Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. No. 1 Stony Brook won its 10th straight game and remained one of two unbeaten teams with a 19-4 defeat of Cornell in one of just three games on the NCAA Division I women's schedule yesterday.
Ally Kennedy and Courtney Murphy scored five goals each to lead the Seawolves, and the former dished out two assists to set a career high with seven points. Murphy now stands three goals away from eclipsing Gail Cummings-Danson as the NCAA's all-time leader with 289 goals. Stony Brook won 12 draws in the first half to take a 14-3 lead. The Seawolves head to Hartford Thursday.
STONY BROOK GOAL!
— Stony Brook WLAX (@StonyBrookWLAX) April 3, 2018
Murphy grabs goal No. 5, moving just three goals away from the NCAA Division I career record. #SeawolvesUnited | #NCAALAX | #AEWLAX pic.twitter.com/2loug4dVxa
Elsewhere, Notre Dame, lurking just outside the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20, took down visiting Michigan, 14-8. Andie Aldave and Jessi Masinko scored twice each to key a game-changing 6-0 run for the Fighting Irish midway through the first half. Host Rutgers downed Lafayette, 12-9, behind hat tricks from Samantha Budd and Paige Paratore. In defeat, Jane Kirby reached the 100 career-goal mark for the Leopards.
2. An equally light day on the Division I men's side did feature a rivalry game, and No. 7 Syracuse won the Kraus-Simmons Trophy for the 30th time in the last 33 meetings with Hobart, 11-4.
Stephen Rehfuss led the Orange with five points, and Syracuse killed off three Statesmen extra-man opportunities to extend a streak of same to 11. Here's a nice moment for senior Ryan Simmons, hoisting the trophy and acknowledging grandfather and National Lacrosse Hall of Fame former Syracuse coach Roy Simmons Jr.
The Kraus-Simmons Trophy stays with ‘Cuse pic.twitter.com/TSYsBoHfPD
— Syracuse Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) April 4, 2018
The Orange continue an in-state rivalry tour Tuesday with a visit to No. 13 Cornell.
Another Empire State matchup saw host Stony Brook prevail over St. John's, 8-6, thanks in part to 10 saves from senior goalie Brandon Maciejewski in his first start of the season. The Seawolves got two goals apiece from Tom Haun, Mike McCannall, and Chris Pickel.
New Jersey native Bryan Hess enjoyed his return to the Garden State, scoring three of his career-high four goals in the fourth quarter to lead Lafayette to an 11-10 win at Monmouth. His effort was matched by Hawk Bryce Wasserman, and the hosts had the ball with a chance to tie late but turned the ball over to seal the Leopards' win.
3. Our first “Bracketology” of the spring leads with No. 1 and lone unbeaten Albany.
The Great Danes have a strong case to make for the NCAA tournament's No. 1 seed, particularly as they own wins over teams currently in the top five of LaxPower's unofficial RPI (Maryland, Yale and Syracuse). Each of those teams has chances to boost its profile, and thus strengthen Albany's, as they continue through tough league play in the coming weeks.
4. No. 13 Stanford has won nine of 10 games and is 6-1 in the Pac-12 Conference, owning the inside track in the race for the league's inaugural regular-season title and headlining our weekly women's notebook.
The Cardinal have emerged from an 0-2 start to defeat preseason league favorite USC twice during the hot streak. Coach Amy Bokker cited younger players on offense that have benefitted from game reps to help put that unit into the top 10 in goals and assists per game.
Stanford is well-positioned to earn the league tournament's No. 1 seed two of its final three Pac-12 games come at home and the third, against Cal, is just across the bay in Berkeley.
5. Yesterday we continued our advance look at the “Faces and Voices of the Black Lacrosse Community” feature in the April edition of US Lacrosse Magazine with the online release of profiles on Kellenberg (N.Y.) High School senior Arielle Ramirez and recently retired Major League Lacrosse star Chazz Woodson.
Ramirez plays midfield and also competes on the school's track and field team. She'll continue her lacrosse career at Hartford in the fall.
Woodson played professionally for 12 seasons following his collegiate career at Brown, during which the Ivy League twice named him an all-league attackman. He co-founded Sankofa Lacrosse, an organization that conducts free instructional clinics for kids in underrepresented communities.