1. Boston College and Virginia — ranked No. 1 and No. 13 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20, respectively — were impressive in blowout wins Thursday. The top-ranked Eagles remained unbeaten with a convincing 25-14 victory over UMass on Thursday. Sam Apuzzo and Kenzie Kent each finished with four goals and three assists. The Cavaliers also improved to 3-0 with a 19-5 win over Richmond. Eleven different players scored and goalie Charlie Campbell tied her career high with 12 saves.

Thursday’s scores:

No. 1 Boston College 25, UMass 14
No. 13 Virginia 19, Richmond 5
No. 19 Stanford 17, Fresno State 7
Mount St. Mary’s 9, UMBC 8
Saint Joseph’s 17, Temple 8

2. Faceoff specialists Gerard Arceri and TD Ierlan will be the center of attention Saturday when No. 2 Penn State visits No. 6 Yale in a battle of teams ranked in the top 10 of the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20. More in the Weekend Watch.

3. Villanova had the benefit of two weeks — a second preseason, of sorts — to prepare for defending NCAA champion Yale, unearthing one of the biggest upsets of the young season.

4. Bill Harkins, one of the pioneers of the MCLA and a long-time coach at Florida State, died Monday at his home in Palm Coast, Fla. He was 69. The Seminoles, whom Harkins guided to seven trips to the MCLA National Championships, play on a field named after him.  

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Hobart’s playing like it’s 1990 and Navy’s riding like it’s 2004, plus Army’s revival and numbers of note in this week’s Division I men’s lacrosse notebook.

• Lacrosse for the blind? The first step toward developing a new adaptive version of the game came earlier this month with a clinic at Maryland School for the Blind.

• We pieced it together for you Monday, but in case you missed it, the Big Ten Network officially released its broadcast schedule Thursday.

• The sparkling new Jacksonville Lacrosse Center already is paying dividends in recruiting for the Dolphins.

• Arceri prepped the Daily Collegian, Penn State’s independent student newspaper, on his impending matchup with Ierlan.

• Wheaton College freshman goalie Alex Chu, whose head is too large for any certified helmet on the market, hopes a special-issued Warrior helmet will help him get on the field.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Steve DeNapoli, denied the opportunity to compete in the FIL World Championship when he tore his ACL before the games last summer, received his gold medal and championship ring in a special presentation in the Hofstra locker room. Pride captains Mark Ellis and Ryan Tierney presented the spoils to DeNapoli, a Hofstra alumnus and a very popular player among his peers. Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney is an assistant coach for Team USA.

#Hofstra Head Coach and @USAMLAX Asst. Coach @TierneySeth and the @HofstraPride team made a special presentation of a gold medal and ring to @HofstraU alum and national team member @stevedenap7, who missed the 2018 @FILacrosse title run with an injury. #NCAALAX #roarwithpride pic.twitter.com/QXhPnN8tZY

— Hofstra Lacrosse (@HofstraMLAX) February 21, 2019

WHAT’S ON TAP

• Three games involving nationally ranked teams later today — No. 4 Cornell at Hobart men; No. 14 Notre Dame at Ohio State and No. 5 Stony Brook at No. 15 Colorado women — will whet the palette for a full weekend of college lacrosse. Check the TV listing for games that will be televised and streamed.

• The marquee game of the weekend? No. 3 North Carolina visits No. 2 Maryland on Sunday in a battle perennial NCAA women’s lacrosse championship weekend contenders. Check out the Weekend Watch when it’s posted today.

• Need a little edge for your game? We’ll have a couple of how-to articles featuring tips from Team USA’s Myles Jones and Gussie Johns.

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