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The JuCo Report: RESULTS, And Lots Of Them!

We’ve been churning out JuCo Report coverage even though we haven’t had a ton of results to talk about, but all that changes now! Many teams have played at least one game now, and the NJCAA men’s lacrosse season is in full swing. Welcome to Spring. Now if Mother Nature would only get the memo. Enough cold, ok?

NJCAA Top Ten Poll

Top Ten Ranking, Current Record, Vote Points, Last Week’s Rank
1) Genesee, 1-0, 59, 1st
2) Onondaga, 2-0, 55, 2nd
3) Harford, 2-1, 45, 6th
4) Howard, 1-1, 40, 4th
5) Nassau, 2-1, 37, 3rd
6) Essex, 4-0, 28, 5th
7) Anne Arundel, 0-2, 26, 7th
8) Ocean County, 1-0, 18, 10th
9) Suffolk, 0-2, 8, 8th
10) Monroe, 0-1, 6, Unranked

Others Receiving Votes: Delaware Tech, Frederick, FLCC

Harford makes a huge leap from 6th to 3rd, while 1 and 2 stay the same. This is the highest ranking I can remember for Harford, maybe ever. Howard sticks at #4, and Nassau drops to 5th, which is the lowest I’ve seen them in a while. Makes sense for now as Harford beat Nassau head to head on Sunday in dramatic fashion. There is a whole section devoted to that “crazy game”. Essex might seem a little down, and Anne Arundel seems to be struggling a little as well, but it’s very early still. Ocean County makes a bump at 8th, and Suffolk sticks around after two losses while Monroe moves from Preseason Unranked to 10th with a loss. It’s still only the first few weeks, so expect plenty of movement still to come.

First JuCo Game Highlight Video!

This FIRST JuCo video of the year belongs Howard CC from their game against Union CC. What else would I expect? Of all the NJCAA programs out there, Howard does a better job with video highlights than anyone else. We’re looking forward to another season of video evidence! Thanks to Matt Stovall for sending this over:

Yup, high quality video, excellent audio commentary, some background music… it’s PERFECT. Hats off to Howard for a big win, and for making a great video which allows us all to see it for ourselves. Couple of solid NCAA transfers for Howard as well. Great first video of the year!

Recent 2017 Game Results

Wednesday, March 1st
Onondaga 34 – Mercyhurst NE 3 – OCC had 10 players score 2 goals or more, none scored more than 4, and 19 total players scored at least one goal for the Lazers. OCC was up 9-0 after one quarter, and 22-1 at the half.

CCBC Essex 14 – Potomac State 5 – Dustin Stone went 3-2 and Evan Skinner added a hat trick in the game for Essex. Essex went up 7-0 at the half, Potomac made it a 9-5 game after 3, then Essex poured in a 5-0 4th quarter to take the 14-5 win. Shane Thompson had 2-1 in the loss for PS.

Thursday, March 2nd
Northern Virginia 21 – Catonsville 6

Saturday, March 4th
Anne Arundel 7 – Nassau 14
Army Prep 14 – Herkimer 2
Howard 31 – Union County 4 – check out the video above for a recap!
Ocean County 11 – Suffolk 6 – I would recap this game, but you can watch the full game video for yourself, and that’s way more fun. LOVE a JuCo livestream.
Potomac State 17 – Ancilla 12 – Congrats to Coach John Seese on his first win as PS’ head coach! Seese is a great hire, has NCAA D1 experience at RMU as the Director of Lacrosse Operations, and is a West Virginia native.
Finger Lakes – Delaware Tech – Postponed due to weather
CCBC Essex 23 – Mercyhurst NE 2

Sunday, March 5th
Genesee 27 – Tompkins Cortland – 5 – GCC was up 8-1 after one quarter, and 15-3 at the half. Davis Prince and Pat Van Bortle each went 4 and 3 for 7 points each for the the Courgars. Jordan Brennan went 3 and 2, Baden Boyenko had a hat trick, and 12 players scored for Genesee. TC3 did open the scoring in this game under a minute in on a Chris Polanco goal, and he added 3 more over the course of the game to score 4 goals total.
Union 11 – Potomac State – 12
Finger Lakes – Onondaga – Postponed due to weather

Craziest 2017 Game… So Far

You may have noticed that I did not include the Harford vs Nassau game on Sunday, and that is because it deserves its own section.

Nassau had defeated Anne Arundel 14-7 on Saturday, and went to Harford on Sunday with another win in mind. For much of the game, that is exactly what was happening. But all of a sudden things changed. Maybe Nassau’s weekend of games and travel caught up to them. Maybe Harford just unleashed the beast. Who knows! What we do know is that Harford made the biggest comeback in program history, and is now ranked 3rd in the country.

Nassau went up 4-0 in the first quarter. That continued in the second and NCC’s lead went to 6-0. The teams then traded goals to enter the half with Nassau holding an 8-2 lead. In the third, it got a little closer, and the period ended with Nassau still up by five goals, 9-4. But then Nassau’s offense sputtered, and Harford’s exploded.

With 9 minutes left, and the score still at 9-4, Harford started clicking. A man up goal by Austin Johnson got things going, and it rolled on from there as two other Owls scored, and then Kyle Barkley finished up the scoring in the last 3 minutes with the last 3 goals of the game, giving Harford a HUGE come from behind win. Nick Esser assisted on two of the goals, and Barkley’s final tally came with zero ticks left. 10-9, game over. CRAZY.

Don’t believe me? Watch the video highlights for yourself! Epic stuff.

Big Upcoming 2017 NJCAA Lacrosse Games

March 7th – Southern Maryland Vs Northern Virginia – it’s a border war. North Vs. South! Although both of these teams probably consider themselves to be in the South. Whatever. It’s a Southern border war. The names of the schools tell us that much! All kidding aside, this should be a good game of two teams looking to climb in the NJCAA ranks. I like an evenly matched JuCo game any time I can get it! Let’s see if it actually plays out that way.

March 9th – Ancilla Vs Anne Arundel – I don’t see Ancilla keeping this one close, but I’m always intrigued by a first year program in a non-hotbed (Indiana) taking on an established NJCAA team from an established lacrosse area.

March 11th – Genesee Vs CCBC Essex – I like Genesee to win, but by how much? GCC winning is not a foregone conclusion, Essex could certainly pull off the upset… but what we should get is a game with plenty of goals, and our first real test for last year’s champs.

March 11th – Onondaga Vs Nassau – I want to watch this game. Who doesn’t? Nassau is hard nosed, under a new coach, and looking to get back to their title winning ways. Plus they just lost to Harford, which should kick them into gear in a serious way. OCC is loaded, on a revenge tour (finishing second = revenge tour evidently), and looking to get back to perfection. This game has all the tell-tale signs of an emotional early season slugfest. If you can go in person, go in person.