Professional PLL
06:00 PM
Jul 19
Phi
Den
Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The Patriot League kicked off the NCAA Division I men's postseason Tuesday night with a pair of quarterfinals in its six-team league tournament.
Boston University became the first sixth-seeded team to defeat a third-seeded team since the conference tournament adopted this format in 2014, as the Terriers rallied from a five-goal second-half deficit to stun host and No. 11-ranked Bucknell, 12-11. Chris Gray, one of 24 underclassmen on BU's roster, tallied five goals and four assists to lead the Terriers, who needed a win over Holy Cross Friday night just to get into the league tournament.
BU heads to top-seeded and No. 6-ranked Loyola Friday for a 7:30 p.m. semifinal.
Andrew Petit scored three of his game-high five goals in the first half as fourth-seeded Lehigh grabbed a 6-1 lead and dispatched fifth-seeded Colgate, 11-6. Petit's exploits added to his team-leading 34 goals and 53 points entering Tuesday, and they helped the host Mountain Hawks snap a three-game losing streak. Lehigh will meet second-seeded Navy at Loyola Friday in the 4:30 p.m. semifinal.
Elsewhere, Bryant added some salt to Brown's wounds this season, using an 8-0 run that bracketed halftime to spark a 17-9 road win over their in-state rivals. The Bulldogs held the Bears scoreless for roughly 21 minutes in breaking a 6-6 tie. Tom Kennedy and Cam Ziegler scored five goals each to lead Bryant.
Yesterday's NCAA Division I Men's Scores
Boston University 12, No. 11 Bucknell 11
Lehigh 11, Colgate 6
Bryant 17, Brown 9
2. On the women's side, No. 1 Stony Brook jumped on No. 16 Penn State, 8-0, and cruised to a 21-13 victory in the teams' first meeting.
Samantha DiSalvo scored a career-high six goals and Keri McCarthy won 12 draws to set a program-record with 117 this season as the Seawolves won their 16th straight game. Stony Brook assisted on 17 of its 21 goals, continuing its penchant for sharp passing with helpers on 187 of 285 (65.6 percent) scores this season.
Undefeated record holds strong. @StonyBrookWLAX tops @PennStateWLAX 21-13 with 6G from DiSalvo. Seawolves are now 16-0. #NCAAWLAX pic.twitter.com/3qpfiHHrQ1
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 24, 2018
3. What is the Fields Factor? That's a question the NCAA men's tournament selection committee may have to answer, as outlined in this week's Bracketology.
Albany's Connor Fields is one of the best players in the country when he's healthy. That was not the case for much of the Great Danes' 14-6 loss to then-No. 5 Yale Saturday, which knocked them from the perch to No. 4 in this week's Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20.
4. Several ingredients must combine to create an upset, and as this week's college women's notebook examines, naivete represented a big portion of VCU's stunner over UMass Sunday.
The Minutewomen had won 60 straight Atlantic-10 Conference games until the Rams, in their third season of varsity play, ended the streak, 17-16, in overtime to create a bit of chaos in the league.
5. The Nike/US Lacrosse High School National Top 25 rankings and regional reports yesterday highlighted big movers and shakers.
On the boys' side, Loyola Blakefield (Md.) and Smithtown West (N.Y.) each climbed 15 spots from the previous week's top 25.
Meanwhile, one week after seven teams cracked the girls' top 25, five more teams made their debut yesterday. Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.) and Lawrenceville (N.J.) highlight the newcomers at Nos. 14 and 15, respectively.
Also from yesterday, the Warrior/US Lacrosse Boys' Players of the Week and the Brine/US Lacrosse Girls' Players of the Week in each region.
6. We work with several of the best photographers in the business. Check out some photo galleries of recent college games.