Across the world of college lacrosse this week, Duke won the ACC tournament, Brown upset Cornell, and Navy came out of nowhere to dominate Johns Hopkins 8-2, while Loyola and UMass remained undefeated at #1 and #2, respectively, in the latest coaches’ poll. The sadly Hoya-less field for the inaugural Big East Tournament has also been set: Notre Dame will play St. Johns, and hosts Villanova will play Syracuse in the semis on May 3rd ahead of the championship on May 5th.
1 – Notre Dame (10-1, 5-0)
The Irish clinched the regular season title and the number one seed in the conference tournament with a 10-7 win at Villanova this past Saturday. Senior attack Sean Rogers led the way for Notre Dame with three goals and one assist, as eight different players scored in the winning effort. The Irish, ranked 3rd in the country, have now won ten in a row and have no doubt been the class of the conference all year; their only blemish is a 4-3 overtime loss to Penn St. in the second game of the season.
Remaining Schedule – vs. Syracuse 4/28, Big East Tournament
2 – Villanova (8-5, 4-1)
Villanova has to be extremely disappointed after Saturday’s loss to Notre Dame, in which they scored four unanswered goals in the opening ten minutes before failing to get on the board at all in the second and third quarters. The Wildcats’ drought allowed the Irish to go on an 8-0 run that would ultimately prove insurmountable. If seedings hold, though, 13th-ranked ‘Nova will get a chance to avenge this latest loss in the Big East Tournament finals.
Remaining Schedule – @ Providence 4/28, Big East Tournament
3 – Georgetown (6-6, 2-3)
Oh, what a weekend it was for Georgetown lacrosse fans. I will be the first to admit that I have been a hater on the program this year and did not think that they were capable of beating Syrac*se, especially in upstate New York. However, on Saturday, stellar performances from Junior attack Brian Casey and senior goalkeeper Matt Winter gave the Hoyas a 10-8 win, the program’s first victory in the Carrier Dome since 2006 and only its second all-time. Unfortunately, the Blue and Gray are still going to fall short of reaching this year’s Big East tournament. The #3 spot in this week’s power rankings might seem a bit generous, but I shall defend my claim. St. John’s scored two goals in the final 21 seconds before beating us in overtime earlier this year, and if the two teams played 10 times, I think Georgetown would win at least 6. In addition, absolutely no personal bias went into placing the Hoyas ahead of the Orange; rather, it was all hardcore research that would be a bit too extensive to explain here. Just trust me on this.
Remaining Schedule – vs. Rutgers 4/27
4 – Syrac*se (7-5, 3-3)
‘Cuse fell from 14th to 17th in the most recent national rankings after being felled by G’town on Saturday. Only 16 teams make the NCAA Tournament, so there could be some serious tears in upstate New York come tournament selection time. (Yay!) Earlier this past week, Syrac*se outlasted Hobart 13-12 to claim the Kraus-Simmons trophy for the sixth straight season. The rivalry between these two New York universities goes back to Syracuse’s first-ever varsity lacrosse games on April 26th, 1916; since then, the teams have met 97 times.
Remaining Schedule – @ Notre Dame 4/28, Big East Tournament.
5 –St. John’s (7-5, 3-3)
The Red Storm took their turn with conference whipping boys Providence this past Saturday with an 8-4 victory in Queens on Senior Day. This year’s senior class is the most successful the program has had since it returned in 2005, and the win also clinched St. John’s first ever winning season. Sophomore attack Kieran McArdle had his fifth five-point game of the season in the victory over the Friars, posting a hat trick to go along with two assists.
Remaining Schedule – @ Drexel 4/28, Big East Tournament
6 – Rutgers (6-8, 1-4)
Sophomore Scott Klimchak had five goals and one assist in Rutgers’ 13-9 victory over Divison-1 lacrosse newbie Michigan on Saturday night in Piscataway. Rutgers was all tied up with the Wolverines at 9-9 with 8:25 left to play before closing the game on a 4-0 run. The win gave Rutgers a proper senior night; hopefully the Scarlet Knights will simiarly oblige next weekend when they serve as the Hoyas’ opponents for Senior Day on the Hilltop.
Remaining Schedule – @ Georgetown 4/28
7 – Providence (0-5, 1-12)
I love doing this blog, I really do [Editor’s note: glad to hear, Dillon]; the only part that I find difficult is coming up with things to say about the Providence lacrosse team. Put simply, the Friars are really bad. having been outscored by their opponents 132-80 so far this season and tallying double digit goals only once. Sophomore midfielder Andrew Barton has accounted for 20% of his team’s goals this season to carry a bulk of the load during what’s been a tough year for PC
Remaining Schedule – vs. Villanova 4/28