Welcome to the Gameday Guide.

Every weekend during the college lacrosse season, USA Lacrosse Magazine staff will riff on the juiciest matchups, trendiest topics and biggest storylines.

Check out the rankings and TV listings for more.

THIS WEEKEND IS CHOCK FULL OF GOODIES.

Either Ivy League game below could qualify as the Game of the Week, with Penn and Yale each hoping to avoid to going 0-2 to start conference play. As could the Ohio State-Rutgers showdown to identify the No. 2 team in the Big Ten behind Maryland. Not to mention Army at Loyola bearing somewhat significant Patriot League implications even though the calendar has yet to turn April.

Speaking of Maryland, the top-ranked Terps will look to avoid a letdown in the first Sunday night showdown against Penn State on the Big Ten Network.

GAMES TO WATCH
ALL TIMES EASTERN

GAME OF THE WEEK

No. 4 Cornell at No. 7 Penn

Back to the Ancient Eight. Are you not entertained? If Princeton’s 21-20 OT win over Penn last week was any kind of harbinger, this race will keep us on the edge of our seats.

With Boston University losing to Harvard earlier this week, Cornell (6-0) joins Maryland as the lone unbeaten teams remaining in Division I men’s lacrosse.

Big Red sophomore attackman CJ Kirst ranks fifth in the Ivy League in goals (3.2) and points (4.7) per game. Quakers senior midfielder Sam Handley, meanwhile, leads the conference in assists per game (3.5).

UPSET WATCH

No. 1 Maryland at Penn State

It feels good when you hit on an upset pick, validating even. Such has been the case the last two go arounds for me, correctly calling Penn State over Yale last month and Loyola over Duke two weeks ago. (Not that anyone outside of our magazine team’s group chat keeps score.)

I’m back on Penn State. “It’s too early to say the Nittany Lions have their backs against the wall,” I wrote last month, “but expect them to play with a sense of urgency after dropping three straight games.”

Well, it’s not too early anymore. Penn State has dropped three straight one-goal decisions since its impressive 10-6 win over Yale. Throw in narrow defeats earlier this year to Villanova and Saint Joseph’s, and five the Nittany Lions’ six losses have come by a combined six goals.

Now they enter Big Ten play with a chance to reset expectations. What better way to do that than to perhaps catch sleeping a Maryland team riding high off its dominant win over Virginia at Audi Field last weekend?

BEST GAME NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT

No. 5 Georgetown at No. 15 Lehigh

If you like defense, that is. Georgetown (8.14 goals allowed per game) and Lehigh (8.67) rank 1-2 in Division I in scoring defense. No surprise there, given the teams’ pedigree on that side of the field. They’re playing each other for the first time since 2014. Great faceoff matchup, as well, with James Reilly (65.8 percent) and Mike Sisselberger (68.9 percent) each ranking in the top five nationally

UNDER-THE-RADAR STARS

Brett Dobson, St. Bonaventure

According to an index created and statistics aggregated by our friend Zack Capozzi of Lacrosse Reference — “Beyond the Basics” is a must-read every week — Dobson’s excess saves of 26.8 per game rank No. 1 in Division I by a mile. (The next-best mark is 14.11.) Excess saves measures many more saves a goalie makes than we would expect from a league-average goalie. Dobson gives you that Dillon Ward vibe — a great Canadian stopper putting up big numbers at an unheralded Division I program who won’t get his due until he’s tearing it up in the pro ranks and causing fits for U.S. teams.

Ross Scott, Rutgers

The Big Ten got it right when it identified Scott as a player to watch in the preseason. After splitting his first two seasons at midfield and attack, he has moved into a full-time attack role and flourished, leading the Scarlet Knights in both goals (26) and assists (16) and keeping the offensive machine humming after massive graduation losses.

Alex Trippi, Georgetown

Will Bowen was the more hyped North Carolina transfer, and justifiably so. But Trippi, the former Washington Post All-Met Player of the Year at Bullis School (Md.), can play both attack and midfield and trails only Graham Bundy among the Hoyas’ top scorers with 14 goals and a team-high 11 assists.