Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. After a Saturday that saw No. 1 Denver and No. 2 Maryland fall, it only seems logical that No. 3 might have a chance ascend to the top spot in this week’s Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20. Except No. 3 was Johns Hopkins, which got blitzed by Princeton on Friday. It was that kind of weekend, with seven of the top 10 suffering losses.
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Friday’s matinee on ESPNU was a showcase for Princeton junior midfielder Austin Sims. The U.S. U19 co-captain showed his leadership abilities last summer when he took on a defensive midfielder role to help Team USA bring home gold. Sims showed his offensive ability on Friday, pouring in six goals to lead Princeton to a stunning 18-7 victory over previously unbeaten Johns Hopkins.
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A week after getting stoned by Johns Hopkins, North Carolina went on the road and downed Denver 13-9 behind 17 saves from Brian Balkam. Denver was allowing just 5.3 goals per game coming into the game – third best in the country – but UNC poured in 13, four of them by Luke Goldstock.
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It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but Notre Dame was happy to take a 5-4 victory over Maryland that vaulted them to No. 1 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 poll. The two teams combined for 37 turnovers and the defenses kept the stars silent — Notre Dame’s Sergio Perkovic was 0-for-8 shooting and Maryland’s Matt Rambo was 0-for-3 with four turnovers.
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Three more teams from the Top 10 fell on Sunday, with Bryant shocking Yale, Syracuse edging Virginia 14-13 and Duke beating Richmond 9-8. Ben Reeves made a return from injury and had four assists for Yale, but Bryant scored the final three goals to win 9-6. Syracuse didn’t lead until there was 15 seconds left in the game, but that was enough to beat the Cavaliers. It was the third straight Syracuse game decided in the final 15 seconds. Duke's win over previously unbeaten Richmond was the Blue Devils first over a ranked opponent this year.
PHOTO BY KEVIN P. TUCKER
Cornell put the clamps on Penn in a 10-4 win on Saturday, one of several women's teams to make a statement this weekend.
2. The top of the rankings on the women’s side was much calmer, but plenty of statements were made.
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Colorado hosted Denver in a battle of Rocky Mountain unbeatens on Friday, but the Buffaloes didn’t leave much doubt who was king of the mountain. The Buffs dominated Denver 14-3 behind five goals and two assists from Johnna Fusco.
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Cornell won the Ivy League tournament last year, but found itself behind traditional Ivy powers Penn and Princeton in the national rankings early this year. On Saturday, the Big Red limited Penn to just 14 shots (3 in the second half), beating the Quakers 10-4.
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Northwestern’s first five games were all decided by two goals or less – wins over Canisius and Notre Dame and losses to Top 10 teams Colorado, USC and Syracuse – so that made Stony’s Brook’s 13-5 rout all the more impressive. Kylie Ohlmiller led the Seawolves with three goals and three assists.
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If you thought about writing off Virginia Tech following its loss to Elon last week, you thought wrong. The Hokies, who won a total of just three ACC games COMBINED from 2005 to 2016, downed Duke 11-6 on Saturday, their first win over the Blue Devils in 20 tries. Virginia Tech finds itself 2-0 in the ACC, tied with Notre Dame and Syracuse at the top of the league standings.
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Syracuse suffered huge graduation losses following last year’s final four berth, but the Orange are 7-0 and showed they can win multiple ways this weekend. On Friday, they shut out Northwestern in the first half and won a defensive battle 5-3. On Sunday, they gave up 11 first half goals and trailed Virginia by as many as nine goals before roaring back for a 16-15 victory.
PHOTO BY GREG WALL
Syracuse rallied from a nine-goal deficit to beat Virginia 16-15 on Sunday. The Orange are a perfect 7-0 entering Saturday's game at No. 1 Maryland.
3. Jenny Levy entered some pretty exclusive territory on Sunday, picking up her 300th career win as the head coach at North Carolina. Levy is just the third coach in NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse history to reach the milestone, joining Cindy Timchal who has won 477 games at Northwestern, Maryalnd and Navy and Chris Sailer who has won 375 at Princeton. Levy’s milestone came in a 16-8 win over Canisius at a place pretty appropriate to make history — US Lacrosse’s Tierney Field, just steps away from the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum.
4. The Chesapeake Bayhawks have two of the most marketable young players in Major League Lacrosse after picking up Lyle Thompson in a trade with the Florida Launch on Friday. Thompson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 MLL Collegiate Draft, joins Myle Jones on the Bayhawks. Jones was selected first overall in 2016 before being acquired in a trade midseason last year. Thompson currently ranks second in the National Lacrosse League with 64 points (27g, 37a) for league-leading Georgia.
5. The U.S. women's team learned its path towards gold as the Federation of International Lacrosse announced the 2017 World Cup schedule. The event runs from July 12-22 in Guildford, England, and the U.S. opens against Scotland on July 13.
6. Ohio State’s Eric Fannell’s rough road to Ohio State was chronicled by Corey McLaughlin in the March issue of US Lacrosse Magazine. Fannell had four goals and five assists over the weekend to lead the Buckeyes to wins over Marquette and Bellarmine. The Buckeyes are 6-0.