This week’s catalog is similar to a Long Island diner menu—abundant. Six games on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, nine on Friday, and nine on Sunday. We need more Sunday games. Spread ’em out, we love it.
D1 has four unbeaten teams at the conclusion of the winter portion of the schedule: Maryland, Army, Fairfield, and Cornell.
Using the Nick Saban scale of average, good, excellent, and elite, it’s fair to say that the squads of 2025 have work to do. Most are building a foundation that can yield growth. I see a lot of good, and a tiny bit of excellent.
20) Navy
Mids are (4-1) after a solid win over BU. They are playing faster in the middle of the field with a 10-man ride. Scoring is up. Freshman William Goers has been a revelation.
Injuries to FOGOs were the theme in the BU victory. Starter Zach Hiyashi DNP. His understudy, Colin Shadowens, got hurt on the opening draw. Next man up. Joey Bucci won 6 of his first 11 face-offs. No sweat. Gotta love the turf trolls, aka FOGOs. You need more than one. They are a valuable and rare breed for sure. Giving Navy the slight nod here over UMass (4-1). Coach Greg Cannella’s squad has beaten Dartmouth (3-1). The Minutemen lost their opener to Army but have wins over Quinnipiac, Dartmouth, NJIT, and Albany.
The Big Green are no longer a free square in the Ivy League. Feels like Dartmouth and Harvard may displace Yale and Penn in the standings. LIU, Sacred Heart, and VMI are all (4-1). Delaware is (3-1). Eleven teams are currently winless, including Yale and Loyola. Put your pain to work.
19) Penn
Overmatched on Friday at UNC, Penn was out of its league, losing 16-8. Down 6-1 after the first quarter and losing the third quarter 4-1 told the tale of domination. Injuries to multiple FOGOs set the table for an uphill climb. Sunday, in a game full of shot clock violations, they led 4-2 at Duke on the grass before losing 11-6. Penn is offensively challenged and not winning face-offs. I respect their compete level and defense.
The Quakers have wins over Albany and Delaware with losses to GT, UNC, and Duke.
18) Fairfield
The Stags’ (5-0) start is one of the biggest storylines of 2025. They owned Providence 15-7 on Saturday. Jake Gilbert, Devin Lampron, Will Consoli, Keegan Lynch, Daniel Davis (FO), and goalie Owen Hirsch (74%) have driven Andy Baxter’s team into the limelight.
The Stags play St. John’s and UMass-Lowell this week.
17) Ohio State
Clearly on a roll after crushing Virginia on home soil, Ohio State regressed a bit in a 7-5 win over Bryant. Garrett Haas had four assists. Six straight wins. Detroit, Cleveland State, Bellarmine, Air Force, and Virginia. The Bucks have risen from the ashes after an opening-day loss to Utah.
What would their record be if they played Penn’s schedule? How good are they? Is the win streak a mirage? We find out soon. The Bucks are in South Bend on Saturday (ESPN+) for a classic Midwest rivalry game.
16) Michigan
Wolverines (3-2) hammered Canisius on Tuesday in Ann Arbor. Goalie Hunter Taylor falls through the cracks when people discuss top goalies. He makes the saves he’s supposed to and steals one or two a game. The Big Ten has six quality stoppers: Jack Fracyon, Big Tasty, Cardin Stoller, Taylor, Logan McNaney, and Luke Staudt.
FOGO Jackie Weller DNP on Tuesday. Michigan struggled at the faceoff dot but used its 10-man ride to flip possessions back. UMich has a pair of losses to Duke and UNC. I’m struggling to place them right now.
Big Blue faces off with Harvard this weekend.
15) Denver
A 6-5 halftime lead against Marist on Friday night ballooned into an 18-5 win. Pios won the second half 12-0.
Freshman goalie Grayson Manning made his first start. The British Columbia native made 10 first-half stops. His brother, Noah, added four goals. Mic Kelly had a flashy twister goal, and Judge Murphy scored four times. Kelly is an elite goal-scoring midfielder who will be on every PLL draft board. A Sunday 14-7 win over Quinnipiac is meh.
Pioneers and Yale make for a meaningful non-league game.
14) Richmond
Lively crowd on Sunday in the Spider Web, Robbins Stadium, as Richmond took an early 6-1 lead. Big Red needed time to defrost. Richmond feasted on a porous defense. Ground ball success parlayed. LSM Tommy Stull is a menace. CU regrouped, took over, and tied the score 8-8 in the third quarter. Richmond once again forged ahead 10-8 but was outscored 4-1 late. Aidan O’Neil is the centerpiece of the offense.
Spiders play UMBC this weekend. If Richmond makes the NCAA Tournament, they’ll be a total nightmare to play in the first round.
13) Syracuse
A bounce-back win in Utah with an extended road trip may have been what the doctor ordered after a forgettable loss to Harvard. An 11-1 halftime lead shows readiness.
Wyatt Hottle filled in for Jackson Birtwhistle, who’s out for the remainder of the spring with an injury. Hottle can dodge, which is a plus. Fourteen different members of the roster scored. Owen Hiltz has been money on the EMO, and FOGO John Mullen is doing his job at an elite pace—he had 18 ground balls in the loss to Harvard. Tricky to rank the Orange with losses to Maryland and Harvard. Their wins are over Jacksonville, Vermont, Towson, and Utah. Quite honestly, those won’t carry weight on Selection Sunday. So there is massive work to be done.
That starts on Sunday, where their passing offense should give the Blue Jays’ slide-happy defense fits. Orange host the Jays at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.
12) Harvard
A 20-16 victory over Marquette—a ho-hum effort after the Dome triumph a week ago. Not sure coach Gerry Byrne can keep the “Minister of Defense” moniker the way Harvard is defending. Teddy Malone and Sam King remain one of the top duos in the nation. Andrew Perry had two points. His twin brother, Joe (62%), is an exceptional goalie for RPI who scored two goals in a game last week. The big righty can move and deserves PLL attention.
Harvard has lost to Colgate and now has a critical game with Michigan up next. Not quite sure where this team belongs.
11) Colgate
Raiders crushed Loyola a week after blasting Villanova 16-5 and have pocketed wins over Harvard and Albany, all on enemy soil. Their home opener isn’t until March 15. That’ll be game #8 for Colgate. The Raiders are a swarming team of banshees on loose balls. They square off with Lafayette next. I like this team a lot.
10) Georgetown
Swamp Dogs grabbed a win at Brown, 13-8. Sitting at (3-2), GT has faced Brown, Loyola, Johns Hopkins, Penn, and Notre Dame. They’ve looked solid—not spectacular. Georgetown is at Albany on Wednesday. Non-league games with High Point and Richmond remain before Big East play.
9) Duke
The Devils dropped a thrilling Friday night scramble with Princeton, 15-14. The Tigers’ bench contributed seven goals and two assists. Duke got just (1,2) from non-starters and lost the ground ball war by five. Benn Johnston, a sophomore, scored five times, and Aidan Maguire was active with three CTs and five grounders. The game was tied at 11. Duke shot well and finished +5 in saves.
On Sunday in Durham, Duke fell behind 4-2 before grabbing control for the win over Penn. LSM Mac Christmas scored again. A 6-0 third quarter was the separation. Benn Johnston and Eric Malever were effective. The Devils’ defense dug in, allowing just 15 SOG.
Blue Devils play Air Force on March 8.
8) Johns Hopkins
With offensive leader Russell Melendez hobbled on the bench, Hunter Chauvette, Charlie Iler, and Dylan Bauer starred in the Jays’ 13-12 win over Virginia. It was the 99th meeting in a series that dates back to 1904. Chauvette scored five times. The Doyle Smith Cup, named after former JHU student and longtime Virginia sports information director Doyle Smith, stays in the Cordish Center. I love trophy games.
Hopkins used a third-quarter 6-0 run, silencing the Wahoos for 19 minutes. A decent-sized crowd at Homewood soaked in the sun while fending off stiff winds from the west end zone. Attendance in Baltimore ain’t what it used to be. UVA did improve a tad from ugly losses to Richmond and Ohio State but misplaced its poise when it mattered. Inconsistent slides on defense and sloppy turnovers have the Cavs outside the Top 20 at (2-3) before ACC play.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays play Syracuse in the Dome on Sunday at 2 p.m. Jay Alter and Paul Carcaterra have the TV call on ESPNU. This will be epic, and I love the Sunday standalone placement. Let’s see if Hopkins’ slide-first mentality gets exposed by SU’s slick sticks.
7) North Carolina
The win last week over JHU was top-heavy, with Owen Duffy and Dom Pietramala doing all the heavy lifting. The duo scored 10 of UNC’s 13 goals. That kind of success isn’t sustainable.
Friday’s 16-8 win over Penn included contributions from Ryan Levy, James Matan, Mason Szewczyk, Ty English, Paul Barton, Dewey Egan, and Nick Dupuis. That’s what you want to see. Carolina took a step forward after the Hopkins win. The 16-8 drubbing of the Quakers was thorough. UNC shot 14-for-36 through 45 minutes. They owned the middle of the field (19-9 FO) and had a 43-24 ground ball advantage. This was eye-opening domination in Chapel Hill, with Coach Belichick hovering in the end zone in approval.
Owen Duffy didn’t look like himself early on Sunday, his right leg heavily taped. Quick turnarounds can do that. If you want to win a national championship, you have to train your body to be able to play on one day’s rest. Duffy would wake up. A sleepy Sunday 11 a.m. kickoff led to a sluggish first quarter—sloppiness apparent. The Heels kept chipping away. Matan on a steal, Ty English with a step-down, Duffy off the dodge.
Dom Pietramala is playing with more passion than I’ve ever seen from him, which is terrific to see. He’s playing hard in all scenarios. A 10-10 tie with Princeton on Sunday in the ACC-Ivy Challenge with eight minutes to go. Off-ball defense and ball-watching were the issues as Princeton got out of Chapel Hill with the W. Shot selection for UNC late wasn’t ideal. Carolina doesn’t lose any shine with the loss.
The Heels play Hofstra this week.
6) Penn State
A resounding win over Yale keeps the Lions (4-1) in the hunt. They’ve beaten Colgate, Nova, Navy, and Yale. Matt Traynor is stockpiling points at an impressive clip but had only one on Saturday. Freshman Hunter Aquino and sophomore Kyle Lehman gave PSU a 7-3 first-quarter lead that swelled to 11-4 at halftime. The Bulldogs are in disarray.
Nittany Lions are in Ithaca on Saturday. This is a great game.
5) Cornell
A 22-9 win at Hobart on Tuesday featured an electric performance from CJ Kirst. Six goals on 10 shots. Just a 12-point day. Big Red passing and extra-man offense are poetry. Kirst is pushing for national leadership in goals scored. Willem Firth is shooting at an insanely high percentage.
Brendan Staub, Jayson Singer, and Matt Dooley are starting on defense. Staub had 10 ground balls against the Statesmen. Cornell fell behind 6-1 on Sunday at Richmond. Ground balls and urgency sold separately. They shook off the poor start and made it 8-7 at half. Down 10-8, CU tied the score at 11 before winning 12-11. Sigh-of-relief type game. Credit the comeback. Much to learn from this contest.
FOGO Jack Cascadden was clutch. Ryan Goldstein in charge. CJ Kirst productive. But the defense was suspect.
CU welcomes PSU and former Big Red boss Jeff Tambroni back to campus on Saturday.
4) Princeton
A 15-14 win on Friday night in Durham keeps the Tigers in the upper echelon. This team can score. Coulter Mackesy struck four times, including the game-winner. The Tigers took punches and kept answering. Bench production from non-starters was critical (7,2). Depth of contribution is a championship trait.
Jackson Green, an SSDM and walk-on wide receiver on the football team, had a huge goal in transition and was a beast between the lines. Princeton’s sophomore class is stacked. Coulter Mackesy was my guest last week on the Quintessential Podcast.
Princeton didn’t look as sharp on Sunday coming off short rest. They’ve won two Ivy titles in the same calendar year. A slow start at UNC on Sunday perked up in the third quarter. The teams combined for 10 goals in the frame. Mackesy’s playmaking and a Chad Palumbo 360-spin goal from the crease gave the Tigers a 12-10 lead with 6:50 to play, then a 12-12 tie with four minutes to go. Excellent game.
Tigers’ clearing and face-off failures impacted possession time. Michael Bath had a huge CT. Palumbo couldn’t miss in the second half, capitalizing on UNC ball-watching to make it 13-12 with 2:40 on the clock. Goalie Ryan Croddick stood tall with a stick-side high save, then ate up a low-to-low offering. Shooting without deception is risky business. Jackson Green, a serious athlete, added the insurance. A 14-12 win gives Princeton the Research Triangle sweep. This is a championship contender.
New Jersey rivalry game with Rutgers is up next.
3) Army
(5-0) after a 15-5 thrashing of Lafayette. Brayden Fountain had seven points. Goalie Sean Byrne’s save percentage is sky-high. His goals-against average is minuscule. Army, the defenders of freedom, leads the country in scoring defense. The schedule is not taxing. UNC, Colgate, and Navy are the remaining top-caliber teams on the agenda.
Army is at Holy Cross.
2) Notre Dame
Rudy (3-1) lost to Maryland by a goal. Midfield defense (SSDM) was not up to standard. The third attack spot isn’t providing juice, and the transition defense needs to be tightened.
These neutral-site games fuel growth. Bobby Dodd Stadium, built in 1913, is the oldest on-campus stadium in FBS football and holds 55,000. About 10,000 fans watched the title-game rematch in Atlanta. That’s good for the sport. Chris Kavanagh took some monster hits from Maryland defenders and will need an ice bath.
All-American defender Shawn Lyght was my guest on the Quintessential Podcast.
Notre Dame hosts Ohio State on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ACCN). The Irish were shooting north of 40% prior to Maryland. I will be covering this game with Chris Cotter at 2 p.m. on ACCN.
1) Maryland
Terps (5-0), only giving up 8.2 goals per game while scoring 11 against a solid strength of schedule. Not sure I saw an NCAA championship team, but Maryland won’t be an easy out with its defense.
Terp D-men jarred the ball out of ND’s sticks but didn’t convert them to turnovers. ND won the GB battle 37-19 and FO’s 18-6. That was alleviated by a stellar effort from goalie Logan McNaney (16 saves), whose kick save in the closing minute punctuated the win. Eric Spanos played exceptionally well. He was one of the last early verbal commits before the recruiting rules changed.
Spanos was my guest this week on the Quintessential Podcast. He spoke about the standards at Maryland and the addition of portal pickups Matthew Keegan, Bryce Ford, Jack Dowd, and Jack Schultz.
Terps face Delaware this week. Maryland’s face-off department, aka the Hog Pen, will be asked to improve.
Q-Tips
MCLA rankings should be out this week. I’ve become a big fan of the BYU Cougars after spending a morning with them this fall. The Cougs are (6-0) after beating Chapman 16-7 in Vegas over the weekend.
Cal Poly, Arizona State, Florida, Florida State, Utah Valley, Georgia, Northeastern, Georgia Tech, Liberty, and Texas appear to be the top teams in 2025.
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 Eric Spanos, Shawn Lyght, Coulter Mackesy, Billy Dwan III, and Casey Wilson.
