Robust lacrosse crowds showed up at Maryland, Duke, Albany, and Harvard. There was no shortage of drama and upsets this weekend. League tournaments are taking shape, and you can feel the urgency.
A theme will emerge in the 2025 conference and NCAA tournaments. I used to identify the senior class of contending teams because I felt like you could follow the seniors to championship weekend. This year, it might be the goalies. Goaltending makes the difference in championship games. Or face-offs may prove to be the tipping point in the tournament. Maybe it’ll be elite attack units. Or star power. Or coaches. Or the team with the best shorties. I’m not sure what it’ll be. But it’ll be something, as the group of title contenders looks to be ten deep. And that’s what makes 2025 so intriguing. The race for the gold trophy is wide open.
20) Sacred Heart
The Pioneers (10-2) have gone to overtime four times this season, finding a way to win three of those nail-biters. They are riding a six-game winning streak after beating Mount St. Mary’s 13-12 this weekend. Sacred Heart faces Manhattan on Wednesday. MAACtion is always a highlight of champ week.
When in Connecticut and craving pizza, coach Jon Basti recommends Capone’s Pizza in Branford or North Branford, and John and Maria’s Pizza in East Haven.
19) Saint Joseph’s
The Hawks (9-4) dropped a shocker to High Point. Hawk Hill will be buzzing as the Spiders travel to Philadelphia on Friday at 4pm. Richie LaCalandra has 24 of the Hawks’ 90 assists. Ben Dutton has scored 41 goals and Mark Watters is (24,0).
18) UMass
The Minutemen (9-4) lost to Richmond in a one-sided 14-5 affair. UMass has defeated Dartmouth, Albany, Vermont, Rutgers, and Saint Joseph’s. Hobart comes to Amherst on Friday in an elimination game.
17) Towson
The Tigers are (8-5) after starting the season (0-4). They have OT wins over Delaware and Stony Brook. Towson took care of Fairfield on Saturday and will host the CAA tournament. A trip to Hofstra is next. Ronan Fitzpatrick has scored 30 goals and Mikey Weisshaar has 53 points. Towson goalies have combined for a 45% save percentage while opponents are shooting 31%.
16) Georgetown
A week after scoring just three goals in a loss to Denver, the Swamp Dogs (8-4) crushed St. John’s 21-8 in Queens. They took 63 shots. Jack Ransom scored six times and Aidan Carroll added five goals. The Hoyas play Villanova this week.
The Big East feels wide open after Providence defeated Denver for the first time in program history.
Big East Standings
Villanova 4-0
Georgetown 3-1
Providence 2-2
Denver 2-2
Marquette 1-3
St. John’s 0-4
Upcoming games this week include Villanova vs. Georgetown, Providence vs. St. John’s, and Marquette vs. Denver. The Big East tournament during champ week is hosted by Denver. Somebody will emerge with the AQ and advance into the bracket of 18.
15) Virginia
The Cavaliers must run the table to secure an NCAA bid, and that starts with defeating Duke on Saturday. The winner of Duke–UVA gets an invite to the ACC tournament. The loser stays home. Virginia handled Lafayette by five on Senior Day.
Noah Chizmar is a great story for the Cavaliers. Originally a Marquette commit, the attackman from St. Paul’s in north Baltimore chose to walk on at UVA after getting accepted to the school without help from the lacrosse coaches. After a position switch to SSDM, he’s become a mainstay in the lineup and is now a senior captain. He’s earned everything, nothing has been given to him, and he competes with a spirit of gratitude.
14) Boston University
The Terriers (9-4) earned a 12-7 victory over Lehigh, highlighted by 23 saves from Will Barnes and four goals from Jimmy Kohr. Boston University owns a win over Army, and a victory over Colgate on Friday night would lock up the #2 seed in the Patriot League tournament.
Patriot League Standings
Army 6-1
Boston University 5-2
Lehigh 4-3
Colgate 4-3
Lafayette 4-3
Loyola 3-4
Navy 3-4
Bucknell 2-5
Holy Cross 1-7
13) Michigan
Yikes. This one had to hurt. The Wolverines (7-6) were up 8-5 with 5:40 to play and lost 10-8. Michigan blew a fourth-quarter lead at home to their archrival, and instead of winning the Big Ten and earning a bye in the league tournament, they now have to play Rutgers on Saturday. Any chance of an at-large NCAA tournament bid was likely squandered during the collapse.
12) Richmond
The Spiders (10-3) have won five straight. Their 14-5 win against UMass was a defensive flex, holding the Minutemen to just 22 total shots and 13 on goal. Joe Sheridan finished with four goals, and Gavin Creo scored twice. Richmond travels to Saint Joseph’s on Friday, April 25. The Spider defense ranks #5 in scoring defense nationally.
11) Harvard
In front of 4,000 fans at home, the Crimson (9-3) got dusted by Cornell 20-12. Harvard drops to the NCAA tournament bubble and will need more wins to feel comfortable.
The Crimson face Brown to close out their regular season. Their offense has been ranked in the top five in scoring for most of the spring. Holding head-to-head wins over Syracuse and Michigan may prove critical on Selection Sunday.
10) Ohio State
The Bucks (12-2) started the season with no preseason All-Americans and no Top 50 players. Goalie Caleb Fyock and defenseman Bobby Van Buren are now part of the Tewaaraton Top 25 group. They trailed Michigan 8-5 with less than six minutes to play and somehow left Ann Arbor with a 10-8 victory. Gannon Matthews was the hero. It’s their first Big Ten regular season title. OSU earns a bye as the #1 seed. The Big Ten semifinals and final will be played at Michigan.
9) North Carolina
The Heels (9-3) won four of the first five draws, took 16 shots, and scored four times while holding Notre Dame to zero shots on goal in the first quarter at Dorrance Field. That dominance quickly evaporated into a 12-6 loss. The Irish went on a 12-2 run, quashing Tar Heel momentum. Dom Pietramala and Owen Duffy shot a combined 1 for 15.
Carolina plays at Syracuse on Saturday at 5pm (ACCN). Defensive coordinator David Pietramala has his young close defense ranked #4 in scoring defense—quite an accomplishment considering the inexperience down low. Does Carolina have gas in the tank? The offense has struggled to hit double digits in their last two outings.
8) Syracuse
The Orange (9-4) fell behind 4-0 in Durham on their way to a sobering 11-7 road defeat. Syracuse just isn’t the same team outdoors—they’ve lost three of four this spring outside. Lack of offensive depth was evident as Owen Hiltz looked less than 100% healthy. Finn Thomson returned and ran a few shifts, which was a positive, but bench scoring was sold separately. The first midfield shot 3 of 17, and the second went 0 for 7. Two offsides calls in the first half were buzz kills. Syracuse doesn’t ride, and Duke, a bad clearing team, was given an EZ Pass. Not only did Duke clear effectively, but they also scored in transition—something Syracuse couldn’t duplicate.
North Carolina visits the Dome on Saturday at 5pm (ACCN). The #HHH offense ranks #5 in scoring, commits fewer than 13 turnovers per game, and is #2 in assists per game. A bounce-back is expected.
7) Duke
The Devils (10-4) changed the trajectory of their season with an 11-7 home win over Syracuse. Sunny skies and warmer temperatures greeted a packed house at Koskinen as the Devils jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Defender Cole Krauss, subbing in for Nikolas Menendez, was sensational. Eric Malever had a monster day with five goals. Syracuse cut the margin to 5-4, but Duke rattled off six straight to take control. Goalie Patrick Jameison, from Episcopal in Virginia—the same school as Army’s Jackson Eicher—made 13 saves. Aidan Maguire scored twice, and Mac Christmas rifled one from 15 yards as the rope unit contributed. Even Keith Boyer recorded a hockey assist. Duke has serious athletes on defense. This was a giant step in the right direction.
Head-to-head wins over Syracuse, Michigan, Richmond, and St Joe’s offer legitimate value on Selection Sunday. Duke has struggled in clearing and on man-down, but those issues disappeared against Syracuse.
Duke challenges Virginia on Saturday at 3pm on ACC Network. The winner plays in the ACC Tournament.
6) Army
The Black Knights (11-1) saw their RPI drop to #11 and their street cred take a hit as UNC lost to Notre Dame, and Rutgers, Navy, and UMass also fell. Army destroyed Bucknell 20-11.
The #1 ranked scoring defense is slow to slide and leaves personnel on the island. What will the committee do with Army if they don’t win the Patriot League AQ? Their strength of schedule sits at #27. Loyola comes to Michie Stadium on Friday.
5) Penn State
The Nittany Lions (9-3) abused the Rutgers ten-man ride, jumping out to a 10-3 halftime lead on Friday night. Goalie Jack Fracyon hit the empty net from 62 yards out—a one-hopper—and scored the first goalie goal for Penn State since 2008. The senior finished with 13 saves and is trending in the right direction, having eclipsed the 600-save mark on Saturday. Penn State’s 12-4 win further illustrated just how much Rutgers struggles to score.
Big Ten teams by scoring offense:
Ohio State – 13
Michigan – 42
Maryland – 37
Penn State – 14
Rutgers – 57
Johns Hopkins – 54
Penn State has had an incredibly successful 2024-25 athletics year, with the wrestling team and women’s volleyball both capturing NCAA titles. The men’s hockey team made the Frozen Four, and the football team was a playoff semifinalist after beating SMU and Boise State in the first two rounds. Success on campus is palpable.
4) Notre Dame
The Irish (7-3) turned a 4-0 deficit into a 12-6 win on Tobacco Road, alerting the nation that Notre Dame may be on an upward swing. Chris Kavanagh’s compete level was on full display. Matt Jeffrey is a budding superstar. Jordan Faison is inching back to being 100%. Shawn Lyght gave a defensive clinic. Kavanagh now has 140 career goals and Jake Taylor is at 124—both ranking top five all-time in South Bend.
Penn travels to Arlotta on Saturday at 2pm (ESPNU). How is Penn going to score on the Irish?
3) Princeton
The Tigers (10-2) were down three at halftime to Penn, but went on a 5-0 run to defeat the Quakers 12-8. Penn shot 1-for-14 in the second half and committed 11 turnovers. Peter Buonanno had four points for Princeton. Kabiri, Burns, and Mackesy combined to shoot just 2-for-17.
Yale visits Princeton this Saturday at noon on ESPNU. The Tigers are ranked #62 in face-off percentage, which will be worth watching in both the Ivy League and NCAA tournaments.
2) Maryland
I was not overly impressed with ‘Be the Best’ (10-2) on Friday night as they disposed of Johns Hopkins 11-8 in front of a raucous crowd. The TV product, shot from the sixth floor roof, was unwatchable. The Terps weren’t bad—just not exceptional. They were solid. The Jays won the majority of the face-offs. Terp Braden Erksa finished with five points.
Maryland ranks #63 in ground balls per game—not stellar—yet out-ground balled Hopkins by plus 11. Considering the face-off disparity, that’s dominance of non face-off ground balls. Hopkins won 14 draws and had only 16 ground balls for the game. I’ve never seen such a low total—that had to be a mistake in the stats. Blue Jays didn’t emerge from any piles with the ball? Maryland put 31 of 36 shots on goal. The Terps enjoy a bye week to rest, recover, and sharpen their swords.
1) Cornell
The Big Red (11-1) torched Harvard, scoring 20 goals in Cambridge and clinching the host spot in the Ivy League tournament. CJ Kirst tied Payton Cormier for the most career goals all-time at 224. Cornell used a 5-1 first quarter and a 5-1 run in the fourth to ice the Crimson. They were plus-15 in face-offs and shot 20-for-41. Willem Firth scored four times and Ryan Goldstein had six points. Jack Cascadden had 14 ground balls and went 23-for-29 at the face-off dot.
Big Green at Big Red on Saturday—a tricky game for the color blind. The Cornell offense ranks #1 in scoring.
he NCAA Tournament Selection Show is on Sunday, May 4, at 9:30pm on ESPN+.
Quint Kessenich covers lacrosse for the ESPN family of networks and writes for LaxAllStars. Check out his weekly podcast at laxallstars.com in the media section. Recent guests include players Ryan Goldstein (Cornell), Dom Pietramala (UNC), Alex Marinier (Ohio State), Max Sloat (Duke), and Eric Spanos (Maryland).
