The 2025 Division 1 lacrosse season has been an open-ended book with no imminent outcomes certain. Many teams have broken out of their shells, upsetting highly touted opponents, while several historically established teams have struggled to find consistent footing. While it’s always fun to talk about potential national championship-caliber teams, multiple storylines have emerged featuring programs having massive years in the context of their program’s history. These teams are worth mentioning, as most of them are competing for conference titles for the first time in quite some time. I have picked three teams that I think deserve more recognition for what they have accomplished so far in 2025, with high aspirations for how they will finish out the year.
Fairfield (7-0)
The Fairfield lacrosse program has been around for decades at this point. The team has always been solid but has rarely cracked the top 20, especially in recent history. Their 2024 campaign was solid, to say the least, but nothing to write home about. The team finished with an 8-7 record, featuring an overtime loss to Delaware in the CAA semifinals—surely heartbreaking, but definitely fuel to the flame. Coach Baxter made all of the right adjustments coming into 2025, as the team has started the year 7-0. Regardless of the competition level, the team is handling business, which is not easy to do at the Division 1 level. With conference play kicking up this weekend, it’ll be interesting to see if the team can keep its win streak alive. As long as Fairfield can maintain its current form, they will have an excellent record and, hopefully, be able to handle conference tournament time.
Dartmouth (5-1)
Dartmouth has really struggled to find relevancy not just in the Ivy League but among Division 1 lacrosse as a whole. The team consistently has a solid start to the year before fading out when conference play begins. Last year was particularly rough, as the team only managed to pull out a 3-10 record with some ugly losses along the way. Dartmouth has often kept games close in Ivy League play but rarely came out on top.
The Big Green made one of the best coaching hires this past offseason, bringing in Sean Kirwan—one of the best offensive minds in the game. Everyone wondered how long it would take for Kirwan’s impact to be truly felt at Dartmouth, as building a program up takes years of work. Already in 2025, the Big Green have amassed a 5-1 record with one more out-of-conference game remaining against Hobart before Ivy League play begins. If they are able to handle Hobart, Dartmouth would be 6-1, doubling their win total from last year. I am confident that this team is going to be able to squeak out some Ivy League wins, potentially reaching nine wins overall on the season.
Colgate (5-2)
Colgate is the team that everyone seemingly forgets in Division 1 lacrosse. The team has been able to pull out some upset wins in years past but has really struggled to find consistency, especially when it comes to conference play. Colgate amassed an 8-7 record last year with middle-of-the-pack conference results. The team was close to breaking out in the Patriot League semifinals but lost in triple overtime to Boston University on the road.
Colgate started the year with two losses against Penn State and Virginia—no easy foes. Since then, they have pretty much dominated everyone else that has crossed their path, including ranked Harvard and Villanova. The Patriot League feels very open this year, and there is a potential chance that Colgate could finally turn the corner and make a run at a conference title.
