Monday April 12th, 2021 8:00am
(Photo by Rachel Pincus/Notre Dame Athletics)
As the NCAA winter sports seasons wrap up, lacrosse has the opportunity to step into the limelight. What’s happened is less important than what’s next.
Monmouth and Bryant are the current favorites to win their league titles, but the margin of success and failure are extremely tight in 2021. LIU (4-1 NEC) and Saint Joseph’s (5-0 NEC) still have to play the Bulldogs (3-1) in the NEC. Monmouth is scheduled to play Marist on Tuesday, but that game remains in doubt due to Marist’s ongoing pause. Jacksonville is 4-0 in the SoCon but has not played High Point or Richmond yet. Stay in the hunt. Make the next game the most important one of the season. This is when the fun begins.
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5. Notre Dame Irish students and alums stand for the school fight song. Saturday afternoon they were dancing after an 18-11 victory over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. St Patrick Kavanagh finished with nine points. He is playing himself into Tewaraaton conversation. The groundball and face-off stats tell the story, with Notre Dame holding a 45-20 edge in grounders while winning 23-of-32 face-offs. The rest takes care of itself. After a close home loss to Virginia last week, the Irish were ready to battle. This was the exact response you hope to see. Their EMO continues to percolate. Eric Dobson, Griffin Westlin and Will Yorke all stung corners. The FOGOs, defense and goaltending plus bench role players have Rudy dreaming of its first NCAA title.
(Photo Courtesy of Maryland Athletics)
It started as an Instant Classic, a back-and-forth, high-tempo matchup between Top 5 teams one the established, perennial contender Maryland, the other a Rutgers team that’s played the early season with shocking power and dominance.
It ended with No. 3 Maryland flexing its dazzling level of consistency and dominating the fourth quarter en route to a 19-12 win against No. 4 Rutgers inside Maryland Stadium.
With it, Maryland’s Jared Bernhardt strengthened his case as one of the best players in the country with six goals and an assist, the Terps showcased more depth and bench scoring, and the defense proved it can handle even the most potent of offenses.
Monday March 8th, 2021 8:45am
(Inside Lacrosse Photo: James Beaver)
It was a weekend of little change. Loyola, Ohio State and Richmond were the only Top 20 teams to meet defeat. We have a lot to look forward to this week, and many of the best games are on television. Wednesday High Point is at Duke. Thursday Night Lacrosse debuts on the ACC Network with Virginia and North Carolina. On Saturday, Hopkins hosts Penn State, then Rutgers and Maryland play for first place in the Big Ten. Sunday, fans will be treated to Ohio State and Michigan.
Why are there so many football score blowouts this season? I think there are less ‘middle tier’ teams with the Ivy sitting out 2021 and the power programs extended their lead by securing high-profile transfers, furthering the gap. This year offers an opportunity for mid-major programs to attract more attention, to put themselves in the Top 20 and push toward the Tournament.