Weekend One-Liners: The Dreaded Early-Season Overlap

College lacrosse has a scheduling problem.

Consider this weekend’s “One-Liners” our annual appeal to the overlords to find some way to stagger their start times and give fans at least a sporting chance to watch more than one game live.

Two-thirds of the games outlined below have the same Saturday noon Eastern faceoff, which means Big Ten fans will have to choose between Michigan-Virginia, Loyola-Maryland, Georgetown-Hopkins and Villanova-Penn State — all games with primetime appeal.

Want to make a day of it in the DMV? A pair of neutral-site contests and expected game-time temperatures in the 60s might inspire you to do so. But sorry, you’ll have to decide whether you want to be in Annapolis (Hofstra-Navy), Bethesda (Richmond-Bobby Mo), College Park (Loyola-Maryland), D.C. (Hopkins-Georgetown) or Sparks (Binghamton-Jacksonville).

This is also symptomatic of the season starting in February, when no one wants night games and linear TV slots are sparse.

Thank goodness for replay. Not just the in-venue kind that allowed for multiple coaches’ challenges and overturned calls last week, but also the kind that will allow you to go back and see what you missed because you can only be in one place or see one stream at a time.

TV LISTINGS | USA LACROSSE TOP 20

Lindenwood (0-0) at Marquette (1-0) – Friday 3 p.m. (FloSports)

Lindenwood is the biggest underdog (+13.5 on all betting platforms) of the week and the season after the unwelcome news that the school will discontinue men’s lacrosse (and nine other sports) after this year. 

Manhattan (0-0) at No. 8 Syracuse (2-0) – Friday 4 p.m. (ACCNX)

Joey Spallina (16 points in two games) and the Transfers are humming right now and first-year Syracuse defensive coordinator John Odierna should have a pretty good scout on the Jaspers, considering he spent the last eight seasons at Manhattan. 

Hofstra (1-0) at Navy (1-0) – Saturday 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

They should sell premium on-field seating near the substitution box at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium if only so fans can enjoy the banter between U.S. Men’s National Team assistant coaches Seth Tierney and Joe Amplo — longtime friends and currently the head coaches for Hofstra and Navy, respectively.

Vermont (0-1) at No. 18 Boston University (1-0) – Saturday 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

BU is going to be a problem this year with a healthy Jake Cates (five goals in season-opening win over Saint Joseph’s earlier this week) and all that grad-year power at all levels of the field.

Richmond (0-1) vs Robert Morris (0-0) (in Bethesda, Md.) – Saturday 12 p.m.

The Spiders return to the D.C. area after going toe-to-toe with Maryland in a double-overtime defeat Week 0.

Bryant (0-0) at Providence (1-0) – Saturday 12 p.m. (FloSports)

A battle of second-year head coaches in Bryant’s Brad Ross and Providence’s Bobby Benson who made their hay as highly coveted offensive coordinators before accepting their posts in Rhode Island.

No. 15 Rutgers (1-0) at Stony Brook (1-0) – Saturday 12 p.m. (FloSports)

Stony Brook has some sleeper appeal this season in the wide-open CAA and Rutgers rolled out six new starters in its season opener against Lehigh.

Binghamton vs. Jacksonville (in Sparks, Md.) – Saturday 12 p.m.

Led by dynamic midfielder Tucker Garrity, Jacksonville might be even more dangerous now that some unwisely expect a drop-off following the matriculation of a transformational class of players who put the Dolphins on the map.

Villanova (0-0) at No. 13 Penn State (0-1) – Saturday 12 p.m. (BTN+)

The Wildcats open with the Nittany Lions for the sixth time in seven seasons and have defeated Penn State — edged by Colgate in the biggest upset last week— the last two years by a combined three goals.

No. 12 Loyola (1-0) at No. 4 Maryland (1-0) – Saturday 12 p.m. (BTN+)

The Greyhounds flashed their offensive depth (three players with four goals or more) and experience (top six all back) in their season-opening win over Georgetown and now take to the road with eyes on upsetting the Terps for the second straight year.

No. 9 Johns Hopkins (1-1) at Georgetown (0-1) – Saturday 12 p.m. (FloSports)

The Blue Jays looked elite for two-plus quarters, fell apart late in their OT loss against Denver and then got right at Towson, while the Hoyas look to shore up their uncharacteristically leaky defense.

GAME OF THE WEEK

No. 11 Michigan (0-0) at No. 3 Virginia (0-0) – Saturday 12 p.m. (ACC NETWORK)

Coming off its Cinderella run to the NCAA quarterfinals, Michigan attracted Inside Lacrosse’s No. 2-ranked transfer class (led by Princeton exports Beau Pederson and Christian Ronda) and reportedly dominated Syracuse in a preseason scrimmage. (Pictured above: Michael Boehm is a preseason third-team All-American midfielder for No. 11-ranked Michigan.)

UPSET WATCH

UMass vs. No. 6 Army (in Atlanta) – Saturday 12:30 p.m.

Can’t remember the last time Army (five preseason All-Americans) started the season this high in the rankings, UMass can cause fits with its Matt Knote-backstopped defense and the Minutemen did beat the Black Knights 10-8 in their 2023 season opener.

No. 2 Duke (1-0) at High Point (1-0) – Saturday 2 p.m. (ESPN+)

The highest total (28.5 O/U) on the slate this weekend with Brayden Mayea-led Panthers hosting a Blue Devils team that put up a 20-spot (Michigan transfer Josh Zawada with three goals and five assists) on Bellarmine in their season opener.

Air Force (0-1) at No. 7 Denver (1-0) – Saturday 2 p.m. (Pioneer All-Access)

The preseason narrative of “Is Hopkins back?” and “Is Syracuse back?” quickly pivoted to, “Is Denver back?”