We had another great weekend of college lacrosse. Let’s start with the big game on Sunday, #3 Syracuse vs. #5 Virginia. The Orange took the game 15-9, but the game was all Syracuse for the first three periods. Syracuse got off to a 7-0 start, led by Nicky Galasso. The Virginia attack had few possessions and when they did get the ball UVA’s attack and midfield took quick and poorly timed shots due to the overpowering Syracuse defense. Coach Starsia expressed his worry about the matchup between the SU defense and the UVA attack prior the game, and his worries turned out correct. The Cavalier’s had problems attacking the Syracuse defense and couldn’t get the ball into the middle of the box. Syracuse’s Ben Williams had a dominant performance taking 15-19 faceoffs. That was until he had to leave the game with an injury in the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was an odd injury, but appeared to be Williams’ shoulder. Coach Desko said he expects Williams to be ready for next week’s game against St. John’s but the Holy Cross transfer didn’t play again in the game. That opened up an opportunity for Virginia. UVA took the fourth quarter 5-3, but the opportunity was squandered by two penalties by the Cavs which led to two Syracuse goals. Overall, Syracuse looked dominant and UVA had its offense exposed. I would expect SU to get more than a few first place votes in Monday’s poll.
My Poll:
- Syracuse – With Denver losing, Syracuse should take the top spot. The Orange have wins over Siena, Cornell, Army and Virginia. SU is the most complete team in division I and should have an easy game against St. John’s next week in Georgia.
- UNC – Furman, High Point, UMass, Johns Hopkins, and Denver have all fallen to North Carolina. The Tar Heels have three easy games against Manhattan, Bryant, and Richmond before taking on Harvard.
- Notre Dame – The Irish are still 3-0, having another win over Dartmouth this past weekend. UND has a very good attack and a solid defense backed by two strong goalies in Connor Kelly and Shane Doss.
- Denver – The Pioneers lost this weekend to UNC, but still have the second best attack in the country. Denver also has a big 13-7 win over Duke in its first game. DU is a championship contender but they must take a hit for its loss to Notre Dame.
- Duke – After two wins over Harvard and Providence, Duke still has a place at the table. Up next for the Blue Devils is Loyola. The Greyhounds are looking to get back on track so this could be an issue for Duke.
- Cornell – The Big Red lost to Syracuse in its first game of the season, but its hard to fault them as they had just a few days of practice to prepare. Since that loss, Binghamton, Hobart and Albany have been victims to Cornell.
- Yale – Yale is suddenly a front runner in the Ivy League along with Cornell. The Bulldogs have taken down UMass Lowell, Maryland and Bryant. Yale has dates with St. John’s and Fairfield this week, both should be easy wins.
- Virginia – UVA has a big game against Cornell this week. The Cavaliers were downed by Syracuse this weekend in spectacular fashion this weekend. The Cavs have a weak defense but Matt Barrett seems to have come alive, pulling in 20 saves against the Orange. Virginia also has a great offense but had trouble keeping the ball in its stick against Syracuse.
- Maryland – Yale is the only loss that Maryland has. The Terps have wins over Navy, Penn and Drexel. It will be interesting to see how Maryland will handle Princeton this week.
- Albany – The Great Danes only take the number ten spot in my poll because there is no other team worthy of it. Albany is 1-1, losing to Cornell and beating Drexel. Albany needs more than just the two goals that Lyle Thompson put up against the Big Red to win.
- Army – Yes, the Black Knights lost to Syracuse, but it was closer than many thought it would be. Army is 4-1 and I liked what I saw from them.
- Marquette – Marquette may be the surprise of the season. Graduate student Jordan Greenfield leads the Golden Eagles with 15 goals and eight assists. MU has beaten Lehigh, Hofstra, Richmond, Detroit, and Ohio State. Jacksonville and Mercer are up this week and both should be easy take downs for Marquette.
- Princeton – The Tigers have put up at least 14 goals in each game it has had this year. This week Princeton put away Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays don’t have the same power they’ve had in the past, but its still a good win over a blue chip team.
- Harvard – Harvard was on the short list to win the Ivy, but after a one goal win over UMass and a seven goal loss to Duke, the Crimson are in major jeopardy of falling big time. The men from Cambridge have three games in the next six days against Quinnipiac, Penn State and Holy Cross, and they need to win all three.
- Loyola – The Greyhounds are 3-2, losing to Virginia and Holy Cross. Nikko Pontrello is still one of the best scorers in college lacrosse but has just eight goals through five games.
- Johns Hopkins – Oh how the mighty have fallen. The Jays have a very good team. Ryan Brown, Wells Stanwick and Shack Stanwick should be enough to bully their way through a few wins, but Hopkins has losses to Towson, UNC and Princeton and no good wins.
- Penn – The Quakers are at a measly 2-2, winning against UMBC and a pretty decent Saint Joseph’s while falling to Maryland and Penn State. The Penn State loss is a bad one but Penn has an opportunity this week to beat both Lafayette and Villanova.
- Towson – The only loss for Towson came against Loyola, a four goal stumble against the Greyhounds. I’m not sure a 7-4 win over Mount St. Mary’s was enough but Towson is still 3-1 with a win over Johns Hopkins.
- Colgate – The ‘Gate has wins over Bryant, Vermont, Lafayette, and Bucknell. While none of those stand out, Colgate is still 4-0. The only big game Colgate has coming up is against Cornell on March 17.
- Villanova – Nova’s only loss was a 3 goal fall to Hopkins. Following that the Wildcats has good wins over Penn State, Drexel, and Delaware. A big game is on the horizon against Penn.
