What a fascinating four days of lacrosse — maybe the most interesting weekend of games this season.

Well, unless you’re in the Big East, where Denver, Georgetown and Villanova rolled by an average of 9.3 goals.

All three Big Ten games went down to the final minute, with Maryland and Rutgers squeaking out victories over teams that both finished the regular season 2-8. Syracuse completed a season sweep of Virginia thanks in large part to absurdly good faceoff play. Navy picked off Army before the largest crowd of the season — 5,285 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

Oh, and Duke found a way to win a one-goal conference game. Again.

There was no single overarching theme, just a scattering of subplots each worth a moment before diving into this week’s top 20.

Should Maryland, Duke or someone else be No. 1?

There is an argument for either one. Maryland finally got its first game-length test on Saturday at Johns Hopkins. It had led every second of every fourth quarter, and it hadn’t trailed in the second half all year. Because it stared at a two-goal hole with less than two minutes to play — and rallied to win 14-13 in regulation — there was something to learn about the Terrapins.

Meanwhile, Duke had a late surge of its own to edge Notre Dame 13-12 in overtime, and the Blue Devils now own a one-goal victory over each of its four ACC opponents (three in OT). Toss in the early 12-10 defeat of Denver, and Duke is at ease when it’s close. With a superior schedule to Maryland, it’s been a needed trait.

Maryland looked more vulnerable than it had all season. But it still hasn’t lost, and it will stay at No. 1 for at least one more week.

How far should Notre Dame fall?

The Irish outplayed Duke for 50 minutes before the Blue Devils made a late charge on Thursday. On Sunday, a rested North Carolina was steadily the better team throughout the day on its way to a 12-10 victory.

Notre Dame has three losses (to Virginia, Duke and North Carolina) by a combined four goals. It owns the only victory over Duke. The Irish slip behind both Duke and North Carolina, as it should, but the slide goes no further than No. 4.

What’s the evaluation on Lehigh?

Maryland and Rutgers have been difficult to fully evaluate because of their conference-only schedules, but Lehigh might as well be in the same boat. The Mountain Hawks are 9-0, and their lone non-conference victory (over NJIT) doesn’t reveal much about how they’d deal with a top-10 team outside the Patriot League.

Lehigh beat the three other top-20 Patriot League teams — Army, Loyola and Navy — but did so at home. In fact, the Mountain Hawks have crossed the state line to play just once this season (at Colgate) and will play host to the Patriot League tournament next month.

The comparisons might be tough to make, but it’s safe to assume sophomore faceoff ace Mike Sisselberger (.795, the highest percentage in Division I of an eligible player with more than one game this season) will make wresting possession from Lehigh a challenge. Saturday’s trip to Villanova is an interesting one for Kevin Cassese’s team.

Does a gut-check victory at UVA erase Syracuse’s struggles?

In terms of making the NCAA tournament? Yes. The Orange’s sweep of the Cavaliers means they’ll wind up occupying an at-large berth, even if they lose at Notre Dame on Saturday.

For the purposes of a ranking exercise? Syracuse is still a team with three home losses by at least seven goals. Those still count, and Syracuse was so clearly No. 11 a week ago that it remains there even after collecting a victory in Charlottesville.

Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Men’s Top 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Brown (1-0), Hofstra (6-5), Marist (3-0), Massachusetts (4-4), Ohio State (4-6), Penn (1-0), Penn State (4-6), Robert Morris (6-5), Saint Joseph’s (7-3), Vermont (5-4)

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women

HOT

Navy (+3)

A week ago, the rankings exercise was built around how the top 11 teams were a combined 70-0 against everybody else. Good timing, since Navy went ahead and blew that statistic up with a 9-4 defeat of Army.

(For the record, the top 11 are now 75-1 against everyone else).

The Midshipmen got 19 saves from Spencer Rees and three goals from senior midfielder Joe deLyra, and it was an exceptional defensive effort coupled with effectively channeling the emotions of the rivalry game that got Navy its fifth regular-season victory in six tries in the series.

NOT

Stony Brook (-5)

The Seawolves end up as a victim of logic here after suffering their second overtime loss of the season to UMBC. Stony Brook shouldn’t be far behind the Retrievers. It also shouldn’t be ahead of them. So that explains the drop, though it’s worth a reminder that everything after the top 11 still feels fairly fluid.

Virginia (-3)

Maybe it’s as simple as Syracuse being a bad matchup for the Cavaliers. After all, Virginia avenged one of its non-Orange losses already (against North Carolina) and took Duke to overtime before falling earlier this month. In any case, Virginia gets to stew over Saturday’s 13-11 setback for three weeks heading into the postseason.

IN

Albany (No. 19)

The Great Danes didn’t show too much rust coming off a 13-day layoff, getting four goals apiece from Graydon Hogg and Jakob Patterson in an 18-8 drubbing of NJIT. Albany will claim at least a share of the America East title if it defeats Vermont and Hartford this week.

Loyola (No. 20)

The Greyhounds didn’t overwhelm while finishing off a season sweep of Lafayette, but their victory over Navy earlier this month did grow a bit more valuable when the Midshipmen smothered Army. That’s enough to nudge Loyola back into the top 20 as it heads into its regional rivalry game against fellow Jesuit institution Georgetown on Thursday night.

Villanova (No. 18)

The Wildcats have won six of eight since their unsightly 16-1 loss to Georgetown to open the season, and one of their losses since then was an 8-7 defeat in the return game against the Hoyas. The last two weekends, Villanova thumped St. John’s and Marquette by a combined 26 goals and are locked in as the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament. Nonetheless, the Wildcats have a pair of barometers at home this week — against Denver on Wednesday, and then Lehigh on Saturday.

OUT

Hofstra (was No. 17)

The Pride have dropped three in a row — the latest a 12-8 defeat at Drexel — to fall to 6-5 entering the final game of the regular season. Hofstra gets a second crack at Fairfield on Friday; it beat the Stags 15-7 on the road on March 26.

Vermont (was No. 19)

The Catamounts (5-4) would have had first place in the America East all to themselves but fell 10-7 at Binghamton. Good news for Vermont: It plays two home games in the final week of the regular season. Bad news: Albany and Stony Brook, both still in the hunt for a league title, pay a visit to Burlington. Vermont did beat Albany 14-12 on March 13.

Ohio State (was No. 20)

The Buckeyes’ 10-9 loss to Penn State bumps them out of the top 20 and puts them two games under .500 for the first time in 2021. Ohio State (4-6) face Michigan on Saturday in the Big Ten quarterfinals, and it will need a third victory over the Wolverines this year to extend its season.