Lenoir-Rhyne Back at No. 1 in USA Lacrosse Division II Men's Top 20

Conference playoffs rocked the national landscape all weekend, and the biggest game of the weekend punctuated it all on Sunday.

Defending national champion Lenoir-Rhyne took down previously undefeated Limestone 13-12 in the SAC championship game, all but guaranting that these two teams will be in the Division II South bracket as their strength of schedule and wins are essentially even with one another. 

In the NE-10, Pace and Bentley advanced thanks to wins over Assumption (16-8) and Saint Michael’s (15-6), respectively. Pace will play Saint Anselm Wednesday in the semifinals, while Bentley will travel to Adelphi in the other semifinal. It has been a strange year for the NE-10, with bizarre results becoming commonplace, so don’t just pencil in the higher seeds as winners in those tilts.

Tampa took home the Sunshine State championship with a comfortable 16-9 win over Rollins, putting the Spartans in pole position for a berth in the southern bracket of the Division II NCAA tournament. The Spartans have put together quite an impressive second half, not only going undefeated since their mid-February loss to Lenoir-Rhyne, but beating teams by an average of 7.8 goals since the beginning of March. 

Finally, Mount Olive beat Belmont Abbey in a 12-11 OT thriller to win the Conference Carolinas. Mount Olive was able to hold Jeremy Mahoney, Belmont Abbey’s top scorer, to just two points on four shots. Belmont Abbey lost just two games to opponents from their conference this year, and both were Mount Olive.

USA LACROSSE DIVISION II
MEN’S TOP 20

1. Lenoir-Rhyne, 15-1 (Prev: 2)
2. Limestone, 16-1 (Prev: 1)
3. Tampa, 17-1 (Prev: 3)
4. Adelphi, 12-2 (Prev: 4)
5. Mercy, 12-1 (Prev: 5)
6. Wingate, 11-5 (Prev: 7)
7. Saint Anselm, 9-3 (Prev: 11)
8. Pace, 12-2 (Prev: 6)
9. Rollins, 12-4 (Prev: 9)
10. Newberry, 12-4 (Prev: 8)
11. Frostburg State, 12-3 (Prev: 12)
12. Mercyhurst, 11-4 (Prev: 13)
13. Bentley, 9-4 (Prev: 15)
14. Florida Southern, 10-7 (Prev: 14)
15. Maryville, 12-3 (Prev: 19)
16. UIndy, 11-4 (Prev: 10)
17. Mount Olive, 12-3 (Prev: 18)
18. Seton Hill, 10-5 (Prev: 17)
19. Lewis, 11-4 (Prev: NR)
20. Colorado Mesa, 12-4 (Prev: NR)

Also considered (alphabetical order): Concorida-Irvine, Rockhurst, Saint Leo, Saint Michael’s

HOT

Maryville (+4)

Maryville hosted GLVC rival UIndy with everything on the line — a share of the regular season title and seeding for the GLVC tournament. Maryville won 11-8, led by a four-goal day from Zach Baker. The win is Maryville’s fourth straight, and makes the Saints co-regular season GLVC champs with Lewis. 

NOT

UIndy (-6)

Like Maryville, UIndy had some high stakes on Saturday. With the loss, UIndy is 4-2 in conference and won’t get to claim a share of the regular season title. They Greyhounds face top-seeded Lewis in the GLVC semifinals on Thursday. It’s a tough pill to swallow and not the kind of positive momentum that UIndy was hoping to carry into the postseason. 

IN

Colorado Mesa (No. 20)

Colorado Mesa had a beauty of a week. After demolishing Adams State in the RMAC semifinals, Mesa beat an upstart Concordia-Irvine team in overtime for the RMAC title, booking a spot in this week’s Top 20. Logan Smith had five points, while JJ Brummett and James Steinke had four points each. Dylan Checketts went 16-for-24 facing off and added a goal.

OUT

Rockhurst (was No. 20)

A lot of GLVC flavor in the superlatives this week. Rockhurst was at No. 20 last week and fell to Lewis in OT in the regular season finale. It was a battle, but Rockhurst had a chance to seize control of the game. They were up 13-9 with under five minutes left, but Lewis would score the next five goals, including two in the game’s final 69 seconds and a game-tying man-up goal with 19 seconds to go. Giving up the lead, and ultimately losing the game, gave Rockhurst a second conference loss.