The Sunday Slide: February 25, 2024

I think Beth Ann Mayer and I jinxed ourselves this weekend.

After last week’s unexpected results, we figured it couldn’t possibly happen again. It’s just the law of averages, right? Well, not so much.

Sure, the results of the past week weren’t nearly as monumental as Notre Dame taking down No. 1 and a slew of other upsets, but big things happened. You know that Notre Dame team? The one I literally just mentioned? Yeah, they lost to Syracuse.

Maryland? That team that welcomed a struggling Florida to College Park? Yeah, the Terps lost, too.

What it all means is that Monday’s USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 will again be a mash up of results, eye test, talent and some intuition.

It’s an imperfect science. But that epitomizes the spring season. It’s perfectly imperfect. So much so that you can’t possibly look away.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

If it wasn’t already apparent, the annual Maryland-Florida matchup is must-watch television. Regardless of records or roster turnover, these teams have played each other valiantly in the regular season the past few years (2022’s NCAA quarterfinal is the lone outlier since the COVID year).

Rider deserves a shoutout for its 3-0 start. The Broncs’ schedule hasn’t been a gauntlet like the one we mentioned above, but for a team in its first year, that doesn’t matter. Rider coach Evan Mager has his offense clicking with at least 17 goals in each game.

Lacrosse media hyped up the Denver defense quite a bit in 2023. I will admit that I was a very early admirer of the unit and loved how the Pios — in what most would consider an offense-first era — simply dominated on that end of the field. Therefore it’s unfair to just start throwing comparisons around this early — but can we talk about Michigan? The Wolverines have allowed 12 goals in a 4-0 start, including just four goals allowed against Denver and three against USC. Erin O’Grady has been unconscious, and it’s time the lacrosse world starts putting some respect on Maddie Burns’ name, too.

No team played more lacrosse this week than Manhattan. The Jaspers needed three overtimes to beat LIU on Wednesday before needing two overtimes to beat La Salle on Sunday.

It has been a complete reversal of fortune for Army, which fell to 0-4 after losing to Rutgers — the game that put the Black Knights on the map a season ago. There’s some turnover on the Army roster but even more turnover on the coaching staff, and Army just hasn’t found its groove yet in 2024.

FUN WITH NUMBERS

3 • Goals scored by Eva Ingrilli, with the third being the overtime winner for North Carolina over Virginia.

8 • Multi-goal scorers for Clemson in its 20-11 win over Duke. I can’t lie — I’m so intrigued by what the future of Clemson women’s lacrosse will look like.

9 • Scorers for Princeton in its 18-13 win over Penn State, lead by McKenzie Blake’s five goals. It was a nice bounceback for the Tigers after opening their season with a loss to Virginia.

10 • Second-half goals scored by Syracuse to come back from a 10-6 deficit to down Notre Dame 16-14 in South Bend. The ACC might be more unpredictable than ever outside of Boston College (which, to be fair, truly tests itself for the first time on Thursday against Northwestern).

16 • Assists by Virginia in its 20-11 win over Cornell. The Cavaliers offense has been impressive under Sonia LaMonica and her coaching staff, and at 4-1, the Hoos don’t look like they’re going away — at least for now.

27 • Points by Ellie Masera through Stony Brook’s 3-0 start. She has 19 goals and eight assists as the Seawolves’ offensive leader. She also has 23 draw controls.