Two of the hottest teams in the country made major moves in their conferences over the weekend, and both resulted in transformations in this week’s rankings.
Princeton has now won six of its last seven games — the lone loss coming by a single goal to Maryland — and blew out Penn last week. The Tigers followed up with a 22-16 win over Columbia on Saturday to wrap up the No. 1 seed for the Ivy League tournament after sharing the league’s regular season crown with Penn.
North Carolina has now won nine straight and avenged one of its three losses on the season by beating Boston College 14-11 in the ACC Championship game. That was BC’s first loss of the season, and dropped the Eagles three spots down to No. 5 despite a sterling 19-1 record. You could make pretty strong arguments for any of the top teams to be higher than they are and that should make for a great tournament...and plenty of debate on Selection Sunday in six days.
Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Women’s Top 20
April 30, 2018 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stony Brook | 17-0 | 1 | 5/4 vs. New Hampshire |
| 2 | Maryland | 16-1 | 3 | 5/4 vs. No. 20 Johns Hopkins |
| 3 | James Madison | 16-1 | 4 | 5/4 vs. Delaware |
| 4 | North Carolina | 15-3 | 5 | Regular season complete |
| 5 | Boston College | 19-1 | 2 | Regular season complete |
| 6 | Florida | 14-3 | 6 | 5/3 vs. Marquette |
| 7 | Northwestern | 13-4 | 7 | 5/4 vs. No. 18 Penn State |
| 8 | Loyola | 14-3 | 9 | 5/4 vs. TBD |
| 9 | Towson | 14-3 | 10 | 5/4 vs. Elon |
| 10 | Penn | 12-3 | 8 | 5/4 vs. Dartmouth |
| 11 | Stanford | 15-4 | 14 | Regular season complete |
| 12 | Princeton | 10-5 | 20 | 5/4 vs. Columbia |
| 13 | Colorado | 13-5 | 11 | Regular season complete |
| 14 | Navy | 14-3 | 12 | 5/4 vs. TBD |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 13-6 | 13 | Regular season complete |
| 16 | High Point | 15-2 | 18 | 5/4 vs. TBD |
| 17 | Syracuse | 9-9 | 17 | Regular season complete |
| 18 | Penn State | 9-8 | 16 | 5/4 vs. No. 7 Northwestern |
| 19 | Georgetown | 12-5 | NR | 5/3 vs. Denver |
| 20 | Johns Hopkins | 10-7 | NR | 5/4 vs. No. 2 Maryland |
Also considered: Dartmouth, Denver, Duke, Notre Dame, Virginia, USC
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Princeton (+8)
As the end of March neared, Princeton was just 4-4 and coming off a one-goal loss to up-and-down Syracuse. The Tigers had lost three of four games at that point, including a surprising 15-12 loss to Dartmouth. But since that moment, Princeton has been as good as anyone in the country.
Over the past seven games, Princeton has gone 6-1, averagin 17.3 goals per game, and the only blemish during that stretch was an 11-10 loss to Maryland in which the Tigers led by four goals in the second half. This is a young team that appears to be finding its stride at just the right time. Freshman Kyla Sears (53g, 16a) and sophomore Tess D’Orsi (30g, 11a) rank 1-2 in scoring and freshman Sam Fish has a 7-3 record with a 50.4 save percentage.
Stanford (+3)
The Cardinal started off 2018 with two straight losses and got swept by league rival Colorado during the regular season. Those losses were distant memories when Stanford clinched an automatic qualifier, beating Colorado 15-6 to win the inaugural Pac-12 championship. The Cardinal, who have won 12 of their last 13, feature seven 30-point scorers - led by Kelsey Murray (50g, 39a) and one of the nation’s top goalies in Allie DaCar (49.2 save pct, 9.19 GAA).
North Carolina (+1)
When North Carolina can beat an unbeaten team like Boston College without Tewaaraton finalist Marie McCool scoring a point, you know the Tar Heels are clicking. McCool had 11 draw controls in the win, but it was freshman Jamie Ortega who paced the offense with six goals. Oretega finished the tournament with 15 goals and goalie Taylor Moreno made 33 saves in the three victories as Carolina stretched its overall winning streak to nine goals.
NOT
Penn (-2)
A victory over Yale on Saturday helped clinch a share of the Ivy League regular season, but Penn has to still be scratching its head over after Wednesday’s 21-8 loss to Princeton. After scoring the first goal of the game, Penn went nearly 24 minutes before it found the back of the net again. After battling back to make it competitive, the Quakers derailed again, surrendering the final nine goals of the game.
That sets up a tester against Dartmouth in the Ivy League semifinals, and a possible rematch with Princeton in the championship game.
Penn State (-2)
The Nittany Lions have gone to consecutive final fours, but have never gotten on track in 2018. A blowout 22-13 win over Virginia to start April seemed to be the thing that could do just that, but the Nittany Lions have lost four straight games since that win. Three of them were against Top 10 opponents - Maryland, Stony Brook and Northwestern - but Saturday’s was not. Penn State was shocked as Michigan scored two goals in the final six seconds of the game to fall 12-11. Now, a Big 10 semifinal date against Northwestern awaits.
IN
Georgetown
The Hoyas don’t have any marquee wins — a 15-14 triumph over Johns Hopkins is its most impressive — but the Hoyas have taken care of business and won the games they should. All five losses have come against teams that have been ranked in the Top 10 at some point this season.
Johns Hopkins
Five one-goal losses — Penn, Georgetown, Penn State, Northwestern, Towson — have the Blue Jays on the NCAA bubble once again. A win over Loyola is a feather in the cap, and a Big 10 tournament upset against Maryland would be a major coup.
OUT
Dartmouth
Dartmouth has made major strides this year, but Saturday’s 17-13 loss to Brown was its second loss this season against an unranked opponent. The Big Green have a shot at instant redemption with an Ivy League semifinal against Penn.
Virginia
Virginia’s second half collapse continued with an 11-10 loss to Notre Dame in the ACC quarterfinals, a team UVa had beaten by seven goals earlier in the season. After starting the year 5-0 and sitting at 8-2 on March 28, the Cavaliers have since lost eight of nine games.