Ivy League teams are back, upsets are happening, and chaos is ensuing; early and often. This was an elite lineup, and we saw some surprising outcomes. If you didn’t have a chance to tune in, here’s what you missed out on this past week.
To get Saturday rolling, Duke took on Denver in a highly anticipated matchup from their history of great games. It was a back and forth battle for most of the game, but Duke was able to find a rhythm in the second half and the Pioneer offense couldn’t keep up. Duke was led by Brennan O’Neill and Dyson Williams, both scoring 6 points. This was also followed by 4 point performances from Sean Lulley (2 goals, 2 assists) and Nakeie Montgomery getting a hat trick and an assist. Duke would end up winning the game 19-10 after running away with this one in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
Johns Hopkins played Loyola in what ended up being a heated game up until the final whistle. Johns Hopkins took down the Greyhounds 11-10 with a last second defensive stand to complete the program’s thousandth win. Hopkins had a lot of turnovers, ending up with 25 by the end of the game. That’s bad. Like, really bad, and made this game seem closer than it should have been. Hopkins is going to have to improve their efficiency while possessing the ball if they want to make a push toward a championship. On a positive note, a W is a W and Hopkins should continue to climb in the rankings. UNLTD athlete Joey Epstein led the Blue Jays in their victory with his 2 goals and 3 assists in this outing.
Ohio State came out and shocked everyone this Saturday, taking down Chris Gray and the UNC Tar Heels in deciding fashion with a 20-8 win. Chris got the game started by dodging past three OSU defenders before burying a goal. UNC kept making minor mistakes which, which really add up and make it difficult to compete against a veteran team like Ohio State. Jack Myers was dishing, racking up 7 assists and 2 goals for a total of 9 points on the day. Chris Gray fought hard, accounting for 7 points on UNC’s 8 goals. This game is your prototypical reminder that lacrosse is a team sport, and if UNC wants to be successful moving forward they can’t strictly rely on Chris Gray, despite his elite talent.
The Ivy League teams finally returned this weekend, and balled out, going 5-2 with big wins and close losses to some powerhouse programs. Penn had a hard fight against Georgetown, losing 10-8 with Sam Handley being limited to 1 goal and 2 assists. Harvard took down NJIT 17-4; Cornell played in a snow bowl game but came out on top 16-8. Princeton took down Monmouth 22-6; Yale played Villanova in a tough game but won 17-14; Brown beat Quinnipiac in a high scoring 19-13 battle, and Dartmouth took a loss to Merrimack 8-6. Some real hard fought losses and large margin wins from the Ivy League Lax, and we expect the pace to continue as we head into the bulk of the season.
Sunday was special if you are a fan of Syracuse lacrosse, despite the outcome of the game. Syracuse retired head coach Gary Gait’s jersey, as well as Katie Rowan’s jersey into the Carrier Dome rafters. They also inducted legendary head coach Roy Simmons into the Ring of Honor at Halftime. Maryland showed up in their all-black uniforms to take on the Syracuse Orange, and if that wasn’t a subliminal message, we don’t know what is. Syracuse and Maryland fought hard for the entire game, going back and forth with each other. Logan Wisnauskas had himself a day, putting up 4 goals and an assist, while Jonathan Donville put up a solid 3 goals and 1 assist to help secure the victory. Brendan Curry and Tucker Dordevic were on the field for nearly the entire game, and both visibly gave it their all. Tucker would finish with 5 goals and 1 assist, Brendan would finish with 1 assist. Syracuse seemed to struggle with getting quality shots off, but they would come in bunches when they did. Maryland showed us exactly why they are the #1 team in the nation and they don’t show any signs of slowing down.
Weekend Preview
We hope you like mid-week games, because that’s what is on the menu for this week. We’ve got Duke facing off against Delaware at 3pm on Tuesday for a battle down in Durham as the Blue Hens look to take down Duke. Then on Wednesday, we have Chris Gray and UNC looking to get back on track after the tough loss to Ohio State, taking on Brown at 1pm. Saturday, there are a number of games to be on the watch for. We have Duke and Penn playing Saturday afternoon, as well as Virginia vs Syracuse which should be an electric game. Notre Dame and Georgetown will be not only top-notch entertainment, but will give us a gauge on the legitimacy of both teams, as they head into this as the #3 and #4 ranked teams. Loyola and Rutgers is another game to keep an eye out for that should be great to watch. Heading into Sunday we have a huge matchup with Chris Gray taking on Connor DeSimone and Joey Epstein at 2pm to tie up what we see as an elite week of college lacrosse.
Anything can happen, and we wish fans and players the best of luck - especially our UNLTD Athletes!
