Navy went into last week with no bad losses — Boston College, Florida and Loyola — but its national ranking was based more on its 2017 NCAA semifinal run than anything that had happened in 2018.
That changed with the Mids’ 16-13 victory over then No. 11 Virginia on Wednesday night. Julia Collins paced the offense with three goals and four assists and Navy’s defense held Virginia to a single goal over the final 21:57 of the game. It was just Navy's third win all-time over a ranked opponent and its fourth ever against an Atlantic Coast Conference team.
That was one of very few upsets on the week, leaving the Top 10 intact despite some close calls. Unbeaten No. 2 Boston College had to fight to hold off Dartmouth (13-10) and Virginia Tech (9-7) and No. 3 Maryland trailed Princeton in the second half before prevailing (11-10).
The other big results for the week were High Point beating Duke on Monday, Colorado taking command of the Pac 12 with a win over Stanford on Friday and Notre Dame handling Duke on Sunday.
Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Women’s Top 20
April 16, 2018 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stony Brook | 14-0 | 1 | 4/21 vs. UMBC |
| 2 | Boston College | 16-0 | 2 | 4/19 vs. No. 19 Syracuse |
| 3 | Maryland | 14-1 | 3 | 4/19 vs. No. 16 Penn State |
| 4 | James Madison | 13-1 | 4 | 4/18 at No. 17 Virginia |
| 5 | North Carolina | 11-3 | 5 | 4/21 at Duke |
| 6 | Florida | 11-3 | 6 | 4/18 at Cincinnati |
| 7 | Northwestern | 12-3 | 7 | 4/21 vs. Rutgers |
| 8 | Penn | 10-2 | 8 | 4/21 vs. Harvard |
| 9 | Loyola | 10-3 | 9 | 4/18 at Bucknell |
| 10 | Towson | 12-2 | 10 | 4/20 vs. Hofstra |
| 11 | Colorado | 11-4 | 17 | 4/20 vs. Oregon |
| 12 | Navy | 11-3 | 19 | 4/18 at American |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 11-5 | 13 | 4/21 vs. No. 17 Virginia |
| 14 | Stanford | 12-4 | 12 | 4/20 at Cal |
| 15 | Dartmouth | 8-3 | 20 | 4/18 vs. Vermont |
| 16 | Penn State | 9-5 | 16 | 4/19 at No. 1 Maryland |
| 17 | Virginia | 9-6 | 11 | 4/18 vs. No. 4 James Madison |
| 18 | High Point | 12-2 | NR | 4/18 at Winthrop |
| 19 | Syracuse | 8-7 | 15 | 4/19 at No. 2 Boston College |
| 20 | Princeton | 7-5 | NR | 4/21 vs. Cornell |
Also considered: Denver, Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, USC
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Navy (+7)
The most impressive thing about Navy's victory over Virginia was having its defense step up in a big game. Navy gave up 20 goals in its loss to Boston College, 19 in its loss to Florida and 16 in its loss to Loyola. Wednesday’s game seemed to be heading in that direction. Virginia had scored 12 goals with nearly 22 minutes to play, but Navy’s defense held the Cavaliers to just one goal down the stretch. At one point late in the second half with Navy holding a two-goal advantage, Navy’s defense forced turnovers on three consecutive possessions without allowing a shot.
Colorado (+6)
Colorado, which will host the inaugural Pac 12 tournament next weekend, took control of the league with an 11-10 overtime win against then No. 12 Stanford on Friday night. Colorado never trailed in the contest, but had to withstand Stanford's three-goal run at the end of regulation that forced the overtime. Samantha Nemirove scored the winniner in overtime and Colorado then beat Cal 18-11 on Sunday to improve to 8-1 in the league, one game ahead of Stanford. Colorado hosts Oregon on Friday in the regular season finale, but has already earned the No. 1 seed for the tournament based on a season sweep of Stanford.
Dartmouth (+5)
Dartmouth went 1-1 on the week, but its resume continues to get more impressive. The Big Green battled unbeaten Boston College tough on Wednesday, trailing by just one goal with under 10 minutes to play. On Saturday, Dartmouth left no doubt in a 19-10 win over Cornell in which it scored the first five goals of the game. Sophomore Ellie Carson is having a breakout season (36g, 11a) for a team averaging 15.0 goals per game.
NOT
Virginia (-6)
Virginia snapped a four-game losing streak with an 18-10 win over Louisville on Saturday, but even in that game the Cavaliers had to come from behind in the second half. Now the Cavaliers face an interesting week as they face two state rivals, James Madison and Virginia Tech, that are ranked above them but haven't had much historical success against the Cavaliers. Virginia leads the series with JMU 33-14-1 and has won the last six meetings since a 2011 win by JMU. Virginia Tech is 1-22 all-time against the Cavaliers, with the lone win coming in 2012.
Syracuse (-4)
It’s virtually impossible to figure out where to place Syracuse in the rankings due to its brutal schedule. The Orange own two top-10 wins — Florida and Loyola — but have also lost seven games. They are winless in the ACC heading into games against Boston College and Louisville this week and it’s imperative for Syracuse’s postseason hopes that it wins at least one of those games. If not, Syracuse would need to win at least two ACC tournament games just to get to .500 for the season to be eligible for selection to the NCAA tournament.
IN
High Point
High Point’s 16-12 win over Duke on Monday was its second of the season over an ACC squad and the Panthers, who beat Towson in the 2017 NCAA tournament, are now 12-2 with both losses coming against top-five teams (James Madison, North Carolina) in February.
Princeton
Princeton led No. 3 Maryland by four goals with 17 minutes to play on Tuesday, but the Terps scored four of the last five games to post an 11-10 win. The Tigers showed no hangover from their near-miss, pummeling Yale 18-4 on Saturday. Princeton scored 11 of the first 12 goals of the game and has now three of its last four games.
OUT
Duke (previously 14)
A young Blue Devils squad has now dropped three straight games since an impressive 17-10 win over Syracuse on March 31. With a short bus ride to archrival North Carolina coming up Saturday, there’s a good chance that Duke may enter the ACC tournament, which it is hosting, on a four-game losing streak.
USC (previously 18)
USC snapped its three-game losing streak with a 17-7 victory over San Diego State to get back over .500. The Trojans play at Arizona State this weekend before getting ready for the Pac-12 tournament.