Stevens, Pomona-Pitzer Join Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Women's Top 20

The top six teams in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20 went unbeaten last week, so there were no changes among their order, but the rest of the rankings saw quite a bit of upheaval, particularly with No. 9 Colby dropping out after a third straight loss to open the season.

Colby fell to unranked Williams, which owns a loss to a Trinity (Conn.) squad on the bubble, and the Mules now are on the outside looking in but still remain a team to watch. That enabled No. 11 Gettysburg to move up a spot despite dropping a third loss to a top 10 opponent in a narrow decision against No. 5 Salisbury.

Among the other notable results, No. 10 Wesleyan beat No. 7 Franklin & Marshall, and Stevens entered into the rankings as one of two newcomers this week after a 10-goal win over St. Lawrence moved the Ducks to 6-0 on the season.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III WOMEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Colorado College, Hamilton, Kenyon, Mary Washington, Roger Williams, St. John Fisher, Trinity, Williams

* at USA Lacrosse HQ in Sparks, Md.

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Wesleyan (+3)

A six-goal second quarter sparked the Cardinals to a 12-10 win over Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, and Abby Wolk made five of her six saves in the second half, including three in the fourth quarter, to fend off the Diplomats’ comeback attempt. Wesleyan, which improves to 3-0, hadn’t beaten a top 10-ranked team since the 2019 postseason.

The Cardinals dominated draws, winning 18 of 26, and Kendall Mittleman and Chessy Greenwald each contributed two goals and two assists. Gil Horst, Kate Balicki and Georgia Mackie each added two goals.

Ithaca (+3)

The Bombers have won three straight since a one-goal loss to current No. 11 Cortland on March 1, and with the Red Dragons’ continued climb, Ithaca makes a jump, too.

Ithaca opened Liberty League play with a 17-8 win over Rochester after jumping out to a 10-1 lead early in the second quarter. Sydney Phillips led with six goals, Maizy Veitch added four goals and Caroline Wise chipped in three goals and two assists.

The Bombers also added a 12-8 win over Scranton last week, rallying from a 6-4 halftime deficit with eight second-half goals while the defense limited Scranton to a single goal in each of the third and fourth periods. Veitch had four goals in that game as well, while Chloe Nordyke had three goals.

Roanoke (+4)

Roanoke hasn’t faced the most difficult schedule, but the Maroons have remained unbeaten against respectable competition, including early wins against St. Mary’s (Md.) and Mary Washington.

Their 20-5 win over FDU-Florham was their fifth victory, and the hot start now has them up to No. 14 with the help of other teams losing.

Libby Bowman scored six goals, Lilly Blair tallied four goals and two assists and Sydney Harrison contributed a hat trick and added three caused turnovers. 

NOT

St. Lawrence (-6)

The Saints had a lead after the first quarter against unranked Stevens on Sunday, but the Ducks gained a lead and separated themselves with a seven-goal final period to win 18-8. The blowout loss cost them a big fall in the rankings after St. Lawrence had opened with a decent 14-10 win over Geneseo. The original opener scheduled against SUNY Oneonta was postponed due to inclement weather.

SLU got hat tricks from Neve Ley and Dana Fernandez, but the Saints struggled on both ends of the field in the second half. They have a big challenge as they seek to bounce back this week with a game at No. 1 Middlebury on Wednesday.

IN

Stevens Tech (No. 17)

The Ducks have cruised through the early part of their schedule but the lopsided win over then-No. 14 St. Lawrence was enough of a statement to push them into the rankings.

Stevens led 8-5 going into halftime and was up 11-7 after three quarters before breaking free with an offensive explosion in the fourth quarter. Camryn Rogers had six goals and one assist, Maddie Schmidt and Zoe Cook each scored four goals and Julieann Murphy (two goals, three assists) and Emily Smart (five assists) each contributed five points. Lauren Cunniff made 12 saves in goal.

The Ducks’ schedule gets even more difficult this week with games against Mary Washington and York.

Pomona-Pitzer (No. 18)

The Sagehens have been a strong team out West for some time now, and it’s no surprise they remain unbeaten through six games, but they climb into the rankings after an impressive week. They beat Haverford 18-11 on Tuesday, then routed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 17-2 on Thursday.

Sydney Landauer led Pomona-Pitzer with four goals, while Eloise Cherian added a hat trick.

This week starts off with the biggest challenge of the season, as the Sagehens host No. 7 Wesleyan.

OUT

Colby (No. 9)

The Mules were punished hard for their 10-8 loss to unranked Williams College, and they very well could bounce back quickly, but with an 0-3 record, Colby has something to prove – even if two of those defeats came against top five foes. Colby had an 8-5 lead after three quarters but was shut out in the final stanza while Williams scored five goals.

The Ephs outshot the Mules 32-24 and had four fewer turnovers while also collecting eight more ground balls than Colby, which has games scheduled against Plymouth State and Wesleyan this week.

SUNY Geneseo (No. 17)

The Knights didn’t get to play last week because their game against William Smith was postponed Saturday, but with St. Lawrence dropping so far in the rankings and that being the team that beat Geneseo, it caused a trickle-down effect to knock the Knights out of the top 20 for now.

Overall, it’s been a slow start for Geneseo, which owns a win over Nazareth but otherwise has had two scheduled games canceled or postponed. The Knights are scheduled to get back to competition Tuesday at Kenyon.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 1: Feb. 20, 2023

• Week 2: Feb. 27, 2023

• Week 3: March 6, 2023