It is never a dull moment in college lacrosse. The NCAA Women’s Division I lacrosse season has picked up some steam, and things are getting exciting the further along in the year we get.
2020 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse: Week 3
Top Moments
Syracuse – Northwestern
Norhtwestern currently sits at 3-2 after this past weekend’s loss to Syracuse. In every game that the Wildcats have won so far this year, they have scored more than 20 goals in each of those games with an average margin of victory of over 15 goals per win. In Northwestern’s two losses, however, they have been held to 15 goals (Notre Dame) and 11 goals (Syracuse). The interesting part is that while the Wildcats do have an impressive margin of victory in their wins, Duke still put up 20 goals against them while Arizona State scored a respectable 12 points. So far, Northwestern has lived and died by its offense. When they’re on, they have a great shot at beating almost anyone. But, it seems that things have been a bit inconsistent, which is likely to be expected after losing players like Tewaaraton-finalist Selena Lasota after last season.
Syracuse, on the other hand has steamrolled most of its competition, with its lone loss at the hands of Stony Brook. This win over Northwestern was actually the closest win of the season for the Orange, and will look to carry momentum into its matchup with defending-champion Maryland this Friday in what should be a top-tier showdown.
Maryland – North Carolina
Actually, while Maryland is the defending champion, the Terps are trying to replace some major talent at various positions themselves. The Terps are 1-2 on the year with a win over George Mason, but have a loss to a top-ranked team in Florida and then to No. 1 North Carolina this past weekend. Maryland is still ranked No. 9 in the country from this last Monday’s poll, but are going to need to start picking up some bigger wins if they want to have successes to build on and continue its past history of success.
North Carolina, on the other hand, has been the No. 1 team in the country since being picked the top team in the preseason poll, and currently sit at a perfect 4-0 with wins over 2018 national champion James Madison, High Point, Davidson and now Maryland. The best part for the Tar Heels? Their closest game has been within eight points and have double-digit wins in all of the rest of those games. UNC will face No. 6 Virginia this Saturday, who are also going into the game undefeated in what should be a fantastic ACC showdown in this young 2020 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse season.
USC – Boston College
Boston College has unfortunately stumbled a bit thus far in the season. That is completely understandable given that the Eagles just graduated three legitimate Tewaaraton contenders last year and are having to almost completely replace that offensive production. They aren’t the same team they have been the past few seasons thus far, but I fully expect Boston College to be able to figure things out and be one of the top teams in the country again in the future. We’ll see how fast they can get back to that level.
USC had a pretty convincing 18-9 win over Boston College, and by my saying that Boston College is currently rebuilding should take anything away from what the Trojans are doing in Southern California. The Trojans opened their season with three-straight wins over ranked opponents (or those just outside the top 20), and had another solid win over San Diego State on Monday, taking the 14-6 win. USC will play its first Pac-12 conference game against Stanford a week from this Friday, and should have plenty of time to prepare as it heads into the rest of its schedule.
Honorable Mentions
Jill Rizzo set an Ohio State career saves record over the weekend in the Buckeyes win over Cincinnati last Wednesday. You can read about it here.
2020 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Week 3 Top Plays
No. 1 – WHEELS!
Lindsey McKone with the breakaway goal for @NULax 🤭🤭!! #NCAAWLAX
pic.twitter.com/eftwb9SZ6b— NCAA Lacrosse (@NCAALAX) February 23, 2020
No. 2 – Dig It Up, Oh, Oh, Dig It (The Shovel Shot, In Case You Missed The Holes Reference)
Brindi makes it happen!! 💥#NCAAWLAX | @MarylandWLax
pic.twitter.com/EF7CaeCBhv— NCAA Lacrosse (@NCAALAX) February 22, 2020
No. 3 – It’s Not Really A Play, It’s More Of A Lifestyle
Couldn’t have said it any better, Coach! 🙌🥍#NCAAWLAX | @OhioStateWLAX pic.twitter.com/oLq6ZTsIzn
— NCAA Lacrosse (@NCAALAX) February 20, 2020
I thought it would be fun to share this great speech by Ohio State women’s lacrosse coach Amy Bokker. I realize it’s not a play but wanted to include it in case anyone out there missed it.
No. 4 – Literally Almost Everything North Carolina Did Last Weekend
The Tar Heels were on 🔥🔥🔥 today!
Highlights from the win over Maryland ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Vgnx9Mt7ml
— UNC Women’s Lacrosse (@uncwlax) February 22, 2020
No. 5 – The Mad Hatter
Hope you brought two 🎩’s to the game tonight. Someone call the 🚒. Jenny Kinsey is burning D.B. Milne field down. #JUPhinsUp | #BestPlaceToPlayLacrosse pic.twitter.com/Oq4ICwSdja
— Jacksonville WLAX (@JAX_WLAX) February 15, 2020
