Lacrosse's most exciting weekend is almost upon us. We've reached the NCAA Division I Men's quarterfinals, where four teams will punch their tickets to the final four. Loyola, Yale, Denver and Albany will battle at Hofstra on Saturday, while Cornell, Maryland, Johns Hopkins and Duke will meet in Annapolis, Md.
Who will continue their postseason run? Whose season ends this weekend? We'll find out soon enough. Here's a preview of a weekend that is sure to be entertaining.
No. 6 Loyola vs. No. 3 Yale
Saturday, 12 p.m., ESPNU
You want offense? You should get it in this matchup between two of Division I’s best offensive units. Yale enters Saturday scoring 13.94 goals per game, good for second in the nation. Loyola, conversely, scores 13.63 goals per game to sit fifth in Division I.
Ben Reeves, the Tewaaraton finalist, leads a Yale team that has had its challenges over the past two weeks but is looking to advance to its first final four since 1990. First came in the Ivy League final, where the Bulldogs tied a season-low with eight goals in the loss to Cornell. Then came a dogfight with a strong UMass squad — a game that Yale led 14-7 but eventually held on to win 15-13. Sophomore Jackson Morrill, who scored seven goals against the Minutemen, will be an x-factor.
Still, the Bulldogs have won seven of eight games and will be the favored team in this matchup.
As for Loyola, its offense runs through fellow Tewaaraton candidate Pat Spencer, The Greyhounds made it through an over-two-hour lightning delay to get by Virginia for the second time this season. Loyola hasn’t lost since March 24 to Bucknell — ironically the Bison also took down Yale a few days later.
The matchups to watch out for: Reeves against Loyola’s Foster Huggins, and Spencer against Yale’s Chris Fake.
Denver vs. No. 2 Albany
Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU
All the talk this week surrounding Albany’s matchup with Denver has centered on the faceoff x. That’s where two of the best faceoff men in college lacrosse history — Denver’s Trevor Baptiste and Albany’s TD Ierlan — will meet in a what will be a blockbuster battle.
As much as the attention will be on that meeting, each might negate the other from influencing the game as much as they have this season. This quarterfinal might be decided on one of the ends of the field — whether Albany’s offense against Denver’s defense or vice versa.
The Great Danes enter Saturday’s quarterfinal with the nation’s top offense. And that’s with star attackman Connor Fields, who did not make the Tewaaraton final cut, out with a knee injury for multiple weeks. Freshman Tehoka Nanticoke has stepped up this season, scoring 46 goals and adding 32 assists. Jakob Patterson also has scored 38 goals to help the Great Danes offense remain high-powered. Captain Troy Reh has also chipped in.
The Great Danes average a full three goals more than the Pioneers offense, led by Colton Jackson and Ethan Walker. But what has made this Denver team tick is its top-ranked defense, which has allowed opponents just 7.44 goals per game.
The Pioneers have held opponents under 10 goals in 13 games this season. However, Denver has faced one top 10 offense this season — a 15-12 loss to Duke. The next best offense the Pioneers have faced is Georgetown, the team that downed them in the Big East final on May 5.
The key to this game could fall on Denver’s ability to halt Fields, Nanticoke and the Albany offense.