Welcome to the Gameday Guide.

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

Upsets have dominated the early conversation in women’s lacrosse, and while there’s always upset potential, there are also intriguing matchups between ranked opponents this weekend with the potential to shake up the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20.

Saturday’s slate became even more loaded when the Syracuse-Maryland game was rescheduled to Saturday at noon in College Park, rather than Friday evening in the Carrier Dome.

TEN TO WATCH
All times Eastern

[TV/Live Stream Listings]

[Nike/USL Division I Women’s Top 20]

GAME OF THE WEEK
NO. 3 STONY BROOK AT NO. 9 FLORIDA

A game in which both teams have something to prove. Florida needs to prove it’s better than the 17-6 drubbing it sustained against Loyola last weekend. Stony Brook needs to prove it can beat Florida, a team the Seawolves have only beaten once in seven tries (2015). Two of the last three losses have been by one goal.

The key could come down to the draw circle, where Shannon Kavanagh is a seasoned veteran. Freshman Charlotte Verhulst takes the draw for the Seawolves (though Ally Kennedy leads the team with 18 draw controls in two games).

UPSET WATCH
OHIO STATE AT NO. 17 UMASS

Ohio State has suffered ranked losses against Stony Brook and Notre Dame — two powerhouses, to be fair. Otherwise, the Buckeyes have looked solid. Jill Rizzo is averaging a shade over 10 saves per game, and a trio of goal scorers — Liza Hernandez, Sophie Baez and Chloe Johnson — have been lighting it up.

Meanwhile, we’re still not sure what to make of UMass. The Minutewomen stormed out of the gate by beating Boston College but immediately received a reality check against Dartmouth. And we've since learned a bit more about Boston College, a team that appears weaker than years past. Is this a UMass team that will remain ranked all year?

BEST GAME NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT
VIRGINIA TECH AT LOUISVILLE

Two unranked teams, so who cares, right? Wrong.

The Hokies have garnered more and more attention with each passing game. Outside of an overtime loss to James Madison, Virginia Tech has looked great in its 5-1 start. Angie Benson has been rock solid between the pipes, and there are already two 30-point scorers in the starting lineup (Kayla Frank and Paige Petty).

In the mighty ACC, neither Virginia Tech nor Louisville make headlines, but this game is sneaky good. Louisville is 3-2 with two ranked losses (Denver and Michigan). Scott Teeter is coming off seasons of six and five wins, respectively, in his first two seasons with the program. But the future appears brighter.

MILESTONE WATCH
Kelly Amonte Hiller’s 300th Win

We highlighted this in this space last week, but Northwestern fell to Syracuse. On Sunday against Stanford in Evanston, Amonte Hiller could become the eighth Division I women’s lacrosse coach to reach 300 victories.

COLLEGE PARK CONTROVERSY
SYRACUSE TRAVELS TO COLLEGE PARK BECAUSE MARYLAND DEEMED IT UNSAFE TO TRAVEL NORTH

Maryland is 23-1 all-time against Syracuse, but with the No. 4 Orange off to a far better start to the season than the No. 11 Terps, there was some extra juice to this one. This game was supposed to be Friday night in the Carrier Dome, the final time the Syracuse seniors would play there before renovations began. As such, it was Syracuse’s senior night.

But because of “forecasted winter weather conditions in Upstate New York,” Maryland’s Department of Transportation deemed it “unsafe to travel.” In order to play the game, Syracuse needed to agree to come to College Park.

Those associated with Syracuse have since sounded off on Twitter, calling out Maryland’s decision — primarily because the forecast only predicted a 50 percent chance of snow. We’ll let you search the Internet yourself for the reaction. But as of Friday, it looked like this in Syracuse:

Clear skies over the tailgating lots.

70 and inside.

Beautiful February day for lacrosse. See you at the Dome tonight for a battle for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy. pic.twitter.com/STpbsrcbiz

— Syracuse Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) February 28, 2020

UNDER-THE-RADAR STARS

Sarah Pulis, Stony Brook: The redshirt-sophomore played two games as a freshman in 2018 before tearing her ACL. She played in 15 games, albeit sparingly, in 2019. She’s made more of an impact this year, coming off the bench to score seven goals on 12 shots.

Kayla Frank, Virginia Tech: The freshman from Moorestown (N.J.) has 36 points in six games — best in the nation. Her 19 assists are also first in the nation.

Hannah Liddy, Denver: Her 43 assists in 2019 were a Denver single-season record, and she’s off to a good start in that department in 2020. Her 16 assists lead the team and place her for a tie for third nationally with Caroline DeBellis (Duke) and Emily Glagolev (Arizona State).

Small School Games to Watch

Division II: No. 11 Mercyhurst at No. 5 Le Moyne (Sunday, 11 a.m.)

This is the season opener for Le Moyne, which will be playing its first game under the leadership of new head coach Liz Beville. The good news for Beville is that the Dolphins return 23 letterwinners from last year’s team that won the Northeast 10 regular season title and secured the program’s fifth straight NCAA tournament berth. The bad news is that last year's leading scorer and draw specialist, All-American Bryanna Fazio, graduated in the spring. Mercyhurst, the preseason favorite to win the PSAC’s West Division, opened with a 16-6 road win at Walsh last Saturday. — Paul Ohanian

Division III: No. 8 Washington & Lee at No. 3 Salisbury (Sunday, 12 p.m.)

With the postponement of last weekend’s game against Catholic, the Sea Gulls are returning to action for the first time since posting a season-opening 14-2 win at Stevenson on Feb 15. Sunday’s game starts a stretch of four games in 11 days for last year’s national runners-up, capped with a meeting against No. 4 Gettysburg. W&L rebounded from last week’s loss at F&M with an easy 22-4 win at Rhodes. The Generals and Sea Gulls have split their last six meetings, dating back to 2014, with three of those games decided by one goal, including last year’s 14-13 overtime win by W&L. — Paul Ohanian

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