College Fall Ball: Top 20 Teams Descend on Durham, USA Lacrosse Hosts Play Day

The fall scrimmage action picks up this weekend in Division I women’s lacrosse after a much smaller slate kicked off fall ball last weekend, according to our 2024-25 College Lacrosse Fall Ball Schedule.

Among those to watch:

• Friday is all about staying local. Temple hosts La Salle in Philadelphia, while Boston University plays Harvard in Allston, Mass. Of that quartet, Harvard is perhaps the most interesting after making a legitimate run in the Ivy League a season ago. The Crimson’s successes fell short of an Ivy League tournament berth, but this season will be all about getting to that next level.
• It'll be a talent-rich play day in Durham when North Carolina and Richmond travel to Duke on Saturday. With a clean bill of health, North Carolina could very well be back in the NCAA championship conversation. Duke and Richmond are always Top 20 candidates, even if there are questions surrounding both as the 2025 season looms.
• Caitlyn Phipps returns to her old stomping grounds on Saturday when Georgetown heads to College Park for a play day with host Maryland, Virginia and San Diego State. Phipps, of course, was part of four national titles with the Terps and was a longtime assistant under Cathy Reese before accepting the Georgetown job last month.
• USA Lacrosse headquarters is getting in on the play day fun by hosting Navy, Rutgers and Colorado in Sparks, Md. Cindy Timchal’s bunch is as motivated as ever after feeling slighted by the NCAA Selection Committee last spring. Beth Ann Mayer checked in with the Mids last month.
• Mitten State supremacy is on the line in Ann Arbor with Michigan hosting Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan for an in-state play day. All eyes will be on Michigan, as the Wolverines were one of the feistier defenses in the nation a year ago. The Wolverines made a deep run into May but fell to eventual national champion Boston College in the quarterfinals. Behind returning All-American Erin O’Grady in goal, Michigan is hungry for more.
• Hofstra hosts its annual HEADstrong event in honor of former Pride lacrosse player Nick Colleluori, who died after a 14-month battle with Diffuse Large B-Cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma not long after his freshman season in 2005. The Pride welcome Bucknell, Fairleigh Dickinson, Manhattan and Stony Brook to Shuart Stadium for one of the larger events of the fall.