There was very little change in this week's Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20 as the only movement saw Virginia and Boston College each moving up a spot after solid showings in the ACC Tournament.
With the America East, Big East, Big Ten, Colonial Athletic Association and Ivy among the leagues holding conference tourneys there should be more drama this weekend.
At the top of the charts once again is Maryland. The Terps are 17-0 and will host this weekend's Big Ten championship in College Park. That tournament, scaled down to four teams this year, features an intriguing first round matchup between No. 5 Penn State and No. 14 Northwestern. The Wildcats are just 9-8, but have suffered three one-goal losses, including a 14-13 setback to Penn State on April 13.
No. 4 Stony Brook and No. 3 Florida are heavy favorites to win their respective conferences - America East and the Big East. But both leagues feature two teams in the Top 20 with Albany from America East at No. 17 and Denver from the Big East at No. 20.
The CAA and Ivy League are both wide open. No. 19 James Madison is the No. 1 seed in the CAA, but faces a team it already lost to, Delaware, in the opening round. The tournament is hosted by No. 18 Towson, a team coming off of an impressive blowout of Johns Hopkins. In the Ivy League, Cornell, Penn and Princeton all went 6-1 in the league, but Cornell won the tie-breaker to host the tournament. Friday's semifinal between No. 6 Penn and No. 7 Princeton should be a great one between the rivals and No. 11 Cornell's semifinal opponent, Harvard, has put some scares into teams this season.
May 1, 2017 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland | 17-0 | 1 | 5/5 vs. Johns Hopkins (Big 10 Tournament) |
| 2 | North Carolina | 16-2 | 2 | Regular season complete |
| 3 | Florida | 15-2 | 3 | 5/4 vs. Temple (Big East Tournament at Villanova) |
| 4 | Stony Brook | 16-1 | 4 | 5/5 vs. New Hampshire (America East Tournament) |
| 5 | Penn State | 15-2 | 5 | 5/5 vs. No. 14 Northwestern (Big 10 Tournament at Maryland) |
| 6 | Penn | 13-2 | 6 | 5/5 vs. No. 7 Princeton (Ivy League Tournament at Cornell) |
| 7 | Princeton | 12-3 | 7 | 5/5 vs. No. 6 Penn (Ivy League Tournament at Cornell) |
| 8 | USC | 16-3 | 8 | Regular Season Complete |
| 9 | Colorado | 1603 | 9 | Regular Season Complete |
| 10 | Syracuse | 15-6 | 10 | Regular Season Complete |
| 11 | Cornell | 11-4 | 11 | 5/5 vs. Harvard (Ivy League Tournament) |
| 12 | Virginia | 11-8 | 13 | Regular Season Complete |
| 13 | Boston College | 13-6 | 14 | Regular Season Complete |
| 14 | Northwestern | 9-8 | 12 | 5/5 vs. No. 5 Penn State (Big 10 Tournament at Maryland) |
| 15 | Notre Dame | 11-7 | 15 | Regular Season Complete |
| 16 | Louisville | 11-7 | 16 | Regular Season Complete |
| 17 | Albany | 11-4 | 17 | 5/5 vs. UMBC (America East Tournament at Stony Brook) |
| 18 | Towson | 12-5 | 18 | 5/5 vs. Elon (CAA Tournament) |
| 19 | James Madison | 11-6 | 19 | 5/5 vs. Delaware (CAA Tournament at Towson) |
| 20 | Denver | 13-3 | 20 | 5/4 vs. Georgetown (Big East Tournament at Villanova) |
Also considered: Elon, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts, Stanford, Virginia Tech
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Virginia (+1)
Virginia rallied late to beat Louisville 13-12 in overtime in the ACC quarterfinals and jumped out quickly on Syracuse in the semifinals before falling 15-12. The Cavaliers will head into the NCAA tournament having won four of their last five.
Boston College (+1)
Boston College led Notre Dame by as many as eight goals in the second half of its 17-14 quarterfinal victory, but dug way too deep of hole to climb out of in a semifinal loss to North Carolina. The Eagles were down six in the opening 10 minutes of the game. BC has scored at least 12 goals in all but one game this season.
NOT
Northwestern (-1)
Northwestern had a chance to earn a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a home game on Thursday night against Maryland, but had no answers for Terp sophomore Caroline Steele. Steele scored six goals to lead Maryland to an 18-9 win, the Wildcats biggest margin of defeat this season.
NEW
None.
OUT
None.