Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Two more top 5 teams go down this weekend in another string of upsets. No. 1 Notre Dame, which just overtook the top position after beating Maryland last weekend, fell to No. 5 Denver on Sunday on a buzzer-beating shot from Connor Cannizzaro. Cannizzaro, who had two goals and an assists in the 11-10 win, picked up a ground ball, carried it and dove from behind the cage to the left side of the crease to deposit the game-winner — another chapter in a wild rivalry. Let’s not forget No. 15 Hofstra, which downed North Carolina for the second straight season. Rest assured, we’ll have more shakeups in the top 20 this week.
Here are the other men's storylines from this weekend:
-
Hofstra keeps winning. The No. 15 Pride, off to a 6-0 start this season, beat defending champions North Carolina for the second straight year. Hofstra goalie Jack Concannon had 13 saves in the 11-9 win over the Tar Heels, making it the fourth two-goal victory of the season. With an early season win over Princeton and this weekend’s upset, Hofstra should be big risers in this week’s rankings.
-
Michigan picked up a signature victory on Saturday, beating No. 10 Penn 13-12. It’s the first win over a ranked opponent for the sixth-year Wolverines. Ian King and Brent Noseworthy had hat tricks in the win that moved Michigan to 7-1 on the season. Looks pretty impressive.
-
Those weren’t the only upsets this weekend. Like I said, it was a crazy few days. No. 17 Towson beat No. 9 Johns Hopkins 13-8 on Saturday, making it the first time the Tigers have won consecutive home games over the Blue Jays. Duke took down No. 12 Loyola for a win that we’ll touch on later. Lafayette shocked Navy in Patriot League play — just the second win in school history over the Midshipmen.
-
Virginia and Cornell lit up the scoreboard in Saturday's matchup in Costa Mesa, California. Zed Williams scored the game-winning goal in overtime to help the Cavaliers overcome a six-goal deficit and win 19-18 in the Pacific Coast Shootout.
-
Let's not forget about Rutgers, which just keeps roaring. The Scarlet Knights blew past Stony Brook 17-4 on Friday night behind hat tricks from Kieran Mullins and Casey Rose. Could Rutgers crack the top 5 this week?
PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER
Maryland's Megan Whittle scored a career-high seven goals to lead her team past Syracuse on Saturday.
2. Maryland continues to establish its dominance on the women's side. The Terps took on another top 5 rival in Syrcause and cruised to another win, beating the Orange 17-7 on Saturday in College Park. Megan Whittle had a career-high seven goals to lead Maryland past Syracuse for the 21st time in 22 meetings. However, it wasn't the only top 5 matchup this weekend. No. 3 Florida won a high-scoring affair over No. 5 Stony Brook on Saturday.
Here's what went down on the women's side this weekend:
-
Mollie Stevens had a career-high seven goals, in addition to 10 draw controls, to lead the No, 3 Florida Gators past No. 5 Stony Brook 22-14 on Saturday afternoon. The 22 goals are especially impressive given that they came against the Sea Wolves' third-ranked defense, which was allowing just 6.4 goals per game. Kylie Ohlmiller had four goals in the loss.
-
Colorado is red hot. Down 7-3 in the first half against an unbeaten Penn State team, the Buffaloes put together an 11-1 run to take hold of the game and beat the Nittany Lions 16-11 on Sunday. Miranda Stinson had five goals to lead Colorado.
-
No. 8 Princeton used a four-goal, second-half run to put the game out of hand and cruise past No. 11 Notre Dame by a score of 14-8. Olivia Hompe had five points in the win, moving her past 200 points in her Tiger career. The loss snapped an eight-game win streak for Notre Dame.
-
No. 2 North Carolina scored eight straight goals to start the second half and break open a tight game with Virginia, cruising to the 21-11 win on Saturday. Molly Hendrick had six goals to lead the Tar Heels, including a BTB goal that scored the top spot of SportsCenter's Top 10. You can see it below.
-
There were a couple upsets on the women's side, as well. Hannah Koloski and Meghan Siverson scored four goals each to lead Louisville past No. 17 Duke, 11-8, for the first time in program history. The Blue Devils now sit at 0-3 in the ACC. Rutgers picked up its first win over a ranked team since last May when it beat No. 18 James Madison 12-9 on Saturdaay. Joanna Reily had a hat trick and Amanda Turturro dished out five assists.
Duke coach John Danowski, who also leads Team USA, tied Dom Starsia for first on the Division I wins list this weekend.
3. With Duke's win over Loyola this weekend, John Danowski joined rare company. It was his 375th career win, moving him into a tie with legendary Virginia and Brown coach Dom Starsia most Division I wins of all-time.
Danowski, who won 27 games at C.W. Post and 192 games at Hofstra, picked up his 156th win with the upset of Loyola. Goalie Danny Fowler had 14 saves to lead the Blue Devils to the win.
“You just try to get better each week,” Danowski said in a press release. “That’s part of the fun of the journey of athletics and sports is that you just keep working, just keep trying to get better.”
And Danowski, who celebrated his 63rd birthday on Sunday, will try to break the record today, when Duke hosts Jacksonville.
4. Lindenwood men's lacrosse is remembering Isaiah Kozak, a player that coach Jim Lange called the "spirit of the team." Kozak was found dead after taking his own life in a campus dormitory on Tuesday afternoon.
The team held a memorial service on Hunter Field, where Kozak and the No. 4 Lions played their games. There, teammates and friends got the chance to share stories about Kozak's impact on the Missouri campus.
“He loved the game of lacrosse more than anyone I’ve ever met," said sophomore long-stick midfielder Mike Snodgrass, Kozak's roommate. "Everything he did was for the game of lacrosse. He hit the wall two hours a day after practice. Then, he’d do his homework. Then, he’d go to bed and get up early. ... There was never a bad day for Isaiah Kozak.”
5. Team USA midfielder Ally Carey is getting ready for the 2017 FIL World Cup by watching film. Lots of it.
While watching footage of January's Spring Premiere, she noticed how gracefully fellow teammate Michelle Tumolo manuevered while playing one-handed. She also saw herself work with just one hand on the stick. In the March edition's How-to, Carey gives us her steps to playing one-handed.