Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. No. 12 Northwestern got career-best performances from Julie Krupnick and Sheila Nesselbush in a 14-10 win over No. 13 Syracuse on Monday.
Krupnick, the redshirt freshman goalie, had 12 saves on 22 shots while Nesselbush, a senior midfielder, recorded a career-high five goals and an assist, plus two ground balls and two draw controls.
Sheila Nesselbush scored a career-high five goals, so @DeanLinke and @StanwickBurch had her break them down on @BigTenNetwork postgame.#B1GCats pic.twitter.com/GcUHrBgmSt
— Northwestern Lax (@NULax) March 26, 2018
The Orange got out to an early 3-0 lead seven minutes in, but the Wildcats responded with back-to-back goals. Nicole Levy then scored for Syracuse before Northwestern finished the first half on a three-goal run, including two from Nesselbush, to enter halftime with a one-goal lead.
Levy opened the second period for Syracuse with her fourth tally of the game to knot it at five, but it was Northwestern who pulled away thanks to a five-goal run, three of which came from Selena Lasota.
Selena Lasota. Too good. #B1GCats pic.twitter.com/Qi6nDXClUe
— Northwestern Lax (@NULax) March 26, 2018
With a 10-5 advantage for the Wildcats, the Orange had a 3-1 edge over the next three minutes to cut their lead to three. However, Northwestern finished the game with three more goals, including the last from Nesselbush, compared to just two more for Syracuse.
The Wildcats dominated the draw 18-8, with 13 from Shelby Fredericks.
Plus, in other notable Monday games, Towson topped Oregon 15-10 for coach Sonia LaMonica’s 100th career win.
TIGERS WIN! Towson 15, Oregon 10. With that win, head coach @slamonica1 picks up her 100th career win in nine seasons as a college head coach, including 92 in eight seasons at Towson. pic.twitter.com/9h4SmmoPrO
— TU Women's Lacrosse (@Towson_WLAX) March 27, 2018
2. Johns Hopkins rallied from a seven-goal halftime deficit to defeat Virginia 15-13 and bump up two spots to No. 6 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20.
However, Syracuse was the hottest team this past week, moving from No. 17 to No. 10 with a 15-14 win over Duke advancing to 2-0 in the ACC.
Bucknell also rose four spots with a 12-11 win over Loyola, shaking up the Patriot League, while Cornell and Michigan are this week’s newcomers, dropping out Hofstra and Army.
3. Towson was the biggest mover in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20, jumping eight spots to No. 6 with a big road win over then-No. 5 Florida.
Boston College rose to No. 2 with an impressive 17-11 win over North Carolina, Loyola joins the top five riding a six-game win streak and Stanford now sits at No. 16 with a double overtime victory over USC.
Dartmouth also joins the mix at No. 19 with an upset of then-No. 16 Princeton.
4. There’s a new No. 1 in Division II men’s lacrosse as then-No. 2 Le Moyne handed then-No. 1 Merrimack its first loss of 2018 to gain that top spot. Merrimack dropped to No. 3.
Florida Southern holds strong atop the Division II women’s rankings, while Middlebury women and RIT men remain No. 1 in Division III rankings.
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
5. Boston College’s Sam Apuzzo and Harvard’s Morgan Cheek were named the national players of the week.
Apuzzo had a star-studded performance for the undefeated Eagles, leading them to the program’s longest win streak (12) thanks to 14 points and 12 draw controls in a comeback victory over Yale and a dominating showing against North Carolina.
Cheek had 18 points in wins over Boston University and Dartmouth, including the game-winning goal and a program-record 13 points against the Terriers.
6. The Rochester Knighthawks won their second straight against the best of the NLL, the Saskatchewan Rush, to move from last to second in the NLL East, boosting their playoff chances.
“We just keep battling back and proving we are a good team,” said Austin Shanks, who scored five goals in a 13-10 road win.
What We’re Reading
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Albany’s Connor Fields expects to play against Harvard on Wednesday, four days after injuring his right knee in Saturday’s win at UMass Lowell.
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Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse coach John Sung apologized on behalf of his team for a video of his players singing racial slurs, calling it a “teachable moment.”
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Ryan Frawley is the latest injury for UMBC men’s lacrosse with an injured thumb.
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Harry Stanton becomes the all-time leader in goals for Wesleyan lacrosse.
What We’re Watching
Here’s what you missed this past week in lacrosse thanks to our weekly Dialed In The Show with US Lacrosse Magazine’s Matt Hamilton!
Welcome back to #DIALEDIN The Show!
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) March 26, 2018
Today, we recap @MarylandWLax's big week and @BCwlax's huge win over UNC. @jhumenslacrosse shocks @UVAMensLax and @CuseMLAX upsets Duke.
Plus, viral feat. @RiverHawkWLax's Noelle Lambert + an all-time @NLL ref call. the April Cover pic.twitter.com/QpVXLRKIMk
We’ve all seen the viral video of the “best penalty call ever” by NLL official Todd Labranche. Now, hear his explanation of the call.
VIDEO: You've seen the viral video of the Best Penalty Call Ever. Now hear from the ref @nllref12 who gives his full explanation of it. @MammothLax @NLL @ZackGreer88 @StealthLAX @DenverChannel #Lacrosse #NLL pic.twitter.com/I2yTG78lcv
— Alison Mastrangelo (@AlisonM_TV) March 26, 2018
Miss other NLL highlights from the weekend? Check them out here.
ICYMI: Here are some highlights from Week 16. Pick your poison:
— NLL (@NLL) March 26, 2018
BUF @ NE : https://t.co/Nr6KJS4bMs
VAN @ COL : https://t.co/3rZGWiwbh9
TOR @ CGY : https://t.co/VfQSPbgoby
NE @ GA : https://t.co/oCg9LbZsa8
Also, this defensive play by Maryland junior Nick Brozowski in its 11-7 win over North Carolina in California was on point.
If you don’t appreciate how steezy this play is we can’t be friends. pic.twitter.com/3p7qdCDGHS
— TLN (@LacrosseNetwork) March 26, 2018
What’s On Tap
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The Nike/US Lacrosse high school rankings and players of the week come out later today.
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Take an inside look at Dartmouth’s upset of Princeton in the weekly women’s notebook.
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Six Division I teams are in action today, highlighted by No. 13 Cornell men taking on Air Force at 5 p.m.
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