This is the best time of year. Spring means rebirth and renewal. Fans flock to campus for rivalry games played in the sun. Joy robbers eying bracketology in the first week of April is a misguided exercise. Enjoy these lacrosse games for what they are—not for what they mean. Stop worrying about the finish line, and cherish the race.
Why aren’t teams playing more stand-alone games on Sunday? Does anyone care about attendance or eyeballs? I would estimate a 50% increase in fans and five times the social media impact by playing in a solo time slot. Saturday noon games offer a low ROI. There were 50-plus games (men’s and women’s) to choose from on ESPN+ at 1pm on Saturday. Where is the promotion and innovation in men’s lacrosse? Teams continue to bypass creative scheduling opportunities. I wish coaches’ compensation was tied to attendance and TV ratings rather than camps and prospect days.
20) Sacred Heart
Pioneers have won five straight, the latest over Quinnipiac. (9-2) with Mount St. Mary’s on the horizon. MAAC race always unpredictable. Canisius and Siena both playing well in league.
19) Georgetown
Hoyas (7-3) survived in double overtime 10-9 at Marquette. Aidan Carroll and Fulton Bayman have been standouts. Opponents shooting 33 of 87 (38%) in the first quarter against GT. Denver travels to the swamp on Saturday. GT has losses to JHU, Notre Dame and Richmond with zero top 20 wins. The Big East is a one bid league. GT and Nova both 2-0 in the league.
18) Fairfield
Stags (10-1) ran past Hofstra a week after losing to Stony Brook. Ten wins for Fairfield is tremendous but the road gets rough at Delaware next. CAA is a tight battle between Towson, Fairfield, Hofstra and Delaware.
17) Dartmouth
Big Green (7-3) still in the hunt for the Ivy Tournament but floundering some after consecutive losses to Princeton and Harvard. Keep in mind Dartmouth was (3-10) last spring. Coach Sean Kirwin is transforming the program. Making the Ivy field of four would be a huge deal in New Hampshire. Dartmouth travels to Yale.
16) Rutgers
Scarlet Knights (6-6) have an RPI of 16 and put themselves into the B10 race with an 8-6 win over Maryland. RU offense is ranked #55 in scoring. Defense is #15. Close defense of Tommy Mendyke, Ben McKelvy and Ben Stephanos. They don’t have any bad losses and play a challenging schedule with a #14 SOS. The win was historical. RU claimed its highest ranked win in program history. It was just the second lifetime win over Maryland, and first since 1980, snapping a 19-game winning streak for the Terps. Wow. Would never have guessed that. Cardin Stoller made 14 saves and scored a goal against the ten man ride.
I’ll say it again. A ten man ride without ball pressure is a ticking time bomb. Rutgers faces Michigan next.
15) Boston University
Terriers (8-3) were toasted by Duke at home. Wins over Siena, Brown, Monmouth, Air Force, Bucknell, Loyola, Holy Cross and Army are not enough right now. RPI of 17 just isn’t in at-large range. BU is at Lafayette in coal country. Goalie Will Barnes is trusting his intuition and defender Connor Kehm reads opponents well. The Patriot League revolves around Army with BU, Colgate and Navy the possible upsetters.
14) Saint Joseph’s
Hawks (8-3) have won eight of nine and dominated St. Bonaventure 15-3 on Saturday playing 36 men. Ben Dutton scored five times and Collin Campbell had a hat trick. D-man Levi Verch scooped up seven ground balls and has 66 on the year. Hobart plays in Philly on Saturday.
13) Richmond
Spiders (8-3) used a 5-0 start and let goalie Zach Vigue do his thing, earning the 36th victory of his career in a win over Hobart. High Point visits the Web this weekend. The Richmond defense is underrated, and they have quality wins over Georgetown and Virginia.
12) Michigan
Wolverines (6-4) try hard, but they are offensively challenged. Pick-heavy offense makes sense for a team without alpha dodgers. Scoring doesn’t come easy. A 7-6 lead after 45 minutes on Sunday in front of a packed house in Ann Arbor disappeared as the offense went dormant late. Penn State grabbed the key game with a late surge. Wolverines face Rutgers on Sunday at noon (BTN). Offense sold separately. Michigan has wins over Maryland and Hopkins in the Big Ten and an RPI right in the mix at #12. More work to do.
11) Duke
Devils (9-3) suffered a pair of seven-goal losses to Denver and Notre Dame before departing for Boston University. So the 12-7 win over BU stops the bleeding. An 8-2 run during the middle portion of the game provided the separation. Duke’s midfield defense was excellent. Coach John Danowski got offensive production from Max Sloat, Luke Engelke, Liam McClane, Aidan Maguire and Graham Blake. Team weakness remains the attack unit, which seems to change each week. Duke vs. Carolina rivalry game is on Saturday at 4pm on ACCN. This will be an outstanding game.
10) Penn State
Looks like Penn State (7-3) is sliding more on defense this year, leading to opponent step-down looks with feet set. They struggle when sliding, rotating, and recovering, which means they aren’t giving up goalie-friendly shots. Sliding less would help keep things simpler for their All-American goalie, and that’s one reason Jack Fracyon’s save percentage is down in 2025—he hasn’t forgotten how to play. Fracyon was excellent in the second half against Michigan. PSU double-poled Michigan’s first midfield and a pair of quick goals gave the Lions an 8-7 lead with 11:00 to go.
They never looked back, winning 11-8 for their first league victory. Matt Traynor hit the 100-goal mark in the win. FOGO Colby Baldwin has played great in 2025 and gets tested by JHU’s Logan Callahan this week. “We Are” welcomes “We Want More” to Happy Valley.
9) Harvard
Crimson (8-2) ride is elite. It’s energy-based and often an offensive midfielder drops back to deny a shorty an easy outlet before playing defense. That tweak has made a major difference. Why does Harvard have a #5 RPI? Wins over Syracuse, Michigan, and BU make up a smart résumé with no RPI drainers on the menu. Jack Speidell continued his mastery of the crease with six goals in an 18-7 win at Dartmouth. A 7-0 first quarter and 11-1 halftime margin told the tale. Penn comes to Cambridge on Saturday.
Coach Gerry Byrne was my guest on the Quintessential Podcast this week—he talks all things Harvard lacrosse.
8) Notre Dame
A 3-0 lead in the Dome quickly unraveled into a lopsided loss to Syracuse. Irish (5-3) shorted Michael Leo while placing a pole on Sam English and paid the price. Leo controlled the matchup and SU’s picking game caused defensive confusion. Teams that attack Notre Dame from behind the cage tend to have more success than those who initiate from the alleys. Irish made uncharacteristically sloppy defensive mistakes. The first midfield lacked pop and the face-off trio struggled all day. Virginia limps into Arlotta Stadium for a 5pm game on Saturday on ESPNU. Jake Taylor is shooting over 50% from the slot and Chris Kavanagh is pouring in around five points per game.
It’s bounce-back time for the Irish, who already have quality wins over Michigan and Duke.
7) North Carolina
An important home win over Virginia was a step toward both the ACC tournament and NCAA tournament for a UNC program moving in the right direction. The Heels (8-2) used relentless possession to break open a 7-7 tie in a commanding 18-9 win on an 84-degree afternoon in front of a lively crowd. UNC took 51 shots and got contributions from Spencer Wirtheim, Ty English, Mason Szewczyk, Ryan Levy, Parker Hoffman, Brett Koopman and FOGO Brady Wambach.
It was a critical rebound after the Army loss and solidifies the Heels as a potential NCAA seed. They’ll take the short trip to Durham for a rivalry showdown at Duke on Saturday at 4pm on ACCN.
6) Maryland
‘Be the Best’ (8-2) got upset by Rutgers 8-6 in what might be the most shocking result of the weekend. That score resembles something from the stall-ball era, not the shot clock era. Playing in an empty football stadium can be tricky. The Terps shot just 6-for-40 and once again got zero bench production—non-starters shot 0-for-20. Turtles now head to Columbus to take on Ohio State on April 12 in what should be a showcase goalie matchup between Caleb Fyock and Logan McNaney.
All six Big Ten teams qualify for the conference tournament, but Maryland still has work to do.
5) Army
Duty. Honor. Country. Those three words greet you at Michie Stadium. Jackson Eicher has a right-handed bazooka—when his feet are set, goalies have no chance. On the run, he’s a tank like Dylan Molloy. Army (9-1) worked their bread and butter by isolating Evan or Hill Plunkett to create space for Eicher. The Black Knights took care of Colgate 13-7, showcasing their physical, stingy defense. A 4-0 first quarter set the tone, and a 4-0 third quarter slammed the door. Despite nine failed clears and an 0-for-5 day on EMO, Army still won by six. Eicher scored five times, and FOGO Will Colletti was fully back in the mix.
Army heads to Navy on Saturday for a big-time rivalry game, televised by CBS Sports Network. Evan Washburn returns to the lacrosse booth after covering the NFL and March Madness. Rent’s due in Annapolis.
4) Syracuse
11,000 fans in the Dome feasted on Dome dogs while the Orange took care of Notre Dame, pulling away 14-9 despite clearing just 19-of-28. Offensive coordinator Pat March leaned heavily on the picking game, isolating Joey Spallina’s defender, Shawn Lyght, in difficult spots. Spallina was masterful off-ball. FOGO Johnny Mullen won the day, and midfielder Sam English continues to be the ultimate Swiss Army knife. SSDM Carter Rice remains one of the most underrated players in the country.
Now sitting at (9-2) with serious momentum, the swag kings head to Long Island to face Cornell. Joey Spallina and company are going back home. This one’s going to be epic.
3) Princeton
FOGO Andrew McMeekin has been improving steadily over the past few weeks. Hustle is a skill, and he’s displaying it. A 17-12 Tuesday win over Lehigh was powered by the starting attack and freshman Peter Buonanno, who finished with (2,2). Tigers fired off 58 shots but had six failed clears, which allowed Lehigh to reach double digits—a red flag. Goalie Ryan Croddick leads the nation in saves per game, a credit to his play but also a symptom of a defense yielding too many shots.
Saturday’s 10-5 victory over Vermont showed how mid-week games can impact energy and execution. Princeton led 7-1 at half behind strong defense. Coulter Mackesy scored four times and Barbecue Burns added a hat trick. Brown visits New Jersey next. Princeton’s RPI is strong with key wins over UNC, Duke, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Penn State.
2) Ohio State
Eleven-game win streak still rolling after the Buckeyes spoiled Johns Hopkins’ homecoming party. Righty sniper Alex Marinier buried six goals and Garrett Haas registered his third hat trick of the season. Hopkins slid erratically and didn’t get enough from the goalie position, allowing OSU to lead wire-to-wire. At (11-1), the Bucks hold a #11 RPI—partially a result of scheduling Detroit, Cleveland State, Bellarmine, and Air Force. Next up: Maryland in Columbus. This is the sequel to “glove gate.”
1) Cornell
Big Red (9-1) handled Albany 18-11 on Tuesday with their dynamic attack trio accounting for 16 points. Brendan Staub, Jayson Singer, and Matt Dooley anchor the close defense. Against Brown on Saturday, the toll of the two-game week showed as Cornell needed a late 4-1 push to secure a 13-9 win. FOGO Jack Cascadden had a day, going 15-of-22 with seven ground balls and a goal.
Now it’s time to embrace the moment. ‘Hard Hat 21’ travels to Long Island to face Syracuse on Saturday. Big Red’s RPI still trails their poll ranking. CJ Kirst continues to put up Tewaaraton-level numbers, averaging over five goals per game. Michael Long is shooting 47% for the nation’s top-scoring offense. Face-offs and defensive stops will be key in this heavyweight bout.
The men’s and women’s NCAA lacrosse championships will be played in Gillette Stadium on Memorial Day weekend. Men’s Quarterfinals will be played at Hofstra and Navy on May 17 and 18. It would appear as if the quarters will be amazing in 2025. Ten automatic qualifiers and eight at-large selections form the bracket. Higher seeded teams host in the round of sixteen. The selection show is on Sunday, May 4 (ESPN+), when the dust settles.
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 current players Dom Pietramala (UNC), Alex Marinier (OSU), Max Sloat (Duke), Eric Spanos (MD), Shawn Lyght (ND), Coulter Mackesy (Prin), Billy Dwan III (SU) and Casey Wilson (DU).
