Virginia Living Up to Hype as No. 1 in Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20

March 6, 2023

Patrick Stevens

Virginia Athletics

One month into the spring, and there is one thing in a topsy-turvy season that can’t be questioned.

As Virginia figures out things more and more at both ends of the field, it might be a scarier prospect to tangle with than either of its recent title teams.

The Cavaliers opened with a 17-13 victory over Michigan, showing some vulnerability on defense. Then came a 25-21 defeat of Harvard that saw Lars Tiffany’s team lead 20-8 at halftime.

The last two weeks have produced thorough performances at both ends. Virginia smothered Ohio State 17-6, then avenged an in-state loss from last season with a 25-8 drubbing of Richmond on Saturday.

The box score from that rout is breathtaking in how overwhelming the Cavaliers were in virtually every measure against a quality program that nearly won an NCAA tournament game last season. Virginia shot nearly 50 percent (25 of 51), doubled up the Spiders in faceoff wins (24-12), held a 52-24 ground ball edge, scored on two of three extra-man chances and botched just one of 29 clear attempts.

Virginia still has six ACC games (including two against fellow unbeaten Notre Dame) and a visit from Maryland to come. It’s far too early to seriously consider the possibility of a second consecutive undefeated champion. But to this point, the Cavaliers have more than lived up to their preseason No. 1 billing.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I MEN’S TOP 20

	March 6, 2023	W/L	Prev	Next
1	Virginia	4-0	1	3/7 at No. 16 Johns Hopkins
2	Notre Dame	4-0	2	3/10 vs. No. 9 Ohio State
3	Cornell	4-0	3	3/10 vs. No. 15 Penn State
4	Duke	5-1	5	3/10 vs. No. 5 Loyola
5	Loyola	4-1	7	3/10 at No. 4 Duke
6	Maryland	3-2	4	3/10 at Albany
7	Rutgers	5-1	11	3/10 vs. No. 11 Princeton
8	Yale	2-1	12	3/10 vs. No. 19 Denver
9	Ohio State	3-2	8	3/10 at No. 2 Notre Dame
10	Jacksonville	3-1	13	3/8 vs. UMass Lowell
11	Princeton	2-2	6	3/10 at No. 7 Rutgers
12	Army	4-1	14	3/10 vs. Lafayette
13	North Carolina	3-2	9	3/10 vs. Brown
14	Villanova	3-1	16	3/8 vs. Drexel*
15	Penn State	4-1	19	3/10 at No. 3 Cornell
16	Johns Hopkins	4-2	18	3/7 vs. No. 1 Virginia
17	Saint Joseph's	3-1	15	3/8 vs. No. 18 Penn
18	Penn	1-2	10	3/8 at No. 17 Saint Joseph's
19	Denver	3-2	NR	3/10 at No. 8 Yale
20	Harvard	2-1	20	3/10 vs. Michigan

* = at Saint Joseph's

Also considered (alphabetical order): Boston University (3-1), Brown (3-1), Delaware (3-2), Georgetown (1-3), High Point (4-2), Lehigh (3-1), Michigan (3-2), Syracuse (3-3)

HOT

Penn State (+4)

The Nittany Lions built on their victory at Yale two Saturdays ago, scoring the final seven goals in a 15-9 defeat of Penn.

A little bit of skepticism toward Penn State was understandable even with the first victory. After all, the Nittany Lions went 4-7 during their all-Big Ten schedule in 2021, then slumped to 3-11 last season. But with two eye-catching victories, Penn State seems to be a more curious team as it heads into this week’s trip to Cornell.

Rutgers (+4)

The Scarlet Knights routed St. John’s 20-6 and handled Utah 18-14 last week to follow up their victory over Loyola. But this rise has more than a little to do with carnage in the back half of the top 10. All four teams Rutgers leapfrogged — Princeton, Ohio State, North Carolina and Penn — lost, and all but Penn tripped up at home.

Yale (+4)

The Bulldogs handled business against UMass, doubling up the Minutemen 18-9 on Friday in a game moved up because of lousy anticipated weather. Chris Lyons had five goals and Matt Brandau added four goals and four assists for Yale, which like Rutgers, benefited from losses.

NOT

Penn (-8)

The Quakers took their second consecutive loss, a 15-9 setback at Penn State. Penn typically plays an arduous non-conference schedule, and the price of doing so is the possibility of losing is real if there’s a 15- or 20-minute lull at any point. Such was the case Saturday, as the Quakers went scoreless in the final 17:33. They’ll get two chances to bounce back this week against Saint Joseph’s and Villanova.

Princeton (-5)

The Tigers took a second consecutive home loss, following up an 11-5 defeat against Maryland with a 13-10 setback against a Georgetown bunch desperate to avoid an 0-4 start.

That result is one of the hardest to parse from this weekend. Has Georgetown figured things out? Is Princeton as good as anticipated? A five-spot slide seems like a reasonable hedge at the moment, especially with the Tigers visiting Rutgers in another high-profile game Saturday.

IN

Denver (No. 19)

The Pioneers return to the Top 20 after JJ Sillstrop’s go-ahead goal with 1:23 remaining helped secure a 9-8 victory at North Carolina.

Denver is 3-0 when it keeps an opponent to fewer than 12 goals and 0-2 when foes reach that number. Given the Pioneers’ continuity at the defensive end, it’s little surprise that group is the team’s bellwether in the first month of the season.

OUT

Delaware (was No. 17)

The Blue Hens suffered their second loss in a row at home, dropping a 16-12 decision to Michigan on Saturday. Perhaps the most surprising development in that one was Delaware winding up on the wrong end of a 9-0 run as the Wolverines turned a 9-4 deficit into a 13-9 lead.

Next up for Delaware is a two-game week, with undefeated UMBC visiting Tuesday and Monmouth paying a visit to Newark on Saturday in the conference opener for both teams.

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Written By

Patrick Stevens

Patrick Stevens has covered college sports for 25 years. His work also appears in The Washington Post, Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and other outlets. He's provided coverage of Division I men's lacrosse to USA Lacrosse Magazine since 2010.