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Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:

1. The UMBC magic continues. Just three weeks after its basketball team upset the No. 1 seed Virginia in the NCAA tournament, the UMBC men’s lacrosse team upset undefeated No. 1 Albany 11-7 on Friday. It was the Retrievers’ first win over a No. 1 team since 1998.

“I guess the basketball team is contagious,” UMBC coach Ryan Moran joked.

Billy Nolan led UMBC with five points, while Albany’s Tehoka Nanticoke had three goals.

“It was our time to shine,” said UMBC defenseman Jason Brewster, who marked Nanticoke, holding him to one goal entering the final minute of the game. “It’s kind of an inspiration to us. Coach was saying that they lost to Albany in basketball by 40 points and then came out and beat Virginia. It was an inspiration to us to show that we can go out and do something like that, too.”

The win sparked some friendly Twitter banter, especially when UMBC challenged Alabama football.

2. Noelle Lambert made an inspirational return to the lacrosse field, scoring a goal in UMass-Lowell’s 16-1 victory over Hartford on Saturday.

PHOTO COURTESY OF UMASS LOWELL

She started all 17 games during the 2016 season, but a moped accident shortly after caused her left leg to be amputated above the knee.

Yet she was still determined to play again with a personal motto of “Born To Run.” She passed the run test during the preseason and was cleared by the NCAA to return to the field in March.

“Don’t call it a comeback. I’ve been here for years,” she said on the team’s Instagram page.

Scroll down to "What We're Watching" for more highlights and reaction from her historic moment.

3. In other men’s action, Denver dominated Villanova 22-6 with a career-high eight goals from Ethan Walker and a 27-for-30 faceoff performance from Trevor Baptiste on Friday.

On Saturday, Jeff Teat kept piling on the points with four goals and eight assists in Cornell’s 15-11 win over Harvard. With four goals and three assists in a 16-10 win over Lehigh, Loyola's Pat Spencer tied the Patriot League career record in assists. And another highlight performance from Marquette’s John Wagner with his fourth game-winning goal of the year to beat St. John’s 11-10 in overtime.

Plus, Johns Hopkins stays atop the Big Ten with an 11-7 victory over Ohio State, Brown recorded a crucial 10-9 Ivy League win over Penn and Virginia topped North Carolina 15-12 for its first ACC win since 2014.

On Sunday, No. 9 Rutgers dominated No. 17 Michigan 16-8 for its first Big Ten win behind a career-high eight goals from Kiernan Mullins, but Jules Heningburg stole the show with impressive fakes for a goal.

Later that evening, No. 2 Maryland secured a key win at No. 16 Penn State, 13-12, to avoid the upset. Despite trailing at halftime for the first time all season, the Terps responded with an 8-6 second half. Connor Kelly led Maryland with a career-high six goals and Dan Morris made eight second half saves.

With the Albany loss, will Maryland return to the top of the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20? Check back later today.

4. In other women’s action, Colorado, Penn State and Oregon recorded Top 20 upsets over the weekend.

On Friday, the No. 20 Buffs defeated No. 14 USC 10-7 and the No. 18 Nittany Lions downed No. 11 Virginia 22-13. The unranked Ducks then topped the Trojans Sunday 18-11 for their first win over a ranked opponent since 2008.

On Saturday, Syracuse also felt the upset bug when Virginia Tech defeated the Orange 15-14 in double overtime on Tristan McGinley’s game-winning goal, and Brown women upset Cornell 14-13 for its first win over the Big Red since 1999.

Plus, No. 6 Loyola avenged last year’s Patriot League tournament loss to Navy with a 16-12 win, No. 9 Northwestern won its sixth straight with a 20-10 rout of Notre Dame and No. 10 Penn used a second half comeback to defeat Ivy foe Dartmouth 13-11.

Quaker freshman Zoe Belodeau had six points in the win, setting the program rookie record with 46 goals in the season. Florida freshman midfielder Shannon Kavanagh also set a program record for draw controls with 12 in an 18-8 win over Villanova.

Both No. 1 Stony Brook and No. 2 Boston College remain undefeated after beating Binghamton 18-5 and downing Duke 18-8, respectively.

5. The Saskatchewan Rush secured first overall in the NLL and home turf advantage in the Champion's Cup playoffs with an 11-8 win over the Colorado Mammoth on Saturday. Playoffs will begin the week of April 30 with the divisional semifinals, followed by the divisional finals the week of May 7.

“Having home-court advantage is big," said Rush forward Ben McIntosh, who tallied two goals and two assists in the win. "It’s something we’ve been chasing all year. It’s sort of our first milestone to achieve for the year and now we go forward.”

The Rush held a moment of silence for the Humboldt Broncos Junior A Hockey Club, which was involved in a bus accident with several fatalies. The team wore #SaskStrong decals in their honor and the fans broke out in a "Let's Go Broncos" chant. 

Also in action over the weekend, the Black Wolves defeated Calgary 13-12 in overtime thanks to Stephan Leblanc's goal with seven seconds left in regulation and Johnny Powless' game-winner 47 seconds into the extra period. 

In a back-and-forth battle, the Georgia Swarm also held on for an 11-10 win over the Rock, sweeping the season series against Toronto and entering into a three-way tie with Buffalo and Rochester for first in the East Division.

6. Dom Starsia pens an article about why we play sports and the value of winning versus losing.

“There is an old saying: ‘Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it,’” he wrote. “We keep score because learning to win with grace and lose with dignity affects every part of our lives. We need to experience both of those outcomes unexceptionally to develop a balanced and reflective personality.”

What We’re Reading

What We’re Watching

Seahawks star Russell Wilson, "a big lacrosse fan," shared some words of wisdom before Cathedral Catholic men’s lacrosse game against Corona Del Mar.

It may be April, but there was still more #SnowCrosse to be played. Colorado downed USC 10-7 on its snow-covered field.

Watch Noelle Lambert’s inspirational comeback one more time and listen to postgame interviews about the moment that reminds us why we love lacrosse.

“For today, it was just about a closure – a closure in the sense that the tragedy of it is over. Now, it’s full throttle. This is who I am. I’m overwhelmingly proud of her,” said UMass-Lowell coach Carissa Medeiros.

What’s On Tap

  • Stay tuned for updates in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings and players of the week later today.

  • Subscribe today to our weekly email newsletter and stay connected to each week's top lacrosse stories. The newsletter goes out every Thursday.

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