Boston College Soaring, Now No. 2 in Nike/USA Lacrosse D-I Women's Top 20

Northwestern is No. 1 in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 for the second straight week. The Wildcats didn’t do anything — they had already done enough, earning a bye into the semifinals of the Big Ten championship tournament courtesy of winning the regular-season title.

They return to action Thursday against No. 16 Michigan, a 14-8 winner over No. 18 Penn State in the Big Ten quarterfinals on Saturday.

But the ACC championship is complete, and the drama that unfolded led to movement in the top five. Boston College ended North Carolina’s six-year reign atop the conference, winning its first ACC tournament crown. The Eagles also blew by Duke and No. 7 Notre Dame, earning them this week’s No. 2 spot in the Top 20. North Carolina knocked off regular-season co-champion Syracuse in the semifinals 15-9, a dominant performance that earned the Heels a two-spot jump. Syracuse slides to No. 5.

Denver completed the only perfect regular season in Division I with a 12-5 win against Marquette and retains the No. 3 spot.

There’s also some reshuffling at the bottom after Rutgers upset Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays remain in the rankings but slip to No. 19, while No. 16 Michigan and No. 17 Army move up. Richmond, ranked in the preseason Top 20, re-enters. The Spiders have won four straight games and will look to challenge UMass for the A-10 crown this weekend.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I WOMEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Clemson (12-6), Marquette (15-2), Navy (13-5), Rutgers (8-8), Villanova (11-5), Yale (10-5)

UPCOMING GAMES

No. 1 Northwestern 5/4 vs. No. 16 Michigan (B1G SF)
No. 2 Boston College Regular season complete
No. 3 Denver 5/5 vs. Villanova (Big East SF)
No. 4 North Carolina Regular season complete
No. 5 Syracuse Regular season complete

No. 6 James Madison 5/4 vs. Cincinnati (AAC SF)
No. 7 Notre Dame Regular season complete
No. 8 Florida 5/4 vs. East Carolina (AAC SF)
No. 9 Loyola 5/4 vs. Lehigh (Patriot SF)
No. 10 Stony Brook 5/4 vs. Delaware (CAA SF)

No. 11 Maryland 5/4 vs. Rutgers (B1G SF)
No. 12 UMass 5/5 vs. Davidson/George Washington (A-10 SF)
No. 13 Virginia Regular season complete
No. 14 Penn 5/4 vs. Harvard (Ivy SF)
No. 15 USC 5/4 vs. Arizona State/Cal (Pac-12 SF)

No. 16 Michigan 5/4 vs. No. 1 Northwestern (B1G SF)
No. 17 Army 5/4 vs. Navy (Patriot SF)
No. 18 Penn State Regular season complete
No. 19 Johns Hopkins Regular season complete
No. 20 Richmond 5/5 vs. Saint Joseph's/St. Bonaventure (A-10 SF)

Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Boston College (+2)

ACC champions for the first time in school history, the Eagles have epitomized “peaking at the right time.” The only evidence of those March losses to UNC and Denver appears on the Eagles’ schedule page. They’ve won 10 in a row since falling to the Pios on March 19 with a schedule that’s more challenging than Denver’s, hence the leap. The Eagles’ winning streak has included a 25-13 win over Virginia, a perfect-season-spoiling road comeback at Syracuse and now an ACC crown.

Penn (no change)

Undefeated in the Ivies and the outright regular-season champion for the first time since 2013, Penn enters the postseason on a six-game winning streak. The Quakers completed a perfect Ivy slate with a 15-8 win over Dartmouth behind a six-goal performance from Niki Miles. Harvard awaits Friday in the Ivy League tournament when Penn’s quest for a first NCAA invite since 2019 ramps up.

NOT

Syracuse (-3)

Syracuse looked unbeatable until the second half of its regular-season finale against Boston College. After falling by one, the Orange squeaked by Virginia Tech 14-2 — a team it had beaten 16-5 on March 5. Then came UNC on Friday. Syracuse had an epic Jekyll-Hyde moment at the wrong time, falling behind 8-0 early and unable to find an answer for Caroline Godine. The plus side of the early ACC championship exit is that the Orange have an extra week to regroup ahead of the NCAA tournament, where a once surefire one or two seed might be a longshot.

Johns Hopkins (-3)

The Blue Jays went from “peaking at the right time” to bubble with a Big Ten quarterfinal loss to unranked Rutgers. Wins over Michigan and Penn State — and a “good” one-goal loss to Maryland — in April give Johns Hopkins a fighting chance at an NCAA bid in Tim McCormack’s first year. Jeremy Fallis had the Jays as “likely in permanently” in last week’s Bracketology. But they’ll likely be scoreboard watching this week and sweating it out on Selection Sunday again.

IN

Richmond (No. 20)

Richmond topped Virginia in overtime but otherwise has had some ugly losses to quality opponents (at UMass on March 11 and at James Madison on April 5). But the Spiders have won four straight since that loss to the Dukes, most recently routing Duquesne 20-4. Should they meet A-10 top seed UMass next weekend, I’d expect a closer game.

OUT

Clemson (was No. 19)

The Tigers have had a solid first season (cynics will quickly point out the transfer-portal raid). Is it over? Probably. They lost 16-6 to North Carolina in the ACC quarterfinals. The win that catapulted Clemson into the national rankings — 11-10 over Duke on March 11 — has lost its luster over the last six weeks.

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