Way Early Rankings: Nos. 5-1 (Division I Men)

The late summer doldrums call for a lookahead to six months from now, when the 2025 college lacrosse season will begin.

Most transfers have found their landing spots and most coaching vacancies have been filled. And while it’s too early to know exactly every team's makeup — heck, most schools haven’t even posted rosters yet — it’s never too early to project who will be the top contenders.

Up next: Nos. 5-1. 

Previously: Nos. 25-21 | Nos. 20-16 | Nos. 15-11 | Nos. 10-6

5. VIRGINIA

2024 record: 12-6 (1-3 ACC)

Last seen: Left thoroughly out of sorts in a 12-6 loss to Maryland in the program’s second consecutive NCAA semifinal ouster. It was also the Cavaliers’ lowest offensive output in coach Lars Tiffany’s eight seasons in Charlottesville.

Projected starts lost: 80 of 180 (44.4 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 218 of 403 points (54.1 percent)

Initial forecast: It’s going to be different. Program legend Connor Shellenberger exits the college scene after earning NCAA tournament most outstanding player honors in 2021 and a nod as a Tewaaraton finalist the next three years. Payton Cormier, the NCAA’s career goals leader who found the net a school-record 65 times in 2024, also departs. And Virginia will need a new defensive anchor with Cole Kastner out of lacrosse eligibility (though he’ll pursue a season of basketball at Stanford).

The next big Cavaliers star is probably McCabe Millon, who had 41 goals and 25 assists as a freshman but will find himself atop scouting reports next spring. Plenty of useful pieces remain in place, including midfielder Griffin Schutz (23 G, 12 A), long pole Ben Wayer (98 GBs, 26 CTs) and short stick Noah Chizmar.

But two things are abundantly clear: Virginia needs to improve a defense that struggled against the elite offenses on its schedule, and it has a goalie competition to sort out after Kyle Morris got the nod in the final four over the benched Matthew Nunes.

Bryant’s Johnny Hackett (23 G, 24 A) transfers in. So does revival-via-change-of-scenery candidate Charles Balsamo, who had 20 goals and 11 assists as a freshman at Duke but slipped to seven goals and nine assists last spring.

Tiffany offered a matter-of-fact assessment of his program’s standards after the loss to Maryland — “We don't measure ourselves by hanging final four banners, we measure ourselves with titles” — but given some of the top-end roster transition, reaching the final weekend might qualify as a more satisfying accomplishment than usual for the Cavaliers in 2025.

4. PRINCETON

2024 record: 11-5 (4-2 Ivy)

Last seen: Routed by recent nemesis Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the second year in a row the Tigers followed up an Ivy League tournament title with an exit on the opening weekend of the postseason.

Projected starts lost: 18 of 150 (12 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 28 of 292 points (9.6 percent)

Initial forecast: The Tigers won’t lack punch in 2025 thanks to an offensive core given the chance to grow together after another round of COVID-era graduate transfers had to depart. Their top seven in both goals and points are set to return intact. That includes Coulter Mackesy (37 G, 20 A), as well as skilled sophomores Nate Kabiri (32 G, 21 A) and Colin Burns (23 G, 9 A) and midfield anchor Chad Palumbo (24 G, 10 A).

In an Ivy League that isn’t coming off a great season for defenses, it puts Princeton in an enviable place. Also back are faceoff man Andrew McMeekin (.550) and the entire starting close defense, including Colin Mulshine.

There are a handful of real losses to reckon with: Goalie Michael Gianforcaro (.561 save percentage) is the name that stands out, though long pole Pace Billings and short-stick defensive midfielder Marquez White both had excellent senior years. If the defense can improve a bit and a solid goalie is plugged in — and considering coach Matt Madalon hasn’t had a primary goalie stop less than 50 percent in any of his seven full seasons, here’s guessing that position won’t be a problem — no one will want to tangle with the Tigers next May.

Even without much progress at the defensive end, Princeton figures to be a problem and arguably the Ivy League favorites.

3. CORNELL

2024 record: 9-5 (5-1 Ivy)

Last seen: Matching a season low with nine goals in an Ivy League semifinal loss to Penn.

Projected starts lost: 28 of 140 (20 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 42 of 344 points (12.2 percent)

Initial forecast: It’s the last run for CJ Kirst (45 G, 22 A) — and Michael Long (26 G, 24 A) and Hugh Kelleher (24 G, 9 A) as well. All three were fresh faces when the Big Red zoomed out of COVID hibernation and made a run to the national title game in 2022, but Cornell has a first-round exit and a postseason miss to show for the last two years.

Chalk some of it up to both defensive questions and ill-timed injuries, and with a bit of luck and a little bit more stinginess, the Big Red have a chance to roar back.

Of course, Cornell is one of the handful of teams in Division I blessed with enough offense to be able to dare opponents to score 15 goals and (at full strength) have a decent chance of dropping at least 16 on them. Willem Firth (22 G, 12 A) and Ryan Goldstein (21 G, 12 A in just nine games) are coming off fine freshman years and only add to what should make Cornell one of 2025’s most entertaining teams. Whether it’s enough to matter in May remains to be seen.

2. SYRACUSE

2024 record: 12-6 (3-1 ACC)

Last seen: Flustered at the offensive end against an older Denver team in a 10-8 quarterfinal loss that left the Orange a game shy of its first NCAA semifinal appearance since 2013.

Projected starts lost: 54 of 180 (30 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 139 of 300 points (46.3 percent)

Initial forecast: It was tempting — really tempting — to place the Orange at No. 1. Maybe it would’ve been easier to make that choice if Syracuse had won its quarterfinal in May. Conversely, falling a game shy of the season’s final weekend makes Gary Gait’s team as good a candidate as any to breathe fire on a consistent basis next season.

Of course, the copious amount of young talent that has incubated in Central New York over the last couple seasons is well-positioned to take another step, whether it is Joey Spallina (37 G, 51 A), Michael Leo (28 G, 9 A) or Finn Thomson (24 G, 14 A) on offense or defenseman Billy Dwan at the other end.

(It’s best not to forget about Owen Hiltz’s 38 goals and 27 assists, but unlike that group, he was already in the second half of his college career in 2024.)

Goalie is a legitimate question after Will Mark’s graduation, but the Orange might be strong enough on offense that simply being solid in the cage will be sufficient.

Syracuse’s trajectory — not to mention its reborn pizzazz — suggest the program’s Memorial Day weekend drought is about to end.

1. NOTRE DAME

2024 record: 16-1 (4-0 ACC)

Last seen: Punctuating a cruise through May with the most lopsided national title game victory since 1998, a 15-5 rout of Maryland to deliver the program its second consecutive championship.

Projected starts lost: 100 of 170 (58.9 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 198 of 426 points (46.5 percent)

Initial forecast: Why not a three-peat? Sure, Notre Dame took some pretty serious graduation hits, including defensemen Chris Conlin and Marco Napolitano, midfielders Eric Dobson and Devon McLane, goalie Liam Entenmann and Tewaaraton winner Pat Kavanagh. But you know what? So did the likes of Duke, Denver, Maryland and Virginia, and there was a considerable gap between the Irish and the field in 2024.

Not to be forgotten is just how much depth Notre Dame rolled out in the midfield, and that hasn’t disappeared. Neither have attackmen Chris Kavanagh (44 G, 27 A) and Jake Taylor (41 G, 4 A), faceoff ace Will Lynch (.612) and exceptional young defenseman Shawn Lyght.

Entenmann leaves a noteworthy hole to fill, but with such a schematically sound defense, the Irish are likely to figure things out — and relatively quickly.

No team has won three consecutive national championships since 1996-98 Princeton, but the Irish will have a chance if they can figure out how to replace Pat Kavanagh’s table-setting. That’s far from automatic, but after having as many options as anybody last year and holding onto several of them, Notre Dame isn’t about to fade from the sport’s top tier in 2025.