For right now, we are all victims of a small sample size. For better or for worse, these two weekends are all we have to go by after what can only be considered one of the wildest starts to a women’s lacrosse season we’ve seen in some time.
Teams near the top of the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 have been dropping like flies, with the exception of North Carolina, which is holding steady at No. 1. Syracuse lost to Stony Brook, Maryland lost to Florida and Northwestern lost to Notre Dame, all since Monday.
What does that leave us with? Quite the shakeup.
Here’s how it all shook out.
Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Women’s Top 20
Feb. 17, 2020 |
W/L |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 3-0 | 1 | 2/22 vs No. 6 Maryland |
| 2 | Florida | 2-0 | 16 | 2/22 vs. No. 14 Loyola |
| 3 | Notre Dame | 3-0 | 9 | 2/23 vs. Ohio State |
| 4 | Stony Brook | 2-0 | 12 | 2/29 vs. No. 2 Florida |
| 5 | Maryland | 1-1 | 3 | 2/22 at No. 1 North Carolina |
| 6 | Northwestern | 3-1 | 4 | 2/22 vs. No. 7 Syracuse |
| 7 | Syracuse | 3-1 | 2 | 2/22 @ No. 6 Northwestern |
| 8 | Virginia | 3-0 | 5 | 2/22 at No. 11 Princeton |
| 9 | Penn | 1-0 | 8 | 2/22 vs. Johns Hopkins |
| 10 | USC | 2-0 | 10 | 2/21 vs. No. 18 Boston College |
| 11 | Princeton | 1-0 | 6 | 2/22 vs. No. 8 Virginia |
| 12 | Denver | 2-0 | 11 | 2/21 vs. Oregon |
| 13 | Michigan | 1-1 | 7 | 2/21 vs. Louisville |
| 14 | Loyola | 1-0 | 15 | 2/19 vs. Towson |
| 15 | Navy | 2-1 | 17 | 2/22 vs. Villanova |
| 16 | Dartmouth | 1-0 | NR | 2/22 vs. Boston U. |
| 17 | UMass | 1-1 | 13 | 2/24 @ UMass Lowell |
| 18 | Boston College | 2-1 | 14 | 2/21 @ No. 10 USC |
| 19 | James Madison | 2-1 | 18 | 2/22 @ High Point |
| 20 | Colorado | 0-1 | 19 | 2/21 vs. Harvard |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Duke (2-2), Hofstra (1-1), Jacksonville (1-1), Johns Hopkins (1-1), Penn State (2-0), Virginia Tech (2-1)
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Florida (+14), Stony Brook (+8) and Notre Dame (+6)
Florida ended Maryland’s 86-game winning streak in College Park, and that cannot be understated. Shannon Kavanagh’s eighth goal came with 49 seconds remaining and won the Gators the game. The Gators are youthful but have yet to show true growing pains. Add in a quality win over No. 20 Colorado (which was No. 18 at the time) and Florida already has two ranked wins. Winning two one-goal games to start the season is a good sign for a young team.
Stony Brook went into the Carrier Dome and shocked Syracuse, 17-16. The Seawolves never trailed in the second half as a 9-2 run after halftime helped give Stony Brook enough insurance to sustain a late push by the Orange. Joe Spallina may have unearthed another gem in Kailyn Hart, a freshman who has made SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays twice — one in each career game she’s played.
As for Notre Dame, the Irish have long possessed the veteran talent to win games. Now, a duo of touted freshmen — Madison Ahern and Kasey Choma — are also playing key roles behind stars like Andie Aldave and Maddie Howe. Bridget Deehan keyed the 17-15 win over Northwestern, making 12 saves.
NOT
Michigan (-6), Princeton (-5) and UMass (-4)
Michigan’s fall here has much to do with its own loss to USC, but the shakeup toward the top didn’t help the Wolverines’ cause. Against USC, Michigan mustered just 23 shots and turned the ball over 17 times. Defense won’t be a problem for Michigan. Offense might be.
Princeton won in its season opener but failed to truly put away Temple. The Owls nearly forced overtime, trailing by one goal with under three minutes remaining, but Kari Buonnano sealed it for the Tigers. They have a bona fide star in Kyla Sears and it was just their first game, but the Tigers surely expected to play better.
We weren’t sure what we’d get out of UMass after stunning Boston College. What we got was a team with clear potential but perhaps not all the way there just yet. The Minutewomen held a one-goal lead at halftime over Dartmouth but surrendered that lead quickly. Dartmouth scored six of the first seven goals of the second half en route to a 15-11 win.
IN
Dartmouth (No. 16)
For beating the former No. 13 team, Dartmouth enters the fray. The Big Green started slowly against UMass but turned the corner in the second half, as Ellie Carson scored four of her five goals in the period. Regular season co-champions of the Ivy League last season, the Big Green could be here to stay.
OUT
High Point (previously No. 20)
High Point is the victim of Dartmouth’s rise, but a 24-3 throttling at the hands of UNC didn’t help. The Panthers were clear underdogs against the No. 1 team, but a three-goal showing is certainly below expectations. High Point could re-enter the conversation next week after playing James Madison on Saturday.