Chaos on Charles Street Alters Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20

There is so much no one really knows about at the start of any season. It’s just become a little easier to forget about that in college lacrosse over the last few years.

There was barely enough time to break a sweat during the 2020 season before the pandemic erased the potential of that spring (and plenty of other things as well). The following year, nearly every result was superseded by the dread the next game wouldn’t be played and the season might fail to reach its conclusion.

And last year? The assumption from the start was Maryland and Virginia (in some order) were the clear-cut best teams and on a collision course. Then the Terrapins demolished the Cavaliers 23-12 on a neutral field in mid-March and a sense of inevitability arose unlike anything seen in the Division I ranks since 2006.

Sure, Maryland had a three-quarter scare against Ohio State in the regular season and sputtered on an empty tank in the final 10 minutes on Memorial Day, but there was never a serious challenge to the preseason assumptions. Heck, there were more than a few folks who viewed the Maryland-Virginia rematch in the NCAA quarterfinals as the de facto national title game.

Which brings us to Saturday, a delightful reminder of how things are supposed to go, at least in terms of unpredictability.

Loyola — perhaps more overlooked in the preseason than at any point since its out-of-nowhere 2012 title team — stunned Maryland 12-7. Johns Hopkins rallied past preseason No. 3 Georgetown. Duke absorbed its requisite February setback, losing to Jacksonville for the second year in a row.

How good are Loyola and Hopkins? Even with the small-sample size caveat, probably better than originally anticipated from the outside. And it’s clear Maryland and Georgetown are far from invulnerable, though both programs probably believe they’re better than their results Saturday indicate.

It all felt so … normal. It’s been a while.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I MEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Air Force (1-1), Boston U (0-1), Bryant (1-0), Denver (1-1), Lehigh (1-0), Syracuse (3-0), Towson (1-0), UMass (1-0), Vermont (1-1), Villanova (1-0)

Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings

Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women

HOT

Johns Hopkins (+11)

For the second week in a row, there is a lot of encouragement for the Blue Jays to glean from a victory over a well-regarded opponent. As solid as Hopkins’ 12-7 victory at Hopkins was, its 13-12 defeat of Georgetown included multiple rallies from three-goal deficits. That included one at the start of the fourth quarter to flip an 11-8 hole.

Tim Marcille made another 16 saves Saturday, and the Blue Jays held Georgetown to 25.5 percent shooting. So chalk another up for an apparently improved defense, which gets tested again Tuesday with North Carolina coming to Homewood Field.

NOT

Duke (-10)

The Blue Devils’ extended history of February missteps really is one of the more remarkable trends in the sport. Maybe it isn’t as remarkable as their domination of Virginia, but it is close.

With a 13-12 loss at Jacksonville, Duke has now lost at least one February game in 14 of the last 15 seasons (the exception was 2021). And just like this time last year, it’s hard to justify placing the Blue Devils ahead of a Jacksonville bunch it just lost to in a close contest.

Maryland (-8)

Two things stand out in the box score of the Terrapins’ loss at Loyola: They sprayed the ball all over the place (and often not near the goal), and it turns out Logan McNaney is capable of a rough day in the cage.

Heaven knows McNaney (five saves), who was 35-1 as a starter and undefeated in the regular season prior to Saturday, is permitted a mulligan or two. He isn’t due criticism, but a little surprise given his incredibly rock-steady career is justifiable. In short, he (and Maryland’s defense, for that matter) will be fine.

The Terps’ biggest questions were always going to be at the offensive end. It wasn’t a problem when they overwhelmed Richmond in the season opener. But a 7-for-42 shooting day against Loyola was a primary issue, and the Terps put less than two-thirds of those shots on cage. With so many guys in significantly elevated roles, it’s going to take some time for Maryland to sort everything out.

Georgetown (-5)

The Hoyas never trailed by more than two goals in their 13-12 loss at Johns Hopkins, and even that was only for a little more than four minutes late in the fourth quarter. They didn’t have massive statistical deficiencies (they probably wish they put a few more than 28 of 47 shots on cage, but that’s a small quibble).

Overall they just got outplayed a bit by what appears to be a decent team that had the advantage of having already played a game. Maybe that same thing works in Georgetown’s favor with Penn coming to Cooper Field on Saturday for its opener. The hunch here is the result at Homewood said more about Hopkins than it did about the Hoyas.

IN

Loyola (No. 4)

Well, that will get Loyola some attention.

The Greyhounds’ 12-7 defeat of Maryland featured a breakout game from goalie Luke Staudt (19 saves), backing up the optimism that had come from Loyola’s program in the preseason. It was also a distinct display of balance; all six offensive starters had either two or three points in the victory.

And with the Greyhounds’ usual loaded non-conference slate (with Johns Hopkins, Rutgers, Towson, Duke and Georgetown still to come), it was a fine start in stitching together a postseason resume. But that’s a ways off in mid-February.

Whatever the “right” placement is for Loyola — top five? top 10? — it must be ahead of Maryland.

Jacksonville (No. 16)

The Dolphins resurface in the rankings after a one-week hiatus thanks to their 13-12 victory over Duke. Brandon Galloway and Jack Taylor both scored three times for Jacksonville, which also got 13 saves from Luke Millican.

Thus ends the truly high-profile stretch of the Dolphins’ schedule. There are some intriguing games, certainly; former SoCon rival High Point (March 4 in Charlotte, N.C.), Robert Morris (March 18), Utah (March 31) and Air Force (April 22) are among the highlights. But membership in the 10-team Atlantic Sun has limited Jacksonville’s scheduling flexibility.

(The fact few bluebloods would volunteer to play the Dolphins after last year’s defeats of Duke and Denver probably didn’t help on that front.)

Regardless, Jacksonville has an accomplishment to tout. But as it well knows from last season, it doesn’t have much margin for error as it chases the first postseason berth in program history.

OUT

Denver (was No. 12)

The Pioneers played what was largely a statistically even game at Air Force before falling 12-10. It would be hard to keep Denver in the Top 20 without also vaulting the Falcons in as well, so both 1-1 teams now sit in a scrum of programs with some intriguing potential in the season’s early stages.

Boston U (was No. 17)

The Terriers scored the last six goals in a 14-12 loss at Vermont in a matchup of defending conference champions. There is still a lot in place in Ryan Polley’s program, and this is probably not the last we’ll hear from Boston U in this exercise this season.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 0: February 6