Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The No. 5 Yale men took care of business against Marist at home last night, 14-4, setting up a yuge visit from No. 1 Albany Sunday.
The Bulldogs pounced on the Foxes early, 4-1, and cruised behind four goals and four assists from Ben Reeves and five goals and one assist from Brendan Rooney. A 5-0 run broke an early 1-1 tie. Yale won 16 of 21 faceoffs, and Marist committed 20 turnovers to allow the Bulldogs to control the game.
The Great Danes entertain in-state rival Binghamton in a possible trap game Friday, but they own a 16-3 lead in the all-time series and haven't lost to the Bearcats since 2011.
Elsewhere, road teams took home nailbiting wins in two rivalry games. Saint Joseph's scored the first four goals at No. 20 Penn and killed off a two-man Quaker advantage in the final 25 seconds to hang on, 12-11, at Franklin Field. Eight times the hosts closed to within two goals, but they couldn't close to within one until Simon Mathias scored with 3:51 to play. With 25 ticks left, officials sent Shane Fable and Brendan McNicholas to the box for pushing and holding, respectively, but Penn turned the ball over to cement its fourth loss in five outings.
The Hawks, meanwhile, have won eight straight following an 0-3 start, and they vanquished their Philadelphia foes for the second time in three years, though Penn still has a commanding 13-2 series lead. Chris Blewitt scored four goals to lead Saint Joseph's.
Providence responded from its collapse at Marquette last week by engineering one at rival Brown, ultimately defeating the Bears for the first time in school history, 12-11 in overtime, on Sean Leahey's fourth goal of the game. The Friars rallied from an 11-9 deficit as the clocked ticked under seven minutes in the fourth quarter, tying the game with 2:50 left when Josh Keller converted a pass from Evan McGreen.
Leahey's winner came after a missed shot by Brown to open overtime, giving the drama-king Friars their first extra-time win in five tries this season. Having beaten Bryant earlier in the season, Providence secured the Ocean State Cup for the first time.
Yesterday's NCAA Division I Men's Scores
No. 5 Yale 14, Marist 4
Saint Joseph's 12, No. 20 Penn 11
Providence 12, Brown 11 (ot)
2. Empire State bragging rights were on the line in the lone Division I women's game yesterday, and Cornell used a 5-0 second-half run to pull away from host Binghamton, 15-7.
Caroline Allen scored four goals, including two during the game-changing spurt that saw the Big Red extend a 9-6 edge midway through the frame to an insurmountable 14-6 lead with 9:06 to play. Cornell's seventh victory without a loss against the Bearcats gave coach Jenny Graap her 200th career victory.
3. Our team-by-team previews in advance of Saturday's Major League Lacrosse opener began yesterday in projected order of finish, and that means the defending champion Ohio Machine started off the series.
Though the most pressing question for Ohio involves the health of two-time reigning league MVP Tom Schreiber (he recently returned to the National Lacrosse League season following a February knee injury), the midfielder Peter Baum represents an equally potent threat that garnered MVP consideration a season ago
Also from yesterday, any team that boasts Rob Pannell, Paul Rabil and Joe Walters should contend for a playoff berth, but the New York Lizards must find a way to get that triumvirate the ball in the wake of Greg Gurenlian's retirement. Brendan Fowler, acquired in an offseason trade, appears to be the answer.
4. How good did Navy's first win over Virginia last week feel for coach Cindy Timchal and the Mids?
Not only did Navy end a hex against the Cavaliers, but it earned an NCAA tournament resume-boosting victory over a squad that's got the 14th-best RPI in the country. The Mids' prospects lead off our weekly college women's notebook.
5. What is the RPI, you may ask? Good timing, as this week's college men's Bracketology offers a refresher on the statistical metric.
Two Philadelphia-area teams, Penn and Villanova, figure to benefit from strong RPIs as Selection Sunday draws near.
6. The Nike/US Lacrosse High School National Top 25 rankings and regional reports were released yesterday, centering on McDonogh's (Md.) two upsets to jump into the boys' ranking and on seven (!) newcomers to the girls' top 25.
Also on the high school front, the Warrior/US Lacrosse Players of the Week recognized players in each of our five high school regions on the boys' side; ditto the Brine/US Lacrosse awards on the girls' side.
7. The US Lacrosse Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA) announced the fields for its national championships May 9-12 in Round Rock, Texas.
Unbeaten Michigan Club earned the No. 1 seed in the 16-team Division I bracket, while Denver Club garnered the No. 1 seed for the 12-team Division II field.