There were a few surprises over the weekend in Division I. Just not at the top.
Penn State? Improved to 2-0 in the Big Ten by handling Ohio State 13-8 on Sunday night.
Yale? Responded impressively to its loss at Yale, blasting Dartmouth 20-8 while taking 82(!) shots.
Loyola? Scored the first nine goals as Pat Spencer delivered a five-goal, six-assist outing in a 15-9 rout of Lehigh.
Maryland? Got monster games from Jared Bernhardt and Logan Wisnauskas in a 16-12 defeat of Michigan.
Virginia? Sewed up the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament by edging North Carolina 11-10.
As a result, the top five in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings remain unchanged with just four weeks to go until Selection Sunday.
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
April 8, 2019 |
W/L |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penn State | 9-1 | 1 | 4/13 at Michigan |
| 2 | Yale | 7-2 | 2 | 4/13 vs. Brown |
| 3 | Loyola | 8-2 | 3 | 4/9 vs. Georgetown |
| 4 | Maryland | 9-2 | 4 | 4/14 at No. 20 Rutgers |
| 5 | Virginia | 9-2 | 5 | 4/13 at No. 6 Duke |
| 6 | Duke | 9-3 | 8 | 4/13 vs. No. 5 Virginia |
| 7 | Penn | 6-3 | 10 | 4/13 at Harvard |
| 8 | Ohio State | 7-2 | 6 | 4/14 at No. 15 Johns Hopkins |
| 9 | Cornell | 7-3 | 11 | 4/9 at No. 12 Syracuse |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 5-4 | 7 | 4/10 vs. Marquette |
| 11 | Towson | 7-3 | 12 | 4/13 vs. UMass |
| 12 | Syracuse | 6-3 | 13 | 4/9 vs. No. 9 Cornell |
| 13 | High Point | 9-2 | 18 | 4/13 at Mercer |
| 14 | Denver | 6-4 | 9 | 4/13 at St. John's |
| 15 | Johns Hopkins | 6-4 | 20 | 4/14 vs. No. 8 Ohio State |
| 16 | Villanova | 7-4 | NR | 4/14 at Georgetown |
| 17 | Lehigh | 7-4 | 14 | 4/10 vs. Robert Morris |
| 18 | Army | 8-3 | 15 | 4/13 at Navy |
| 19 | North Carolina | 7-4 | 19 | 4/13 vs. No. 12 Syracuse |
| 20 | Rutgers | 6-5 | 16 | 4/14 vs. No. 4 Maryland |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Boston U (8-4), Delaware (9-2), Georgetown (8-3), Marquette (6-4), UMass (7-4), Richmond (7-4)
HOT
High Point (+5)
The Panthers remain a tough team to properly peg. The early victories at Duke and Virginia have retained value (and in the case of the one-goal win over the Cavaliers, has become even more useful than first anticipated). Jacksonville and St. John’s, the two teams to upend High Point, are a combined 7-15.
Nonetheless, the Panthers got some help with other teams losing and pieced together a solid 13-9 defeat of Air Force behind sophomore Asher Nolting’s three goals and six assists. Consider this an appropriate correction for a team that has reached the nine-win plateau for the fourth time in its seven seasons of existence.
Johns Hopkins (+5)
Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala unabashedly played the “us against the world” card after Saturday’s 15-13 defeat of Rutgers, and while some of that was at best an exaggeration (it’s unlikely many folks thought Hopkins would be 0-2 in the Big Ten), the reality is his team is due a boost in outside appreciation.
Hopkins has won six of its last eight, with the losses in that stretch coming against Syracuse and Virginia. Its attack enjoyed its best day of the season Saturday, it won faceoffs (21 of 30) and got plenty of saves in the first half. At 2-0 in conference play, Hopkins will have a say in who claims the Big Ten regular-season title over the next three weeks.
DOWN
Denver (-5)
The Pioneers have as many “what ifs” as anyone at this stage. Denver is 1-3 in one-goal games, with the latest setback coming against Villanova at home. It marked the Pioneers’ first regular-season conference loss since entering the Big East in 2014.
Denver checks in as the second-highest ranked team with four losses --- behind a Notre Dame team that owns a head-to-head victory on a neutral field.
Notre Dame (-4)
The Irish continue to yo-yo as they navigate a challenging schedule. A week after dominating the first half against Syracuse in a 13-10 victory, Notre Dame dropped a 14-8 decision at Duke. Notre Dame has alternated wins and losses over its last six games, and consequently has moved up and down in the rankings.
A bit of good news: The Irish play their next three games at home, where they are 3-1. Not that those games will be easy; Marquette, Cornell and North Carolina all visit South Bend over the next two weeks.
Rutgers (-4)
Coach Brian Brecht is right: Rutgers now has something to prove again after a forgettable 20 minutes to open Saturday’s outing at Johns Hopkins. The Scarlet Knights took it to Ohio State early and often on the road six days earlier. At Homewood, they scrambled to make things interesting but never cut their deficit to less than two after spotting Hopkins the first six goals.
The bounce-back opportunity comes Sunday night against Maryland, a team that has escaped with one-goal victories in its last two trips to Piscataway. It might be getting close to must-win territory for the Scarlet Knights as they look to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 15 years.