HOT
Rollins
The Tars didn’t climb in the poll, but they have been impressive in three early-season victories. After starting with two road wins in Alabama, Rollins stayed in-state for Saturday’s 19-10 win over Saint Leo’s. Senior Hannah Ashton led the way with a game-high five goals, and Lily Rizk added four goals and an assist. Rollins will have a two-week break before returning to action on Feb. 23 with its home opener against top-ranked Adelphi.
Lindenwood
The Lions have a new conference home this year — the GLVC — but they opened their season with a familiar foe from their former conference home, Colorado Mesa of the RMAC. Lindenwood jumped to an early 5-1 lead and never looked back in posting the 19-7 win. A balanced offense featured three Lions players with three goals apiece. Lindenwood improved to 13-1 all-time against its former conference rival.
NOT
Colorado Mesa (-1)
A disappointing season-opener for the Mavericks, who could muster just three first half goals in the loss to Lindenwood. CMU was outshot 39-20 and committed 20 turnovers in the game. The Mavericks will have nearly two weeks to work on their weaknesses before returning to action with back-to-back games against Concordia-St. Paul and Upper Iowa.
Saint Leo (-1)
Last year, the Lions won their first 13 games of the season and garnered significant attention in the rankings for much of the year. This year’s approach may be a bit different following a 19-10 home loss to Rollins in the season-opener. Trailing by just two goals at half, Saint Leo’s had no answer for a key seven-goal run by Rollins in the second half.