Midweek Upset Pushes St. Lawrence Up D-III Mens Top 20

The excitement in Division III couldn’t wait for the weekend. 

St. Lawrence played the role of the hunter on Tuesday, and a pair of overtime thrillers on Wednesday had implications up and down the Top 20. The beauty of the mid-April trap game has blossomed throughout all of Division III.

St. Lawrence held Middlebury to a single second-half goal in a 7-6 upset win on Tuesday. The Saints got 10 saves from Michael Marinello, and Daniel Mahoney scored four goals. Middlebury took 19 second-half shots, but only seven were on cage — and six were stopped by Marinello. 

That result put a damper on Middlebury’s weekend game against Tufts, which then became the team’s second straight loss after three straight losses to start the campaign. The Panthers are still in the NESCAC mix with a 5-3 record in the conference, but their chances of getting an at-large bid took a substantial hit.

Elsewhere in the Liberty League, RIT needed a massive fourth quarter to overtake an incredibly plucky Clarkson side, 13-10. The Golden Knights were actually in control in the third quarter with a three-goal lead after Vincent Lavernay’s goal near the nine-minute mark. The game shifted heavily after that, as RIT pushed the pace and worked the ball around the edges before finding shooting lanes to tie it in the fourth. 

RIT then threw the figurative kitchen sink at Clarkson for the final five minutes, scoring four unassisted goals in the final 3:43 to snatch the win and stay undefeated at 5-0 in conference play.

Gettysburg climbed out of an early hole to escape Dickinson in overtime. Ethan Kessler scored the winner with just 41 seconds left in the extra frame. The win kept Gettysburg unbeaten in Centennial Conference play and gave Dickinson its first league loss. The Bullets followed the midweek win up with a 20-10 doubling of Ursinus to move to 5-0 in the Centennial. 

Franklin & Marshall have quietly kept pace in conference play as well, as the Diplomats are tied with Dickinson at 4-1 for the second spot. Those three will battle over the next two weeks for conference tournament placement.

Over in the ODAC, Washington and Lee mounted a nigh-historic comeback to beat Lynchburg 14-13 in overtime. The Generals trailed 9-5 at the break after Lynchburg went on a 6-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters. Jake Rust had a first-quarter hat trick and finished with four goals for Lynchburg. Joey Allen scored the winner for the Generals, keeping them at the top of the ODAC table. It was Lynchburg’s first conference loss and fifth loss overall. A blowout win against Averett just wasn’t enough to maintain the No. 20 spot.

The NESCAC wasn’t as fertile a ground for upsets as usual, as top teams Tufts, Wesleyan, Bowdoin and Amherst all delivered victories. The most thrilling triumph came at the hands of the Mammoths, who survived a furious comeback from Bates in the fourth quarter to notch a much-needed 8-7 victory. 

Next weekend is a big one in the NESCAC, as the top six teams all face one another: Amherst will host Tufts, Wesleyan travels to Bowdoin, and Middlebury hosts Trinity.

Continue below to see the entire Top 20, which is compiled by USA Lacrosse Magazine staff and contributors.

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