Duke won its matchup of presumptive national title contenders against Denver.

Loyola claimed a rivalry game against neighbor Johns Hopkins in a rout.

The most resounding result of the weekend, however, belonged to Albany.

It wasn’t that the Great Danes rolled into the Carrier Dome and beat Syracuse. By itself, that might have astonished some Orange fans still living in the 1980s and 1990s, but few others.

The noteworthy part was the margin — 15-3 — as Albany treated the Orange like, well, the sort of America East opponent it routinely demolishes.

Name it, and it went well for the Great Danes. Freshman Tehoka Nanticoke’s much-anticipated debut included five goals. Faceoff ace TD Ierlan won 16 of 21 draws. Albany more than doubled up Syracuse’s shot total (50-23). And the Orange scored their fewest goals since 1991.

This isn’t the Syracuse juggernaut of a generation ago. It is still a reliable top-10 team that can be counted upon to reach the NCAA quarterfinals more often than not … and it got crushed on its home field.

Albany didn’t make a big leap in this week’s top 20, but it certainly validated its preseason standing.

	Feb. 19, 2018	W/L	Prev	Next
1	Duke	4-0	1	2/24 at No. 17 Penn
2	Maryland	3-0	2	2/21 vs. No. 17 Penn
3	Albany	1-0	4	2/24 vs. Drexel
4	Denver	1-1	2	2/25 vs. Cleveland State
5	Notre Dame	1-0	6	2/24 vs. Richmond
6	Ohio State	3-0	7	2/25 at Jacksonville
7	Villanova	2-0	12	2/24 at No. 16 Hofstra
8	Yale	0-1	5	2/24 vs. Michigan
9	Virginia	2-0	13	2/20 at High Point
10	Loyola	1-1	14	2/24 vs. Lafayette
11	Army	3-0	16	2/24 at No. 18 Syracuse
12	Rutgers	2-1	8	2/24 vs. Fairfield
13	North Carolina	3-0	11	2/23 at No. 15 Johns Hopkins
14	Penn State	2-1	17	2/24 vs. Robert Morris
15	Johns Hopkins	1-1	10	2/23 vs. No. 13 North Carolina
16	Hofstra	0-1	15	2/24 vs. No. 7 Villanova
17	Penn	1-0	18	2/21 at No. 2 Maryland
18	Syracuse	0-1	9	2/24 vs. No. 11 Army
19	Colgate	3-0	NR	2/24 vs. Bucknell
20	Princeton	1-0	19	2/24 at No. 9 Virginia

Also considered: Boston University, Delaware, Marquette, Providence, Towson, Vermont

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Villanova (+5)

The Wildcats own a pair of victories against NCAA tournament teams from 2017 (Penn State and Yale). They also are a couple poor breaks away from being 0-2. Both are worth mentioning while looking at Villanova.

But it has defeated two highly capable teams in different fashion, and there’s something to be said for that. It ran with Penn State in an opening week 17-16 overtime victory. And it won in more methodical fashion, erasing a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter before Danny Seibel deposited the last of his four goals with 20 seconds left in overtime to knock off Yale 10-9 on Saturday.

Strictly by accomplishment, there’s a case to be made Villanova belongs in the top two or three (with Duke and Albany). A rigorous nonconference schedule continues Saturday at Hofstra.

Army (+5)

Army’s off to a 3-0 start, with Saturday’s 9-7 defeat of Rutgers the most valuable victory yet for the Black Knights. Sophomore midfielder Matt Manown had two goals and two assists for the Black Knights, who have further validated their status as a team to keep an eye on after knocking off Syracuse and Notre Dame last season.

Speaking of which, Army heads to the Carrier Dome on Saturday to face the Orange, which is clearly vulnerable after getting drubbed by Albany. The Black Knights are deep, as they have been for several seasons under Joe Alberici, and look like they will again contend in the Patriot League.

Loyola (+4)

Johns Hopkins dared the Greyhounds to beat it with someone other than Pat Spencer. Loyola’s midfield obliged in a 12-5 triumph.

The Greyhounds got a combined seven goals from a reconfigured first midfield of Jay Drapeau, John Duffy and Alex McGovern, and short stick defensive midfielder Brian Begley had two goals and two assists in an expanded offensive role. Spencer got a goal and three assists, but he functioned largely as a decoy as Hopkins paid a great deal of attention to him.

The result gives Loyola what it hopes it will be a useful nonconference victory and also helps it move past a disappointing opening week overtime loss at Virginia.

Virginia (+4)

Dox Aitken scored four goals for the Cavaliers in their 13-8 triumph at Drexel, but let’s be candid: Virginia received a bump this week thanks to a team it defeated to open the year (Loyola) snagging an impressive victory of its own. When Loyola’s boat rose, so did the Cavaliers’.

NOT

Syracuse (-9)

The Orange didn’t let Albany run away in the first half of a 15-3 loss, but the signs were there despite the Great Danes’ modest 4-1 lead at the break. The Syracuse was outshot 24-13, sticking around thanks to Dom Madonna’s nine saves. But it was also 1 of 12 at the faceoff X in the first half, and eventually all that defense caught up with the Orange.

Does Syracuse have a faceoff problem? It’s probably too soon to say that. Albany’s going to make a lot of teams look silly, so the ugly second half isn’t likely to be a regular feature. Still, there’s a lot of work for the Orange to do if they are going to be competitive with the sport’s elite teams this spring.

Johns Hopkins (-5)

The number that stands out in Hopkins’ 12-5 loss at Loyola? A whopping 22 turnovers.

“I hadn’t seen that from our team all spring long,” coach Dave Pietramala said. “I watched us the other night [against Towson] and thought we were really organized, extremely disciplined and we were all those things but tonight. We were not organized. We were not disciplined.”

Hopkins rightfully takes a dip, but here’s a thought on the Blue Jays. They cruised in their opener against a Towson team looking to sort out roles in a methodical offense. It came back a week later to meet Loyola, which is happy to push the tempo and knows exactly who is supposed to do what. It probably wasn’t ideal sequencing for Hopkins.

Rutgers (-4)

Don’t read too much into this. It played Army even for 50 minutes on the road before falling 9-7, and got leapfrogged by the team it lost to, two other programs that registered noteworthy victories (Loyola and Villanova) and another already in possession of a valuable victory (Virginia).

IN

Colgate

The Raiders’ superb start continued with a 14-11 defeat of Cornell, Colgate’s first victory over the Big Red at home since 1964. Griffin Brown’s career-high six goals helped Colgate stretch its season-opening win streak to three as it prepares to dive into Patriot League play.

Colgate is averaging 17.7 goals per game, and its 53 goals is its most through three games since 1990. Whether the potent offense holds up through the rest of the season remains to be seen, but the Raiders are off to a promising start.

OUT

Brown

The Bears made a brief appearance in the top 20, but a 12-11 overtime loss to Quinnipiac bounces them from the rankings. Brown (0-1) used four faceoff men against the Bobcats, and they went only 8 of 27 on the day.

It’s a tough start for a team facing a stretch of five road games in six contests to open the season. The Bears head to Stony Brook on Saturday.