W&L a Rising Force in Division III Men's Top 20

Last week was one of those weeks in which upsets were hard to come by. 

So, if you were a ranked team to get taken down, you’re getting a lot of e-ink today. With the end of the season approaching and momentum at an all-time premium, this might be the worst weekend to have a bad day.

Swarthmore has had a strong spring. A midweek win against Washington College set the Garnet up for a showdown with Franklin & Marshall on Saturday with a chance to get a crucial tiebreaker in the Centennial standings. Unfortunately, Swarthmore swung — and missed. 

The offense was held in check by an outstanding performance from F&M netminder Teddy Scarborough, who made two of his 19 saves in the final minute to secure a 14-12 win for the Diplomats.

The Centennial might be one of the most competitive conferences across the bulk of this season. Five teams from he conference have either been ranked or a part of the also considered designation through this last week of play. Gettysburg remains the team to beat, but Dickinson, Swarthmore, F&M and even Haverford have all shown flashes of ultra-high-level play. 

It's anathema to use a term like "don’t sleep on," but perhaps an exception can be made in the case of the Centennial. Bullets, Red Devils, Dips, Black Squirrels and a Phoenix — it doesn't get more eclectic than that.

There were no real upsets in the NESCAC, as Tufts tamped down Amherst’s offense with effective ball control. Bowdoin took down Wesleyan 14-10, furthering its ambition to be more than a runner-up in the NESCAC conversation. A home date with Tufts on Wednesday is its closing argument to a season that has only been marred by a 12-8 loss to Amherst back in March. 

Those who have underestimated the Polar Bears after losing multiple key players to graduation have been humbled by their consistency, especially on offense, as they have scored 15.58 goals per game, second only to Tufts’ 17.46 gpg in the NESCAC.

The rest of the teams atop the Division III Top 20 all took care of business in their respective conference games. Salisbury waltzed to a 26-9 win over Montclair State and RPI and RIT took care of business against Skidmore and St. Lawrence, respectively. Christopher Newport concluded its regular season with a 16-6 win over Stockton. 

However, the real rising force in the top 10 this week was Washington and Lee. The Generals did pitch a 28-0 shutout of Averett on Saturday, but that comes on the heels of a one-goal win against Lynchburg last weekend to stay a perfect 8-0 in the ODAC. An away trip to face Roanoke awaits, but with four wins on the bounce, they are a team that looks to have learned some valuable lessons thanks to their rollercoaster of a schedule.

Confirmation bias is running wild across Division III, as these top-ranked teams keep stacking up their wins, but talk of conference tournaments, automatic qualifiers and NPI is just starting to occur in locker rooms and campus offices across the country. There is no looking back — only forward — as we all hurtle toward the conclusion of the 2025 season.

Continue below to see the entire Top 20, which is compiled by USA Lacrosse Magazine staff and contributors.

USA LACROSSE DIVISION III 
MEN'S TOP 20