Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Rankings in February are meant to be flipped.
On the men's side five of the top 10 teams in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings went down:
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No. 3 North Carolina was thoroughly handled by Johns Hopkins, which got 16 saves from Michigan transfer Gerald Logan in a 13-5 win.
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No. 6 Yale's comeback attempt at Maryland was stalled by the weather as the Terps held on for a 12-11 win after leading by as many as six in the second half.
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A week after winning in the final seconds, No. 7 Syracuse fell to Army with 0.5 seconds left. It was Army's first win over Syracuse since upsetting the top-seeded Orange in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
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An early hole was too much for No. 8 Virginia to overcome against Penn, which got three goals from Tyler Dunn, including the game-winner.
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No. 9 Brown's high-powered offense put up 17 goals...and they lost by eight. Stony Brook torched the Bears for 25 goals. Stony Brook freshman Cory Van Ginhoven had seven goals.
On the women’s side:
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Jen Giles scored three times and added three assists as No. 2 Maryland got a minor measure of revenge on No. 1 North Carolina, beating the Tar Heels 13-10.
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Hayley Hicklen made 13 saves and No. 5 Florida set a school record with 24 caused turnovers in the Gators 15-10 win over No. 3 USC.
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No. 14 Notre Dame led just once, but it came at the right time. Grace Muller's late tally gave the Irish a 12-11 win at No. 8 Duke.
2. It's been a long time since a conference could challenge the ACC for superiority in collegiate men's lacrosse. But how about the Big Ten in the early going in 2017? Until Michigan's loss to Notre Dame on Sunday, the six Big Ten teams had combined for a perfect 23-0 to start the season. Lacrosse fans will get plenty of opportunity to see the Big Ten in action — the league recently announced its television schedule, which kicks off Tuesday with Wagner at Rutgers.
PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER
Johns Hopkins, coming off of a victory over defending national champion North Carolina, is one of five undefeated teams in the Big Ten.
3. It's hard to imagine a better start to a college career than what Mac O'Keefe has done for Penn State in his first four games. O'Keefe set a Penn State freshman record — breaking his own mark — by scoring eight goals in the Nittany Lions 17-12 victory over Villanova on Saturday. The U.S. U19 alum has 24 goals in just four college lacrosse games. It's only taken him 41 shots to inflict that damage and he's a big reason Penn State is 4-0 and averaging 18.3 goals per game.