After a wild week, things returned to relative calm in the DIII men’s lacrosse world, with only four ranked teams suffering losses - and three of those coming in contests against a ranked foe.
Salisbury continued its dominating run atop the charts with victories over Christopher Newport and Frostburg State. Next week will see a pair of tests, as No. 3 York and No. 13 Cabrini on the slate. Tufts holds strong at No. 2, having set a school record for wins to start the season with Saturday’s victory over Hamilton. York remains at No. 3 going into its showdown at Salisbury, while Denison and Dickinson move to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, following Cortland’s loss to RIT.
Bates, the only other unbeaten team left in DIII besides the Gulls and Jumbos, moves up to No. 6, with a long break before a huge test against NESCAC rival Tufts next week.
Further down the charts, Gettysburg’s struggles continued with a loss to unranked Swarthmore, knocking the Bullets out at 6-5. In their place is Vassar, which debuts in the rankings at No. 20 off back-to-back victories over Rensselaer and Clarkson.
April 10, 2017 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salisbury | 14-0 | 1 | 4/12 vs. No. 3 York |
| 2 | Tufts | 11-0 | 2 | 4/15 at No. 14 Amherst |
| 3 | York | 14-1 | 3 | 4/12 at No. 1 Salisbury |
| 4 | Denison | 9-1 | 5 | 4/12 at Wooster |
| 5 | Dickinson | 9-1 | 6 | 4/12 at Gettysburg |
| 6 | Bates | 10-0 | 9 | 4/18 at No. 2 Tufts |
| 7 | RIT | 8-2 | 7 | 4/15 vs. Union |
| 8 | Cortland | 9-1 | 4 | 4/12 vs. Geneseo |
| 9 | St. Lawrence | 9-1 | 8 | 4/12 vs. Clarkson |
| 10 | Ithaca | 9-2 | 10 | 4/12 vs. St. John Fisher |
| 11 | Wesleyan | 9-1 | 14 | 4/11 vs. Trinity |
| 12 | Stevenson | 8-3 | 11 | 4/13 at Alvernia |
| 13 | Cabrini | 7-3 | 12 | 4/12 at Neumann |
| 14 | Amherst | 8-3 | 13 | 4/11 vs. Connecticut College |
| 15 | Franklin & Marshall | 8-2 | 15 | 4/12 at McDaniel |
| 16 | Ursinus | 8-2 | 17 | 4/15 at No. 15 Franklin & Marshall |
| 17 | Stevens | 8-3 | 18 | 4/12 vs. Hartwick |
| 18 | Bowdoin | 7-3 | 19 | 4/12 vs. Keene State |
| 19 | Ohio Wesleyan | 7-4 | 20 | 4/12 vs. Wabash |
| 20 | Vassar | 9-2 | NR | 4/12 vs. Farmingdale State |
Also considered: Aurora, Catholic, Gettysburg, Frostburg St., Lynchburg, Renssalaer, Roanoke, Springfield, Union
HOT
Bates (+3)
With victories over a ranked Bowdoin team and an always-dangerous (even if sub-.500) Middleburg squad this week, the Bobcats demonstrated they’re in the NESCAC title and NCAA tournament hunt for real. Led by high-scoring midfielders Charlie Fay (35G, 12A) and Kyle Weber (34,10), Bates is averaging over 16 goals per game.
Wesleyan (+3)
On a nine game win streak following their season-opening loss to Bates, the Cardinals are also right in the NESCAC mix. This week, they dispatched then-No. 13 Amherst, breaking what had been a tight game open with a 4-0 run out of the halftime break and then a 3-0 run in the fourth to put things away for good.
NOT
Cortland (-4)
A big jump last week for the Red Dragons, only to see a big fall this week after a loss to RIT.
The loss was closer for most of the contest than the final 15-9 score would indicate - Jimmy Nielsen’s score off a Tyler Brown feed early in the fourth knotted the score at nine, but RIT scored six straight to close the contest.
NEW
Vassar
A game-winning goal with just four seconds left by freshman Michael Mullen against Clarkson paved the way for Vassar’s debut in the Top 20 this week. At 9-2, the Brewers have already tied their school record for victories in a season. The road gets no easier coming up, as St. Lawrence and RIT are both on the slate in the next two weeks.
OUT
Gettysburg
A loss to unranked Swarthmore leaves the Bullets at just 6-5, and with only one win against a ranked team (Ursinus) on their resume. Up next is Dickinson which could provide a huge chance for redemption and a path right back into the table.