No Chaos, Plenty of Tension in Patrick Stevens' D-I Men's Top 20

College lacrosse’s four-week sprint to the finish is finally here.

Between Tuesday’s Patriot League quarterfinals and Memorial Day’s national title game, there are a mere 52 contests to go in the Division I season. Yet those games — 35 in this week’s conference tournaments, 17 more in the NCAA tournament — are more likely to be remembered than what came in the previous three months.

And they’ll certainly be remembered more than much of what happened last week, which despite some close calls, did little to shake up the trajectory of the season beyond ending the year for some former national champions (Denver, Johns Hopkins, Loyola and Virginia) and halting Michigan’s chances of making another riveting Big Ten tournament run before it could get out of the conference quarterfinals.

This week is bound to have a bit more chaos, thanks mainly to the tension that comes when a season hangs in the balance. It had better, since this exercise looks quite similar to last week’s.

Patrick Stevens is a longtime contributor to USA Lacrosse Magazine. This is his submission to the USA Lacrosse Top 20.

PATRICK STEVENS' TOP 20

1. Cornell (12-1)

CJ Kirst’s pursuit of the Division I career goals record ended before May even arrived. He’ll pad that total over the next few weeks playing win-or-go-home lacrosse as the Big Red chases Ivy and NCAA tournament titles. (Last week: 1)

2. Maryland (10-2)

Can the Terrapins avoid the bye week curse that has afflicted the top two seeds in the Big Ten in back-to-back seasons? No matter what happens this week — starting Thursday against Penn State in Ann Arbor — Maryland looks locked into a top-four seed. (LW: 2)

3. Princeton (11-2)

The Tigers have Yale’s number, winning six in a row against the Bulldogs by an average of eight goals. Princeton hauls a seven-game winning streak into the Ivy League tournament, a run that started with a 13-11 defeat of semifinal opponent Harvard. (LW: 3)

4. Army (12-1)

The Black Knights didn’t exactly bring a merciful end to Loyola’s rough season, since an 18-6 pounding is going to leave a mark. But Army put things away early, as Jackson Eicher matched the Greyhounds’ entire production with a six-goal night. Joe Alberici’s team has earned hosting rights to the Patriot League tournament’s final two rounds. (LW: 4)

5. Ohio State (12-2)

Might the Buckeyes be playing for an NCAA tournament home game on Thursday against Rutgers? They’ll be well-rested as they seek their first Big Ten semifinal victory since 2017. (LW: 5)

6. Notre Dame (8-3)

The Fighting Irish were like a lot of teams in this area of the rankings last weekend, not playing the sharpest game to close the regular season but doing enough to get by. A 10-8 defeat of Penn gives Notre Dame a three-game winning streak entering the ACC tournament. (LW: 6)