And the last undefeated team in Division I is … Ohio State.

Cornell took its first loss of the season Friday against Penn State. Two days later, it hammered Towson to deal the Tigers their first setback.

That leaves the 6-0 Buckeyes, who have methodically handled their business so far. A half-dozen Saturdays, a half-dozen victories by at least three goals.

If there’s the slightest reason for skepticism, it is something beyond the control of Nick Myers’ team. Only one of the teams Ohio State has faced so far — 5-2 Boston University — finished play Sunday with a winning record (though here’s guessing Massachusetts, now 3-3, makes an extended push over the next couple months).

What cannot be questioned is how well-rounded the Buckeyes have been to date. They’re 12th in the country in scoring (13.8 goals a game) and 14th in Division I in scoring defense (9.33 a game). Justin Inacio ranks 12th in D-I in faceoff percentage (62.9) and goalie Josh Kirson is fourth in save percentage (59.3). As a team, the Buckeyes are shooting 39.2 percent, better than everyone besides Penn State and Cornell.

Things are about to get more interesting. The Buckeyes welcome Denver to Columbus on Saturday. Then comes a visit to Notre Dame, followed by five Big Ten regular season games and the conference tournament. It’s a daunting stretch for the last unblemished team in Division I, a group that appears to have the pieces to handle it.

At the top this week, a familiar face. Yale, the defending NCAA champion that was No. 1 in the preseason rankings, has navigated its way back to the summit. Penn State is No. 2, followed by Cornell, resurgent Notre Dame and Towson to round out the top five.

Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Men’s Top 20

	March 11, 2019	W/L	Prev	Next
1	Yale	3-1	3	3/16 vs. No. 3 Cornell
2	Penn State	6-1	6	3/23 at Cleveland State
3	Cornell	4-1	2	3/16 at No. 1 Yale
4	Notre Dame	3-1	8	3/16 at No. 12 Virginia
5	Towson	5-1	1	3/16 at No. 8 Duke
6	Maryland	6-1	5	3/16 vs. Villanova
7	Ohio State	6-0	7	3/16 vs. No. 10 Denver
8	Duke	6-1	9	3/12 vs. Utah
9	Loyola	4-2	4	3/16 vs. Navy
10	Denver	4-2	10	3/16 at No. 7 Ohio State
11	High Point	6-1	11	3/15 at VMI
12	Virginia	4-2	12	3/16 vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
13	North Carolina	4-2	16	3/12 vs. Bucknell
14	Syracuse	3-2	19	3/16 vs. No. 15 Rutgers
15	Rutgers	4-2	18	3/12 vs. No. 18 Lehigh
16	Georgetown	6-1	20	3/16 vs. Drexel
17	Johns Hopkins	2-3	14	3/12 vs. Mount St. Mary's
18	Lehigh	3-3	NR	3/12 at No. 15 Rutgers
19	Colgate	3-2	NR	3/16 at Canisius
20	Army	4-2	17	3/12 at Binghamton

Also considered (alphabetical order): Boston University (5-2), Delaware (6-1), Hobart (4-1), Massachusetts (3-3), Navy (4-2), Princeton (2-3), Richmond (4-3), Villanova (3-3)

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

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

HOT

Syracuse (+5)

The Orange aren’t the easiest team to slot, but a victory over a Johns Hopkins bunch coming off road defeats of North Carolina and Princeton warrants a bit of a bump.

At the very least, it was a very old-school Syracuse triumph. The Orange scored six of the last seven goals in a 14-10 triumph at the Carrier Dome as it bounced back from an overtime loss to Virginia a week earlier.

Georgetown (+4)

The Hoyas hadn’t won a game by 12 goals since 2001. Then they did it twice in a five-day span.

Georgetown drubbed Furman (18-6) and Fairfield (19-6) to improve to 6-1. The Hoyas now get Drexel and Marquette at home over the next two weekends.

Notre Dame (+4)

It’s been a good March for the Fighting Irish, who edged Maryland on March 3 and then largely controlled things in a 10-7 defeat of Denver in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Saturday.

That leaves Kevin Corrigan’s team in the middle of a scrum of one-loss teams (plus Ohio State). It’s tough to sort all those programs out at this point, but there’s no doubt Notre Dame has earned a place in it.

Penn State (+4)

The Nittany Lions handled Cornell 19-13 on Friday, then blasted Jacksonville less than 48 hours later. They jump up to No. 2 and now sit behind the only team to have defeated them all season — Yale, which edged Penn State 14-13 on Feb. 23

NOT

Loyola (-5)

The Greyhounds dropped a 12-7 decision at Duke on Thursday, one of the last of their high-profile nonconference results. Loyola has victories over Virginia, Johns Hopkins and Rutgers and losses to Towson and Duke, with a midweek date against Georgetown still to come next month.

It would be difficult to keep a two-loss team in the top five at this stage, and certainly Loyola still has work to do at the defensive end. Charley Toomey’s bunch closes out March with some tricky games — home games against Navy and Bucknell sandwiched around a trip to Colgate.

Towson (-4)

You could argue the Tigers at No. 4 or No. 5 at this point. And even though they unraveled after a quick start in Sunday’s 18-11 loss to Cornell in Charlotte, N.C., let’s face it — a 5-1 mark to this point bodes well for Shawn Nadelen’s team.

Now it’s time to see how Towson deals with a setback after ripping off victories against the likes of Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and Loyola in February. The Tigers must contend with Duke and Denver over the next two weekends before beginning Colonial Athletic Association play.

IN

Lehigh

The Mountain Hawks (3-3) have opened Patriot League play with defeats of Colgate and Army to even their record. The early road losses to Virginia and Cornell were always understandable, and even the 4-3 home loss to Hofstra in the season’s second week had “February lacrosse” written all over it.

Lehigh’s identity is crystal clear at this stage. The Mountain Hawks have a top-10 defense, are aces on man down and field a top-five faceoff man in Conor Gaffney (70.6). They’re also one of the poorest shooting teams in the country at 24.3 percent, though getting to double figures in consecutive games is an encouraging sign.

Colgate

The Raiders (3-2) bounce back into the top 20 after halting a two-game slide by defeating Boston University 9-7. Not much new to note here, besides the fact the opening defeat of Syracuse looks like it will grow in value as the season unfolds.

OUT

Villanova (was No. 13)

It was a rough weekend for the Wildcats, who allowed an average of 14 goals in losses to Penn and Drexel. Villanova has its impressive overtime defeat of Yale, but it’s not enough to keep it in the top 20 this week.

Of course, it’s not as if there isn’t an opportunity looming. The Wildcats visit Maryland on Saturday; they came away with an overtime victory in their last trip to College Park two seasons ago.

Richmond (was No. 15)

The Spiders absorbed an unexpected midweek overtime loss to Mount St. Mary’s at home, its second setback in a row since fending off Notre Dame. They recovered nicely over the weekend, drubbing VMI 17-4 in the Southern Conference opener for both. All but one of Richmond’s remaining games — March 29 at Virginia — are against league foes.