Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Albany is the unanimous No. 1 after defeating Maryland 11-10 on Saturday. The Great Danes bumped the Terps from the top spot in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20 and swept first-place votes in the USILA coaches (23 voters) and Inside Lacrosse media (30) polls. And as US Lacrosse Magazine pollster Patrick Stevens writes, Albany could very well ride this ranking into May. The Great Danes must first get past upstart Vermont on Saturday.
2. Loyola moved up the most in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 after a big week that included non-conference wins over Towson and Princeton. The Greyhounds have won three straight after starting 0-2 and will get another opportunity to prove their mettle with a game against Virginia on Wednesday.
3. Coast Guard knocked off then-No. 1 Wesleyan last week, paving the way for RIT to take over as the top-ranked team in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division III Men’s Top 20.
A look at all of the major college and junior college polls released Monday:
A look at the major-college and junior-college polls released on Monday:
4. Towson’s Shane Brennan and Colorado’s Darby Kiernan were named national players of the week for their performances over the weekend. Brennan made a career-high 16 saves in the Tigers’ 7-6 overtime upset of Ohio State, a game in which the Buckeyes outshot Towson 40-19, to earn Warrior/US Lacrosse Player of the Week honors. Kiernan made all sorts of history, leading the Buffs to an 18-16 comeback win over Stanford in the first-ever Pac-12 women’s lacrosse game and becoming Colorado’s all-time leading scorer to earn the Brine/US Lacrosse Player of the Week nod.
5. Must-see photos from the weekend include Albany-Maryland, Duke-Loyola, North Carolina-Hofstra, Johns Hopkins-Syracuse and Cornell-Penn State men; Vanderbilt-St. Joseph’s and North Carolina-Virginia women.
6. The NLL East is a wild scramble, with five teams separated by just three games in the loss column after New England and Rochester picked up overtime wins over the weekend.