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.

The calendar is flipping to May on Sunday.

Which means conference tournaments will be in full swing. It means Selection Sunday is right around the corner (May 8). It also means the pinnacle of the sport — Memorial Day Weekend — is in the not-so-distant future.

We’ll have one conference champion crowned by Sunday, as the Atlantic finishes up with a noon contest in Amherst, Mass. But who will be joining the A-10’s automatic qualifier in the NCAA tournament?

We’ll know soon enough.

GAMES TO WATCH
ALL TIMES EASTERN

GAME OF THE WEEK

UMass vs. Saint Joseph’s

Saint Joseph’s brought a four-goal lead into halftime and held off the second-seeded Richmond Spiders to advance to Sunday’s Atlantic 10 championship game against top-seeded UMass. How could the only conference title game of the weekend not be our game of the week?

The Hawks are now riding a considerable bit of momentum, led by Lauren Figura, who totaled five goals in Friday’s 10-9 win over Richmond. If UMass can keep her in check, then the Minutewomen will have less to worry about. That’s not to discredit the rest of the Hawks — they have eight players with at least 15 goals — but Figure is up over 60 goals on the season.

UMass boasts some considerable offense in its own right, and the Minutewomen haven’t lost a game since March 5 (a 17-14 loss to UConn).

This one should be fun.

UPSET WATCH

Yale at No. 12 Princeton

The Ivy League’s regular-season title is on the line.

Both Yale and Princeton enter this matchup at 6-0, though they’ve taken different paths to this point. Yale came into the season with little buzz but has worked its way into consideration for a spot in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20. Princeton, meanwhile, has long been considered this spring’s Ivy League favorite.

Both teams also enter this matchup at 14.07 goals per game (tied for 32nd nationally). Although Princeton’s schedule does feature a few more prominent national powers (Florida and Loyola, for example), these teams have also played similar out-of-conference foes.

Princeton certainly enters as the favorite, but don’t count Yale out in this matchup.

BEST GAME NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT

No. 11 James Madison at Drexel

People might be sleeping on this matchup, in large part because Drexel has cooled after last season and James Madison cannot even compete in the CAA tournament due to its impending conference change. But last season, this CAA championship matchup was one of the season’s most compelling games.

It was a goalie-v-goalie matchup last spring that stole the show, as both Molly Dougherty (JMU) and Zoe Bennett (Drexel) were on their “A” games in JMU’s overtime victory. Two very strong midfields will be at odds on Saturday, too, but history says that the spotlight will again be on two of the top goalies in the country.

UNDER-THE-RADAR STARS

Katie Pascale, Albany

On an Albany team undefeated in America East play entering its season finale against Stony Brook, Pascale leads with 70 points (38 goals, 32 assists). She also leads with 72 draw controls. To beat Albany, teams need to take Pascale out of the game. That’s proven difficult to do this spring.

Olivia Penoyer, Yale

Yale’s primary distributor, Penoyer has 32 assists to go with 18 goals for a team-leading 50 points. She’s also effective on the ride, contributing nine ground balls and six caused turnovers.

Brinley Anderson, UMass

A starter in all 18 games this season, Anderson is the team’s leader with 33 ground balls and 26 caused turnovers. She’s also chipped in 20 draw controls, which is fifth for the Minutewomen.