Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. High Point was upset city on Monday night, picking up its second win over a ranked team this season. This time it came against a Duke team that sat No. 14 in the rankings — a 16- 12 victory.
Abby Hormes had six goals to help the Panthers hold close and pull away from the Blue Devils late. Jill Call had eight saves.
UPSET CITY = HIGH POINT, NC!@hpuwlax knocks off No. 18 Duke, 16-12!#BigSouthLAX pic.twitter.com/1pxBgetTCA
— Big South Game Day (@BigSouthGameDay) April 10, 2018
Duke had command of the game early, taking an 8-5 lead on a goal from Catherine Cordrey, who finished with three tallies. High Point rallied and tied the game at 9-9 at the half behind three goals from Hormes.
The Blue Devils added two goals out of halftime before the Panthers answered with five straight to take an insurmountable 14-11 lead. Charlotte North scored late for Duke, but it could not claw back.
2. To drop Albany. or not to drop Albany — that was the question after the lacrosse weekend. The Great Danes entered Friday undefeated and at No. 1, but were shocked by UMBC.
No. 2 Maryland took care of business against Penn State on Sunday night, leaving many to question whether it should take over the top spot. Albany, however, retains its top ranking in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20.
Bucknell was a big mover in the rankings, jumping from No. 14 to No. 11 after upsetting Yale mid-week. Villanova and Notre Dame fell after struggling last week.
The Great Danes did not retain the No. 1 ranking in every poll. A look at the major-college and junior-college polls released on Monday:
Nike/USL Rankings
MD1 | WD1 | MD2 | WD2 | MD3 | WD3
Maverik/Cascade/IL Media Polls
MD1 | WD1
USILA Polls
MD1 | MD2 | MD3
IWLCA Polls
WD1 | WD2 | WD3
Junior College Men
3. The Pac-12 had a strong showing in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 this week. Stanford, a team that swept USC, moved up to No. 12, while Colorado moves up to No. 17 and the Trojans fell back to No. 18.
Stanford and Colorado will battle on Friday for first place in the Pac-12, while USC will face San Diego State this weekend.
No. 3 Maryland leads a tight Big Ten race, with Northwestern and Penn State trailing behind.
4. The Saskatchewan Rush were playing for more than just playoff positioning on Saturday night. Fans and players did their part in remembering the 15 members of the Humboldt junior hockey team lost in the tragic bus crash last week.
There was a moment of silence before the opening faceoff. Sask Strong was embedded in a Broncos decal on Rush helmets. A chant of “Let’s Go Broncos” arose from the crowd of 14,971 at the start of the fourth quarter — an 11-8 win over the Colorado Mammoth that helped clinch the NLL West top seed.
5. Lindenwood is the new No. 1 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division II Women’s Top 20, after former top team Florida Southern fell to Rollins last week.
The Lions had to put their ranking to the test Monday night, battling with No. 12 Grand Valley State. They trailed by three goals in the first half, but used an eight-goal rally to pull back and create some breathing room en route to a 15-13 victory.
6. Cornell’s Jeff Teat and Penn State’s Katie O’Donnell were named the national players of the week.
Teat dropped four goals and eight assists in a big win over Harvard on Saturday. He now has five games of seven or more points this season.
O’Donnell tallied a career-high eight points to become the 14th player in program history to surpass the 200-point mark in an upset win over then-No. 11 Virginia.