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NCAA D1 Penn State Men's Lacrosse O'Keefe, Loftus Lead In Your Face Awards to End February
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D1 Rundown – Down Goes Penn State

Down goes Penn State! After firmly locking in the #1 spot in the country, they fell to Maryland. There were plenty of other great games and big performances, so let’s dive right into it!

If you’re looking for an appropriate song to accompany this post, may I suggest the below track. It just seems so darn relevant for some weird reason.

NCAA D1 Scoreboard

Tuesday 4/4
7 St. John’s vs. Yale 23
8 Lafayette vs. Monmouth 9
20 Virginia vs. Cleveland State 7

Wednesday 4/5
11 Hobart vs. Syracuse 17

Only FOUR midweek games last week. WHAT?

Saturday 4/8
7 Michigan vs. Rutgers 14
11 Army vs. Boston U. 10
11 Duke vs. Notre Dame 8
8 Furman vs. Air Force 7
5 NJIT vs. Monmouth 10
12 Mount St. Mary’s vs. Bucknell 10
13 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Hampton 7
11 Towson vs. UMass 8
5 Detroit Mercy vs. Canisius 11
10 VMI vs. Jacksonville 16
10 Albany vs. UMBC 5
7 Bellarmine vs. High Point 5
10 Binghamton vs. Hartford 9
11 Brown vs. Penn 8
13 Bryant vs. Sacred Heart 7
9 Harvard vs. Cornell 12
5 Lafayette vs. Holy Cross 10
14 Loyola vs. Lehigh 5
17 Marquette vs. St. John’s 9
13 Providence vs. Georgetown 7
12 Richmond vs. Mercer 9
17 Robert Morris vs. Wagner 6
7 Saint Joseph’s vs. Hobart 8 ot
9 Delaware vs. Hofstra 11
15 Maryland vs. Penn State 11
13 Yale vs. Dartmouth 6
10 Colgate vs. Navy 4
11 UMass Lowell vs. Vermont 12
16 Siena vs. Manhattan 6
13 Drexel vs. Fairfield 12
8 Quinnipiac vs. Marist 9
11 Stony Brook vs. Princeton 13

DOWN GOES PENN STATE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2olEBt7Yemo

Sunday 4/9

16 Denver vs. Villanova 11
13 Ohio State vs. Johns Hopkins 9
12 Virginia vs. North Carolina 15

The Stat Freaks

 

You know what’s it all about. Gaudy numbers need showcasing. So we do it!

Freak of the Week: This was a tough one. There weren’t many goalies who had lights out performances, but we did see two in the same game. There was also Nick Mariano’s efficient seven points, Brandon Jones with 10GBs, a caused turnover, and a goal, as well as Joe Francisco only losing three faceoffs against Michigan.

This was really Trevor Baptiste’s to lose, though. He is on this list nearly every week, but what he did against Villanova was a performance you just do not see very often. 23/28 on faceoffs? That’s definitely a good line. Win 17 of those 23 ground balls? You’re winning them on your own, and just being dominant. 3 goals and an assist as a FOGO? Seriously? Who does that?

Offense: The Cutoff here is a combined 7 goals and/or assists

Nick Mariano – Syracuse: 4G, 3A, 5 Shots vs. Hobart
Pat Spencer – Loyola Maryland: 1G, 6A, 3 Shots vs. Lehigh
Wesley Sanders – VMI: 5G, 2A, 8 Shots vs. Jacksonville
Kieran Mullins – Rutgers: 8G, 1A, 16 Shots vs. Michigan
Jules Heninburg – Rutgers: 1G, 6A, 3 Shots vs. Michigan
Jack Jasinski – Ohio St.: 4G, 3A, 7 Shots vs. Johns Hopkins

Defense:  For here, you need 8 GBs, CTs, and/or points

Marshall Peters – Cornell: 5GB, 4CT vs. Harvard
Jake Gennosa – Drexel: 5GB, 3CT vs. Fairfield
Brandon Jones – Air Force: 10GB, 1CT, 1G vs. Furman
Erik Cannon – Lafayette: 5GB, 4CT vs. Holy Cross
Matt Farrell – Holy Cross: 7GB, 3CT vs. Lafayette
Jack Carrigan – Loyola Maryland: 4GB, 4CT vs. Lehigh
Matt Neufeldt – Maryland: 4GB, 4CT vs. Penn St.
Chris Fennell – Navy: 5GB, 3CT vs. Colgate
John Tachon – NJIT: 5GB, 3CT vs. Monmouth
Brendan Hynes – Richmond: 7GB, 5CT, 2G vs. Mercer
Zach Goodrich – Towson: 8GB, 1G vs. Massachusetts
Scott Hooper – Virginia: 4GB, 5CT vs. North Carolina

Faceoffs: Greater than 70%, at least 10 attempts

Conor Mackie – Yale: 13/18, 10 GB vs. St. John’s (NY)
Luke Brugel – Virginia: 10/14, 4 GB, 1A vs. Cleveland St.
Conor Mackie – Yale: 14/16, 11 GB vs. Dartmouth
Trent Harper – Air Force: 14/19, 3 GB vs. Furman
Graham Savio – Loyola Maryland: 14/17, 7 GB, 1G vs. Lehigh
Jon Garino – Maryland: 9/11, 7 GB vs. Penn St.
Justin Schwenk – Monmouth: 10/14, 5 GB vs. NJIT
Zachary Melillo – Marquette: 19/25, 8 GB vs. St. John’s (NY)
TD Irelan – Albany (NY): 16/19, 13 GB vs. UMBC
Kenny Massa – Bryant: 17/22, 13 GB vs. Sacred Heart
Joe Francisco – Rutgers: 19/22, 9 GB vs. Michigan
Tate Boyce – Providence: 17/24 Saves, 4GB vs. Georgetown
Stephen Kelly – North Carolina: 23/30, 15 GB, 1G vs. Virginia
Trevor Baptiste – Denver: 23/28, 17 GB, 3G, 1A vs. Villanova
Jake Withers – Ohio St.: 19/26, 10 GB, 1G vs. Johns Hopkins

Goalies:  Greater than 70%

Phil Goss – Brown: 19/27 Saves, 3GB vs. Penn
Brandon Burke – Colgate: 12/16 Saves, 5GB vs. Navy
T.J. Jones – Saint Joseph’s: 20/28 Saves, 5GB, 1CT vs. Hobart
Jackson Brown – Hobart: 17/24 Saves, 3GB vs. Saint Joseph’s
Tommy Heidt – Michigan: 5GB, 3CT vs. Rutgers

The Big Upsets and Surprises

  • Syracuse won by more than a goal! This rivalry game can always produce some head scratching results, so it’s definitely not a “gimme” for the Orange. But they finally put one away in a way that people were hoping they would.
  •  Army needed a little comeback for this one, but they manage to top BU so they could remain unbeaten in patriot play. Still with only a loss to Rutgers to their credit, this is the best Army team we have seen in years.
  • Duke winning over the visiting Irish was a statement win for the Blue Devils. They were very close to being written off as a good team, but not the same Duke that we’ve seen in the past. Make no mistake, this is a very good team. They do not play like their predecessors, but they are just as dangerous.
  • Cornell had a rough start to the season, but going into Boston to beat Harvard was an important win for them in the DelucaBowl. Harvard is underperforming to me right now. They have too much talent to be as far back in their league as they are. Cornell is on the rise but this is just not the year for them.
  • Providence topping Georgetown by six was just another strong showing for the Friars. They are making a play for the Big East title, but Denver will not be very accommodating. This is turning into a special season for Providence.
  • Penn State become the newest undefeated team to fall. Maryland played a great game, going up early and just never letting Penn State crawl back in. It was still a good showing by Penn State, but their season has come back to reality a little bit. Are they one of the best teams out there still? Yes. Are they just as vulnerable as all the other best teams? Also yes.
  • Ohio State beating Hopkins made sense from a rankings and poll standpoint, but historically, it’s still a little crazy. Ohio State is without a doubt for real. Hopkins has been a victim of their own schedule more than anything and are still a contender. No team in their conference will take them likely.
  • North Carolina beating Virginia was a virtual playoff game. There wasn’t actually a trip to the ACC tournament on the line, but a loss by UNC would have really made the climb there an uphill battle. This also underscores how much work is left to do for UVA. They seemingly cannot catch a break at all this season. One or two games could be the luck of the bounce. Losing this many close games means they really need another year to come together.

Out-of-Conference Conference Comparison

While the Big Ten will be firmly on top here through the end of the year, there was some slight shuffling below. The Ivy was able to jump over the Patriot League, while the Northeast overtook the Big East. It really is bizarre to see how much the college landscape has changed. Below is the table for this season. Underneath that, you will find 2016 from this same week. It’s just interesting to see the difference.

Record % # of Teams
Big Ten 44-8 0.846 6
ACC 28-10 0.737 5
Colonial 28-22 0.560 6
America East 26-23 0.531 7
Northeast 26-27 0.491 7
Big East 24-25 0.490 6
Ivy 20-22 0.476 7
Patriot 20-24 0.455 9
Southern 18-35 0.340 8
MAAC 17-34 0.333 7

2016 Comparison:

Record % # of Teams
ACC 27-13 .675 5
Big Ten 32-20 .615 6
Ivy 25-20 .556 7
Patriot 24-20 .545 9
Big East 26-22 .542 6
Colonial 29-26 .527 6
Northeast 27-27 .500 7
America East 24-26 .480 7
Southern 22-34 .393 8
MAAC 13-29 .310 7

Last year, so many conferences were above .500 mostly due to wins being a little more evenly distributed. That the Big Ten is pulling off is just that much more impressive. The ACC is not far off from where they were a year ago, but the Big Ten was such a gigantic leap.

Weekend Games to Watch

This week, there are a couple matchups that really have my eye:

Army/Navy: This is an important win for Army to keep their season on track, but above all else, it’s the Army/Navy game. No rivalry is bigger.

Loyola/BU: Another Patriot League matchup, BU is still trying to assert themselves as on the best teams in the conference. Loyola is still trying to prove that they’re the team to beat.

Penn St./Hopkins: A huge Big Ten game. Hopkins needs this to boost their at-large resume. Penn State needs this to say that their loss to Maryland was a fluke.

Syracuse/North Carolina: A win here by Syracuse would put leave them undefeated in the ACC. North Carolina is still trying to get a good seed in their tournament.

Duke/Virginia: This is Virginia’s final regular season game before they shut it all down for the ACC tournament. A loss means they will go another year with no ACC wins, and will be forced to play Penn in a consolation game. That would likely be it for the 2017 Cavaliers.