Ursinus Upsets Stevenson, Enters Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Men's Top 20

Like a well-designed 1-on-1 defense, Division III is typically slow to go in February. That is not the case so far in 2023, the year of Bugbee and Berkman.

In college lacrosse history, there are five coaches in the record book who have over 400 wins. Keith Bugbee is at 409. John Danowski and Bill Tierney, legends of Division I both passed the 400 mark in recent years. Hank Janczyk at Gettysburg registered 477 wins. This week, Jim Berkman tallied win No. 600.

Overtime thrillers were the currency of the weekend, as Washington and Lee came from behind to beat stalwart York in a single overtime frame. Reigning champion RIT also managed an OT victory, but it took them three extra frames to down a plucky Muhlenberg side that simply refused to go away. 

RIT was down 4-1 after the first quarter and gave up a 4-0 fourth quarter to Muhlenberg. The Tigers were able to prevail, but the defending champs’ combination of a poor start and inability to put a team away in the final quarter was surprising. 

Next week sees the return of the NESCAC to the D-III ranks, which should spice things up in the New England region.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III MEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Hamilton, Hampden-Sydney, Ithaca, MIT, Roanoke, RPI, Western New England

Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Salisbury (no change)

Over the course of his 600 wins, Jim Berkman has won 12 national championships, been to 28 Final Fours, coached 245 All-Americans and 56 national players of the year and holds the longest winning streak in NCAA lacrosse history at 69 games. He also holds the second-longest winning streak in NCAA lacrosse history at 55 games. In his 35th season, Berkman is averaging over 17 wins a season for his career. 

Christopher Newport (no change)

The names at the top of the Christopher Newport scout are Andrew Cook, Drew Miller and Coby Auslander. In a 23-11 win over Grove City, those three combined for six goals. The Captains got 17 goals from five other players, led by seven from Brett Jackson. Christopher Newport put 41 of their 63 shots on net in this one, exploding with an 11-2 second half. 

NOT

York (-2)

So let’s turn our attention to York, which couldn’t overcome late turnover gaffes to seal a win over Washington and Lee. The Spartans had more than a few attempts to turn out the clock, but an errant pass here, an ill-advised shot there and the Generals were back in the offensive zone hunting for the game-tying goal. It was an atypical performance from the Spartans, who are known as one of the most regimented squads in all of D-III. They will look to rebound against another team that had a hard time in OT this week — RIT — next Saturday. 

IN

Ursinus (No. 16)

The Bears enter the Top 20 thanks to their key win over Stevenson. Many people thought that Ursinus should have been ranked in the Top 20 to start, and this result indicates that those opinions have some validity. This was, by all accounts, something of a surprise win. Ursinus took control of this game early and overcame Stevenson’s comebacks twice to prevail in the fourth. The Bears had four different players with hat tricks — Tyler Falco, Eddie Newman, Tyler Neal and Jeremy Calabro. Newman scored the go-ahead goal to make it 11-10, and Falco made it 12-11 a few minutes later. Newman would score again to push the lead to two. Calabro made it a three-goal lead with 3:32 to play, and that was the game.

OUT

RPI (was No. 19)

If you commit 30 turnovers in a game, it’ll be tough to come away victorious. On top of that, RPI went 0-3 on the extra man and put just 17 shots on goal. RPI had a heavy edge facing off, but poor shooting and costly mistakes spoiled all that extra possession. Coast Guard won the most important faceoff of the day, the one in OT. RPI never got the ball in overtime, as Caleb Holdridge sealed the win. 

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 1: Feb. 13, 2023