Now it can be said for everyone: With the return of the Ivy League (and Hampton, which also sat out last season), Division I lacrosse is finally — and fully — back from the pandemic.
The process of figuring out where all those teams with either no games or one to their credit in 2021 stand now is just beginning.
Simply being back on the field is cause for celebration for Yale (which beat Villanova 17-14), Cornell (doubled up Albany 16-8), Princeton (hammered Monmouth 22-6) and Harvard (pounded NJIT 17-4).
Brown at least got a game in last season, so at least its 19-13 thumping of Quinnipiac wasn’t its first game in nearly two years. Same goes for Penn, which fell 10-8 to Georgetown at Franklin Field in one of the weekend’s most high-profile games.
None of the Ivies in the Top 20 moved much, but that time is coming. Their real movement this week was simply returning to competition.
NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I MEN’S TOP 20
Feb. 21, 2022 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Virginia |
3-0 |
1 |
2/26 vs. No. 12 Syracuse |
|
2 |
Maryland |
3-0 |
2 |
2/26 vs. Princeton |
|
3 |
Georgetown |
2-0 |
3 |
2/26 at No. 4 Notre Dame |
|
4 |
Notre Dame |
1-0 |
4 |
2/26 vs. No. 3 Georgetown |
|
5 |
Yale |
1-0 |
6 |
2/26 at Penn State |
|
6 |
Rutgers |
4-0 |
7 |
2/26 at No. 16 Loyola |
|
7 |
Ohio State |
3-0 |
NR |
2/26 vs. Harvard (in Naples, Fla.) |
|
8 |
Penn |
0-1 |
8 |
2/26 vs. No. 11 Duke (in Levittown, N.Y.) |
|
9 |
Johns Hopkins |
3-1 |
15 |
2/27 at No. 13 North Carolina |
|
10 |
Jacksonville |
3-1 |
16 |
2/26 at No. 15 Denver |
|
11 |
Duke |
4-1 |
17 |
2/22 vs. No. 14 Delaware |
|
12 |
Syracuse |
1-1 |
11 |
2/26 at No. 1 Virginia |
|
13 |
North Carolina |
2-1 |
5 |
2/23 vs. Brown |
|
14 |
Delaware |
3-0 |
14 |
2/22 at No. 11 Duke |
|
15 |
Denver |
2-1 |
10 |
2/26 vs. No. 10 Jacksonville |
|
16 |
Loyola |
0-2 |
12 |
2/26 vs. No. 6 Rutgers |
|
17 |
Army |
1-1 |
13 |
2/23 vs. Siena |
|
18 |
Hobart |
2-0 |
NR |
2/25 at Colgate |
|
19 |
Lehigh |
1-1 |
9 |
2/26 vs. No. 20 Cornell |
|
20 |
Cornell |
1-0 |
20 |
2/26 at No. 19 Lehigh |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Boston University (2-0), Brown (1-0), Bryant (1-1), Drexel (0-1), UMass (1-1), Michigan (3-0), Princeton (1-0), Richmond (1-1), Stony Brook (2-0), UMBC (1-0), Villanova (2-1)
Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Duke (+6)
That’s more like it. Six days after suffering a 14-12 loss to Jacksonville, the Blue Devils were predictably feisty in a 19-10 defeat of Denver. Brennan O’Neill and Dyson Williams both had four goals and two assists against the Pioneers.
The rout led to Duke regaining nearly half the ground it lost after the setback against the Dolphins. For now, and for the purposes of this weekly exercise, the one-loss Blue Devils rightfully belong behind the one-loss Jacksonville team they fell to.
Jacksonville (+6)
Tack on two more victories for the Dolphins, who followed up their upset of Duke by hammering Mercer (21-12) on a neutral field and handling Marquette (14-10) in their home opener.
Tufts transfer Max Waldbaum had a combined eight goals and two assists in the victories for Jacksonville, which faces another two-game week. This one is probably trickier: It includes a flight west to play at Denver on Saturday and a turnaround of less than 24 hours to face former Southern Conference foe Air Force the next day.
Johns Hopkins (+6)
The Blue Jays earned the 1,000th victory in program history, rallying past Loyola 11-10. Defenseman Scott Smith scored the game-winner in transition with 5:22 remaining, as Hopkins snapped a three-game skid against Loyola and beat its Charles Street rival for the first time since 2017.
Peter Milliman’s team owns victories over Jacksonville, Loyola and Towson and a loss at Georgetown. How good those results look in May remains to be seen, but for now, it seems like the profile of a team that belongs at least in the conversation for a top-10 ranking based on the results of the season’s first three weeks.
NOT
Lehigh (-10)
The Mountain Hawks didn’t dominate the middle of the field as they often do Saturday, and it contributed to a 14-13 loss at Hobart. Yielding three man-up goals didn’t help, either.
Lehigh is home for its next three games, including a date next weekend with Cornell and its Patriot League opener on March 5 against Navy.
North Carolina (-8)
Probably the team worth the most reconsideration this week for not-so-good reasons is the Tar Heels, who were always going to be a bit of an unknown quantity on offense because of the heavy graduation losses in the midfield.
In a 20-8 thumping at home at the hands of Ohio State, North Carolina received a goal and an assist from its midfield. And with Brown and Johns Hopkins trekking to Chapel Hill this week, there are some potent offenses capable of applying pressure on a defense that’s still finding itself on their way to town to test Joe Breschi’s team.
Denver (-5)
Things went reasonably well for a quarter for the Pioneers in their trip to Duke, matching the Blue Devils with five goals in the 15-minute period. Then Duke kept scoring … and Denver didn’t. The Blue Devils scored 14 times in the last three quarters of the 19-10 victory. The Pioneers had 14 total shots on goal in that span.
There were some significant graduation losses in the Mile High City, so a lopsided early loss isn’t a hint of a long-term problem. Just remember how Denver was crushed at North Carolina the first weekend of the season, a setback that didn’t stop the Pioneers from enjoying a fine spring and landing the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament.
IN
Ohio State (No. 7)
The Buckeyes’ performance against North Carolina was the eye-opener of the weekend, and it had a lot to do with the second half. Ohio State was up 6-5 at the break, which is in line with the sort of scoring pace that would typically favor the Buckeyes.
But then came the onslaught of the final 30 minutes. Ohio State shot 14 of 29 after the break, and Justin Inacio continued a stellar day at the X. Jack Myers had two goals and four assists in the second half alone (and had seven assists for the game) to pick apart the Tar Heel defense. Doing all of that on the road vaults Ohio State into the top 10 before an Ivy League swing against Harvard and Cornell.
Hobart (No. 18)
The Statesmen upended a ranked opponent for the first time since 2016 with their 14-13 defeat of Lehigh. Ryan Archer had three goals and three assists, and Kevin Holtby made 14 saves for Hobart, which also got a 14 of 28 performance from Adam Shea on faceoffs — no small thing against the Mountain Hawks’ Mike Sisselberger.
To remain in the rankings, Hobart must contend with a string of in-state opponents before delving into Northeast Conference play. That starts with Colgate on Friday, followed by visits the following week to Cornell and Syracuse.
OUT
Bryant (was No. 18)
Last year’s Northeast Conference champions slip out of the Top 20 after falling 13-8 at Boston University. The Bulldogs allowed the final five goals and were shut out over the last 18:51 in the loss to the Terriers.
This really isn’t something for coach Mike Pressler’s program. Bryant hasn’t gone 2-0 to open a season since 2011, and yet it usually finds itself in contention for an NCAA berth in the NEC tournament in May. This year probably won’t be any different.
Drexel (was No. 19)
The defending CAA champions dropped their opener 12-8 at UMBC. The Dragons never led in a game the Retrievers busted open by scoring six consecutive times in a stretch spanning halftime.
Drexel shouldn’t be forgotten about, but it’s worth noting the schedule isn’t the friendliest. Six of the team’s first eight games are on the road before conference play begins with three of four in Philadelphia.