Northwestern, BC Back on Top in USA Lacrosse D-I Women's Top 20

What’s old is new again.

Northwestern was idle — something the Wildcats earned by winning the Big Ten regular season crown outright and receiving a bye to the semifinal round. Despite watching from afar, they’ve returned to the No. 1 spot in the USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 after previous No. 1 Notre Dame, now No. 4, fell to Boston College in the ACC semifinals.

Boston College went on to beat Syracuse in the ACC title game and now reclaims the No. 2 spot it held before the 2024 season began, while Syracuse rises to No. 3.

No. 5 Loyola rounds out the top five, with ACC semifinalist Virginia coming in behind the Greyhounds.

There were upsets abound in the Big Ten tournament. Though Maryland lost to unranked Rutgers, the Terps’ strong RPI preserves their spot in the top 10 — they’re seventh this week. No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Penn State (the lone higher seed to advance in the Big Ten) and No. 10 Denver complete the top 10, with No. 11 Michigan and No. 12 Johns Hopkins falling just outside of it.

No one enters or exits, though there is some minor shuffling throughout the rest of the Top 20.

USA LACROSSE DIVISION I
WOMEN’S TOP 20

1. Northwestern, 13-2 (Prev: 2)
2. Boston College, 16-3 (Prev: 3)
3. Syracuse, 14-5 (Prev: 4)
4. Notre Dame, 14-3 (Prev: 1)
5. Loyola, 15-2 (Prev: 8)
6. Virginia, 14-4 (Prev: 5)
7. Maryland, 12-5 (Prev: 6)
8. Florida, 15-2 (Prev: 10)
9. Penn State, 10-6 (12)
10. Denver, 13-3 (Prev: 14)
11. Michigan, 14-2 (Prev: 7)
12. Johns Hopkins, 11-6 (Prev: 13)
13. Yale, 13-2 (Prev: 9)
14. Stony Brook, 15-2 (Prev: 15)
15. Penn, 12-3 (Prev: 11)
16. James Madison, 11-4 (Prev: 17)
17. North Carolina, 10-5 (Prev: 18)
18. Princeton, 10-5 (Prev: 16)
19. Stanford, 11-4 (Prev: 19)
20. USC, 12-4 (Prev: 20)

Also considered (alphabetical order): Brown (10-5),Colorado (11-5), Drexel (12-4), Duke (10-7), Fairfield (15-1), Harvard (10-4), Navy (13-3), Rutgers (8-9), UMass (12-4)

HOT

Boston College (+1)

After falling short in the ACC championship game year after year, Boston College has now gone back-to-back. The Eagles did it against the tournament’s No. 1 seed and outright regular-season champion, Syracuse, a team they’ve now beaten six straight times.

Once again, the Eagles did it in comeback fashion. After falling behind 5-1 in the first half, Boston College scored 14 of the game’s final 17 goals and held Syracuse to one score in the second half. BC won despite Syracuse’s 18-9 advantage in the draw circle behind a masterful performance from Kate Mashewske (12 DC). But Boston College’s defense, led by Sydney Scales (5 GB) and Shea Dolce (10 saves), was also on-point, limiting Syracuse’s offensive stars Emma Ward, Emma Tyrrell and Olivia Adamson to a combined five goals. Kayla Martello outscored the trio all by herself with six goals and an assist.

Penn State (+3)

Penn State, as the second seed in the Big Ten tournament (with regular-season wins over Maryland and Northwestern), was not on our bingo card. We had the Nittany Lions at No. 14 in our preseason rankings. Yet Penn State is having itself a year, most recently avenging one of only two Big Ten losses, getting a win over Ohio State in the quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions will now vie for their first trip to the Big Ten title game since 2018 in Friday’s semifinals against Rutgers, which upset Maryland on Saturday. The Nittany Lions could use a deep run — their RPI is on the lower end (No. 23 as of April 25).

Johns Hopkins (+1)

What a difference a week makes. The Blue Jays’ stock dropped after losing three straight games to Maryland, Michigan and Penn State. On Saturday, it rose again. Hopkins jumped out to an early lead against Michigan, gave it up in large part due to a five-goal fourth-quarter run, and recovered to win on Bailey Cheetham’s overtime winner. The Blue Jays get regular-season champion Northwestern, a team they played tough in a 14-9 loss on March 16 and one their starting goalie, Madison Doucette, knows quite well.

NOT

Maryland (-1)

When the NCAA Selection Committee released its initial top 10 on April 18, the seeding that generated the most conversation was Maryland at No. 2 despite — at the time — losses to Penn State, Florida, Northwestern and Penn. The committee is leaning into RPI in a season of parity and weekly unexpected results, and Maryland’s is strong (No. 2 as of April 25). But a loss to under-.500 Rutgers in the Big Ten quarterfinals only muddies the waters more. Because of Maryland’s RPI, the Terps will likely be a seeded team and get a home game in the NCAA tournament. But depending on the domino effect it has — and who loses out on a home game — Maryland’s place may be one of the hotter topics in the days that follow Selection Sunday.

Michigan (-4)

After missing the Big Ten regular-season title by one goal in a loss to Northwestern, Michigan dropped to the fourth seed for the conference tournament. They entered the weekend looking like one of the strongest four seeds we can recall. That changed quickly in the quarterfinals against Johns Hopkins.

The Blue Jays scored the only goal of the first quarter and led 5-1 at the break. Michigan rallied — much like in the regular-season meeting between the two teams, a Wolverines win — and forced overtime. But Cheetham’s goal sank hopes of a second go at Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament and likely a home game for the NCAAs. 

The Wolverines may very well get another crack at the Wildcats, but it’ll be in an NCAA second-round or quarterfinal game in Evanston instead of one Memorial Day Weekend in Cary, N.C.  That said, Michigan plays gritty and gets down without ever truly being out. Don’t sleep on the Wolverines.