HOT
Penn State (+4)
The Nittany Lions built on their victory at Yale two Saturdays ago, scoring the final seven goals in a 15-9 defeat of Penn.
A little bit of skepticism toward Penn State was understandable even with the first victory. After all, the Nittany Lions went 4-7 during their all-Big Ten schedule in 2021, then slumped to 3-11 last season. But with two eye-catching victories, Penn State seems to be a more curious team as it heads into this week’s trip to Cornell.
Rutgers (+4)
The Scarlet Knights routed St. John’s 20-6 and handled Utah 18-14 last week to follow up their victory over Loyola. But this rise has more than a little to do with carnage in the back half of the top 10. All four teams Rutgers leapfrogged — Princeton, Ohio State, North Carolina and Penn — lost, and all but Penn tripped up at home.
Yale (+4)
The Bulldogs handled business against UMass, doubling up the Minutemen 18-9 on Friday in a game moved up because of lousy anticipated weather. Chris Lyons had five goals and Matt Brandau added four goals and four assists for Yale, which like Rutgers, benefited from losses.
NOT
Penn (-8)
The Quakers took their second consecutive loss, a 15-9 setback at Penn State. Penn typically plays an arduous non-conference schedule, and the price of doing so is the possibility of losing is real if there’s a 15- or 20-minute lull at any point. Such was the case Saturday, as the Quakers went scoreless in the final 17:33. They’ll get two chances to bounce back this week against Saint Joseph’s and Villanova.
Princeton (-5)
The Tigers took a second consecutive home loss, following up an 11-5 defeat against Maryland with a 13-10 setback against a Georgetown bunch desperate to avoid an 0-4 start.
That result is one of the hardest to parse from this weekend. Has Georgetown figured things out? Is Princeton as good as anticipated? A five-spot slide seems like a reasonable hedge at the moment, especially with the Tigers visiting Rutgers in another high-profile game Saturday.
IN
Denver (No. 19)
The Pioneers return to the Top 20 after JJ Sillstrop’s go-ahead goal with 1:23 remaining helped secure a 9-8 victory at North Carolina.
Denver is 3-0 when it keeps an opponent to fewer than 12 goals and 0-2 when foes reach that number. Given the Pioneers’ continuity at the defensive end, it’s little surprise that group is the team’s bellwether in the first month of the season.
OUT
Delaware (was No. 17)
The Blue Hens suffered their second loss in a row at home, dropping a 16-12 decision to Michigan on Saturday. Perhaps the most surprising development in that one was Delaware winding up on the wrong end of a 9-0 run as the Wolverines turned a 9-4 deficit into a 13-9 lead.
Next up for Delaware is a two-game week, with undefeated UMBC visiting Tuesday and Monmouth paying a visit to Newark on Saturday in the conference opener for both teams.
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