 | 8 | 3/30 at No. 1 Boston College |
| 8 | Northwestern | 6-3 | 9 | 3/28 vs. Penn State |
| 9 | Michigan | 11-0 | 10 | 3/25 vs. Niagara |
| 10 | Loyola | 6-3 | 12 | 3/27 at American |
| 11 | James Madison | 7-3 | 6 | 3/30 vs. San Diego State |
| 12 | USC | 9-1 | 14 | 3/25 vs. Stanford |
| 13 | Navy | 7-2 | 15 | 3/27 at Lehigh |
| 14 | Duke | 7-3 | 13 | 3/26 at Campbell |
| 15 | Johns Hopkins | 8-2 | 16 | 3/30 at No. 9 Michigan |
| 16 | Princeton | 5-2 | 11 | 3/27 at No. 2 Maryland |
| 17 | Florida | 4-6 | 17 | 3/26 vs. Brown |
| 18 | Denver | 7-2 | 18 | 3/26 at No. 20 Colorado |
| 19 | Stony Brook | 4-4 | 19 | 3/30 vs. UMass-Lowell |
| 20 | Colorado | 5-4 | 20 | 3/26 vs. No. 18 Denver |
Also considered: Dartmouth, Georgetown, High Point, Hofstra, Stanford, 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
USC (+2)
The only blemish on USC’s 10-game record is a 12-9 loss to No. 1 Boston College on March 1. As other teams chalk up losses, that’s helping the Trojans climb up the rankings.
USC has a chance to pick up some more quality wins this week to affirm its No. 12 ranking, and it will come against the same opponent. Stanford sits just outside the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 and the Trojans will host the Cardinal today before heading to North California this weekend for games at Cal and Stanford.
Notre Dame (+1)
Notre Dame suffered its first loss of the season, but the Irish are continuing to validate their early season success.
Notre Dame had No. 4 Syracuse on the ropes, leading 9-6 with under 10 minutes to play, but the Orange scored the game’s final four games to rally for a 10-9 victory.
The ACC gauntlet continues for Notre Dame with a game against No. 3 North Carolina this weekend and a midweek trip to No. 1 Boston College looming next week.
Virginia (+1)
Virginia bounced back from its 10-9 loss to Notre Dame with two impressive victories last week. The Cavaliers won comfortably over both James Madison and Duke.
Against JMU, Virginia went on a five-goal run to break a 3-3 tie and coasted to a 14-9 win. Against Duke on Saturday, the Cavaliers were even more impressive. Virginia scored the first six goals of the game and scored 10 times in the opening 18 minutes in a 17-12 victory.
NOT
James Madison (-5)
JMU’s seven-game winning streak came to a end with a pair of home losses. The Dukes fell to state rival Virginia 14-9 on Wednesday and then were throttled by Maryland 18-5 on Sunday.
JMU hosts a strong San Diego State this weekend before beginning CAA play on April 5. Hofstra and Towson figure to be the Dukes strongest challengers in the league based on the first half of the season.
Princeton (-5)
Princeton lost to Brown for just the fifth time in the 40-game series between the two schools. The Tigers jumped out to a 9-2 lead, but then saw Brown rip off 10 straight goals in an eventual 12-11 win for the Bears on Saturday.
That came on the heels of a 13-11 victory at Florida on Tuesday, but Princeton will have little time to sulk. The Tigers head to No. 2 Maryland on Wednesday night.