The Sunday Slide: April 2, 2023

I covered a men’s lacrosse game this weekend. Blasphemy, I know.

I was in Philadelphia visiting a friend, so I took the opportunity to go to historic Franklin Field and watch a wild 17-16 Penn win over Yale. It was a nice change of pace, for sure, but it also reminded me of the tactical differences between the men’s and women’s games.

And no, this isn’t about to turn into a this-or-that conversation. We can (and should) love both men’s and women’s lacrosse, just as we should accept the PLL, NLL, Sixes and any other type of lacrosse out there.

But back to my original point. This was my first time watching Penn midfielder Sam Handley play in person. He’s basically a linebacker with a lacrosse stick, and the number of times he tried to beat his defender by simply steamrolling him caught my eye. There’s no equivalent to that in the women’s game, as the discipline relies more on finesse and ball movement.

The men’s game has good tic-tac-toe passing too, but there’s nothing quite like watching quick passing beat a zone defense, followed by an emphatic stick slam. There’s also that fun little moment of suspense during the post-goal stick check.

I was still very much in tune with the women’s lacrosse world this weekend, even while I was on a brief hiatus. And yeah, it was another wild weekend.

As always, thanks for reading The Sunday Slide. Hit me up with your comments (kdejohn@usalacrosse.com), and we can continue the conversation in next week’s column.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

The who’s who of Maryland women’s lacrosse took to College Park for a 50-year celebration of the program on Sunday. Tari Kandemiri — aka Official Lax Girl — got me thinking this evening when she shared a photo of Cindy Timchal, the current Navy coach and former Terps coach. Just what does her coaching tree look like? It’s definitely equal parts impressive and expansive. That might make for a fun offseason project.

The Pac-12 continues to be confounding. Stanford topped USC 15-12 on Sunday afternoon, creating a three-way tie atop the conference between both of them and Colorado. I do still think Stanford is the most talented (on paper) of that trio, but the Cardinal have been a rollercoaster. Who do you think will get the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Rutgers might be scuffling, but what a great win for Johns Hopkins over the Scarlet Knights. The Blue Jays trailed 11-6 entering the final quarter but scored the quarter’s only six goals in a 12-11 win at Homewood Field. Hopkins actually scored the final seven goals of the game and eight of the last nine.

Shoutout to Maura O’Malley, who might have been the most clutch player in the country this weekend. She scored with two seconds left to tie the score against Duke and send the game to overtime, then she scored the winner in the third overtime period for a massive ACC win. The Hokies are 6-6, and outside of lopsided losses to Syracuse and Notre Dame, they’ve been in just about every game.

Justyce Barber, a sophomore at William & Mary, scored the overtime winner for the Tribe against Delaware on Saturday. Barber, a midfielder, is the daughter of 16-year NFL veteran Ronde Barber. She scored six goals in the win after entering the game with five on the season.

Nice win for Liberty, as Mackenzie Lehman and Tori Banks combined for seven goals in a 12-10 win over Jacksonville. It wouldn’t have been possible without 14 saves from Taylor Gallarello.

It seems Notre Dame’s MO hasn’t changed. When the Irish are on, they can beat just about anyone in the country. Case in point: Saturday’s 16-12 win over a North Carolina team that looks the most “down to Earth” it has in the past several years.

In a battle of Division I newbies, Queens dominated Lindenwood 14-5. Whereas the men’s counterparts have struggled acclimating to Division I — Queens did earn a nice win over Detroit Mercy this weekend — the women’s teams have been solid. Queens is 6-5, and Lindenwood is 5-6.

FUN WITH NUMBERS

3 • Consecutive one-goal games for Monmouth in the CAA in its first season in the conference.

4 • Goals allowed by Denver in a 17-4 win over Villanova. Pios goalie Emelia Bohi faced eight shots against a Wildcats team that has been pretty good in 2023.

7 • Total shots faced by Stony Brook goalies Hailey Duchnowski (four shots faced) and Aaliyah Jones (three) in a thorough 15-3 win over new CAA rival Drexel.

11 • Straight wins to open the season for Army, which is off to its best start ever at 11-0. The Black Knights eked past Lehigh and topped American this week, with Kathleen Sullivan posting two goals and six assists against the Eagles.

19 • Combined points by Emma Ward (4 G, 6 A) and Meaghan Tyrrell (6 G, 3 A) in a 21-9 win over Virginia. Another fun number from this one is 14 — the combined goals scored by Ward, Tyrrell and Megan Carney (four goals).

50 • Seasons of Maryland women’s lacrosse celebrated on Sunday in a 13-7 win over Michigan.

60 • Goals for Izzy Scane in 10 games. Will she break Abby Hormes’ single-season Division I record of 103? Northwestern still has plenty of games left, assuming of course that the Wildcats make a run through May.