Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Welcome to the party Ohio State. The Buckeyes are headed to NCAA championship weekend for the first time ever, and they'll meet up with Towson, a team that hasn't been there since 2001. That was the biggest excitement of quarterfinal weekend, which featured four games decided by a combined 29 goals.
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The biggest blowout was Denver rolling over Notre Dame 16-4 behind a masterful performance from Trevor Baptiste. The Tewaaraton finalist won 21-of-22 faceoffs and scored a goal.
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The Pioneers will meet up with No. 1 seed Maryland, which is headed to its fourth consecutive final four. The Terps ended Albany's dream season with an 18-9 victory behind five goals from Connor Kelly. Jon Garino came off the bench to win 12 of 14 faceoffs against TD Ierlan.
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The Buckeyes advanced with a complete 16-11 win over Duke. Eric Fannell had five goals and two assists, goalie Tom Carey made 14 saves and Jake Withers won 17 of 28 face-offs, as Ohio State nevet trailed.
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Towson came out blazing and led Syracuse 6-0 after one quarter and led from start to finish on the way to a 10-7 victory. Alex Woodall won 5 of 7 draws in the opening period and Joe Seider finished the game with four goals.
2. The NCAA women's final four will be a reunion weekend for Cindy Timchal. The Hall of Fame coach and her Navy team continued its improbable late-season run with a stunning upset of defending national champion North Carolina. Timchal will be joined in the final four by three teams led by head coaches that played for her at Maryland — Missy Doherty (Penn State), Cathy Reese (Maryland) and Acacia Walker (Boston College).
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Navy upset Loyola to win the Patriot League, and followed that up with wins over Penn and Massachusetts last weekend. A five-goal run for North Carolina leading to a 13-10 Navy deficit seemed to signal the end to the dream run, but the Mids rallied for a 16-14 win to earn their first trip to the final four.
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Boston College is also headed to championship weekend for the first time, and the Eagles will have the hometown advantage in Foxborough. BC poured in 20 goals against the nation's No. 2 defense, defeating USC 20-14.
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Penn State is heading to its second straight final four after edging Princeton 14-12 on Sunday. Penn State scored the final three goals of the game, and goalie Cat Rainone made two saves in the final minute.
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No. 1 and unbeaten Maryland got pushed to the limit, but rallied from a four-goal second-half deficit to beat Stony Brook 13-12. Taylor Hensh had three second half goals, including the game-winning goal with 2:14 remaining, which gave Maryland its first lead of the game.
PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER
Taylor Hensh scored two of Maryland's three goals during a 3-0 spurt that lasted just 94 seconds and then scored the game-winner with 2:14 to play to lead the Terps to a 13-12 come-from-behind win over Stony Brook.
3. Checking in on the other NCAA divisions:
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Adelphi is back on top of the NCAA Division II women's world after edging last year's champion, Florida Southern, 6-4. Adelphi's defense, ranked No. 1 in Division II and led by three-time first team All-American Ryley Weber, held the nation's No. 2 offense to a season-low four goals.
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Merrimack will have less than a 60-mile drive from campus to Foxborough for the NCAA Division II men's title game. The Warriors routed Adelphi 17-9 to advance to the title game against Limestone, which edged Tampa 12-10. The Saints will be playing in the national championship game for the fourth straight year.
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The NCAA Division III men's title match-up will feature two of the top teams in the division in recent years — RIT and Salisbury — but two teams that have never played against each other. Salisbury held off a late Denison rally to win 12-11 while RIT blew out Wesleyan 22-9.
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There will be a new champion in NCAA Division III women's lacrosse after Middlebury fell to TCNJ 8-4. TCNJ will meet Washington and Lee in the semifinals after W&L beat William Smith 7-6 in overtime. The other semifinal will match Gettysburg and Trinity. Gettysburg beat Salsibury 10-2 and Trinity scored the first nine goals of the game and beat York 10-5.
PHOTO BY GREG WALL
Adelphi avenged last year's loss in the title game to Florida Southern, beating the Mocs 6-4 to win its eighth national title since 2004.
4. The National Lacrosse League finals are set after Georgia and Saskatchewan swept their respective series. Saskatchewan, the two-time defending league champion, beat Colorado 11-10 before more than 14,000 fans. Mark Matthews had two goals and four assists. Mike Poulin made 42 saves as Georgia beat Toronto 13-9 and Randy Staats had two goals and five assists. Game one of the Champions Cup will take place June 4 in Georgia.
.@GeorgiaSwarmLAX goalie Mike Poulin sells out for three saves in final minute. Swarm sweep Rock with 13-9 win, advance to @NLL finals. pic.twitter.com/hVPkGev9Sl
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 21, 2017
5. Chazz Woodson added to his highlight collection, leading Florida past Rochester 9-8 in Major League Lacrosse with the game-winner in overtime. Shawn Evans had three goals and three assists in his first MLL game ever, helping Chesapeake beat Atlanta 13-11. Boston snapped a three-game losing streak, beating New York 16-13 behind a pair of two-pointers from Max Seibald. Charlotte gave up the first five goals of the game, but rallied for a 10-8 win over Ohio. Pierce Bassett made 16 saves for the Hounds.