North Carolina didn't move up in the rankings following the opening weekend of the NCAA women's lacrosse season, but the Tar Heels made a pretty big statement with a dominating 18-7 win over James Madison.

The Dukes beat North Carolina twice in 2018, ending its season in the NCAA semifinals, but Carolina clicked on all cylinders on Saturday. The Heels dominated the draw 22-5, Katie Hoeg followed up her record-setting season with nine points (3g, 6a), Jamie Ortega showed no signs of a sophomore slump with five goals and Taylor Moreno was rock solid with 10 saves.

Boston College retains the top spot and the Eagles appear to be just as dangerous as the rest of the country feared. Playing in her first game since the 2017 national championship game, Kenzie Kent picked up right where she left off with a nine-point effort (5g, 4a) in the Eagles 20-6 victory over Boston University.

Making moves this week were three teams that posted Top 20 wins over teams ranked higher than them in the preseason — Denver, Penn State and Virginia.

Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Women’s Top 20

Also considered: Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, USC

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women

HOT

Denver (+5)

Things got a little hairy down the stretch, but Denver hung on for a clutch 8-7 road victory over Stanford on Friday night. The Pioneers led 7-1 at the half, only to see Stanford chip away and pull within one with 28 seconds to play. Carson Gregg's save in the closing seconds preserved the win and Denver completed the road trip with a 13-4 win over Cal on Sunday.

Sophomore Hannah Liddy, who had five points in all of 2018, came up big in both games. Liddy matched her 2018 point total in both games, scoring three goals to go along with two assists in the Stanford win. Liddy's goal with 2:25 left against Stanford gave the Pioneers an 8-5 lead and proved to be the game-winner. Liddy had two goals and three assists in the win over Cal.

Penn State (+3)

Penn State lost five games by one-goal in a disappointing 10-10 season a year ago. The first of those five one-goal losses was in the season opener to Towson. The Nittany Lions made sure 2019 got off to a better start with a 13-7 win over Towson inside Holuba Hall.

Towson led 4-3 at the half, but Madison Carter got the Nittany Lions untracked to start the second half and scored all four of her goals in the final 30 minutes, part of a 10-goal half for Penn State. She now has 202 points for her career and is just one point away from tying former U.S. team star and WPLL founder Michele DeJuliis for 10th on the school's all-time scoring list.

Virginia (+1)

Virginia had a perfect blend of old and new in a 15-12 victory over Navy. Veteran stars Avery Shoemaker (4g, 3a) and Maggie Jackson (1g, 3a. 7 DC) had big games, while four freshman tallied goals and junior Charlie Campbell, making her first start, finished with 12 saves.

NOT

Towson (-4)

After a fairly evenly matched first half in which Towson led Penn State 4-3, the Tigers came out on the short end in the second half. Penn State won nine of 14 draws after intermission, outshot the Tigers 24-9 and Towson committed seven second half turnovers compared to just three for Penn State.

Stanford (-3)

Stanford managed just one goal in the first 39 minutes of action, but once it going, the Cardinal looked every bit like a Top 20 team. Down 7-1 at the half, Stanford pulled to within a single goal against Denver with 28 seconds to play, but a last-second shot to force overtime was saved.

Junior Mikaela Watson, a team captain, had a big game with two goals and two assists.

Navy (-3)

Navy squandered an early 4-1 lead in a 15-12 loss to Virginia in which the Mids converted just three of 11 free-position shots. Navy outshot Virginia 30-26, but made just four saves and the Cavaliers kept the Mids at bay despite a career-best five goals from Kayla Harris.