Upsets, Overtime thrillers, great matchups, and a midseason tournament are just some of the highlights you might have missed in week 4. Over the weekend, we were gifted with 3 games that went into overtime, and one of those was a triple overtime game. Duke faced another upset, and Denver also followed in their footsteps, getting upset as well. Stony Brook went on to win the Long Island Cup and seem to be rolling. Let’s get into the nitty gritty of it all.

The Week

This was a packed week with games almost every day. Duke and UNC both had games early in the week, pulling off wins as they carried on the momentum they had coming into this week. Duke had a relatively close victory against Delaware winning 19-14, and UNC had an even closer matchup against Brown, winning by a mere 3 goals with a final score of 14-11. We’re also starting to see a dark horse on the come-up in Michigan. They had a dominant victory over Canisius where they won 23-10 to improve to 6-0 on the season. We’re excited to see how they fair as they head into the more competitive part of their schedule.

Saturday

On Saturday, Penn State took on Yale in Happy Valley and was able to take down the Bulldogs in a 10-6 win. Penn State has struggled with the departure of Grant Ament and Mac O’Keefe, but this could be a good sign for the future after taking down a top 5 opponent in Yale.

The red-hot Dolphins of Jacksonville took a trip to Denver to play the Pioneers, who have not been able to get into rhythm. Jacob Greiner lead Jacksonville to a victory with a 6 goal performance as the Dolphins went on to win 11-9. Towson and Richmond found themselves in a tight game as well, taking three overtimes to decide a winner. Nick DeMaio of Towson had a great day, scoring 6 goals and 2 assists, but it wouldn’t be enough to get the job done. However, Lance Madonna’s 7 point day would help the Spiders get a 16-15 win.

Duke and Penn played at Macarthur High School in Levittown, NY to support the LI Metro Foundation, and this was an incredible game. Nakeie Montgomery put his playmaking ability on display with his 6 point game as he racked up 4 goals and 2 assists. Penn was able to keep it close all game as they entered the 4th quarter only down by 2. Penn was able to claw back and tie it up at 13 apiece to end the fourth. Jack Schultz would get the last say in this game, coming up clutch with his first goal - the game winning goal for the Quakers as they pulled off the Blue Devils. Duke came into this season with a lot of expectations, but hasn’t been performing at the expected level. They are going to have to turn this thing around quickly if they expect to make a run at a chip.

Georgetown and Notre Dame faced off on Saturday in what was expected to be a close contest all the way through. But, the Hoyas had other plans scoring 11 goals in the first half, compared to Notre Dame’s 4. The Hoya’s started to roll early and kept it up. The Irish made a close run toward the end of the game but would never see a lead as the Hoya’s won 16-11.

To wrap up Saturday, the Syracuse Orange took a trip down to Charlottsville to play the Virginia Cavaliers. This game was what ACC lacrosse is all about. Freshman goalie Matt Nunes was on fire, stopping 58% of the shots he faced for a total of 15 saves, while Petey Lasalla became the all-time leader in face-off wins at UVA. Connor Shellenberger had a day with his 7 point performance. Syracuse’s offense has work to diversify their game plan, now that teams are starting to key in on Tucker Dordevic and Brendan Curry. They’re going to need to start initiating with other weapons, such as Owen Seebold, which we did start to see at moments in this matchup. UVA’s dominant 20 -11 victory starts to raise questions about the rankings; does Maryland deserve to maintain that #1 spot?

Sunday

Sunday was a treat as well, giving us UNC vs Johns Hopkins to end the weekend. Chris Gray went off in his best performance so far this season, scoring 7 goals and 2 assists against the Blue Jays to help bring the Tar Heels to victory. The Blue Jay offense struggled to get going against the UNC zone-D, but they fought the entire game. Connor and Joey helped lead that fight with their combined 8 points. This was a great opportunity for UNC to get that highly touted freshman class some experience in a big game against a ranked opponent, and they took full advantage of this while going on to win 15-10.

Week 5 Preview

Other than Thursday, we have lacrosse games every day of the week. We have a ton of games on Tuesday including Michigan vs Marquette and Duke vs High Point. Wednesday features some state rivalries with Syracuse playing Army, Loyola taking on Towson, and Albany vs Siena.  Saturday, we’ll see Chris Gray and UNC take on Denver, Duke vs Richmond, UVA vs Hopkins, and Notre Dame vs Maryland. Tune in and catch all the action, we’ll see you there.