The 2020 lacrosse season ended abruptly, and it’s anyone’s guess exactly when the 2021 season will begin. But there’s been plenty of movement in the offseason.
While it’s probably a greater challenge to forecast the upcoming season than in most years, US Lacrosse Magazine will give it a try.
Up today: Nos. 5-1.
Early 2021 Rankings
Division I Men
No. 25 - No. 21
No. 20 - No. 16
No. 15 - No. 11
No. 10 - No. 6
No. 5 - No. 1
Division I Women
No. 25 - No. 21
No. 20 - No. 16
No. 15 - No. 11
No. 10 - No. 6
No. 5 - No. 1
5. MARYLAND
2020 record: 5-1
Last seen: Fending off Albany 14-13 and getting ready to contend with Virginia in a rematch of a 2019 NCAA quarterfinal.
Initial forecast: It’s always to safe to bank on the Terrapins to hover around the top five, even when they have to contend with the departure of a star or two. Jared Bernhardt’s presumed exit deprives Maryland of one of the sport’s best offensive talents, but the Terps could very well withstand his loss. Logan Wisnauskas (24 goals, 12 assists), Anthony DeMaio (10 goals, 11 assists), Daniel Maltz (12 goals, six assists) and Bubba Fairman (five goals, six assists) are all expected back. Toss in Griffin Brown (21 goals, five assists at Colgate) and Eric Holden (20 goals, seven assists at Hobart) as graduate transfers, and Maryland is loaded on offense. Defense was the problem last year, with five of the Terps’ opponents reaching 12 goals, and coach John Tillman made a rare in-season goalie switch, turning to freshman Logan McNaney after four games. Opponents shot better than 30 percent against Maryland, and tightening that up will probably be the difference between simply being solid and contending for a national title.
4. PENN STATE
2020 record: 5-2
Last seen: Bouncing back from a one-goal loss to Cornell by dispatching Furman 22-7 in the final game of a spring break southern swing.
Initial forecast: The Nittany Lions weren’t quite the juggernaut so many expected them to be in 2020, losing to Yale, needing overtime to win at Penn and then falling to Cornell in a three-game stretch just before the season was disrupted. Now Grant Ament (13 goals, 31 assists) is in the PLL, and it’s fair to wonder what losing such a central figure will do to Jeff Tambroni’s team. On the bright side for the Nittany Lions, everyone else among their top seven scorers returns (including finisher Mac O’Keefe), as is the starting close defense, faceoff man Gerard Arceri (.549) and goalie Colby Kneese (.517 save percentage). There will be an interesting dynamic at play here: There are still a lot of the stars from the 2019 team hungry to get back to the Memorial Day weekend stage, but there probably won’t be as much attention initially placed on Penn State since it was neither undefeated in 2020 nor particularly active on the transfer front. The Nittany Lions will still be a force, especially at the offensive end.
3. VIRGINIA
2020 record: 4-2
Last seen: Taking an unexpected loss to Brown in coach Lars Tiffany’s homecoming game in Providence.
Initial forecast: The Cavaliers saw attackman Michael Kraus move on, but the addition of Merrimack transfer Charlie Bertrand will help offset that departure. More importantly, there’s still a lot of strong pieces left from the Hoos’ 2019 national title run: Matt Moore (19 goals, 16 assists), Ian Laviano (11 goals, three assists) and Dox Aitken (nine goals, one assist) among them. Payton Cormier (12 goals, seven assists) impressed as a freshman, and Virginia has known quantities on faceoffs and in the cage. Long pole Jared Connors is among the best in the country at his position, and a Kyle Kology-led close defense that was a bit young last year has the benefit of a half-dozen games of experience. Virginia was always built for a great run in 2020; it happened to turn one in a year early, and there’s definitely enough in Charlottesville to deliver another deep push into May in 2021.
2. SYRACUSE
2020 record: 5-0
Last seen: Pounding Johns Hopkins 15-9 at Homewood Field, the Orange’s fourth victory by at least six goals.
Initial forecast: There’s no way to size up the Orange that doesn’t include the word “impressive.” Old and tested is a good way to be, and Syracuse should have as much synchronicity on offense as anyone in the country. Among the returnees: Attackmen Chase Scanlan (18 goals, five assists) and Stephen Rehfuss (two goals, 18 assists) and midfielders Jamie Trimboli (17 goals, three assists), Brendan Curry (14 goals, three assists) and Tucker Dordevic (10 goals, four assists). Faceoff man Danny Varello (who split time with Jakob Phaup) and goalie Drake Porter (.577 save percentage) joined Rehfuss and Trimboli in sticking around central New York for an extra season. This isn’t a team with obvious weaknesses (a mid-pack man-down unit is a nit to pick), and as a result, this has a chance to be the Orange’s best team in a decade.
1. DUKE
2020 record: 6-2
Last seen: Routing Jacksonville 18-8 on March 10 in the season’s final nationally televised game. The Blue Devils won four in a row after splitting their first four games.
Initial forecast: A team that was averaging 15.3 goals a game when things shut down added Michael Sowers (16 goals, 31 assists in five games) from Princeton. An already solid faceoff game (.575) will be bolstered by the pickup of Holy Cross’ Dan O’Connell. And Michael Adler, who had a .594 save percentage at Saint Joseph’s, can only help a vulnerable situation in the cage. In short, the Blue Devils were the biggest winners of this year’s transfer carousel, and that doesn’t even include star defenseman JT Giles-Harris staying put for a fifth season. Sowers and fellow Princeton teammate Phillip Robertson (67 career goals on .496 shooting) join an offense loaded with the likes of Dyson Williams (25 goals in his debut year), Owen Caputo, Nakeie Montgomery and a still-rehabbing-from-an-ACL-tear Joe Robertson — not to mention the No.1 recruit in his class, Brennan O’Neill. John Danowski’s team is an obvious favorite to haul home a fourth national title — if there’s a season in 2021.