Welcome to the GameDay Guide.
Every Saturday (and some Sundays) during the college lacrosse season, US Lacrosse Magazine staff will riff here on the weekend ahead — the juiciest matchups, trendiest topics, biggest storylines and hottest takes.
After what seemed like an eternal January, opening day has arrived. Thirteen NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse games are on the slate. Let’s. Go.
TEN TO WATCH
All times Eastern
Time |
Away |
Home |
TV/Stream |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. | Marquette | Cleveland State | |
| 12 p.m. | Colgate | No. 11 UNC | ACC Network |
| 12 p.m. | Hampton | NJIT | Highlander Sports Network |
| 12 p.m. | High Point | No. 4 Maryland | BTN Plus |
| 12 p.m. | Lafayette | No. 1 Penn State | BTN Plus |
| 1 p.m. | Holy Cross | Merrimack | NEC Front Row |
| 1 p.m. | Providence | Boston University | Patriot League Network |
| 1 p.m. | Quinnipiac | No. 16 Rutgers | BTN Plus |
| 2 p.m. | Air Force | No. 5 Duke | ACC Network |
| 3 p.m. | Bellarmine | Utah | Pac-12 Plus |
* televised games in bold
[Nike/USL Division I Men’s Top 20]
GAME OF THE WEEK
Colgate at No. 11 North Carolina
Colgate stunned Syracuse in the season opener last year. Can the Raiders pull off similar magic in Chapel Hill and spoil Chris Gray’s UNC debut?
Gray, a second-team All-American attackman whose 111 points (49 goals, 62 assists) ranked third nationally last year, was the talk of the offseason after transferring from BU.
ESPN announced its schedule of televised games Thursday, including a robust ACC Network slate that starts with this one Saturday.
UPSET WATCH
High Point at No. 4 Maryland
The Panthers were a borderline top-20 team in the Nike/US Lacrosse preseason rankings. The graduation of star goalie Tim Troutner spooked some pundits. But this is still a team that took down Duke and Virginia on the road last year, defeated Virginia and Georgetown in previous seasons and took Towson to the wire in its lone NCAA tournament appearance in 2015.
BEST GAME NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Providence at Boston University
BU has won four straight in the series. The last three have been thrillers — an 8-7 double-overtime victory in 2017, a 12-11 overtime triumph in 2018 and an 8-7 win last year that required a 24-save performance by goalie Joe McSorley. The Terriers lost the best player in program history when Chris Gray transferred to North Carolina, but McSorley is back for his senior season and they have two of the top long poles in the Patriot League in Reece Eddy and Chase Levesque, who combined to cause 65 turnovers last year.
MILESTONE WATCH
Merrimack’s First Division I Game
Anyone who has ever asked the question, “How might the best team in Division II or III fare in a mid-major Division I conference?” will get their answer this spring, as the clock starts on the Warriors’ four-year reclassification period.
The Northeast Conference now consists of 10 teams (fellow former D-II power LIU also is making the jump) in two divisions. Merrimack won’t be eligible for the conference championship or NCAA tournament consideration until 2024, but the Warriors are going full bore in year one. They’ve got the reigning Division II national player of the year in Charlie Bertrand and a fully-stocked D-I schedule that includes trips to Michigan and Yale and seven NEC foes. The journey starts Saturday at Holy Cross.
AMENT WATCH
Will he play?
Inside Lacrosse reported last week that Penn State attackman Grant Ament, the US Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Player of the Year and a Tewaaraton Award favorite, underwent surgery in November after aggravating the foot injury that sidelined him for all of 2018 and plagued him for portions of 2019.
While a Penn State spokesperson affirmed that Ament was a full participant in preseason, one wonders if or to what extent Ament will play in the Nittany Lions’ season opener against Lafayette.
UNDER-THE-RADAR STARS
Zack Deaken, Jacksonville: The short-stick defensive midfielder from Ontario scooped 42 ground balls caused 22 turnovers as a freshman, led the Orangeville Northmen to a Minto Cup (Junior A) title as team captain over the summer and will be a sophomore captain for the Dolphins this spring. Jacksonville opens the season Saturday against visiting Detroit Mercy.
Ian Groom, Hampton: The Pirates have a new coach in Rashad Devoe who wants to raise the profile of the program with more ambitious scheduling (they’ll travel to Jacksonville and Utah this year) and better results against Division I competition. That could lead to a larger platform for Groom, who won more than 70 percent of his faceoffs as a freshman in 2019.
Jack Kelly, Penn State: Grant Ament and Mac O’Keefe grab all the headlines. US Lacrosse Magazine’s Gary Lambrecht identified the Nittany Lions’ third attackman, Dylan Foulds, as their X factor. But let’s not sleep on Kelly, a third-team All-American midfielder from Toronto whose motor never quits and whose shooting percentage of 53.8 ranked third in Division I.
GROUND BALL
3
Only five players in the country averaged at least three assists per game in 2019: Grant Ament, Pat Spencer, Michael Sowers, Chris Gray…and Asher Nolting. The two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year is coming off a 92-point season (44 goals, 48 assists) and is always a good bet to go viral with highlight-reel plays.
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