Duke rinsed its hands of High Point, Maryland handled Rutgers to make a B1G statement, North Carolina escaped Virginia, and some important results came out of the NEC and America East. Conference play started to really kick in this week, but a combination of COVID-19 and weather is still complicating schedules quite a bit.
The highly-anticipated Denver-Georgetown matchup was delayed for weather, pushing that contest back to Tuesday, and several schools had to pause activities due to COVID-19 protocols. While many games are being played without a hitch, we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, and things cannot be taken for granted. But UMass finally got to play, which is exciting!
Now, onto the rundown!
Maryland Beats Rutgers in B1G Statement – Week 5 DI Rundown
Scoreboard
Monday
Wagner 5 v St. Joseph’s 17
Tuesday
VMI 8 v Bellarmine 12
Wednesday
Lafayette 11 v Fairfield 13
High Point 8 v Duke 27
Thursday
North Carolina 16 v Virginia 13
Friday
Stony Brook 9 v Syracuse 17
Boston U 16 vs Holy Cross 6
Saturday
Rutgers 12 v Maryland 19
Providence 12 v Marquette 8
Manhattan 10 v Canisius 7
Delaware 19 v Drexel 12
Westminster 5 v Utah 18
Monmouth 7 v Siena 6
Lafayette 6 v Loyola 16
Hobart 12 v LIU 14
Penn State 6 v Johns Hopkins 13
Saint Joseph’s 13 v Sacred Heart 9
Vermont 14 v Albany 12
Richmond 23 v VMI 6
Wagner 5 v Merrimack 11
Hartford 10 v UMass Lowell 12
Cleveland St 8 v Bellarmine 1
Robert Morris 14 v Air Force 13
St. Bonaventure 7 v Detroit 11
Sunday
Michigan 10 v Ohio State 13
Lehigh 18 v Bucknell 6
Duke 17 v Jacksonville 6
Fairfield 9 v UMass 13
NJIT 4 v Stony Brook 13
St. John’s 8 v Villanova 20
Conference Comparison
This is the section of the rundown to keep track of how conferences are doing against each other. Intra-conference games are not part of the records below.
| Conference | Record | % | +/- |
| ACC | 23-1 | 0.958 | 0.006 |
| Big East | 5-3 | 0.625 | 0.000 |
| CAA | 9-6 | 0.600 | 0.029 |
| Patriot | 9-6 | 0.600 | -0.043 |
| America East | 4-6 | 0.400 | -0.044 |
| SoCon | 6-21 | 0.375 | 0.114 |
| Independent | 4-9 | 0.308 | 0.126 |
| NEC | 3-13 | 0.188 | 0.000 |
| Big Ten | 0-0 | – | – |
| Ivy League | 0-0 | – | – |
| MAAC | 0-0 | – | – |
*2021 Independents: Utah, Robert Morris, Cleveland State, Hampton (2021 season is suspended)
This was a much lighter week in the non-conference world, with only six games taking place. The SoCon went 0-4 in them, while the ACC was the benefit on two of those game en route to its 3-0 week. This also underscores a big part of those two leagues’ records. High Point gets the most notoriety here, but the ACC and SoCon have been playing each other a ton. What’s also keeping the ACC’s record a little gaudy is that there are not games for it against the Big Ten or Ivy this year. Granted, they still usually drop a game or two to the other conferences, but their biggest threats are not playing them this year.
Game Notes
High Point 8 v Duke 27
This midweek matchup had quite a bit of potential going in. High Point had given UNC all it could handle once, but Duke was just something else in this game. After High Point tied the game after eight minutes of game play, Duke took over and scored the next 14 points unanswered. And that was just the first half. Freshman phenom Brennan O’Neil led the way with five goals of this own, but the Blue Devils had a dozen different scorers. This is the team that we thought they were on paper.
North Carolina 16 v Virginia 13
UNC’s first game against High Point was where it looked the most mortal, but this is a close second. The Tar Heels never trailed in this game, but their biggest issue was allowing two good runs by Virginia both in the second half. While that may just seem like lacrosse being lacrosse, it’s important to remember that UNC’s defense is still going to have to deal with the rest of the ACC, which is not shy about scoring goals. But, let’s not ignore what UVA did. Rather than relapsing to its second half against Syracuse, it used five different scorers to try and stage its comeback. But it was just too little, too late.
Rutgers 12 v Maryland 19
This Maryland-Rutgers game was fantastic for two-and-a-half quarters. With seven minutes left in the third, Rutgers scored to make it 10-10, but after that, it was all Maryland. The first half was just incredibly back-and-forth, and it was just entertaining lacrosse. It was the marquee game of the week and lived up to the billing. But what really stood out in this game? Jared Bernhardt. There were times where he looked nothing short of unguardable. Finishing with six goals and an assist, he has averaged seven points over the last three games. With the team around him, it puts Maryland in a spot where even if you focus on him, the Terps absolutely will beat you with the other weapons they have. Yup. Maryland is good, and Rutgers is still impressive and having a great season. But it has some more work to do.
Hobart 12 v LIU 14
What’s notable about this game is that it keeps LIU undefeated in-conference. As a recent addition to the DI ranks, LIU had a single win last year: a 13-9 win over Quinnipiac. That was the lone bright spot on a 1-6 record prior to the season ending. This season, LIU is already 3-1, but the Hobart win is very notable. Hobart was looking incredible last year and putting some serious points on the scoreboard. Its lowest output was still more than it scored in this game. I don’t think this is putting LIU into ranking territory yet, but it’s a great sign of this program adjusting quickly to the DI level.
Penn State 6 v Johns Hopkins 13
Is Hopkins…back? It’s actually hard to believe that this is the same team that played Ohio State a few weeks ago in its season opener. The headline stat in this game was that Penn State did not get a single shot off in the entire third quarter. That was due to three things: faceoff wins, aggressive defense, and excellent work by the riding attack. Penn State had chances, but the Hopkins ride was maintaining possession after possession on its end. When it did score, it would get the faceoff win. When Penn State would finally clear, the Hopkins defense was giving the Nittany Lions absolutely no opportunities to do anything but pass the ball around the outside. Dodging wasn’t working, feeds weren’t there, and the ball would wind up on the ground in short order.
Vermont 14 v Albany 12
Following Vermont’s strong showing against Syracuse, I was interested to see how it would respond against the team that had been the team to beat in its own conference, Albany. This was especially important because Vermont did lose its opening game against Albany, so the Catamounts still had plenty to prove. But in this game, they still looked the part of a conference contender. Certainly not flawless, but this is a team that can really move the ball on offense and create some great shots. Their defense was equally impressive and was frustrating the Danes all game long, which is not a small task. This team will still likely go as far as goalie Ryan Cornell will take it He once again was making some incredible saves, which is key to Vermont putting scoring runs together.
Reschedule Tracker
I’ll be using this section to keep track of which games are postponed or canceled as the season goes on as that information will easily get lost in the shuffle. Every season always has a few games postponed or canceled due to weather or travel issues, but as you’ll see below, this season is already going to be quite a bit different.
Also note: the “Games Scheduled” will include new games added, which may make the percentages look different compared to the missed games listed below. For example: Colgate and Robert Morris both had games canceled, so they played each other, meaning there are two games cancelled but one game played as scheduled.
Games scheduled: 152
Games played: 131 (86.2%)
Games played as scheduled: 127 (83.6%)
Missed Games
2/13 Army v UMass – Canceled
2/13 Army v Virginia – Moved to 2/14 – PLAYED
2/13 Loyola v Richmond – Moved to 2/14 – PLAYED
2/13 Villanova v Delaware – Postponed, date TBD
2/13 Mount St. Mary’s v VMI – Rescheduled to 4/7
2/13 Cleveland St v Marquette -Canceled
2/16 Bellarmine v North Carolina – Postponed
2/18 Bellarmine v High Point – Rescheduled to 4/3
2/20 UMass vs UMass Lowell – Moved to 2/23 – Postponed again
2/20 Robert Morris v Bucknell – Canceled
2/20 UMBC v Saint Joseph’s – Canceled
2/20 VMI v Colgate – Canceled
2/21 Albany v Lehigh – Canceled
2/23 Bellarmine v Robert Morris – Rescheduled to 4/2
2/26 Bucknell v Colgate – Rescheduled to 4/3
2/27 Bellarmine v VMI – Rescheduled to 3/9 – PLAYED
2/27 UMass v Boston U – Postponed
2/28 Bucknell v Delaware – Canceled
3/6 Hofstra v UMass – Postponed
3/6 Wagner v St. Joseph’s – Rescheduled to 3/8 – PLAYED
3/6 Navy v Bucknell – Postponed
3/9 UMass vs Albany – Postponed
3/13 UMBC v Binghamton – Postponed
3/13 Mount St. Mary’s v Bryant – Postponed
3/13 Quinnipiac v Marist – Postponed
3/13 Colgate v Army – Postponed
3/13 Hofstra v Towson – Postponed
3/13 Georgetown v Denver – Rescheduled to 3/16
This Week’s Games
Tuesday
Georgetown v Denver
Wednesday
Sacred Heart v Fairfield
Vermont v UMass
Marquette v Notre Dame
Friday
High Point v VMI
Saturday
Colgate v Boston U
Detroit v Manhattan
Rutgers v Johns Hopkins
UMBC v Hartford
Sacred Heart v LIU
St. Bonaventure v Canisius
Marquette v St. John’s
Towson v Delaware
Stony Brook v UMass Lowell
Merrimack v Saint Joseph’s
Robert Morris v Virginia
Hofstra v Syracuse
Bucknell v Loyola
Hobart v Mount St. Mary’s
Albany v Binghamton
Air Force v North Carolina
Vermont v NJIT
Navy v Lafayette
Marist v Monmouth
Bryant v Wagner
Cleveland St. v Notre Dame
Drexel v UMass
Penn State v Michigan
Holy Cross v Army
Siena v Quinnipiac
Georgetown v Providence
Richmond v Bellarmine
Maryland v Ohio State
Sunday
Denver v Villanova
Jacksonville v Mercer
What to Watch
Tuesday
Georgetown v Denver
Wednesday
Vermont v UMass
Saturday
Rutgers v Johns Hopkins
Drexel v UMass
Penn State v Michigan
Catch Up on the DI Rundown
This is the sixth DI Rundown of the season. If you want to see what you missed earlier in the campaign, you’ve come to the right place.
