The rankings this week had a large amount of self-contained insanity. Just about every team from last week’s top 5 and last 5 all won, with seemingly everyone in between losing. This meant that I didn’t drop anyone this week, but there was plenty of shuffling.
Oh, and the Patriot and Ivy Leagues continue to baffle me.
Records and scores are including games from April 5.
1 Maryland Record: 9-1 InLax Score: 181.02 Previous: 1
This was the seventh game this season where Maryland held an opponent to five or less. No matter how you cut it, that’s impressive stuff. They also are the only team with a Points For/Points Against ratio greater than two. When you average doubling up your opponent, you’re on the right track.
2 Notre Dame Record: 7-1 InLax Score: 130.15 Previous: 2
Notre Dame had about as solid of a road win as you could hope for and now sits in the driver’s seat for the ACC’s top seed. Next up is a relative breather with Marquette. You have to love schedules where a team not in the top 10 seems like welcome break. Can you say trap game?
3 Syracuse Record: 8-1 InLax Score: 161.28 Previous: 3
Syracuse kept the Albany offensive machine contained and enjoyed a nice win back in the Carrier Dome. Bobby Wardwell has been fantastic in goal and anyone on their offense can take over a game. Get ready for fireworks on Saturday as they travel down to play….
4 North Carolina Record: 11-1 InLax Score: 169.06 Previous: 4
UNC dispatched Virginia to improve to 2-0 in ACC play. They continue the gauntlet final schedule by hosting Syracuse this week followed by Notre Dame. Then they have the ACC tournament to do it all again. If any team will be NCAA tournament ready, it’s the Tar Heels.
5 Denver Record: 8-2 InLax Score: 119.56 Previous: 6
Denver enjoyed a nice, little 11 point win over Villanova. Not too shabby. A struggling, but tough St. John’s team is next.
6 Army Record: 8-3 InLax Score: 95.28 Previous: 10
Army makes a big jump partly due to other in front of them losing and partly due to demolishing a surprising Boston University team by nine. Any win in the Patriot League is a big win at this point.
7 Duke Record: 7-4 InLax Score: 69.49 Previous: 5
Welcome to uncharted territory. For the first time since Danowski took over Duke as head coach, they have lost three in a row. Myles Jones has scored only six points in these last three ACC games. Get ready for their next game on Sunday against Virginia. The loser goes winless in the ACC and misses the conference tournament.
8 Albany Record: 8-2 InLax Score: 109.10 Previous: 11
Albany lost to Syracuse, which happens. Lyle Thompson could not be contained though. He still had his highlight reel goals and forced Syracuse to just keep throwing new defenders at him. It wasn’t enough, but he has the NCAA point scoring record within striking distance. Seven points against Syracuse, eight against Vermont. Stay tuned.
9 Yale Record: 8-2 InLax Score: 101.05 Previous: 15
Yale made a huge jump, largely due to two convincing wins and losses by those in front of them. Brown and Albany are next, so I hope the Yale defense is eating their Wheaties.
10 Ohio State Record: 9-3 InLax Score: 95.81 Previous: 16
Aside from their shutout loss to Notre Dame, wins over Denver, Towson, and now Hopkins indicate this is a pretty good team. Michigan will be a good test this week, but Maryland is looming.
11 Stony Brook Record: 9-2 InLax Score: 103.53 Previous: 17
A three point win over Princeton was huge for this team. They’re still a little tough to figure out, but this team should push Albany for an American East title. A “should win” against Umass Lowell is next with Lehigh following this week.
12 Virginia Record: 8-3 InLax Score: 87.67 Previous: 7
After losing to North Carolina, UVA is 0-3 in the ACC. If they can’t beat Duke, they will miss the main event at the conference tournament for the second straight year. That’s hard to imagine for a program like this, but this is quite the conference.
13 Brown Record: 8-2 InLax Score: 81.79 Previous: 8
Brown’s offense is coming back to earth, scoring 10 and 11 goals in their last two games. This time, it cost them a win. A league match with Yale is up next.
14 Cornell Record: 7-3 InLax Score: 76.13 Previous: 9
Cornell travelled up to Cambridge to face Harvard and lost is devastating fashion. The game was tied five times, including twice in the fourth quarter. The final time was a Dan Lintner goal with just 40 second left. Harvard scored eight seconds later to win. Canisius and Hofstra are next, which should be two wins for the Big Red.
15 Navy Record: 7-4 InLax Score: 57.86 Previous: 12
Navy had a bad 10 point loss to Loyola this week which is hardly what they had planned. But, you know, Patriot League.
16 Towson Record: 8-3 InLax Score: 81.63 Previous: 18
A good five point win over Delaware gives them their first three win streak of the season. Fairfield is up this week and they are more than capable of end it there.
17 Marquette Record: 9-2 InLax Score: 76.67 Previous: 13
Losing to Bellarmine by six was a bad loss for this team. With a schedule as weak as theirs, they need those wins. They followed it up well with a two point win over St. John’s. Notre Dame is next, so good luck with that.
18 Richmond Record: 7-4 InLax Score: 75.76 Previous: 19
Furman may not be North Carolina, but the Spiders holding them to two goals is still a great defensive effort. High point this week will be a good game as both teams are gearing up for the conference tournament.
19 Princeton Record: 6-3 InLax Score: 62.29 Previous: 14
The Tigers now have a losing record against ranked teams. Their postseason legitimacy is starting to fade, which is surprising given the potential they’ve shown through the season.
20 Fairfield Record: 7-4 InLax Score: 44.54 Previous: 20
A close, one goal win over UMASS was hardly inspiring, but it was good enough to keep the Stags on the list.
Dropped out: Nobody
Next five in consideration: Georgetown, Loyola, Marist, Hobart, and Boston University.
