Dialed In: Your Lacrosse Fix for Wednesday, April 19
Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. There’s a new No. 1 high school boys’ team.
St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) had been trending upward all spring, and a loss by former No. 1 McDonogh (Md.) to Loyola-Blakefield (Md.) opened the door for the Friars to take it.
2. In girls’ lacrosse, Darien (Conn.) affirmed its No. 1 standing.
The Blue Wave had to weather a lengthy rain delay, but they were able to top another national powerhouse, St. Paul’s (Md.), at USA Lacrosse headquarters. That win kept Darien atop the Top 25.
3. There were five Division I contests yesterday — two men’s games and three women’s games.
Georgetown blasted Loyola on the men’s side in the most notable game of the day, but the Johns Hopkins and Towson women provided the most competitive contest. Hopkins tied it by scoring the final three goals of regulation, then Ava Angello won it for the Blue Jays with 4:26 left in overtime.
MEN’S SCORES
No. 9 Georgetown 23, Loyola 7
Holy Cross 13, UMass Lowell 9
WOMEN’S SCORES
No. 20 Johns Hopkins 13, Towson 12 (OT)
New Hampshire 16, Central Connecticut 6
Vermont 13, Dartmouth 11
4. Our weekly bracketology series continued, and it will keep going through Selection Sunday.
In Patrick Stevens’ men’s bracketology, he writes about how geography could shape the bracket more than usual. Division I outposts like Notre Dame, Utah, Denver and Vermont are all either (virtually) in the tournament or knocking on the door, and the selection committee prefers to limit travel to less than 400 miles.
In Jeremy Fallis’ women’s bracketology, he takes a look at RPI. A team like Richmond, which is having a successful season and even owns a strong win over Virginia, is projected to be out of the field this week with an RPI of 30 that keeps falling.
5. There was a massive NJCAA shakeup over the weekend.
Harford CC is the nation’s new men’s No. 1 after beating defending champion Nassau CC 11-8. Xan Hayes scored three times in the game, and Alex Epple made 12 saves.
6. Anne Arundel is still in control of the NJCAA women’s poll.
The big story in the poll this week is Monroe CC, which is up into the No. 2 spot just two weeks after sitting in fourth.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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As we do each Tuesday on usalaxmagazine.com, we updated the regional top 10 rankings for both boys’ and girls’ lacrosse.
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Jordan Hyde (Utah), Riley Seay (Lenoir-Rhyne) and Cooper DeMallie (Middlebury) are the USA Lacrosse Men’s Players of the Week.
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Allie Boyce (Bucknell), Jessica Meneilly (Le Moyne) and Jordan Basso (Gettysburg) are the USA Lacrosse Women’s Players of the Week.
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Pressbox’s Colin Murphy profiled Towson goalie Jo Torres, a transfer from Navy who has helped fuel the Tigers’ CAA success leading into a pivotal game against Stony Brook on April 22.
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The Daily Northwestern’s Jake Epstein with an in-depth feature on “generational player” Madison Taylor, a freshman dynamo out of the midfield for the Wildcats.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
An update on the health of Clemson head coach Allison Kwolek.
WHAT’S ON TAP
High school players of the week and MCLA rankings are updated today.
Kenny DeJohn
Kenny DeJohn has been the Digital Content Editor at USA Lacrosse since 2019. First introduced to lacrosse in 2016 as a Newsday Sports reporter on Long Island (yes, ON Long Island), DeJohn specializes in women's game coverage. His search for New York quality pizza in Baltimore is ongoing.