It was a week without movement in the top 10.
Duke and North Carolina continued to largely dominate their respective tours of the Southern Conference. Denver, Georgetown and Rutgers dropped 20 goals on conference rivals, while Maryland picked off Johns Hopkins for the first time in four tries.
The only teams to receive a full-game scare were Virginia (which edged High Point 12-11 in a midweek tilt) and Army (which scored the first five goals, then had to fend off Boston University 12-10 with the help of Bobby Abshire’s insurance goal with 1:02 to go).
But change is coming in the form of three titanic tussles this week.
North Carolina visits Virginia on Thursday in the first of two regular-season meetings. Then comes the opening round of home-and-homes in the Big East (Georgetown at Denver) and the Big Ten (Rutgers at Maryland) on Saturday. Both will give an outright conference lead to the winner as the midpoint of league play approaches.
So, while things seem pretty familiar near the top of the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20 this week, expect a new look next Monday.
Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Men’s Top 20
March 8, 2021 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke | 6-0 | 1 | 3/10 vs. High Point |
| 2 | Maryland | 3-0 | 2 | 3/13 vs No. 5 Rutgers |
| 3 | North Carolina | 6-0 | 3 | 3/11 at No. 6 Virginia |
| 4 | Georgetown | 4-0 | 4 | 3/13 at No. 9 Denver |
| 5 | Rutgers | 3-0 | 5 | 3/13 at No. 2 Maryland |
| 6 | Virginia | 5-1 | 6 | 3/11 vs. No. 3 North Carolina |
| 7 | Army | 3-1 | 7 | 3/13 vs. Colgate |
| 8 | Syracuse | 2-1 | 8 | 3/12 vs. Stony Brook |
| 9 | Denver | 5-2 | 9 | 3/13 vs. No. 4 Georgetown |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 2-0 | 10 | 3/17 vs. Marquette |
| 11 | Lehigh | 2-0 | 14 | 3/14 at Bucknell |
| 12 | Penn State | 1-2 | 15 | 3/13 at No. 20 Johns Hopkins |
| 13 | UMass | 0-0 | 13 | 3/14 vs. Fairfield |
| 14 | Loyola | 2-2 | 11 | 3/13 vs. Lafayette |
| 15 | Ohio State | 1-2 | 12 | 3/14 vs. Michigan |
| 16 | Albany | 2-0 | 18 | 3/13 vs. Vermont |
| 17 | Navy | 2-0 | 17 | 3/20 at Lafayette |
| 18 | Hofstra | 3-1 | 20 | 3/13 at Towson |
| 19 | Richmond | 1-3 | 16 | 3/13 at VMI |
| 20 | Johns Hopkins | 1-2 | 19 | 3/13 vs. No. 12 Penn State |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Boston University (2-1), Bryant (3-1), Bucknell (1-0), Delaware (4-1), High Point (1-3), Stony Brook (2-2), UMBC (2-0), Villanova (2-1)
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Lehigh (+3)
Even in an unusual year, faceoffs and good goalie play can go a long way. Just ask the Mountain Hawks, who were superior in both areas as they earned a 10-6 victory over Loyola in the Patriot League opener for both teams.
James Spence made 17 saves for Lehigh, while Mike Sisselberger won 16 of 19 faceoffs a week after taking the bulk of the draws for the first time in his college career. It was also a breakthrough for the Mountain Hawks, who were 0-8 against Loyola since the Greyhounds joined the Patriot League prior to Saturday.
Penn State (+3)
It was gut-check time in Happy Valley, where the Nittany Lions were staring at an 0-3 start if they fell to Ohio State at home. Penn State instead never trailed in a 15-13 victory over the Buckeyes as TJ Malone had five goals and three assists, while Dylan Foulds scored four times and Mac O’Keefe added a hat trick.
It was far from a clean game, and neither team has reason to feel great about its defensive performance. But this was one Penn State very much needed — and got as it heads into a two-game road swing to Johns Hopkins and Michigan.
NOT
Loyola (-3)
The Greyhounds simply didn’t have the ball enough in a 10-6 loss to Lehigh. In addition to being on the wrong end of a 16-3 faceoff disparity, the Greyhounds were more than doubled up on ground balls (49-23), and they were outshot 46-29. Charley Toomey’s team, which alternated wins and losses over the first four weekends of the season, will look to get well at home against Lafayette on Saturday.
Ohio State (-3)
It’s hard for a team to win when it commits 24 turnovers, and there’s a slim margin for error on days when it allows 15 goals and takes only 35 shots. To the Buckeyes’ credit, they stuck 13 of the 16 shots they put on goal in their stumble at Penn State.
That’s now back-to-back stumbles for the Buckeyes, who join Johns Hopkins and Penn State in a logjam two games behind Big Ten co-leaders Maryland and Rutgers. Thoughts of contending for a conference title can take a backseat momentarily to tightening things up and getting back to .500 this weekend. That means defeating Michigan in the Horseshoe on Sunday.
Richmond (-3)
This much is certain: The Spiders are going to be more than ready to deal with their Southern Conference schedule starting this week. Richmond dropped a 13-6 decision to Duke on Sunday, its second loss to an ACC power (North Carolina) in its first four games. Ryan Lanchbury hit the 100-goal plateau for his career in the latest setback.
What to really make of the Spiders? They’re not a top-five level bunch, but they took Loyola to overtime in their opener and eventually put away 2-4 Towson. Here’s giving Richmond the benefit of the doubt based on strength of schedule and keeping it in the Top 20, at least for now.