Weekend One-Liners: What to Watch for in Women's Lacrosse

Friday Night — or early afternoon — lacrosse has become a thing this season. Last week, saw the highly anticipated title-game rematch between Boston College and North Carolina begin at 4 p.m. Eastern. Earlier this season, Syracuse and Maryland squared off on a late Friday afternoon.

Neither game quite lived up to its advanced billing. Though Saturday remains the most jam-packed day on the schedule, there’s something fun about having these big games happen a day earlier. This weekend, another anticipated matchup kicks off the weekend when No. 4 Stony Brook travels to Evanston to jostle with No. 3 Northwestern. Wildcats star Izzy Scane has been day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Having her back in the lineup would only serve to elevate this game — though it’s unclear what her status is ahead of opening draw.

But it’s not the only anticipated matchup on this weekend’s schedule. Here’s your guide, starting with a lunch date between two Top 20 teams.

No. 16 USC (4-1) at No. 17 Princeton (2-2), Friday, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

USC brings its four-game winning streak to the East Coast to square off with a Princeton team coming off an up-and-down week in which it beat Rutgers but lost to an emerging Yale team.

Game of the week: No. 4 Stony Brook (4-0) at No. 3 Northwestern (5-1), Friday, 8 p.m.  (BIG+)

All eyes will be on the Northwestern Twitter account to see if Scane makes the starting lineup, and then they’ll drift to B1G+ to see this one under the Friday night lights at Ryan Field House.

Louisville (4-2) at No. 5 Boston College (4-2), Saturday, 11 a.m. (ACCX )

Boston College got five goals from Belle Smith in a 17-5 bounceback rout of Brown and now looks to score its second ACC win of the season against a Louisville team that survived a late push from Pitt last weekend.

No. 11 Notre Dame (4-1) at No. 2 Syracuse (6-0), Saturday, 12 p.m. (ACC Network)

A football-style final score isn’t out of the question when Syracuse (17.5 goals per game) and Notre Dame (16.4 goals per game), two of the top-ranked offenses in the land, go at it.

Upset watch: Penn (3-1) vs. No. 20 Jacksonville (3-3), Saturday, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

Princeton and Yale may be grabbing attention in the Ancient Eight, but Penn could turn heads too during this non-conference date with a Dolphins team that’s rebounded from an 0-3 start with three straight wins.

No. 12 Loyola (5-0) at No. 10 Florida (3-2), Saturday, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

Two potential dark horses with realistic shots to play deep into May — especially with a slow start from Maryland — go at it in Gainesville.

Richmond (5-1) at UMass (5-1), Saturday, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

One (or both) of these two teams has won at least a share of every A-10 regular-season championship since 2008, and the 2023 version of the rivalry begins Saturday.

Boston U (5-1) at No. 14 Army (5-0), Saturday, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

Nationally ranked Army opens Patriot League play against the Terriers, who suffered their first loss of the season to Coastal Carolina on Tuesday night. 

Johns Hopkins (2-3) at No. 8 James Madison (6-1), Saturday, 12 p.m. (Audio only)

James Madison picked off two Big Ten teams last week in No. 19 Michigan and No. 9 Maryland — are the Blue Jays next?

No. 13 Duke (4-2) at Clemson (6-2), Saturday, 12 p.m. (ACCX)

After losses to Boston College and Notre Dame, Duke will try to notch its first conference win of the season against a Clemson program searching for its first-ever ACC victory.

No. 18 Rutgers (3-2) vs. Penn State (4-2), Saturday, 1 p.m. in Nashville (Stream TBD)

Rutgers will try to put upset losses to Army and Princeton in its rearview mirror but faces another upset bid from a Nittany Lions team off to a 4-2 start thanks in part to a defense letting in 6.40 goals per game.

No. 15 Yale (4-1) at UConn (3-2), Saturday, 1 p.m. (Flosports)

A win over Princeton and a blowout of CCSU have the Bulldogs on the upswing into this matchup with UConn, which lost to UMass 16-12 last weekend.

No. 9 Maryland (4-3) at Villanova (6-1), Saturday, 1 p.m. (Flosports)

Villanova will try to ride the high of Caroline Curnal’s overtime game-winner at San Diego State against a Terps team that has looked uncharacteristically beatable early.

No. 7 Virginia (6-0) at No. 1 North Carolina (5-0), Saturday, 3 p.m. (ACCX)

UVA has had plenty of fast starts in recent years, but Saturday’s date with the defending national champs will help fans get an early gauge on whether the Cavs have what it takes to run with the ACC’s usual suspects.

No. 16 USC (4-1) at Hofstra (3-4), Sunday, 12 p.m. (Flosports)

Ella Heaney (Garden City, N.Y.) and Isabelle Vitale (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) of USC return to their old Long Island stomping grounds.