RPI Engineering Another Climb Up USA Lacrosse Division III Men's Top 20

The final weekend of February gave us some surprising results and also reaffirmed a lot of the teams in the USA Lacrosse Division III Men’s Top 20.

Saturday saw every non-NESCAC team in the top 10 — save for one — claim victory. That one losing team was Gettysburg, which hung with Salisbury as long as it could before the Yellow and Maroon shoved took their lunch money. Jude Brown and Brice Bromwell finished with five points each, but the story of the game was the play of Blake Malamphy, who went 16-for-24 at the X and scooped 11 ground balls, giving the Gulls all the possessions they needed.

Lynchburg took down Cabrini in impressive fashion, 18-5, giving the Hornets the rebound win they needed to get back on track after their loss the Gettysburg in their opening game.

RPI continued to rise in the rankings thanks to a fourth straight win, while Dickinson and St. Lawrence clawed past some inert NESCAC teams to reach the top 10 and top 15, respectively. Sunday’s two best games involved a double-overtime thriller and a slugfest that saw Union claim its first win of the campaign over the boisterous Beavers of Babson, 14-13.

Skidmore took down Bates 11-10 thanks to a double-OT winner from Jon Bouvier with 2:52 left in the sixth frame. As a result, the Thoroughbreds enter the Top 20 for the first time this season with their third win in a row.

Next week, the NESCAC joins the chat, and we see just how much faith that conference repays us for ranking nearly half a dozen teams in the Top 20 for the last month.

USA LACROSSE DIVISION III
MEN'S TOP 20

1. Salisbury, 4-0 (Prev: 1)
2. Christopher Newport, 4-0 (Prev: 2)
3. RIT, 2-0 (Prev: 3)
4. Tufts, 0-0 (Prev: 4)
5. Bowdoin, 0-0 (Prev: 6)
6. Dickinson, 2-0 (Prev: 11)
7. Gettysburg, 1-1 (Prev: 5)
8. Middlebury, 0-0 (Prev: 7)
9. Lynchburg, 1-1 (Prev: 10)
10. RPI, 4-0 (Prev: 14)
11. Union, 1-0 (Prev: 9)
12. St. Lawrence, 3-0 (Prev: 13)
13. York, 2-1 (Prev: 15)
14. Amherst, 0-0 (Prev: 8)
15. Swarthmore, 3-0 (Prev: 16)
16. Wesleyan, 0-0 (Prev: 12)
17. Hampden-Sydney, 3-1 (Prev: 19)
18. Washington and Lee, 1-1 (Prev: 17)
19. Denison, 1-1 (Prev: 18)
20. Skidmore, 3-0 (Prev: NR)

Also considered (alphabetical order): Babson, Ithaca, Roanoke, Stevens, Stevenson

HOT

RPI (+4)

The Engineers wrapped up an undefeated February with a 19-9 win over DeSales. Their season-opening win over York turned some heads, and all they’ve done since is rack up wins and goals. They’ve amassed 57 goals in the last three games, exactly 19 in each, while surrendering a total of 23 in that same span. Luke Murphy is leading the scoring, and Caleb Oswari has been outstanding on the defensive end. Netminder Joseph Perry (no word on if he’s an Aerosmith fan) has a sub-8 GAA and a 61.6% save percentage.

IN

Skidmore (No. 20)

The Liberty League sleeper is dozing no longer, as the Thoroughbreds are well and truly out on the track while other conference teams are waiting to break maiden. Wins over Emerson, Kean and Bates aren’t going to get too many people excited, but we noticed the mid-state milers beat the morning line odds and threw them into the Top 20. Oneonta and Oswego loom, but if Skidmore can keep getting results, it could stay in the ranking until conference play begins in late March.

OUT

Stevenson (was No. 20)

The first win giveth and the first loss taketh away. The Mustangs drop out of the Top 20 just because there is a logjam of teams worthy of those last few spots, and the ones that stayed just so happened to win. Stevenson is a good team, and it did lose to Christopher Newport — one of the best teams in the nation — so this may seem harsh. But don't worry, Coach Paul Cantabene’s squad has plenty of top-tier matchups in its future that will rocket the Mustangs back into the ranks if they come out on top. Up first: Catholic University this Wednesday, followed by a trip to Gettysburg next weekend.