College Fall Ball: Penn State-UVA, Albany-Army Headline This Weekend

College lacrosse fall ball competition heats up this weekend with more than 30 Division I women’s teams in action on campuses nationwide, according to our 2024-25 College Lacrosse Fall Ball Schedule.

Among those to watch:

• Penn State visits Virginia on Saturday in a matchup of teams ranked in USA Lacrosse Magazine’s Way-Early Top 25 for 2025. The Nittany Lions were gutted by graduation, the Cavaliers less so. But second-team All-Americans Kristin O’Neill and Morgan Schwab were alpha types for their respective teams. Expect the coaches to toy with several new combinations in search of an offensive identity. Is U.S. Women’s U20 National Team attacker Madison Alaimo the new top gun for UVA?
• Perennial powers Maryland and Notre Dame lost a ton of production in the classes that graduated after both teams’ 2024 season ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Speaking of U20 standouts, Kori Edmonson demonstrated with her defensive tenacity in Hong Kong that she need not ever leave the field. Is this the year the former No. 1 recruit fully realizes her potential as an All-American in College Park? The Terps host James Madison, Navy and Temple on Saturday. Out in South Bend, meanwhile, the Fighting Irish are excited to see highly touted freshman Madison Rassas in action. On Saturday they host Cornell and Marquette — two teams that will continue to Louisville for additional scrimmages Sunday.
• In the “Battle of the Georges,” newly minted Georgetown head coach Caitlyn Phipps will debut on the Hoyas sideline just two weeks into the job. Phipps’ hire instantly raises the profile of a program that hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2019 but has championship weekend pedigree and aspirations. She spent 12 years on the staff at Maryland, a period during which the Terps won four NCAA championships. Phipps also won one as a player, earning MVP honors in 2010. She’s plenty familiar with recruiting in the Baltimore-D.C. corridor. A two-time U.S. National Team gold medalist, Phipps has coached in the National Team Development Program. Georgetown and George Washington play Saturday at George Mason.
• Other teams with new head coaches making their fall ball debuts this weekend: Colgate, Duquesne and William & Mary. Eleven Division I women’s lacrosse teams are under new leadership.
• Yale is a final four sleeper after going undefeated in the Ivy League and advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals behind All-Americans Fallon Vaughn, Jenna Collignon and Emmy Pascal. Every other Ivy contender is dealing with a mass exodus of players. The Bulldogs host Bryant in a scrimmage Saturday.
• Army is more of a post-hype sleeper as a team that fell short of elevated expectations in 2024 but maintains intact the core of a team that had a No. 13 preseason ranking. The Black Knights’ All-American nucleus of Brigid Duffy and Allison Reilly — U.S. U20 standouts who are the first service academy representatives on a women’s national team — will keep them in the national conversation. They take on reigning America East champion Albany in West Point on Sunday.