March Madness Begins in Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Men's Top 20

You know it’s a good weekend of college lacrosse when you have multiple upsets and a candidate for the game of the year. It’s only the second week in March, and we had all those things and more. 

The obvious place to start is the goal-scoring extravaganza that was Tufts-Amherst. Thirty-six goals in one game is a ridiculous total, and that was just through three quarters. Eight more goals would be netted in the fourth, leading to a football score of 23-21, in favor of Tufts. Scrolling through a scoring summary for this one might wear your mouse out. Jack Boyden led all scorers with a prodigious 13 points, nine of which were assists. Bob Gross and Bayard DeMallie had seven points apiece for Amherst. Nicholas Kopp took every faceoff for Amherst, which means he took a staggering 46 draws. The Jumbos committed 10 penalties in this one, which is not typically part of a winning formula, but the sheer firepower on display carried them to the win.

A little further south, Salisbury looked more like themselves after battling to a close win over Lynchburg and losing to Gettysburg last week. The Gulls have made the move to Nicholas Ransom in net, who finished with a 50-percent save rate in their 14-10 win over York. Jack Dowd came out of the gates firing, completing a hat trick in the first quarter and finishing with five goals.

A pair of one-goal games in the NESCAC rounded out a wild weekend in the Little Ivy. 

Bowdoin managed to hold on in the final seconds to down Hamilton 17-16 despite a furious comeback from the Continentals. Ethan Barnard went 22-for-31 at the X for Bowdoin, tilting the possessions just enough to keep the Polar Bears in front. Early in the fourth quarter, Bowdoin held a four-goal lead, but Hamilton rattled off three straight, including a bar down screamer from Tim Sommer to pull the Continentals within one. But Barnard won the game’s final faceoff and Bowdoin held on.

Sticking in the NESCAC, the Middlebury Panthers battled two tough opponents in back-to-back days. The Panthers were tight through the first half with Connecticut College, but then Middlebury scored right before the break to take a one-goal lead. The teams traded goals in a low-scoring second half that saw Middlebury come out on top. In the Panthers’ second game of the weekend, they eked out another win over RPI. With just over two minutes left, Middlebury was called for an illegal stick penalty of the three-minute variety, forcing them to play the remainder of regulation man down while the score was tied. However, the Panthers won the ball back from RPI, and Tom Conley netted the game-winner, shorthanded, with just 36 seconds left. 

While RIT remains atop the poll, it’s becoming more and more obvious with each passing weekend that the rest of the Division III landscape won’t be left on read for very long. With no shortage of upsets and high-scoring excitement, March has clearly come in like a lion. Rawr.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III MEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Cortland (4-0), Hamilton (1-2), MIT (4-1), Muhlenberg (4-2), St. John Fisher (0-3)

Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Tufts (+1)

Is it possible to say that both Tufts and Amherst are hot after this game? Sure. The Jumbos took home the win thanks to an on-brand blitz in the final three minutes that saw them get that final edge. But let’s talk about how Amherst kept up with Tufts despite losing their leading scorer Brock Gonzalez to an injury in the second quarter. It’s impressive, but not as impressive as Tufts’ Jack Boyden dropping 13 points and LSM Michael Kelly dropping four bombs into the goal bucket. No one wants to play Tufts after watching this game. No one. 

NOT

Wesleyan (-1)

It was one loss, but it was a bad loss. No one in black and red would tell you otherwise. What the Cardinals did so easily last week against Bates, they struggled to do against the Ducks. Not just being able to score, but to stop the opposition from stacking up multi-shot possessions against their zone and their man-to-man schemes on defense. In short, it was a nightmare game for Wesleyan, but it begs the question: was it a blip or an ominous portent of things to come?

IN

Stevens (No. 17)

Wesleyan had stacked up the goal total against their first two opponents, but Stevens held them to just seven. The Stevens attack of Jack Savarese, Matthew Pergola and Kevin Crowley has been a goal-scoring whirlwind. Crowley has 19 goals this year, and both Pergola and Savarese are over 20. Pergola is also a freshman, making his production that much more impressive. After a midweek matchup with Eastern, Stevens will battle Tufts next weekend, giving them an opportunity to show just how dangerous they are. 

OUT

St. John Fisher (was No. 19)

St John Fisher returned a lot of quality talent from a strong team a year ago, but they’ve stumbled out of the gate. Through five games, they have seen two games postponed while the other three have all been losses. The opposition hasn’t been easy, as the losses are to Cortland, Christopher Newport and St Lawrence, but without a win on the resume in mid-March, the Cardinals drop out for now. They have upcoming games against Ursinus, RIT, and Amherst, and a few wins would vault them right back into the poll. 

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 1: Feb. 13, 2023

• Week 2: Feb. 20, 2023

• Week 3: Feb. 27, 2023

• Week 4: March 6, 2023