Weekend One-Liners: What to Watch for in Men's Lacrosse

Get your Justin Timberlake memes ready. It’s gonna be May.

And the madness starts a week early with several de facto elimination games.

As Patrick Stevens indicated in his Bracketology post earlier this week, the NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse tournament picture could look unusually clear after this weekend even though we’re still nine days away from Selection Sunday.

Here’s one sentence each on 11 games to watch this weekend. All times Eastern.

TV LISTINGS | NIKE/USA LACROSSE TOP 20

Hobart (5-7, 1-3) at UMass (7-5, 2-2) – Friday 5 p.m. (ESPN+)

For the Minutemen, win and they’re in the inaugural Atlantic 10 tournament; for the Statesmen, win and then they need help (High Point beating first-place St. Joe’s or tiebreaker advantage).

No. 10 Denver (8-4, 3-1) at Marquette (6-7, 1-3) – Friday 7 p.m. (FloSports)

Denver looks to fortify its at-large resume against a dangerous Marquette team has upset Penn State and Michigan, fell in overtime to Villanova and Georgetown and must beat the Pioneers (and have St. John’s beat Providence) to play in the Big East tournament it’s hosting.

No. 11 Villanova (10-3, 3-1) at No. 9 Georgetown (9-3, 4-0) – Friday 7 p.m. (FloSports)

The Hoyas look for their 10th straight win (after starting the season 0-3) against a Wildcats team jockeying for position on the bubble with Denver and salivating over this mammoth opportunity in the program’s 600th game.

No. 19 Boston University (9-3, 6-1) at No. 8 Army (10-2, 7-0) – Friday 8:15 p.m. (CBSSN)

The Patriot League regular season title, top seed and tournament hosting rights are on the line in West Point, where the team (BU) that has scored more goals (170) than anyone in the conference goes against the defense (Army) that has allowed the fewest goals (97) in the country.

No. 17 Yale (7-4, 2-3) at Harvard (5-6, 2-3) – Saturday 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

It all comes down to The Game; the Bulldogs don’t have a bad loss, but a defeat to the Crimson would give them just that and also deny them a chance to fortify their resume in the Ivy League tournament.

UPSET WATCH

No. 16 Syracuse (8-6, 1-4) at No. 2 Duke (11-2, 4-1) – Saturday 12 p.m. (ESPNU)

The Orange must win this game to have any chance of being in the conversation Selection Sunday and outplayed the Blue Devils save for an eight-minute lapse in the third quarter in a 14-13 OT loss March 5.

No. 13 Princeton (6-5, 4-1) at No. 7 Cornell (10-2, 4-1) – Saturday 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

Coulter Mackesy has a pair of eight-goal games for the Tigers, who could reenter the at-large conversation and clinch the Ivy League’s top seed with an upset of the Big Red.

Big Ten Quarterfinal: Ohio State (5-8, 1-4) at No. 20 Michigan (6-6, 2-3) – Saturday 3:30 p.m. (BTN+)

A rematch in Ann Arbor, where USA Lacrosse Player of the Week Michael Boehm put on a clinic last week with eight goals (on 10 shots) in a 19-14 Wolverines win.

Stony Brook (7-6, 4-2) at Hofstra (5-8, 3-3) – Saturday 7 p.m. (FloSports)

The last spot in the CAA tournament is on the line, as the host Pride have won three of their last four to put themselves in a position to play their way into the postseason.

Big Ten Quarterfinal: No. 15 Rutgers (8-5, 1-4) at No. 6 Maryland (8-4, 3-2) – Saturday 8 p.m. (BTN)

As Stevens wrote, “Rutgers needs something to hang its hat on,” and just its second-ever win over Maryland (the Scarlet Knights are 1-35 in the all-time series) would fit the bill.

GAME OF THE WEEK

No. 1 Notre Dame (9-1, 3-1) at No. 3 Virginia (10-3, 3-2) – Sunday 2 p.m. (ACCN)

The Kavanagh brothers rightfully get the attention, but the Fighting Irish’s starting midfield of Eric Dobson, Quinn McCahon and Reilly Gray has amassed 49 goals.