Maryland hasn’t looked vulnerable very often this season, a virtual replay of its romp through a conference-only regular-season slate a year ago, only with non-Big Ten teams thrown in as opponents.
If anyone is poised to slow down the Terrapins, it is Rutgers.
The Scarlet Knights’ 12-7 victory over Johns Hopkins last night set up what looks to be the game of the year in the Big Ten. Rutgers makes the trip to College Park for a top-five showdown Sunday night between the two remaining undefeated teams in league play.
Rutgers does have a March 11 loss to Princeton on its ledger but has since won four in a row while not allowing more than 10 goals in that stretch. Of course, the Terps have rung up 20 goals in three of their last four outings and outscored their first two league foes (Penn State and Michigan) by a combined 38-19.
This is hardly the only challenge left for Maryland prior to the NCAA tournament. It still has Ohio State at home and rival Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field to navigate, as well as the Big Ten tournament. But this week does seem to bring the best chance of anyone narrowing the separation John Tillman’s team has created between itself and the rest of Division I.
NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I MEN’S TOP 20
April 3, 2022 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Maryland |
9-0 |
1 |
4/10 vs. No. 4 Rutgers |
|
2 |
Georgetown |
8-1 |
3 |
4/9 at Providence |
|
3 |
Princeton |
6-2 |
4 |
4/5 vs. Marist |
|
4 |
Rutgers |
10-1 |
5 |
4/10 at No. 1 Maryland |
|
5 |
Virginia |
7-2 |
2 |
4/9 vs. No. 14 North Carolina |
|
6 |
Cornell |
8-1 |
7 |
4/9 vs. No. 12 Harvard |
|
7 |
Yale |
5-2 |
8 |
4/5 vs. No. 18 Boston U |
|
8 |
Penn |
4-3 |
6 |
4/9 vs. Brown |
|
9 |
Jacksonville |
9-2 |
9 |
4/9 vs. High Point |
|
10 |
Duke |
9-4 |
13 |
4/9 vs. No. 15 Notre Dame |
|
11 |
Ohio State |
7-3 |
14 |
4/9 vs. Johns Hopkins |
|
12 |
Harvard |
7-1 |
11 |
4/9 at No. 6 Cornell |
|
13 |
Army |
8-2 |
12 |
4/9 vs. Colgate |
|
14 |
North Carolina |
7-3 |
10 |
4/9 at No. 5 Virginia |
|
15 |
Notre Dame |
3-4 |
16 |
4/9 at No. 10 Duke |
|
16 |
Lehigh |
6-3 |
15 |
4/10 vs. Bucknell |
|
17 |
Richmond |
6-3 |
NR |
4/9 at No. 9 Jacksonville |
|
18 |
Boston U |
8-1 |
19 |
4/5 vs. No. 7 Yale |
|
19 |
Villanova |
6-3 |
20 |
4/9 vs. No. 20 Denver |
|
20 |
Denver |
5-5 |
17 |
4/9 at No. 19 Villanova |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Bucknell (7-3), Delaware (6-4), High Point (5-5), Johns Hopkins (5-6), UMass (6-3), Saint Joseph’s (8-2), Syracuse (4-5), Utah (5-3)
Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Duke (+3)
It’s still close-to-impossible to figure out this Duke team, besides counting on Brennan O’Neill to be a force every game. He had seven goals on 10 shots in Saturday’s 15-6 victory at North Carolina, while goalie Mike Adler made 19 saves.
So back up the Blue Devils go, a week after taking a slide in the rankings after losing at Syracuse. Duke gets its next three at home — against Notre Dame, Virginia and then a rematch with North Carolina. John Danowski’s team still has some work to do with its NCAA tournament resume, but the upcoming stretch will allow the Blue Devils to finally get some traction at home.
Ohio State (+3)
The Buckeyes responded to a thumping (at Rutgers) by administering one of their own, doubling up Penn State 18-9 while shooting 46.2 percent.
The three-spot rise can be attributed to three variables. One, Ohio State handling its business against a team that looks like it could be facing a long slog in Big Ten play. Two, both Army and Harvard surviving one-goal games. And three, moving the Buckeyes past a North Carolina team it probably shouldn’t have been pegged behind to begin with thanks to its early-season shellacking of the Tar Heels.
NOT
North Carolina (-4)
That’s two lopsided home losses for the Tar Heels, who have lost by 12 (to Ohio State) and now by nine (to Duke) in Chapel Hill. And while North Carolina has beaten some interesting teams (Richmond, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Denver and High Point), none of those are on track to qualify as top-10 victories.
The No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels might be on the outside looking in if the postseason began now. The good news? It doesn’t. The bad news? Three of North Carolina’s final four games (Virginia, Notre Dame and Duke) are on the road.
Virginia (-3)
The Cavaliers slide a little after their 17-13 loss at Richmond, but the real problem Lars Tiffany’s team faces coming out of the weekend is on the injury front.
Both faceoff ace Petey LaSalla and attackman Matt Moore departed early against the Spiders, and LaSalla’s absence in particular would change things for Virginia. LaSalla has won 60.1 percent of his draws this season, and the rest of the Cavaliers’ faceoff corps is at 42.9 percent. LaSalla’s status will be worth monitoring heading into Saturday’s meeting with North Carolina.
Denver (-3)
Since joining the Big East in 2014, the Pioneers were 39-2 with a pair of one-goal losses in regular season conference play. Sure, their conference tournament record was more of a mixed bag (9-5, with no titles since 2015), but Denver’s been the team to beat since it entered the league.
Saturday’s 17-9 loss at home to Georgetown further alters an equation that had already changed thanks to the Hoyas beating the Pioneers in the last three Big East finals (2018, 2019 and 2021). It also drops Denver to 5-5, possibly dashing whatever NCAA tournament at-large hopes the Pioneers still possessed.
IN
Richmond (No. 17)
The Spiders’ first victory over Virginia vaults them into the top 20 in time for a showdown with Jacksonville that could go a long way in determining the Southern Conference’s regular-season title. (It won’t sort out who hosts the league tournament; High Point has those duties).
Dalton Young had four goals and three assists and Ryan Lanchbury had four goals and an assist for Richmond, which has won three in a row since taking back-to-back losses against Duke and Georgetown in early March.
OUT
Syracuse (was No. 18)
It seemed unlikely that the Orange could fare any worse at Notre Dame than they did while dropping a 22-8 decision last year in South Bend. Yet here Syracuse is, looking back at a 22-6 setback that saw the Fighting Irish score the game’s first 12 goals.
The Orange (4-5) has five games remaining — trips to Albany and North Carolina, home games against Cornell, Virginia and Notre Dame — and needs to win three simply to reach .500 and be eligible for the postseason.