It sure was one crazy weekend of college lacrosse action! We had high-scoring games, low-scoring games, upsets, blowouts and some really tight scores. The Syracuse – Army game was CLEARLY the game of the weekend in retrospect, and we have a TON of coverage from that killer match up (Game Photos & Recap, 412 Recap, video of Tim Desko’s one-handed goal). We also have a full recap of the Loyola – Towson game, and the Stevenson – Hampden-Sydney College penalty-fest.
In other big-time D1 action, we saw some interesting results. Penn State beat Notre Dame 4-3 in OT. Evidently, both teams dropped their stick and decided to play a game of soccer instead of lacrosse. At least it was a high-scoring soccer game. In all seriousness though, this game will be THE game people use to advocate for a shot clock, and I can’t say I disagree. When the game is 2-2 at the half, and NEITHER team scores a goal in the third period, people are going to call it a snoozefest.
UVA beat Stony Brook on Saturday, and the Cavs will stay at #1 with the win. Michigan dropped another game, this time to Air Force, by the score of 15-5. Thought that would have been closer. Brown took down Quinnipiac 12-7, and Denver beat RMU big, while UMBC took down an improving Rutgers program.
Dartmouth beat Colgate 9-6 and that’s a big win for the Big Green. Colgate was supposed to be pretty good this year. Drexel beat Albany, and I’m surprised the Danes aren’t putting up more goals on offense so far. I thought having all those Thompsons would result in goals galore. Drexel is going to be a tough team all season and could do big things in the NCAAs. UMass beat Ohio State 9-3 and proved they are definitely for real in 2012. I could see UMass making the Final Four if they keep playing like this. UNC came back to beat Navy 9-8 in a tighter game than expected. Princeton beat Hofstra 12-6 in an impressive win, and Villanova got a big win over Bucknell 13-12 in OT.
In DII, Chestnut Hill beat Mercy 7-6 but they 3 OT periods to get it done. I know that would be a great game. Two newer programs, with great coaching, and a hunger for wins. Dominican doubled up NDNU in a big reversal of fortunes in the WILA, 16-8. Dominican is now looking pretty good to make their first trip to the NCAA tournament. Seton Hill came up with a HUGE win as they beat CW Post 11-10. This is just a gigantic win for the SH program.
In DIII, Salisbury CRUSHED Roanoke in an early 1-2 match up 22-5. Ouch. Was Noke overrated, or is SU just that good? YES to the latter, maybe to the former. If SU really is as good as I think they might be, the position of #2 becomes somewhat irrelevant. It’s the Gulls right now, and then everyone else. If anyone can give them a run for their money it will have to be a Northern team like Amherst, Cortland or Endicott.
Skidmore lost to Babson 8-6 in a bit of a shocker. Denison beat W&L 15-9. Cabrini shocked the world (or me at least) by beating Haverford 9-3. That’s just Classic Carbini for you. Maybe 2012 is the year they really break through? Cortland only beat Widener 9-5, but to me Cortland is kind of like the Hopkins of D3 now in that they view a win as a win. Ferrum got an early win over Randolph 7-1. Shoutout to Asst Coach Adam Sear! RPI took down Montclair State (NJ) in convincing fashion, 10-4, and Springfield took down Nazareth 15-7, proving the Pride are definitely not to be taken lightly.
Over on the MCLA side of things, the excitement just kept on coming. A big upset on Sunday was Georgia Tech over FSU 10-7. I was pretty certain FSU would roll in that game, but GTech looks to have fixed a lot of things, and is playing good lacrosse right now. Alabama got a good win over Tennessee 12-8 and Iowa State did a nice job of taking down Nebraska 13-9. And all that was on Sunday! Oh, and did I mention that Oregon State beat Simon Fraser 13-6. An SFU team that can’t score at least 10 goals EVERY game? What is happening in Canada????
On Saturday, Cal Poly survived Cal 10-8 to remain near the top of the heap. Chico State beat Santa Clara 11-5, and I’ve now lost all faith in SC. I just can NOT figure that program out. FSU is actually another program that gives me pause, as they lost to Clemson 10-3 on Saturday. Clemson is looking good right now! FSU? Not so much. Colorado State took down Chapman 10-8, and is looking like a contender. Of course I still have faith in Chapman later this year if they can begin closing out close games soon. Chapman’s 11-9 win over Oregon on Friday night is proof that they have plenty of potential in this department.
Oklahoma beat Nebraska AND Iowa State on Saturday, and I can never get past a team that wins two good games in one day. I love seeing that kind of effort. Minnesota-Duluth took down Minnesota 11-9 and it’s great to see that in-state rivalry improving. Minny could soon be the land of 10,000 lacrosse teams, and those two club programs can do a lot for the growth of the game in that state and region. Dayton got a big win over Kennesaw State by a whopping 19-6 margin and SCAD beat Indiana Tech 13-11.
The JuCo world has kicked off now, and Army Prep is 2-0 against NJCAA teams and they have outscored their opponents 46-8. Essex started off strong beating Northern Virginia 19-4. Delaware Tech took down West Chester 9-8 and Suffolk beat Howard 12-11 in OT.
In the NCLL, Towson, Cornell and Frostburg State have all racked up a couple of wins so far. The two most impressive teams so far are probably the Navy Club teams and St. Joseph’s Club team. Both have won two games, and done so in very convincing fashion.