March lacrosse kicked off this weekend with a bang and the games brought everything from upsets, blowouts, and shootouts.
Lets review the Top 5 games of the weekend.
Michigan (18) – Delaware (8)
There has been a lot of debate over the University of Michigan this year in regards to their out-of-conference strength of schedule and how they would stack up against more quality opponents. This weekend, the Wolverines answered the call delivering a commanding 18-8 victory over the Delaware Blue Hens.
Michigan had an outpouring of offensive production with multiple players notching hat tricks. The Wolverines were led by Josh Zawada (3G, 2A) and Michael Boehm (4G, 1A) each putting up five points each. The Michigan defense was a strong force led by goaltender Shane Carr, who made 20 saves during Saturday’s contest.
On the other end of the field, the Blue Hens did not have the same fortune on offense. Delaware did have five players contribute multiple points, but not enough to thwart the defensive effort from Michigan.
UNC (17) – Denver (16)
In a fast paced shootout, the North Carolina Tar Heels were able to edge out the Denver Pioneers in a one goal game.
Chris Gray (6G, 2A) had another spectacular performance for the Tar Heels, notching a total of eight points, six of which were goals. Following behind him was an equally impressive offensive trio in Nicky Solomon (2G, 3A), Lance Tillman 3G, 2A), and Henry Schertzinger (1G, 4A) each contributing to the offensive performance as well.
On the opposite side of the field, the Denver Pios offense was led by JJ Sillstrop (3G, 3A) with six points and followed closely by Jack Hannah (3G, 1A) and Alex Simmons (3G, 1A) with four points a piece as well.
While the Tar Heel starpower is amazing to watch, be cautious of what is being seen on the defensive end for the Heels. North Carolina opened the season holding teams to under ten goals a game, but have since allowed nearly 60 goals in its last four contests. Expect some major defensive adjustments heading down the stretch.
Princeton (10) – Georgetown (8)
Princeton secured a major upset win this weekend against the top five Georgetown Hoyas, right in Washington, DC.
Alex Slusher led the charge for Princetown by hammering five goals into the back of the net for the Tigers. He was closely followed by Sam English (3G, 1A) with four points of his own.
For the Hoyas, they were led by UNC graduate transfer, Alex Trippi with four goals. Dylan Watson (2G) and Graham Bundy Jr. (2G) each followed behind contributing two points as well.
The real deciding factor for this game came down to defense and the Tiger defense operated like a well-oiled machine on Saturday. This was even more impressive considering the absence of senior defensive leader George Baughan and inserting a freshman into the starting lineup to fill his void. Not only did freshman Colin Mulshine step up, the Princetown goaltender came up with 16 big saves to keep the door shut on a Hoya comeback and secure the upset.
Cornell (14) – Ohio State (11)
Cornell opened up the month of March with an upset of their own against Ohio State. Entering the game, Ohio State had been offensively hot – Jack Myers was averaging 7.5 goals per game, the team was averaging nearly 50 shots a game.
However, the Big Red and their defense led by Gavin Adler had the answers to slow down the Buckeyes and secure the upset win.
Gavin Adler held Ohio State’s star player in Jack Myers to only one goal on seven shots while causing turnovers and scooping up ground balls. Additionally, the Cornell ride proved to be an issue for the Buckeyes as they caused seven failed clears, multiple of them in the fourth quarter when it mattered most. Cornell frustrated Ohio State on as many levels as possible and it proved successful in securing the win.
The Cornell offense was led by CJ Kirst (4G, 1A) with five points followed by Billy Coyle (2G, 2A) and John Piatelli (2G, 2A) with four points each.
Maryland (11) – Notre Dame (9)
Despite a hard effort in South Bend, the Fighting Irish could not close the gap with Maryland and fell 11-9.
The game opened up slow for the Terps and well for the Irish. The Irish won all four of the faceoffs in the opening quarter and finished the quarter with a 2-1 lead. In the second quarter, Maryland found their rhythm, dropping four goals and finding dominance at the faceoff X.
The game was close throughout all four quarters, but strong goaltending from Marylands’ Logan McNaney down the stretch proved to be vital in securing the win as he notched 12 saves on the day.
Offensively, the Terps were led by Logan Wisnauskas (2G, 2A) and Kyle Long (2G, 2A) each putting up four points each. On the other side of the field, the offensive charge was led by Pat Kavanaugh (2G, 1A) who finished with three points on the day.
