Colby College made the biggest jump in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20 this week after opening with an impressive win over 2021 NCAA tournament runner-up Tufts. The Mules climbed nine spots to No. 11.

The Jumbos dropped from the No. 2 spot as a result and slipped out of the top 10 entirely, while Washington & Lee, St. John Fisher and Messiah all slid after surprising losses.

Wesleyan and Pomona-Pitzer both join the rankings after winning starts to their seasons, replacing Denison (1-2) and SUNY Cortland (0-2) in the Top 20.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III WOMEN’S TOP 20

	March 7, 2022	W/L	Prev	Next
1	Salisbury	5-0	1	3/9 vs. No. 2 Gettysburg
2	Gettysburg	4-0	4	3/9 at No. 1 Salisbury
3	Middlebury	1-0	6	3/12 at Connecticut College
4	William Smith	2-0	8	3/12 vs. Nazareth College
5	Ithaca	2-0	9	3/12 vs. Scranton
6	Washington and Lee	2-2	3	3/12 vs. Catholic
7	Franklin & Marshall	2-1	5	3/8 at No. 10 York
8	TCNJ	2-0	10	3/8 at Cabrini
9	Brockport	1-0	13	3/9 vs. Nazareth
10	York	1-0	14	3/8 vs. No. 7 Franklin & Marshall
11	Colby	1-0	20	3/9 vs. Roger Williams
12	Christopher Newport	3-0	17	3/9 vs. Haverford College
13	Catholic	2-1	16	3/12 at No. 6 Washington and Lee
14	Tufts	1-1	2	3/12 at Amherst
15	Chicago	3-0	19	3/12 vs. DePauw
16	Wesleyan	1-0	18	3/9 at Babson
17	St. John Fisher	0-1	7	3/12 at No. 1 Salisbury
18	Hamilton	1-0	NR	3/9 vs. Rochester
19	Messiah	2-2	11	3/8 at Shenandoah
20	Pomona-Pitzer	5-0	NR	3/12 at Cal Lutheran

Also considered (alphabetical order): Bowdoin (0-1), FDU-Florham (2-1), Geneseo (1-1), Lynchburg (2-0), Mary Washington (2-1), Roanoke (1-0)

Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Colby (+9) 

The Mules are just getting started, but what a way to open. They beat former No. 2 Tufts 9-4 on Saturday to gain some confidence for the 2022 season.

Colby took the lead for good when Annie Eddy scored to make it a 3-2 advantage with 8:01 left in the second quarter. Tufts managed just one goal in each period, as the Mules defense led the way. Colby outshot Tufts 17-11 and cleaned up 11 ground balls in the first half to take a 6-2 lead into the break.

Eddy finished with four goals, Julia Jardina added three and Grace Toner chipped in one goal and two assists to lead the attack. Emily Podgorni finished with 15 saves in goal.

Ithaca (+4)

The Bombers beat former No. 12 Cortland 11-6 in the opener Wednesday, then dominated 2021 NCAA tournament team FDU-Fordham 21-11 on Saturday. They moved up from the No. 9 spot into the top five.

Ithaca has won eight straight season openers and now has three consecutive wins against Cortland, a team that had won nine of 10 meetings from 2010-19.

Gettysburg (+2)

The Bullets are off to a 4-0 start with wins against three ranked opponents, including beating former No. 3 Washington and Lee 13-12 on Saturday. That sets up an intriguing 1-v-2 matchup between them and top-ranked, defending national champion Salisbury on Wednesday.

Gettysburg went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-4 lead over Washington & Lee early in the third quarter, and the Bullets led by as many as five goals in the fourth quarter but had to hold off a furious rally in the final minutes to secure the win.

Jordan Basso, Maddi Seibel and Katie Fullowan led with three goals each, and Basso added three assists. Shannon Twill had eight saves in goal.

NOT

Tufts (-12)

The Jumbos have plenty of time to bounce back, but the gap between them and Colby to begin the season was wide enough that the upset loss proved costly given other results in the Top 20.

Tufts opened with the 9-4 loss to Colby on Saturday and already bounced back to beat Williams 13-9 on Sunday. Another test awaits Saturday against Amherst.

Against Colby, the Jumbos took the first lead and tied the score at 2 early in the second quarter but couldn’t get their offense going as no one had more than one goal. Molly Laliberty finished with 12 saves for Tufts, but Colby’s defense proved the stronger unit Saturday.

St. John Fischer (-10)

The Cardinals were stunned by unranked Stevenson 11-10 in their season opener. The Mustangs were up 11-8 with about 10 minutes remaining before Fischer managed to make it a one-goal game with 4:43 left, but they couldn’t complete the comeback.

Stevenson had lost its first three games of the season.

Messiah (-8)

The Falcons fell to 2-2 with a 12-7 loss to Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday, and although their other loss was to a rising Gettysburg team, they just haven’t been competitive enough in those games. Messiah had lost by 10 to the Bullets.

Washington and Lee (-3) 

Washington and Lee suffered a second straight loss by one goal, falling to Gettysburg 13-12 on Sunday after dropping a close game to Salisbury eight days earlier. The loss dropped the Generals from No. 3 to 6, as three undefeated teams also overtook them.

The Generals were trailing 13-8 with about seven minutes left when they rallied with four goals to end the game. Their final tally came with five seconds remaining, and the comeback fell short as they simply ran out of time.

IN

Hamilton (No. 18)

The Continentals won a defensive battle against Amherst to move into the rankings after opening the season with a 7-5 victory. Eva Abel tallied three goals in the second half to help lift Hamilton, which overcame the Mammoths holding a 12-4 edge on draw controls. Three different goalkeepers performed well to hold Amherst’s attack at bay, with Casey Fiore making four saves over the second and third quarters to lead the effort before Maggie Reville closed it out with two saves in the final stanza. 

Pomona-Pitzer (No. 20)

The Sagehens are doing their best to make up for their lost 2021 season, which was canceled because of continued COVID-19 restrictions. They have cruised to a 5-0 start, including a 19-4 win over Colorado College on Saturday and a 19-1 win over Rochester Institute on Sunday.

Pomona-Pitzer has outscored opponents 100-21 this season. Fiona Lewis scored a game-high six goals against RIT and has 14 goals in five games.

OUT

SUNY Cortland (No. 12)

The Red Dragons (0-2) wouldn’t have been penalized much for their opening loss to ranked Ithaca on Wednesday, but they were then upset by unranked Clarkson 11-10 on Saturday and now will have to play their way back into the Top 20.

Clarkson scored three straight goals to take an 11-9 lead with 7:05 left, but Cortland only managed to get one back. A turnover in the closing seconds sealed the game.

Denison (No. 15)

The Big Red suffered another loss to a ranked opponent, this time dropping a 15-11 decision against then-No. 13 Brockport. Denison was leading 10-8 early in the third quarter, but Brockport took the lead on a 4-0 run and finished with seven of the final eight goals to earn the win in its opener.

Casey McTague had a game-high four goals to lead the Big Red, who also have a seven-goal loss to Gettysburg.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 1 (Feb. 21)

• Week 2 (Feb. 28)