Two New Top 5 Teams in Nike/USA Lacrosse Division II Men's Top 20

The final Nike/USA Lacrosse Division II Men’s Top 20 of the season is here. The NCAA playoff field is set, and six teams from the north will battle one another for the right to play the lone survivor of a brutal south bracket. 

So, let’s not waste any unnecessary page space. Let’s start with the SAC playoffs. 

Limestone had some early struggles but managed to right the ship and cauterize the wounds caused by early losses. The Saints arose more powerful than anyone could have imagined, and that rise culminated with a 14-8 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC finals. 

Limestone has been on a heater and carried it into the SAC championship. In the regular season, the Saints lost to Rollins, Wingate, Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne. Since April 25, they have wins over Anderson, Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne and now a SAC title.

It took a little bit for the offenses to get cooking, as the two teams felt each other out for much of the first quarter. A three-goal run with scores from Carter Brand, Zach Terry and Mike McGarry sparked Limestone and gave it a 3-2 lead after one. In the second quarter, the teams traded four-goal runs, with Toron Eccleston and Myles Moffat doing the damage for Lenoir-Rhyne, while four different players scored for Limestone. The real explosion came in the fourth quarter, in which a 6-0 run was the difference. It pushed Limestone’s lead from 8-7 to 14-7, out of the reach of a Lenoir-Rhyne comeback. 

The NE-10 found its way into four of the six slots from the north region, which will no doubt cause ire to be drawn across the field. Do four NE-10 teams really deserve to compete for a national title? Well, we all know that at least one of them does, and there is certainly a case to be made for two. But let’s start with the Dolphins, who completed their undefeated regular and conference season with a 12-8 victory over Bentley. 

The Dolphins are the only undefeated team in Division II and are the NE-10 champions. Bentley had already ended one undefeated season against Adelphi and was looking to do it again, but the Dolphins were resilient. Joey Pezzimenti was spectacular, notching seven points with six goals for Le Moyne. He had plenty of opportunities thanks to the dominance at the faceoff spot of Nico Mattia, who went 74 percent facing off on the day, while Matt Vavonese stopped 67 percent of the shots he faced. Despite those strong days, Bentley held tough throughout, but couldn’t quite get over the hump. Bentley still earned a bid into the NCAA tournament, where it will, for the third time this year, face Adelphi. 

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION II MEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Belmont Abbey (10-5), Chestnut Hill (8-4), Frostburg State (13-5), Georgian Court (12-6), Rockhurst (9-5)

UPCOMING GAMES

No. 1 Le Moyne 5/14 vs. No. 9 Bentley / No. 7 Adelphi
No. 2 Rollins 5/14 vs. No. 11 Tampa / No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne
No. 3 Mercyhurst 5/14 vs. No. 4 Mercy / No. 14 Saint Anselm
No. 4 Mercy 5/10 vs. No. 14 Saint Anselm
No. 5 Limestone 5/14 No. 8 Wingate / No. 13 UIndy

No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne 5/10 at No. 11 Tampa
No. 7 Adelphi 5/10 at No. 9 Bentley
No. 8 Wingate 5/10 vs. No. 13 UIndy
No. 9 Bentley 5/10 vs. No. 7 Adelphi
No. 10 Florida Southern Season complete

No. 11 Tampa 5/10 v s. No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne
No. 12 Colorado Mesa Season complete
No. 13 UIndy 5/10 at No. 8 Wingate
No. 14 Saint Anselm 5/10 at No. 4 Mercy
No. 15 Seton Hill Season complete

No. 16 Pace Season complete
No. 17 Newberry Season complete
No. 18 Barton Season complete
No. 19 Anderson Season complete
No. 20 Lewis Season complete

Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Le Moyne (no change)

How many times can we write about how great Le Moyne is? Turns out one more time. The Dolphins jumped through a hoop held by a Falcon in the NE-10 title game thanks to an outburst of offense in the second quarter that saw them blast eight goals into the Bentley net. Le Moyne is not a team that has traditionally been a haven for transfers, but the arrivals of Joey Pezzimenti (Albany) and netminder Matt Vavonese (Canisius) have really transformed this team into a squad that can get stops that freeze momentum and score timely goals to kickstart a run. 

NOT

Wingate (-2)

The Bulldogs’ loss to Limestone was telling. Wingate has two of the best scorers in Division II in Willie Grieco and Danny Riley. They combined for three goals and two assists in the loss to Limestone in the SAC finals. It doesn’t take away from those two players’ statuses at all, especially since they will have a chance to keep playing after making the NCAA field. However, it does dull the shine on an otherwise excellent run that has been bookended by losses to Mercyhurst and Limestone. 

IN

Lewis (No. 20)

Beating UIndy earns Lewis a spot in the Top 20, even if it didn’t take home the GLVC hardware. By the transitive property, Rockhurst is also in, right? Wrong. Lewis’s win over UIndy is absolutely a game-changer for that program. It didn’t get enough fanfare when it happened, so we wanted to make sure it got the recognition that it deserved — especially since that loss will reverberate into the D-II ether after UIndy was named to one of 12 (or six, depending on how you look at it) open spots in the D-II playoffs.

OUT

Belmont Abbey (was No. 20)

Belmont Abbey is jumped by Lewis, which enters the Top 20. Belmont Abbey ended the year on a sour run. They fell to Barton in the conference tournament and then took a 20-5 beating from Limestone to close the season. They ran off seven straight wins before those games and were climbing the Top 20 but just slipped up in late April, which is never good news. 

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 1: Feb. 13, 2023

• Week 2: Feb. 20, 2023

• Week 3: Feb. 27, 2023

• Week 4: March 6, 2023

• Week 5: March 13, 2023

• Week 6: March 20, 2023

• Week 7: March 27, 2023

• Week 8: April 3, 2023

• Week 9: April 10, 2023

• Week 10: April 17, 2023

• Week 11: April 24, 2023

• Week 12: May 1, 2023