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

I wasn’t enthralled with last week’s schedule — but the teams delivered anyway.

Notably, Notre Dame stunned North Carolina, ending the Tar Heels’ 27-game ACC regular-season winning streak. It adds a welcome helping of hype heading into Saturday’s ESPNU-televised game between the No. 9 Irish and No. 5 Boston College. The game is the first of a doubleheader on ESPNU, with No. 12 Virginia and No. 19 Duke, coming off an upset triple-overtime loss to Virginia Tech last weekend, following.

Here’s what to watch, where to watch it and when it starts. (Most games are on Saturday afternoon — those of us who have to play Easter Bunny the next day appreciate you, coaches.).

No. 18 Penn State (10-3) and No. 17 Michigan (9-5), Saturday, 12 p.m. (BIG+)

This hidden gem on the schedule features a pair of Big Ten teams trying to challenge the conference’s status quo later this month.

No. 6 James Madison (12-1) at Vanderbilt (3-8), Saturday, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

James Madison ran past Richmond Wednesday and moves on to Nashville, where it’ll face Vanderbilt for the first time since 2004 (a 10-4 Vandy win).

No. 15 Clemson (10-4) at No. 1 Syracuse (13-0), Saturday, 2 p.m. (ACCX)

There will be a good bit of Orange — and potentially offensive fireworks — when two teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation in scoring offense square off in CNY.

No. 3 Denver (12-0) at UConn (8-3), Saturday, 12 p.m. (FloSports)
UConn is having an impressive season, but Denver’s defense is in a different stratosphere and has become appointment viewing.

Game of the Week: No. 4 Boston College (9-3) at No. 9 Notre Dame (8-3), Saturday, 12 p.m. (ESPNU)

The Irish will try to take down their second top-five team in seven days when they welcome Boston College to South Bend.

Ohio State (5-8) at No. 8 Maryland (11-3), Saturday, 12 p.m. (BIG+) – Maryland Wednesday

The trolls were out in force a month ago after Maryland lost to Denver, James Madison and Syracuse, but the Terps enter Saturday’s matchup winners of their last eight, including Wednesday’s win over Johns Hopkins.

No. 9 Florida (8-3) at Temple (5-6), Saturday, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

Perhaps the 14th time is the charm for the Owls, who are 0-13 all time against Florida.

Upset Alert: No. 14 Yale (9-2) at Penn (6-4), Saturday, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

Yale upended Princeton and then lost to UConn a week later last month — can the Bulldogs avoid a similar letdown following its win over previously undefeated Army?

No. 19 Duke (6-6) at No. 12 Virginia (8-6), Saturday, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)

Both teams have sputtered of late, and Saturday’s game could help right the ship for the winner.

Stanford (5-5) at USC (9-3), Sunday, 3 p.m. (USC Live Stream)

Hunt for eggs, eat your lamb/ham/roast and huddle around the TV for round two of this Pac-12 rivalry.