Welcome to the Gameday Guide.

Every weekend during the college lacrosse season, USA Lacrosse Magazine staff will riff on the juiciest matchups, trendiest topics and biggest storylines.

Check out the rankings and TV listings for more.

USA LACROSSE MAGAZINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MATT DASILVA WILL CRINGE that I’m referencing the weather in this intro, but it’s hard not to. With the temperatures flirting with the 60s later today in Maryland, it feels like spring — and with it a more robust lacrosse season — is right around the corner.

At least until the next cold front.

This weekend’s slate of games has all the makings of March. There are four games Friday afternoon alone. The action over the next couple days is highlighted by a top-10 matchup in College Park, two pairs of games down on Tobacco Road for Duke and North Carolina, the first look at Syracuse’s new era under Gary Gait and the return of NCAA faceoff king Mike Sisselberger.

“I feel like I have not tapped into my full potential yet,” Sisselberger said this fall during an interview for the January cover story of USA Lacrosse Magazine.

We’ll find out soon enough.

GAMES TO WATCH
ALL TIMES EASTERN

GAME OF THE WEEK

No. 7 Loyola at No. 2 Maryland

A top-10 matchup during the first truly full weekend of action in February? Sign us up.

Loyola opens its season after a thrilling run last May that ended in an overtime loss to Duke. The Greyhounds have experience everywhere with a roster that features 10 graduate students.

“We are a very senior-laden team,” head coach Charley Toomey told Patrick Stevens in a season preview for USA Lacrosse Magazine. “A lot of veterans out there. We were happy with just the fact we were able to take a couple months off from the Duke loss and come back and have energy but also feel like there’s unfinished business. I think it’s a group of guys that believes they have a chance to be good.”

Maryland looked like it hasn’t missed a beat despite losing 2021 Tewaaraton Award winner Jared Bernhardt. Logan Wisnauskas notched his sixth game of his collegiate career with eight more points last weekend against High Point.

BEST GAME NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT

High Point at No. 1 Virginia

It could be easy to write off this matchup after Maryland dispatched High Point 21-13 in College Park. The Panthers, however, always seem to put up more of a fight in their early season heavyweight bout against the Cavaliers.

Last year, High Point fell just short in a 12-11 midweek loss. Asher Nolting has proven capable in the past of orchestrating thrilling comebacks if he can stay out of turnover trouble. The upset bid will require a quick turnaround after High Point holds its home opener at 5 p.m. tonight against Colgate.

UPSET WATCH

No. 15 Johns Hopkins at Towson

The year of the tiger could start off with a bang when Towson opens its season Friday night hosting Johns Hopkins at Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Blue Jays, who boast a 44-6 all-time record against Towson, claimed their 998th win as a program last weekend but looked vulnerable at times during a 11-8 victory over Jacksonville.

The Tigers, led defensively by senior Koby Smith, who scored two goals the last time these teams met in 2020, have been known to strike without warning. Just look at their 7-6 overtime upset of fellow nearby rival Loyola last season. Towson also topped No. 11 Lehigh in its final preseason scrimmage last weekend.

UNDER-THE-RADAR STARS

Jordan Hyde, Utah

You’re forgiven if you thought for moment last Saturday that Will Manny had somehow found a long-lost year of eligibility out West. Jordan Hyde looked like a doppelgänger of his former assistant coach and resident sniper for the Archers in the Premier Lacrosse League due to more than their identical number (4) and penchant for bow and arrow post-goal celebrations. The lefty sophomore attackman from Michigan boasts a similar hair trigger release and pinpoint accuracy. After leading Utah in goals last season as a freshman, Hyde looks on pace to do so again. He found the back of the net four times in a 14-13 loss to Denver at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Utes will need that firepower this weekend during their cross country trip to take on Vermont — a program that’s also no stranger to the run-and-gun.

Dalton Young, Richmond

The junior attackman from Chantilly, Virginia, recorded the first hat-trick of his career last year on Feb. 21 in a 14-9 loss to North Carolina at Robins Stadium. The Spiders will take on the Tar Heels at 5 p.m. Friday on ACC Network in Chapel Hill. Young established himself a reliable scoring option last spring and finished the season tied for the team lead in goals (35) while shooting 46.7 percent.

Johnathan Peshko, Johns Hopkins

A powerful midfielder out of Ontario —he’s listed at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds — Peshko broke out late in his freshman season. All nine of his goals came during the final five games when the Blue Jays looked like one of the most dangerous teams in the country. Peshko demonstrated that power on his lone goal against Jacksonville last weekend, when a Dolphins defenseman broke his stick on the follow through.

Broken stick? No problem. #WeWantMore pic.twitter.com/8pYMx9jBL8

— JHU Men's Lacrosse (@jhumenslacrosse) February 7, 2022

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