The No. 1 team in the Nike / US Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20 was knocked out of the NCAA tournament over the weekend, as Franklin & Marshall fell to William Smith in the second round.

It was the only big upset during the opening rounds. Now 16 schools remain in the competition, which heads to the regional stage May 15-16.

Here are some of the notable storylines from the first weekend of games.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

No. 10 William Smith continued its late-season surge in the first two rounds, crushing an 11-win Meredith squad that had been in consideration for a spot in the Top 20 throughout the regular season.

That 19-3 win in the first round Saturday was impressive, but it was an upset of unbeaten No. 1 Franklin & Marshall that really turned heads. And that one wasn’t close either. The Herons jumped out to a 9-2 halftime lead, rattled off a stretch of 12 unanswered goals over 37 minutes and won 13-5 in the second round Sunday. Kelsey Williams led with four goals.

William Smith (10-4), which also upset Ithaca in the Liberty League final last weekend, will now take on St. John Fisher on Saturday at Colby College in a rematch of the Herons’ 7-6 loss to the Cardinals in the season opener.

BEST GAME

Illinois Wesleyan’s 13-12 win over George Fox was the closest contest during opening weekend, as no other game had a margin of victory less than five goals.

It didn’t initially look like George Fox was going to make it competitive, though. The Titans took a 10-3 lead less than two minutes into the second half but had to fend off a second-half comeback to advance. With IWU leading 13-8, the Bruins scored four straight to trim the lead to one with 5:11 remaining, and the Titans’ defense held strong to close out the win. Senior Janaye Godfrey stopped the lone shot by George Fox in the final five minutes to preserve the lead.

Maggie Torres and Cassandra Jones led the Illinois Wesleyan attack with three goals each, and Godfrey finished with 12 saves. Madison Strickland scored three of George Fox’s last five goals, including the final two.

The Titans ended up losing 20-3 to Messiah in the second round, but George Fox would have been just as much the underdog in that game.

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

Hannah Lorenzen directly had a hand in 11 of SUNY Cortland’s goals in a 23-12 win over Rhodes in the second round on Sunday, and that was the difference in the game.

She scored a Cortland NCAA playoff-record 10 goals — tying her for the second-most in a game in program history — and added one assist. Lorenzen finished with 13 shots, 11 of them on goal, one day after contributing three goals and an assist in an 18-5 win over Transylvania in the first round.

BY THE NUMBERS 

4

St. John Fisher pulled away from Catholic with four goals in the final nine minutes for a 15-9 win in arguably the best matchup of the second round. It was a one-goal game at halftime, and Catholic cut a four-goal deficit in half with 14 minutes left before SJF finally broke loose. Catholic was ranked fifth in the Nike / US Lacrosse Top 20, and St. John Fisher was 13th

0

Washington & Jefferson advanced to the third round on a no-contest after Farmingdale State withdrew from the tournament. The Presidents were the PAC Tournament champions and had a first-round bye. They remain undefeated at 10-0.

21

Chicago remains undefeated at home in its third season, winning its 21st game at Staggs Field in as many tries. The Maroons (10-1) beat Hamline 20-2 in the second round Saturday, winning 21 draw controls, to advance to regionals in their first postseason.

8

Dominique DeMarsico finished with eight points on five goals and three assists in Western Connecticut State’s 20-5 win over Johnson and Wales in a second-round game Saturday, the unbeaten Colonials’ first NCAA tournament appearance. Jacqui Hallack also had eight points on six goals and two assists in Ithaca’s 23-1 win over Notre Dame (Md.) in their second-round contest Sunday.