Denver-Notre Dame
It took just 42 seconds into overtime for Denver’s Zach Miller to punch the game winning goal. Miller had four goals and an assist while midfielder, and recent Maryland transfer, Connor Cannizzaro had four goals of his own. With Randy Staats, Kevin Rice, and Dylan Donahue Syracuse has the best starting attack in college lacrosse, but Denver is not far behind with Zach Miller, Wesley Berg, and Jack Bobzien leading the way. Just as Syracuse’s Randy Staats uses his box lacrosse skills to work the crease, Zach Miller has shown the same ability in his college career.
One troubling note from Saturday’s game was Ryan Laplante picking up just two saves. I don’t know of any other team in the country that could have its goalie make two saves and still beat the #3 team in the nation. On a similar note, Notre Dame cannot put only 12 shots on net. Matt Kavanagh had four goals on five shots and four shots on goal. In general the Irish need more shots, they had just 24 on the day.
How about Trevor Baptiste taking 16-23 faceoffs for Denver? Baptiste is 80-118 on the year and as of Saturday night is seventh overall in division I lacrosse for faceoff winning percentage. On the other side, Nick Ossello is 27-62 on the year. A .435 winning percentage is beyond unacceptable. It is incredibly hard to win a National Championship with poor faceoff play, just ask the Syracuse Orange. Ossello and the Irish are going to need to find some way to fix the situation.
Ivy League
The Ivy League race has developed into quite an interesting situation. We came into the year thinking Cornell, Harvard and Princeton would be the frontrunners. Princeton is currently 3-1 with a one-goal win over Johns Hopkins, but this past weekend the Tigers got smacked by Maryland, falling 11-4 to the Terps. The Maryland defense smothered the Tigers and allowed no more than one goal from four different players. Also troubling was that Princeton didn’t have any assists in the game. It was a very disappointing showing for Princeton but they will have a chance to get back on track against Penn this week. If they don’t, who knows what happens.
Harvard stands at 3-1 but lacks wins over any blue chip programs. The one-goal win over UMass to start the season was not very inspiring. The one loss for the Crimson came in a 21-14 loss to Duke. I don’t expect a team like Harvard to be able to beat Duke, but it wasn’t even close. Harvard starts Ivy League play on Saturday against Brown, but will have a test against an unusually good Holy Cross team on Monday.
Cornell on the other hand is 3-2 with losses to Syracuse and Virginia. Against Virginia, the Big Red made a late game push with seven goals in the final period but they could not complete the comeback falling 15-14. Cornell’s wins have come against Binghamton, Hobart, and Albany. Without another big out of conference game remaining on the schedule Cornell must perform well against conference foes. Without significant practice time to prepare, I think the early season game versus Syracuse was a mistake. Still though, Cornell put up a pretty good fight against the Orange.
I think it is time to take Harvard out of the conversation. For me, the leader in the Ivy is Cornell and I’m not sure that Princeton can run with them. Either way, I can see the Ivy League getting three teams into the Tournament. Princeton and Cornell don’t faceoff until the final game of the season, and depending on how this season plays out, it could be a huge matchup.
My Top 20
Syracuse – The ‘Cuse had a win over St. John’s on Saturday in Kennesaw, GA. Syracuse is running on all cylinders right now with the best faceoff guy in the country and the best attack in the country. Don’t forget about The Orange’s defense either, Brandon Mullins is a shut down defender. A big rivalry game awaits when Johns Hopkins visits the Carrier Dome this weekend.
North Carolina – UNC and Syracuse are the only two undefeated ACC teams. The Tar Heels have wins over Denver and Johns Hopkins and put up 26 goals this weekend against Manhattan. UNC will play Bryant and Richmond this week.
Denver – After falling in its last game to North Carolina, the Pioneers picked up a big win over Notre Dame this weekend in overtime. DU’s attack is only second to Syracuse. Ohio State is up next.
Duke – The Blue Devils put down Providence and Loyola this week. Duke lost to Denver but has a nice win over Harvard. Myles Jones is having one heck of a season as he tries to lead the Devils back to Championship Weekend.
Virginia – After getting demolished by Syracuse two weeks ago, the Cavaliers came back with a nice, one-goal win over Cornell this week. UVA will take on St. Joseph’s before getting into it with Notre Dame on Saturday. The Virginia defense is more than suspect but they have a wealth of shooters on offense.
Maryland – I didn’t see the Terps beating Princeton by seven goals, but they put up an impressive performance against the Tigers. Villanova will visit College Park this weekend and it should be an easy win for UMD.
Notre Dame – A one-goal loss to Denver is not a bad loss for this team. While Notre Dame is a solid team, the Irish do not have a signature win yet but will get that opportunity against Virginia this weekend.
Cornell – Yes, the Big Red is 3-2. Keep in mind though, the loss to Syracuse came after just only a few practices and the other loss, a 15-14 defeat by Virginia, comes against a very good Cavaliers team. Cornell is good, I still expect them to win the Ivy League.
Yale – Although still undefeated, the Bulldogs had one-goal wins over St. John’s and Fairfield this week. Yale hasn’t looked very impressive recently but does have a win over Maryland earlier in the season. I would put them lower, but there is really no better team to fill the number nine spot.
Princeton – The Tigers did not look good against Maryland falling 11-4 to the Terps. Princeton has a one-goal win over Johns Hopkins and will take on its first Ivy League opponent this week when they visit Penn.
Marquette – At 7-0, it might be time to start taking Marquette seriously. The Golden Eagles beat Mercer 14-6 this weekend. What worries me about this team is that they haven’t been blowing out some of its weaker opponents. In fact, Marquette has had four, one-goal wins that have come against Lehigh, Hofstra, Richmond, and Ohio State. The back end of Marquette’s schedule is very tough as they will face Notre Dame, Duke and Denver later in the year.
Harvard – The Crimson will face a solid Holy Cross club as well as Brown this week. At 3-1, I haven’t been overly impressed with Harvard. A one-goal win over UMass does not exactly inspire confidence.
Albany – this is not the same team as last year, the explosive offense is not there. I would have liked to see a better performance against Cornell two weeks ago, and this is another team with a one-goal win over UMass. I think the Great Danes basically need to win out to have a chance at an at-large bid, but thankfully the America East Conference is very week this year so they might just take the AQ. Albany will play the only other AmEast team with a winning record, Stony Brook, this week.
Loyola – The Greyhounds need a win against Army this week. Losses to Duke and Virginia shouldn’t hurt Loyola too much, but the loss to Holy Cross will. The only other big out of conference game left is against Maryland on April 4, so Loyola doesn’t have too much opportunity to beef up its resume. It looks like they will need to win the Patriot League or at least get to the Championship game.
Army – Army is a quality team, but it has serious competition in the Patriot League this year. Losing to Holy Cross was not ideal for the Black Knights, but they have a huge matchup with Loyola this week.
Johns Hopkins – I hate keeping the Blue Jays this high in the poll, but they have the tools to win. Every time this team has been given a challenge, it has failed, falling to Towson, North Carolina, and Princeton. The Blue Jays need a win to hang their hat on and this week’s date with Syracuse is exactly the kind of win that can get a team into the Tournament. The good news for the Jays is that they play in the Big Ten. Hopkins and Maryland are the only two quality teams in the Big Ten so they still have a shot at taking the automatic qualifier.
Holy Cross – Where did this team come from? Holy Cross is 3-2 but has wins over Loyola and Army. Losses to Navy and Delaware will hurt them, but they have an opportunity to beat Harvard and Bucknell this week.
Villanova – The Wildcats are 4-1 and picked up a good win over Penn this weekend. The Big East Conference includes Denver so we can pretty much count them out for taking the AQ. I think Nova will also have problems with Marquette and St. John’s too. It will be tough for Villanova to get an at-large bid but beating Lehigh and Maryland this week would certainly look good.
Towson – This past week Towson fell to Navy and beat UMBC. Towson’s only other loss is to Loyola. The Tigers will have to win out to have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament.
Brown – Not the strongest team, but Brown is 4-0 with wins over Quinnipiac, UMass, Hartford, and Michigan. Brown was not in the Ivy League Championship conversation, but taking down Harvard this week would make the Brown Bears a sudden contender.
