Kurt Bruun had three goals and two assists last week.

Tufts Hot, Union Not in Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Men's Top 20

April 3, 2023

Dan Arestia and Kyle Devitte

Rich Barnes

In lacrosse, there are upsets, and then there is just being upset. Both of those are also aspects of making a Top 20 poll. This week, teams in the Top 20 slid down a little further because of one or more losses and others tried to force their way into the ranks.

This is the section of the Division III lacrosse season in which the wheels either grip the road a little better or your steering wheel starts to drift into the breakdown lane. With that in mind, there are several programs that are beginning to pull away from the pack, while others are struggling to keep up. And the bottom of this poll is starting to get downright impossible to predict.

If we’re talking about vehicular speed, it’s safe to say that Tufts has gone from being a wagon to a full-on caravan. The Jumbos are still out there steamrolling opponents with their transition play, and they claimed two new victims this week with a 14-7 win against Union and a second-half run past Middlebury, 19-15.

A pair of upsets punctuated the Saturday action, with two teams in the Top 20 falling to conference foes. The first result was Clarkson’s 9-8 win over Union. That victory was just as tectonic as the second — Kenyon’s 14-13 win over Denison. Both teams were considered for the Top 20, but the strength of schedule for the currently ranked squads and the overall body of work has them waitlisted.

The top-ranked Captains of Christopher Newport remain undefeated and clinging to the top of the poll thanks to a heart-stopping overtime period that saw them face certain doom in the face, only to be rescued by a shorthanded goal from their savior, Alex Brendes, in OT to gently shove them forward on their undefeated journey.

For Lynchburg, they will rue the loss of such an opportunity to beat a top-ranked team in extra frames. Again. At this point, the Hornets might qualify for a "no-one-believes-in-us" locker room scholarship, but it's safe to say that they're one of the only teams in the country to go toe-to-toe with both Salisbury and Christopher Newport.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III MEN’S TOP 20

	April 3, 2023	W/L	Prev	Next
1	Christopher Newport	12-0	1	4/8 at No. 4 Salisbury
2	Tufts	9-0	2	4/5 vs. Williams
3	RIT	10-1	3	4/8 at No. 13 Union
4	Salisbury	10-1	4	4/8 vs. No. 1 Christopher Newport
5	Gettysburg	8-1	6	4/5 at No. 18 York
6	Amherst	5-1	9	4/5 vs. No. 10 Wesleyan
7	Middlebury	7-1	8	4/5 vs. Hamilton
8	St. Lawrence	7-1	7	4/4 at Plattsburgh
9	Bowdoin	6-3	10	4/5 vs. Bates
10	Wesleyan	6-2	12	4/5 at No. 6 Amherst
11	Lynchburg	7-4	14	4/5 at Shenandoah
12	Stevens	9-2	17	4/5 at Wilkes
13	Union	6-3	5	4/8 vs. No. 3 RIT
14	Ursinus	6-3	13	4/8 vs. Haverford
15	Denison	7-2	11	4/5 at Wooster
16	Dickinson	5-3	15	4/8 vs. Washington (Md.)
17	Washington and Lee	7-4	16	4/5 vs. Randolph-Macon
18	York	5-4	18	4/5 vs. No. 5 Gettysburg
19	Cabrini	7-3	19	4/5 at Neumann
20	Swarthmore	8-1	NR	4/8 at No. 5 Gettysburg

Also considered (alphabetical order): Babson (6-2), Clarkson (9-1), Cortland (6-3), Kenyon (8-1)

Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Tufts (no change)

Look, there just aren't a lot of ways to beat the Jumbos. It seems like teams take two tracks: slow the game down and try to keep everyone playing six-on-six or attempt to keep pace with the rocket-propelled transition of the wily blue Pachyderms. While Amherst has been the only team to even come close to doing the latter, the former has yielded some closer results against the NESCAC’s top team.

NOT

Union (-8)

Union has lost back-to-back games, to Tufts last Tuesday and then against Clarkson yesterday. Clarkson is now 9-1 but has not played the level of competition that Union has. Matt Paoletto was dominant facing off, and Dan Donahue made 14 saves, so Union got excellent play from their specialists but managed just 26 shots, with only 19 on goal. Union also committed 18 turnovers, and having as many turnovers as shots on goal will lead to losses. There’s no rest for the weary or wicked, as Union faces RIT next week.

IN

Swarthmore (No. 20)

The Swat is hot. Red hot. After a midweek dismantling of Muhlenberg, 18-8, Swarthmore hosted Franklin & Marshall and won by seven goals. The Mabbs boys, Von and Rex, are on fire on offense. They combined for 15 points against Muhlenberg and six more against Franklin & Marshall. Von currently leads the team at 52 points, with Rex third at 28. Von and Rex, a junior and a freshman respectively, have been central to a six-game winning streak, a 7-1 record and now a place in the Top 20. May their aggressive Twitter fans rejoice accordingly.

OUT

Babson (was No. 20)

Despite a strong result against NEWMAC contemporary Springfield this past weekend, the Beavers dropped a big game against Bowdoin midweek. The bottom of the Top 20 is going to be a vicious game of musical chairs from here until conference playoffs, and unfortunately, Babson is the team that has to be bumped out. They have a strong squad and still have two NESCAC opponents left on their schedule before a season finale against MIT that will likely determine the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs.

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Written By

Dan Arestia and Kyle Devitte

Dan Arestia and Kyle Devitte cover Division II and III men's lacrosse for USA Lacrosse Magazine.

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