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No. 2 Maryland started slowly but ended up dominating a battle of two of the nation’s final three unbeatens with a 14-3 win over then-No. 7 Michigan in a Big 10 showdown Saturday. Michigan (13-1, 3-1) scored less than a minute into the game and held a slim 1-0 lead over Maryland (14-0, 4-0) for almost 13 minutes of play thanks to outstanding play by goalie Mira Shane before Maryland cracked its defense.

Maryland vaulted to an 8-1 halftime lead with an explosion of offense led by Jen Giles, who finished with four goals and an assist as the Terps won their program-record 84th straight home game. Michigan had entered the game ranked seventh in the country in scoring defense. Shane finished with 12 saves, and her Maryland counterpart Megan Taylor had 10 saves in a game that featured two of the top goalies in the country. Maryland faces another challenge Thursday on the road at No. 5 Northwestern, who has won five straight games.

No. 1 Boston College is the only other remaining unbeaten team.

Loyola Still Streaking

In a matchup of the top two Patriot League teams, No. 9 Loyola remained unbeatable with a 16-6 win over No. 15 Navy on Saturday. The win is their nation’s best 48th straight in regular-season conference play, and it vaults the Greyhounds (9-5, 5-0) into sole possession of the top spot and gives them a leg up to host the Patriot League tournament.

The postseason is where Navy (9-3, 4-1) recently has had Loyola’s number with wins in the 2017 and 2018 Patriot League Tournament title games and a win over the Greyhounds in last year’s NCAA tournament second round.

Loyola squashed any streak-busting thoughts when it scored on 11 of its first 13 shots. Navy won 16 of 24 draws, but Loyola caused 16 turnovers. The Greyhounds offense was paced by Hannah Powers’ five goals and two assists and Livy Rosenzweig’s goal and five assists. Loyola is fourth in the country in assists per game. They take their six-game win streak into their final non-conference game at No. 14 Princeton on Wednesday before four straight Patriot games to close the regular season.

Tigers Road Down the Stretch

Princeton bolstered its chances for a sixth straight Ivy League championship with a 14-12 comeback win at No. 20 Dartmouth on Saturday. Had they lost, the Tigers (7-3, 2-1) could have fallen two games behind frontrunner Penn and slipped out of the top four that will play for the Ivy tournament’s automatic NCAA qualifier.

The Tigers trailed with 10 minutes to go before scoring the final three goals of the game. Goalie Sam Fish picked up some timely saves down the stretch for a win that keeps Princeton’s title hopes alive. Kyla Sears had two goals and five assists and Tess D’Orsi had five goals. While Penn and Dartmouth square off in another key Ivy battle this Saturday, Princeton will host Harvard in its final home Ivy game. The Tigers play at Penn on Apr. 17.

New Conference, Same Results for Gators

Sydney Pirrecca, seen here earlier in the season against Navy, had four goals in Florida's 18-9 win over Vanderbilt. The Gators moved to 2-0 in the inaugural season of women's lacrosse for the American Athletic Conference.

No. 17 Florida left the Big East after four straight conference crowns, and its American Athletic Conference tenure is off to a good start with an 18-9 win over Vanderbilt (9-3, 1-1) Saturday. The Gators (7-6, 2-0) picked up the win over one of their toughest AAC rivals and cemented the chance to host the AAC tournament.

Sydney Pirreca had a season-best four goals, and Lindsey Ronbeck, Grace Haus, Shannon Kavanagh and Brianna Harris all had hat tricks. Ronbeck moved into second place in goals scored at Florida, and Cara Trombetta became Florida’s all-time leader in caused turnovers with her 88th.  Caroline May held Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, Sophie Furlong, scoreless and Sabrina Cristodero held Emily Mathewson to just one unsuccessful shot.

Big East's Best is Out West

When Florida exited the Big East, it opened the door to a new conference champion. No. 18 Denver (10-2, 2-0 Big East) jumped into the driver’s seat in the Big East with a 12-9 win at Georgetown on Saturday. The matchup of the two preseason favorites went to the Pioneers, who are in their third year in the Big East.

Denver leads the nation in scoring defense and assists per game, but it was its 14-9 advantage on the draw control in an otherwise statistically even game that keyed the win. Georgetown drew as close as 8-7 before Molly Little won three of the next four draws and Denver scored four straight goals. Little, a junior midfielder who is second on the team in draw controls to Maddie Baum, won a career-high 11 draw controls. Little has had 20 in the last three games. Sophomore Quintin Hoch-Bullen had four goals and an assist to post her 100th career point.

Denver has only one Big East team left with an above .500 record. After Big East games against Butler and Marquette, the Pioneers finish league play Apr. 26 at Villanova (8-5, 2-0).