The Post-Week Tailgate: Feb. 3, 2024

Now that’s how you make a splash.

College football limps into the season with a handful of ho-hum games in “Week Zero.” College men’s lacrosse jumped right into the deep end of the pool on opening weekend with nearly half of the teams playing, including Top 20 showdowns between No. 6 Johns Hopkins vs. No. 11 Denver and No. 5 Maryland vs. No. 20 Richmond.

And boy did the games deliver.

Matt Brown’s debut as head coach for Denver resulted in a wild 13-12 overtime comeback victory at Homewood Field. Matt DaSilva was on site for a look at Brown’s debut and J.J. Sillstrop’s amazing performance.

Richmond also had an upset on its mind – but Maryland outlasted the Spiders 12-11 in double overtime on Owen Murphy’s game-winner.

Two underdogs did seal the deal on upsets: Loyola manhandled No. 12 Georgetown 18-10 and Colgate stunned No. 4 Penn State 13-12 on freshman Liam Connor’s goal with four seconds to play.

We were unfamiliar with Colgate’s game.

It’s a 13-12 upset win over No. 4 Penn State to open the season ‼️ pic.twitter.com/Dbh7SAvVYl

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) February 3, 2024

There was a time not so long ago – probably about the time when today’s players were born – that the college lacrosse season started in March.

The season gradually started creeping into February with a handful of games the first weekend of the season – Bob Shillinglaw’s Delaware teams seemingly always played regional rival Saint Joseph’s to help kick things off.

No more. The weather may be dicey this early, but at least for this week, it was a blast.

Random Observations 

The debut of Dave Cottle as Navy’s new offensive coordinator definitely went well. The Midshipmen matched last year’s season-best total of 19 goals as 12 players tallied in a 19-6 win over Mount St. Mary’s. 

I have to think that the atmosphere in Columbus helped spur Ohio State’s 11-8 comeback victory against Utah. The new Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium isn’t big, but the 1,677 fans in attendance on Saturday were right on top of the action, helping the Buckeyes rally from a 6-2 deficit. 

Cleveland State transfer Gannon Matthews scored five times in his Buckeyes debut and defensive middie Connor Cmiel had three caused turnovers and four ground balls, helping OSU hold Utah to two goals in the final 41 minutes.

A look at Colgate’s early schedule and you have to wonder what’s going through Matt Karweck’s mind. Six straight games away from home to open the season, playing Penn State and Syracuse within three days, and absolutely no gimmies on the schedule. But after that opening win against Penn State, things suddenly seem different in Hamilton.

Saturday had to be a happy day in the Minicus family. Michael, the third youngest of four lacrosse playing brothers, had a pair of goals, including a key fourth-quarter tally in Colgate’s 13-12 win over Penn State. Younger brother, Matthew, scored four times in Loyola’s 18-10 win over Georgetown.

This season is going to be torture in some ways for Princeton coach Matt Madalon. So many of his talented players will be suiting up elsewhere this season, unable to play as graduate students at Princeton. Case in point, Sam English and Jake Stevens combining for four goals in Syracuse’s 20-7 win over Vermont.

By the Numbers

123 • Seconds it took High Point to string together four goals late in the first quarter, flipping a 2-0 deficit against Mercer. The Panthers ended up scoring nine straight in the run in a 14-7 win over the Bears.

22 • Approximate number of hours after the final horn in High Point, N.C. before Mercer faces off at home in Macon, Ga., against Hampton on Sunday morning at 11 a.m.

6 • Groundballs for Navy defender Jackson Bonitz in the Mids 19-6 win over Mount St. Mary’s. Bonitz was an absolute menace with three caused turnovers to go along with a goal and an assist.

20 • Goals scored by Duke in the first 37 minutes of the game in its 20-12 win over Bellarmine. Reigning Tewaaraton winner Brennan O’Neill had four goals and three assists while Michigan transfer Josh Zawada had a team-high eight points (3g, 5a). Safe to say, this offense is going to be a wagon.

11 • Number of games I was able to watch at least some of on Saturday. We’ve come a long way from Laxpower community updates, reloading the College Lacrosse USA website, calling hotlines and waiting for Doyle Smith’s USILA weekly mailer to get scores.