Here we are at the end of the season. Now that the champions have been crowned across all three divisions of men’s NCAA lacrosse, there is a little bit of reflection to take place, a Tewaaraton to be awarded, and then that’s it until fall ball (for college lacrosse, anyway). But before all of that, let’s take a stroll through our final rundown of the season, recapping all of the action from Championship Weekend.
Championship Weekend Lives Up to the Hype – DI Men’s Rundown Week 16
Scoreboard
Saturday
#4 Virginia 12 v #1 North Carolina 11 – DI Men’s Semifinal 1
#3 Maryland 14 v #2 Duke 5 – DI Men’s Semifinal 2
Sunday
#1 (North) Lemoyne 12 v #1 (South) Lenoir-Rhyne 6 – DII Men’s Final
RIT 15 v Salisbury 14 – DIII Men’s Final
Monday
#4 Virginia 17 v #3 Maryland 16 – DI Men’s Final
DI Conference Comparison
During the regular season, I was tracking the non-conference records of each conference here. Now, we’ll just see how each did in the tournament.
| Conference | Record | % | +/- |
| ACC | 9-4 | 0.692 | -0.086 |
| Big Ten | 4-2 | 0.667 | -0.083 |
| Big East | 1-2 | 0.333 | 0.000 |
| Patriot | 1-2 | 0.333 | 0.000 |
| America East | 0-1 | 0.000 | – |
| CAA | 0-1 | 0.000 | – |
| MAAC | 0-1 | 0.000 | – |
| NEC | 0-1 | 0.000 | – |
| SoCon | 0-1 | 0.000 | – |
*Independents & Ivy league have no teams in the tournament.
I wasn’t expecting too much volatility here given the fact that three of the four teams entering the season were all from the ACC. But Maryland winning just the one game did make things a little closer at the top. And what would have happened if Maryland won? The ACC would have fallen to .615, and Maryland would have been on top with .833. Oh, what could have been.
The Games
This was a great Championship Weekend for teams wearing orange. Both of Virginia’s games were one-goal games that went all the way down to the last shot. RIT needed some heroics to send things into overtime, where it eventually won. The others had their moments but not nearly as close as the other three.
So, let’s take a quick look at what happened.
DI Men’s Semifinal 1 – Virginia v North Carolina
This was the game that set the tone for the weekend. These teams were familiar with each other from the first whistle, and they were both doing everything they could for the win. UNC was very deserving of its No. 1 seed and did not go down without a fight.
DI Men’s Semifinal 2 – Maryland v Duke
While the score was close early on, Duke did not look like itself. The Blue Devils were slow to react, their defense was losing Maryland players off ball, and their offense was definitely not on the same page. Meanwhile, Maryland was looking crisp. The result was the most lopsided game of the weekend.
DII Men’s Final – Le Moyne v Lenoir-Rhyne
Lenoir-Rhyne looked promising in its first championship appearance. But while it was keeping it close, it fell into playing 6v6 lacrosse, which played right into Le Moyne’s strengths. As the clock wore on, the Dolphins built a lead and never let up, earning themselves another championship.
DIII Men’s Final – RIT v Salisbury
As an RIT alum, I could make this an incredibly biased recap and totally one sided in any analysis. Fortunately, you can read Connor Wilson’s recap through the link above. But what I will say is ask anyone who watched all the games this weekend, and they’ll likely agree: this was the best contest of the bunch. Close throughout, lead changes, buzzer-beater chances, and two overtimes. It was an incredible way for the Tigers to take home their first title.
DI Men’s Final – Virginia v Maryland
This game will go down as one of the best championship games ever. There was a stretch where it was all Virginia, but Maryland fought its way back by seizing on every opportunity presented to them. When a championship game goes all the way to a final faceoff win and shot with the clock hitting zeroes, you know it’s a good one.
What’s Next?
With no more games on the calendar following the conclusion of Championship Weekend, the only other thing left to do for NCAA lacrosse is name the Tewaaraton winners. The award will be presented during halftime of the PLL game between Whipsnakes and Chaos on Saturday, June 5 at Gillette Stadium.
Men’s 2021 Tewaaraton Finalists:
Jared Bernhardt – Attack, Sr., Maryland
Jake Carraway – Attack, Grad. Student, Georgetown
Chris Gray – Attack, Sr., North Carolina
Pat Kavanagh – Attack, Soph., Notre Dame
Michael Sowers – Attack, Grad. Student, Duke
Women’s 2021 Tewaaraton Finalists:
Lizzie Colson – Defense, Grad. Student, Maryland
Taylor Moreno – Goalie, Sr., North Carolina
Charlotte North – Attack, Sr., Boston College
Jamie Ortega – Attack, Sr., North Carolina
Izzy Scane – Attack, Jr., Northwestern
Based on the performances over the past weekend, the smart money will be on Bernhardt and North walking away with the trophies. Even though Bernhardt didn’t win the championship, his performance through the playoffs was incredible. For North, she did everything you could possibly ask for.
Catch Up on the DI Rundown
This is the 17th and final DI Rundown of the season. If you want to see what you missed earlier in the campaign, you’ve come to the right place.
Week 0 | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8
Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15
