Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Which team should be No. 1?
After falling to ACC champion North Carolina in the conference semifinals 16-15, Syracuse (11-2) dropped to No. 3 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20, making room for Denver to bump up one spot to assume the Orange’s former position as No. 1.
While Inside Lacrosse reports that Denver and Maryland are “neck and neck,” the Terps take the top seed in the Maverik Media Poll, as well as in the USILA/Nike Coaches Poll. Maryland also beat out Syracuse to claim the top NCAA RPI ranking.
ESPN’s Quint Kessinch wrote “Maryland is real,” the “Pios put it all together” and there are two versions of “Cuse: the bad and the good.”
While warranting consideration for the top spot after winning the outright Big Ten regular season title with a 12-5 rout of Johns Hopkins, Maryland moved to the No. 2 seed in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings.
The back-and-forth battle between these teams for the No. 1 seed throughout the season continues with the Selection Sunday just one week away.
“#HeadHeartHustle dropped out of the top RPI spot and should be seeded anywhere between Nos. 1 and 3 depending on what happens this week,” Kessinch added about Syracuse.
2. Brianne Tierney, daughter of seven-time NCAA national champion and current Denver men’s lacrosse coach Bill Tierney, was named the first women’s lacrosse coach for Kent State, the university announced Monday.
"We are excited to bring in Brianne to start our women's lacrosse program," said Director of Athletics Joel Nielsen. "The Tierney family is recognized across the nation in collegiate lacrosse, and Brianne herself has a proven record of success. Tierney has experience building a program from the ground up, and we are eager to see her develop our newest athletic program."
Kent State will begin competition during the 2019 season. It will be the second team Tierney has built after serving after the first head coach at Lebanon Valley College in Division III.
"As a fan of the sport living in Ohio, the June announcement of the addition of a new Division I program in our area was extremely exciting; now, to be at the helm of the Golden Flashes Lacrosse program is a dream come true," Tierney said.
3. The National Lacrosse League (NLL) launched a redesigned website Monday, just in time for the league’s playoffs, which begin May 5.
“We have focused on a digital-first strategy and aspire to be the leading sports league in this area. It’s more than just a strategy; it’s a commitment to our fans that we will invest in technology and innovation to elevate their NLL experience. And this website is another key step in fulfilling that promise,” said NLL commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “The video-forward approach gives fans more access to the non-stop action of box lacrosse, with new features to set game reminders and connect with players – a truly engaging and interactive experience.”
4. In this week’s Nike/US Lacrosse rankings, the Denver men are back on top and Maryland bumps up to No. 2, while there wasn’t much change in Division I women’s lacrosse. The lady Terps are the clear No. 1 as Virginia and Boston College each moved up one spot.
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. The Epoch/US Lacrosse Players of the Week are Cornell’s Jeff Teat on the men’s side and North Carolina’s Molly Hendrick on the women’s side.
What We’re Reading
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Inside Lacrosse revealed its panel topics and speakers for the third Lacrosse Industry Summit on May 26 in Boston, ahead of the NCAA men’s and women’s lacrosse final four.
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This past weekend was “an appetizer for what promises to be a superb main course,” writes Quint Kessinch in his weekly Division I men’s Top 20 for Inside Lacrosse.
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ESPN’s Mark Dixon said Albany junior attackman Connor Fields is a “Tewaaraton Award finalist, if not the winner.”
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Fifty years later, Terps celebrate their 1967 men’s lacrosse title, shared with Johns Hopkins and Navy before the NCAA sponsored the sport.
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The Terps lost top attacker Jen Giles to injury in their 18-9 win over Northwestern, but kept their composure by maintaining a “next play” mantra to win the Big Ten regular season title.
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UMBC men’s lacrosse “won’t be unnverved” by its first postseason appearance in three years, according to the Baltimore Sun.
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Under Armour released its third wave of girls and boys selected to compete in the Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Game on July 1 at Towson.
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In the MCLA tournament, Utah capped its historic season with its first national postseason berth since 2005.
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Yale recruit Samantha Higgins, a Shoreham-Wading River High School senior, is a “humble” “overachiever,” staying busy with extracurricular activities off the lacrosse field.
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The North Cobb (Ga.) girls’ lacrosse team is headed to the state playoffs for the first time in program history.
What We’re Watching
“If you build it, they will come.”
On April 26, Dulaney and Hereford junior varsity boys’ teams battled it out on Tierney Field at the US Lacrosse headquarters, which was dubbed the lacrosse “field of dreams” by ABC 2. Dulaney won 12-4.
What’s On Tap
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The Patriot League women’s lacrosse tournament kicks off this afternoon at 4 p.m. First up, No. 5 Lafayette battles No. 4 Boston University, followed by No. 6 Bucknell playing Lehigh at 7 p.m. Winners advance to the quarterfinals at top seed and host Loyola on Friday.
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The Nike/US Lacrosse high school rankings come out today. Check back later to see which boys’ and girls’ teams are No. 1.