Princeton, Yale Make Presence Felt in USA Lacrosse D-I Women's Top 20

Notre Dame is in the top spot for a second straight week after Christine Halfpenny became the program’s winningest head coach thanks to a win over Duke — a team that had turned the corner after a slow start to 2024

Northwestern remains No. 2 after a big win over rival Maryland in a Saturday nightcap. It was Maryland’s first home conference loss in the 18 years since Cathy Reese took over the program.

Syracuse and Boston College also stay put at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. No. 10 Yale — undefeated in the Ivy League — and No. 11 Princeton are on the rise after beating No. 12 Penn, which entered the week No. 5 after upsetting Maryland on March 27.

Speaking of the Ivies, the revolving door continues at No. 20, with Harvard entering the USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 for the first time this season.

USA LACROSSE DIVISION I
WOMEN’S TOP 20

1. Notre Dame, 11-2 (Prev: 1)
2. Northwestern, 11-2 (Prev: 2)
3. Syracuse, 11-3 (Prev: 3)
4. Boston College, 12-2 (Prev: 4)
5. Maryland, 10-3 (Prev: 6)
6. Michigan, 13-1 (Prev: 7)
7. Loyola, 11-1 (Prev: 8)
8. Johns Hopkins, 10-3 (Prev: 9)
9. Virginia, 11-3 (Prev: 10)
10. Yale, 10-1 (Prev: 15)
11. Princeton, 7-3 (Prev: 17)
12. Penn, 8-3 (Prev: 5)
13. James Madison, 10-3 (Prev: 11)
14. Denver, 9-3 (Prev: 12)
15. Florida, 12-2 (Prev: 13)
16. Stony Brook, 10-2 (Prev: 14)
17. North Carolina, 8-5 (Prev: 16)
18. Stanford, 8-3 (Prev: 18)
19. Duke, 9-6 (Prev: 19)
20. Harvard, 8-2 (Prev: NR)

Also considered (alphabetical order): Brown (9-3), Cincinnati (10-4), Colorado (8-4), Drexel (9-3), Fairfield (11-1), Penn State (7-6), Ohio State (7-5), Richmond (10-3), USC (10-3)

HOT

Princeton (+6)

Think Penn has the Ivy League on lock, with Yale a close second? Think again. On Wednesday night, Princeton took down the Quakers, who had surged to No. 5 after beating one-time No. 1 Maryland. The Tigers followed that with a 24-12 win over Columbia. McKenzie Blake had herself a week, tallying 10 goals and 11 points in a pair of wins. A mid-week matchup against Loyola and a date with up-and-coming Harvard awaits.

NOT

Penn (-7)

Penn’s win over Maryland saw the Quakers surge into the top five and made them the favorite to repeat as Ivy champions. Yet losses to top rivals Princeton and Yale have that in flux, and the Quakers are dropping in the Top 20.

IN

Harvard (No. 20)

Don’t look now, but the Crimson are experiencing a renaissance. The 1989 national runner-up and 1990 champions have been dormant in the Ivy League — but not this year. The Crimson are 8-2 and boast wins over an also-improved Brown program and Dartmouth. Most recently, Harvard downed a Cornell team that pushed Princeton last weekend.

The offense is putting up gaudy stats — 17.22 goals per game — and has tallied double-digit goals in nine of 10 contests. Callie Hem entered the weekend tied for the Division I lead in goals per game with Ellie Masera, but her favorite wing woman, Riley Campbell (5 G, 1 A), shined against the Big Red.

OUT

Ohio State (was No. 20)

A week after beating Penn State, the Buckeyes fell short against unranked Cincinnati and took a dive out of the rankings.