There was plenty of drama this weekend — seven one-goal games involving teams in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I rankings — but very few upsets.
That led to a relatively quiet week with not a lot of movement.
Boston College solidified its hold on the No. 1 ranking with a convincing road win at Navy on Wednesday, followed by a 22-goal outburst in a five-goal win at Northwestern on Saturday night.
No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 North Carolina and No. 5 Penn all held onto their spots, but not without being challenged.
Maryland edged No. 4 Syracuse 12-11 in overtime on Kali Hartshorn's goal. North Carolina trailed Virginia with under seven minutes to play, but pulled out a 13-12 win on Tayler Warehime’s late goal, and No. 5 Penn got a big day from Zoe Belodeau (5g, 2a) to pull out an 8-7 victory over Georgetown.
Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Women’s Top 20
March 11, 2019 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston College | 8-0 | 1 | 3/16 vs. No. 16 Georgetown |
| 2 | Maryland | 6-0 | 2 | 3/13 vs. No. 5 Penn |
| 3 | North Carolina | 5-1 | 3 | 3/12 at Elon |
| 4 | Syracuse | 6-2 | 4 | 3/13 at No. 19 Florida |
| 5 | Penn | 6-0 | 5 | 3/13 at No. 2 Maryland |
| 6 | Virginia | 6-2 | 7 | 3/13 vs. No. 9 Loyola |
| 7 | James Madison | 6-1 | 6 | 3/16 vs. Temple |
| 8 | Johns Hopkins | 6-1 | 8 | 3/13 vs. High Point |
| 9 | Loyola | 3-2 | 9 | 3/13 at No. 6 Virginia |
| 10 | Northwestern | 4-3 | 10 | 3/14 at Rutgers |
| 11 | Michigan | 9-0 | 11 | 3/16 vs. Penn State |
| 12 | Princeton | 4-1 | 12 | 3/19 at No. 19 Florida |
| 13 | Denver | 6-1 | 13 | 3/17 at Virginia Tech |
| 14 | Duke | 6-1 | 15 | 3/16 at No. 5 Penn |
| 15 | Navy | 5-2 | 16 | 3/16 at Colgate |
| 16 | Georgetown | 5-2 | 19 | 3/16 at No. 1 Boston College |
| 17 | Notre Dame | 6-0 | 18 | 3/13 at Virginia Commonwealth |
| 18 | Stony Brook | 2-3 | 17 | 3/13 at UMBC |
| 19 | Florida | 3-3 | 20 | 3/13 vs. No. 4 Syracuse |
| 20 | Colorado | 3-3 | NR | 3/15 vs. USC |
Also considered: Ohio State, Penn State, San Diego State, Stanford, USC, Virginia Tech
Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Georgetown (+3)
Georgetown was the biggest upward mover in the rankings this week despite suffering a loss to Penn on Saturday. The Hoyas more than represented themselves, outshooting Penn 30-17, but falling in a tough 8-7 battle as Penn’s standout goalie Mikaila Cheeseman made 12 saves.
The Hoyas are 5-2 this season with one-goal losses to No. 5 Penn and No. 8 Johns Hopkins as the only blemishes. A Saturday road trip to No. 1 Boston College will be Georgetown’s biggest test to date.
NOT
Stony Brook (-1)
After a 2-2 start to the season, Stony Brook looked like it was ready to take a big step forward, leading Princeton 14-10 as the clock approached 10 minutes to play. But the Seawolves went scoreless for the final 14 minutes of the game and Princeton scored five straight goals to rally for a 15-14 win.
Stony Brook has solid wins over Colorado and Towson, but a tough early-season schedule has also yielded losses to Denver, Stanford and Princeton.
The Seawolves open America East play on Wednesday at UMBC, and also have chances for significant out-of-conference wins with Johns Hopkins, Florida and USC among the non-league games remaining on their schedule.
IN
Colorado
Colorado has been all over the map this year, beating Virginia Tech by 11 and losing to Stony Brook by 10, but the start of Pac-12 play got the Buffs back on the right track.
Colorado beat Stanford 20-13 on Friday, scoring nine straight goals to break a 4-4 tie, and then followed that up with a 17-11 win over Cal on Sunday. Samantha Nemirov scored seven goals in the win over Stanford and then Miranda Stinson had a school record eight in the win over Cal.
Colorado hosts 6-1 USC on Friday and then welcomes Arizona State on Sunday.
OUT
Stanford
The start of Pac-12 play didn't go the way Stanford scripted with Colorado dominating the first half in a 20-13 victory. The 20 goals allowed was double the 10.0 goals per game Stanford was allowing entering the game.
Stanford is still 5-2 with a win over Stony Brook, but a second half schedule dominated by Pac-12 games makes conference play extremely important if the Cardinal are to return to the NCAA tournament.