With several marquee games on Sunday’s schedule, only eight of the Top 20 teams in the Nike/USA Lacrosse rankings were in action on Saturday. That didn’t mean there wasn’t big-time excitement. Stony Brook had to withstand a late rally from Florida, there were surprises and near-misses in the Ivy League and Virginia Tech rallied despite a big effort a familiar face now playing for Pitt. Here’s a look at the action.

STONY BROOK WITHSTANDS FLORIDA COMEBACK

No. 6 Stony Brook dominated the early stages of its road game at No. 11 Florida on Saturday morning, but the Gators woke up and pushed the Seawolves to the brink before Stony Brook escaped with a 14-13 victory. Read more on this game here.

LOYOLA STAYS PERFECT, CONTROLS PENN STATE

No. 9 Loyola scored the last four goals of the first half to break open a close game and improved to 4-0 for the season by beating Penn State 18-9.

Mary Muldoon’s goal midway through the second quarter pulled Penn State to within 6-5, but Loyola then scored four straight, including two by Chase Boyle in the final 66 seconds of the half to go up 10-5. Penn State never got closer than four the rest of the way.

Sam Fiedler led the Loyola offense with four goals and Sydni Black added a hat trick. Kaitlyn Larsson had a big day in goal for the Greyhounds, making 11 saves.

KAITLYN LARSSON.

NOT TODAY.

She makes an amazing save for @LoyolaWLax. pic.twitter.com/f1UnKH2KcE

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 5, 2022

PRINCETON RALLIES PAST CORNELL

No. 10 Princeton held Cornell scoreless for the final 23 minutes of the game, scoring the game’s final four goals to rally past Cornell 13-12.

Princeton jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead, but Cornell scored five straight goals to take a 7-6 second quarter lead and then had a four-goal run in the third quarter to go on top 12-9.

Princeton began its comeback when McKenzie Black finished off a beautiful fast break with just two seconds remaining in the third quarter.

That’s what we call a TEAM GOAL. @princetonwlax beats the buzzer, but @CornellWLax leads in the 4Q. pic.twitter.com/fhCc5RSWXy

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 5, 2022

Grace Tauckus scored just 29 seconds into the quarter, Ellie Mueller tied the game with 10:20 remaining and Kate Mulham scored the game-winner with 7:46 to play.

Sam Fish, who stopped all three Cornell shots on goal in the fourth quarter, made her final save with six seconds remaining to preserve the win.

Mueller and Kyla Sears each had hat tricks for Princeton and Kari Buonanno had four caused turnovers. The Tigers defense had 16 caused turnovers overall, helping pressure Cornell into 20 turnovers for the game.

Amanda Cramer led Cornell with three goals and Katie McGahan was stellar in goal with 18 saves.

HARVARD BEATS PENN FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2000

Caroline Mullahy’s beautiful behind-the-back goal gave Harvard a lead it never relinquished, paving the way to a 9-8 victory over Penn, the Crimson’s first win over its Ivy League rival since 2000.

Caroline Mullahy with the sweeeet BTB. @HARVARDWLAX hanging with @PennWomensLax. pic.twitter.com/h9je34aGeL

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 5, 2022

Riley Campbell scored four goals for Harvard, including a tally with 2:56 remaining that gave Harvard a 9-6 lead before Penn scored twice in the final two minutes. Penn won the draw control after Keeley Block’s goal with 1:24 left, but turned the ball over didn’t get off a shot to try to tie the game.

Niki Miles had a team-high four points for Penn, all on assists, and Kelly Van Hoesen made 12 saves in a losing effort.

HOKIES RALLY PAST FORMER STAR

Paige Petty holds Virginia Tech’s all-time scoring marks for goals and points, but the All-American elected to use her final year of eligibility as a grad transfer for Pitt’s inaugural season. Petty was stellar against her former team on Saturday, scoring five goals, but Virginia Tech rallied for a wild 12-11 victory in overtime on Olivia Vergano’s goal.

OLIVIA VERGANO IN 3OT @HokiesLax get huge saves from Morgan Berman and down @Pitt_WLAX in three overtimes. pic.twitter.com/O7aCoJLlBE

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 5, 2022

Vergano’s heroics were only possible because of outstanding goaltending play by Tech goalie Morgan Berman. Berman stopped two Pitt free position attempts in overtime.

.@HokiesLax and @Pitt_WLAX are headed to 2OT thanks to clutch saves like this from Morgan Berman. pic.twitter.com/gIpFlgCoYS

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 5, 2022

Claire Schotta had a career-best four goals for Virginia Tech and Sarah Lubnow added a hat trick.

YALE SURPRISES DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth raced out by scoring the game’s first three goals, but Yale answered with five straight goals and pulled away for a 12-9 victory. The win was the first for Yale over Dartmouth since 2015 and gave the Bulldogs their first 4-0 start since 2018.

Olivia Markert and Olivia Penoyer led Yale with three goals each and Clare Boone made nine saves to earn the win. Katie Elders had three goals for Dartmouth.

NOTABLE

• Belle Smith had a career-best eight points (5g, 3a) as No. 1 Boston College snapped Louisville’s four-game winning streak, beating the Cardinals 19-10. BC is now 6-0 for the season.

• Aurora Cordingley had eight points (3g, 5a), Hannah Leubecker and Libby May each scored four times and Emily Sterling made nine saves as No. 4 Maryland cruised past William & Mary 19-7.

• No. 14 Rutgers dominated Villanova 17-4 to improve to 6-0, the best start in the program’s 46-year history.

• No. 19 Jacksonville scored a season-high 24 goals and held East Carolina scoreless for the final three quarters in a 24-5 victory. Jenny Kinsey scored seven goals for the Dolphins.

• Connecticut rallied from five goals down to beat Massachusetts 17-13. Susan Lafountain and Kate Shaffer each scored four goals for UConn.

• Kasey Dorney’s fourth goal of the game came in overtime, lifting Wagner to an 8-7 win at Lehigh. It was the first victory for new head coach Kelly McPartland.

• Carleigh Armstrong, Julia Gorajek, Jolie Riedell and Kathleen Sulliavan — all either freshmen or sophomores — combined for 15 goals as Army won its fourth straight game, beating Monmouth 18-13.

HOW THE NIKE/USA LACROSSE TOP 20 FARED

No. 1 Boston College defeated Louisville 19-10
No. 4 Maryland defeated William & Mary 19-7
No. 6 Stony Brook defeated No. 11 Florida 14-13
No. 9 Loyola defeated Penn State 18-9
No. 10 Princeton defeated Cornell, 13-12
No. 14 Rutgers defeated Villanova 17-4
No. 19 Jacksonville defeated East Carolina, 24-5

ALL SCORES

American 20, Gardner-Webb 11
Army 18, Monmouth 13
Binghamton 15, Marist 6
No. 1 Boston College 19, Louisville 10
Brown 14, Columbia 9
Bryant 15, Holy Cross 14
Bucknell 10, St. Bonaventure 8
Campbell 13, Old Dominion 12
Connecticut 17, Massachusetts 13
Davidson 20, Winthrop 9
Elon 21, Furman 9
Georgetown 16, Delaware 6
Harvard 9, Penn 8
Hofstra 11, Albany 7
Iona 15, Lafayette 10
No. 19 Jacksonville 24, East Carolina 5
Kennesaw State 22, Wofford 9
Liberty 18, Robert Morris 5
No. 9 Loyola 18, Penn State 9
Manhattan 10, LaSalle 8
No. 4 Maryland 19, William & Mary 7
Mount St. Mary’s 11, High Point 6
New Hampshire 20, Central Connecticut State 4
No. 10 Princeton 13, Cornell 12
Quinnipiac 13, Boston University 12
No. 14 Rutgers 17, Villanova 4
No. 6 Stony Brook 14, No. 11 Florida 13
Towson 20, Saint Joseph's 8
Vermont 13, Siena 10
Virginia Tech 12, Pitt 11 (2 OT)
Wagner 8, Lehigh 7 (OT)
Yale 12, Dartmouth 9