Another week of the Division III season finished with a massive Sunday that featured a flurry of games between teams ranked inside of the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Men’s Top 20. An exciting game that saw Stevenson edge out Denison 10-9 was the exclamation point late Sunday.
But in perhaps the most exciting game of the weekend, Tufts took on Amherst and held off the Mammoths down the stretch. Despite the loss, we might have learned more about the Mammoths, who lost by just four goals.
The top six teams all remained undefeated after last week.
Week 5 of the season gave us another view into how things are shaping up. The Top 20 remains mostly unchanged at the top — the top six teams are still undefeated, after all — but parity is alive and well in the bottom half of the rankings.
NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III MEN’S TOP 20
March 14, 2022 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Salisbury |
7-0 |
1 |
3/16 vs. SUNY Geneseo |
|
2 |
RIT |
5-0 |
2 |
3/19 at Ohio Wesleyan |
|
3 |
Tufts |
3-0 |
3 |
3/19 at Stevens |
|
4 |
Christopher Newport |
6-0 |
4 |
3/18 vs. No. 11 Gettysburg |
|
5 |
Franklin & Marshall |
6-0 |
5 |
3/18 vs. No. 10 York |
|
6 |
St. John Fisher |
4-0 |
6 |
3/19 at Ursinus |
|
7 |
Lynchburg |
4-1 |
8 |
3/18 vs. No. 16 Denison |
|
8 |
Wesleyan |
3-0 |
12 |
3/16 vs. Salve Regina |
|
9 |
Dickinson |
5-0 |
13 |
3/18 at No. 13 Stevenson |
|
10 |
York |
2-2 |
9 |
3/18 vs. No. 5 Franklin & Marshall |
|
11 |
Gettysburg |
4-1 |
14 |
3/15 vs. Washington & Lee |
|
12 |
Union |
5-0 |
16 |
3/22 vs. Middlebury |
|
13 |
Stevenson |
3-1 |
15 |
3/18 vs. No. 9 Dickinson |
|
14 |
John Carroll |
5-0 |
11 |
3/19 vs. SUNY Brockport |
|
15 |
Williams |
1-1 |
7 |
3/19 at Bowdoin |
|
16 |
Denison |
3-1 |
10 |
3/18 vs. No. 7 Lynchburg |
|
17 |
Amherst |
1-1 |
20 |
3/18 at Bates |
|
18 |
St. Lawrence |
3-1 |
NR |
3/15 vs. Western New England |
|
19 |
Cabrini |
3-2 |
NR |
3/19 at Desales |
|
20 |
Ithaca |
4-1 |
NR |
3/15 vs. Birmingham-Southern |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Catholic (3-2), Illinois Wesleyan (3-2), Ohio Wesleyan (2-2), Rensselaer (6-0), SUNY Cortland (1-3), Ursinus (2-3)
Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Wesleyan (+4)
The Cardinals had an excellent week and are off to a 3-0 start. They secured two more wins and poured it on offensively by outscoring their opponents 47-10. Matt Gill tallied 15 points this week, as Wesleyan moved up yet again.
NOT
York (-1)
York’s strength of schedule to start the season is significant. They Spartans have played the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country in back-to-back weeks, and they've suffered back-to-back losses as a result. The Spartans boast a talented roster, but they need to find a way back into the win column after falling to .500.
IN
St. Lawrence (No. 18)
The Saints are now 3-1 after back to back wins, making up for a loss to St. John Fisher. Chris Jordan, Judge Murphy and Josh Huiatt have combined for 42 points to start the season.
Cabrini (No. 19)
Cabrini is back inside the Top 20 after a 7-4 win against SUNY Cortland. The Cavaliers have a chance to string together some more wins with four more games on the horizon this month.
Ithaca (No. 20)
Ithaca’s three straight wins puts the Bombers in the picture. Since March 2, they’ve outscored opponents 52-16, and their only loss is against St. John Fisher.
OUT
Illinois Wesleyan (was No. 19)
Illinois Wesleyan was able to respond to its first loss with a win last week, but a 29-8 loss at Christopher Newport was too glaring to stick in the Top 20. Now 3-2, Illinois Wesleyan has two more non-conference games before it gets ready for conference play.
Ohio Wesleyan (was No. 18)
A three-goal loss to Roanoke and a tough one-goal loss to John Carroll knocked the Bishops outside the Top 20. After getting off to a 2-0 start, they fall back to .500 on the year.
Ursinus (was No. 17)
Last week featured two straight losses for the Bears, but it was against quality competition. Nobody has beaten Christopher Newport or RIT as of yet, and most teams would probably face a similar result if they played the two in consecutive games. The schedule remains challenging with a midweek game at Stockton before hosting St. John Fisher next Saturday.