Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. It's hard to imagine that a freshman could score four goals in the fourth quarter to lead the No. 1 team in the country back from a four-goal deficit to beat the No. 3 country...and not be the freshman that everyone is talking about after the weekend.
But that's what happened.
Joe Robertson was fantastic for Duke on Friday night, rallying the Blue Devils past Denver before a nationally-televised audience on ESPNU. The attackman out of St. Anne's Belfield in Charlottesville, Va., now has 12 goals this season for undefeated Duke (4-0), but the weekend belonged to Albany's Tahoka Nanticoke.
The bulky attackman was unstoppable as No. 4 Albany routed No. 9 Syracuse 15-3 in the Carrier Dome. Nanticoke scored five goals with a combination of laser shooting, nifty moves and flat out brute strength. Here's a look at all five of his goals from his first collegiate game.
Poise. Power. Panache. College lacrosse, meet Tehoka Nanticoke.
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 18, 2018
https://t.co/8O2PIO0Vb6 pic.twitter.com/QKlK1VPjdw
2. Courtney Murphy's return to the field after missing most of last year with injuries, was a special one. The fifth-year senior had four goals and four assists to lead the No. 2 Seawolves to a 14-10 victory over No. 5 USC on Friday night in Costa Mesa, Calif. Murphy had four of Stony Brook's first six goals and had a goal and three assists during a five-goal run that pushed Stony Brook's lead from 5-4 to 10-4.
Highlights from our win over No. 5 USC last night at LeBard Stadium pic.twitter.com/mbKKx2SZOs
— Stony Brook WLAX (@StonyBrookWLAX) February 17, 2018
3. The men's slate saw three big upsets over the weekend, including No. 12 Villanova pulling out its second overtime win in as many outings, this time knocking off No. 5 Yale 10-9 at The Star in Frisco, Texas in the Patriot Cup. Danny Siebel scored his fourth goal of the game with 20 seconds remaining in overtime to lead the Wildcats, and then would have made Baker Mayfield proud as he sprinted to the Cowboys star at midfield and spiked his stick.
VILLANOVA WINS AT THE STAR! @NovaLacrosse picks up its second upset of the year, downing @YaleLacrosse in overtime 10-9. Check out that @terrellowens-like celebration. pic.twitter.com/fSEGO2Kc9n
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 17, 2018
The other upsets came via No. 14 Loyola, which forced No. 10 Johns Hopkins into 22 turnovers (seven forced by Foster Huggins, in a 12-5 victory, and No. 16. Army which scored the final two goals to edge No. 8 Rutgers 9-7.
4. In the biggest women's game of the weekend, No. 1 Maryland seized momentum after an apparent goal by No. 4 Florida was wiped out for an illegal stick. The goal would have pulled the Gators to within 11-10. Instead Maryland poured in five goals in less than five minutes to take a 16-9 lead and held on for a 16-14 win. Megan Whittle had five goals for the Terps, including three straight goals during the critical second-half scoring run.
5. Gabbe Cadoux won a lot of games as the goalie at national powerhouse McDonogh and on Sunday she won another big one as No. 20 Duke held off No. 13 Northwestern 9-8. Cadoux, a sophomore, made three saves in less than a minute late in the game to preserve the victory for the unbeaten Blue Devils (3-0). Freshman Charlotte North had a hat trick, giving her nine goals in two wins over the weekend.
FINAL: Thanks to three saves in one minute by @DukeWLAX goalie Gabbe Cadoux under the 3-minute mark, the No. 20 Blue Devils hang on for a 9-8 victory over No. 13 @NULax. pic.twitter.com/77Pz30OBDW
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 18, 2018
6. In a rematch of the last two NCAA Division II women's championship games, Florida Southern took early bragging rights for 2018 with a 17-16 victory. Dani Bursinger led Florida Southern, the 2016 national champion, with five goals and 10 draw controls. Michele Scannell, the Brine/US Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Player of the Year for Adelphi, the 2017 NCAA champ, had four goals and two assists for the Panthers.
7. Andrew Kew, the Warrior/US Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Player of the Year in Division II men's lacrosse, had six goals as No. 4 Tampa beat defending national champion Limestone, 12-10, for the first time in school history.