The most delightfully perplexing team in Division I is already known.

Well, they’re a wonderfully unpredictable puzzle unless you’re Massachusetts coach Greg Cannella, and it’s an off day for the Minutemen.

They’ve had one truly poor showing, a 17-4 loss at Army in their season opener. Since then, UMass has won at Ohio State, dropped a one-goal decision to Harvard and then knocked off UMass Lowell and Yale to get above .500 for the first time all season.

It’s the 13-10 defeat of Yale that vaulted the Minutemen back into the top 20. They led 11-2 at halftime, a margin built in part because the Bulldogs’ 16 turnovers outweighed their 11-4 faceoff advantage. But it also stemmed from a veteran Massachusetts offense sticking 14 of its 20 shots on cage and working well in tandem.

Elsewhere, there’s already some 2019-20 college basketball tendencies cropping up, a level of unpredictability with the potential to go beyond the usual shoulder shrug of “That’s February lacrosse.”

Only six teams — Cornell, Dartmouth(!), Georgetown, North Carolina, Princeton and Syracuse — survived the opening month without a loss, and making sense of any sort of pecking order might take a little longer than usual sort out.

Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Men’s Top 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Bucknell (5-1), Hobart (3-1), Marist (3-2), Richmond (2-3), Providence (4-1), Stony Brook (4-1)

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women

HOT

North Carolina (+3)

The Tar Heels closed out a 5-0 February with another road victory against a perennial postseason contender. A week after drubbing Johns Hopkins 17-10, North Carolina took an eight-goal lead into the third quarter at Denver before surviving 15-13.

When Denver threatened and closed within 13-9 with 8:39 to go, midfielder Justin Anderson responded with back-to-back scores to effectively salt things away. The Pioneers only got within two with 28 seconds left.

All six of the Tar Heels’ offensive starters had multi-point outings, but Anderson was especially productive. The senior set career highs in goals (five) and points (seven) to help North Carolina continue its methodical climb up into the top five.

NOT

Notre Dame (-5)

The middle of the field did in the Fighting Irish in Saturday’s 14-9 loss at Maryland. After drubbing both Cleveland State and Richmond to open its schedule, Notre Dame botched five clears in the first half, committed 17 turnovers overall and faced a considerable possession disparity as the Terrapins won 18 of 28 faceoffs.

That warrants moving the Irish to just behind Maryland, another one-loss team. It was an out-of-character showing for any iteration of Notre Dame, which will have the chance to score a helpful bounce-back victory Saturday against Denver.

Yale (-4)

A week after beating Penn State for the third time in a calendar year, the Bulldogs failed to reload the musket at Massachusetts — at least in the first half, anyway.

After spotting the Minutemen a nine-goal lead at the break, Yale closed within 12-9 early in the fourth quarter, hardly an impossible spot for a team with faceoff ace TD Ierlan. But much like earlier in the afternoon, turnovers did in Andy Shay’s bunch. The Bulldogs had nine shots and four turnovers the rest of the way, never getting the margin any closer than three.

One storyline worth following for Yale moving forward is its goalie situation. Senior Brody Wilson was pulled after making just two saves and allowing 11 goals in the first half. Jack Starr, who started most of his first two seasons in New Haven, took over and yielded two scores while making five stops after the break.

IN

UMass (No. 18)

The Minutemen’s dominant first half and subsequent solid final 12 minutes ensured they would yo-yo back into the top 20 this week. UMass began the season in the rankings, fell out after losing at Army, jumped back in with their triumph at Ohio State, slipped out upon losing to Harvard and are now back in again as the only ranked team from the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Minutemen received four multi-goal games against Yale, including Billy Philpott’s four-goal, one-assist effort. He’s one of five Massachusetts players with at least 10 points this season — with none posting more than 13 so far.

OUT

Marist (previously No. 19)

The Red Foxes’ stay in the top 20 lasted a week, though they did dispatch Hartford 14-6 in their first outing since smothering Army 17-9 on Feb. 18. However, Marist could do little to stop Bucknell attackman Will Yorke, who scored nine times in the Bison’s 20-11 triumph on Saturday. The Red Foxes (3-2) will play host to Delaware this weekend before delving into Metro Atlantic play by mid-March.