Middlebury, William Smith a Strong 1-2 Atop Nike/USA Lacrosse D-III Women's Top 20

The Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20 didn’t see much change, as no teams dropped out or moved in for a second straight week, and the top 10 remained steady after all but eight of those schools went unbeaten since the last update.

No. 8 TCNJ and No. 9 Franklin & Marshall both dropped games last week but lost to better-ranked teams also in the top 10 and didn’t need to be punished.

Only three other teams in the Top 20 suffered losses, and it was the same story as the others, where the rankings held true. However, No. 16 Williams moved down two spots after its loss to Wesleyan, and former No. 14 Amherst flipped places with No. 13 Trinity after Trinity’s loss to No. 12 Colby and Amherst’s loss to No. 1 Middlebury.

In this case, the Mammoths were rewarded for having a couple more quality wins under their belt, but the two teams face each other this week to truly sort out which team is deserving of the higher ranking.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III WOMEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Christopher Newport, Cortland, Geneseo, Haverford, Ithaca, MIT, Pomona-Pitzer

UPCOMING GAMES

No. 1 Middlebury 4/26 vs. No. 18 Williams
No. 2 William Smith 4/29 at Vassar
No. 3 Washington and Lee 4/26 vs. Bridgewater
No. 4 Salisbury 4/29 at Christopher Newport
No. 5 Wesleyan 4/26 vs. Connecticut College

No. 6 Tufts 4/26 vs. Bowdoin
No. 7 Gettysburg 4/26 vs. McDaniel
No. 8 TCNJ 4/29 at Ramapo
No. 9 Franklin & Marshall 4/26 at Dickinson
No. 10 York 4/26 vs. Stevenson

No. 11 Messiah 4/26 vs. Hood
No. 12 Colby 4/26 vs. Bates
No. 13 Amherst 4/26 vs. No. 14 Trinity (Conn.)
No. 14 Trinity (Conn.) 4/26 at No. 13 Amherst
No. 15 St. John Fisher 4/26 at Medaille

No. 16 Roanoke 5/5 vs. TBD (ODAC semis)
No. 17 Stevens 4/26 vs. Delaware Valley
No. 18 Williams 4/26 at No. 1 Middlebury
No. 19 Kenyon 4/25 vs. Oberlin
No. 20 Chicago 4/26 vs. Carroll (Wisc.)

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

William Smith (no change)

While defending national champion Middlebury remains unbeaten, there’s been no room for William Smith to move up higher than the No. 2 spot it has been sitting in for most of the season — but a 15-0 record is nothing to overlook.

Nine of the Herons’ wins have come against teams that are or were ranked at some point this season or have been in the “also considered” spots. That includes Union, which William Smith beat 16-5 last week to clinch the program’s ninth Liberty League regular-season title and earn the lone first-round bye in the seven-team league tournament. Maddie Montgomery matched a career-high with seven goals to lead the Herons’ attack.

St. John Fisher (+2)

The Cardinals won three more games last week to extend their streak to seven games following a 10-9 loss to William Smith on March 29. Sandwiched between two blowout wins last week against Keuka and Russell Sage was a notable 11-4 victory over Ithaca.

After a close first half against the Bombers, Fisher pulled away with a six-goal third period. Hanna Kumpf led the offense with six goals, as the Cardinals improved to 4-0 in conference play. Lilly Goodsell made nine saves, and the defense forced 11 turnovers.

Stevens (+1)

The Ducks have bounced back from their March 27 loss to York, winning seven straight in mostly dominant fashion. Last week’s 11-8 win over Cabrini was by far the closest game they’ve played in that stretch, and 12 unforced turnovers made it a tougher battle than needed.

Zoe Cook and Camryn Rogers both finished with four goals, while Julieann Murphy added two goals and two assists. Lauren Cunniff made 11 saves in goal.

NOT

Williams (-2)

Williams has lost three straight and faces its biggest challenge in the regular-season finale Wednesday at No. 1 Middlebury.

Though all of those recent losses have been against higher-ranked teams, the first two were only one-goal decisions against Amherst and Tufts. The third was a 15-7 defeat at the hands of Wesleyan. In that game, the Ephs scored the first two goals, but the Cardinals went on to score seven consecutive goals to break the game open for themselves.

Trinity (-1)

The Bantams aren’t on a big slide by any means, and their only setback last week was a 12-11 loss to a strong Colby team, but that was a game that could have really moved them up in the rankings.

Trinity rallied from a three-goal deficit in the second half and just missed on what could have been the tying goal in the final second. The Bantams fell to 5-4 in the NESCAC, while Colby improved to 6-3 in the conference. Molly McGuckin led the attack with three goals and four draw controls, but the team’s 20 turnovers were difficult to overcome.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 1: Feb. 20, 2023

• Week 2: Feb. 27, 2023

• Week 3: March 6, 2023

• Week 4: March 13, 2023

• Week 5: March 20, 2023

• Week 6: March 27, 2023

• Week 7: April 3, 2023

• Week 8: April 10, 2023

• Week 9: April 17, 2023