Week two of the college lacrosse season sure did delive. We have a HUGE upset already, followed by some close contests with some of the big teams. The big headline of the week is Jacksonville taking down Duke this past Sunday 14-12.
Duke started off the weekend with a game against Manhattan Friday afternoon. Brendan Krebs gave the Blue Devils some problems early in the game making some great saves for Manhattan, but Duke would soon find their rhythm and get past the Jaspers 17-7. Sunday however is a much different story. Jacksonville came in after a hard fought contest with Johns Hopkins, so they were ready for Duke. Jacksonville controlled the tempo of the game, playing more of a half-field offense and slowing possessions, which eats away at the clock. Max Waldbaum, the graduate student transfer from DIII powerhouse Tufts University showed out with a 6 point outing on 4 goals and 2 assists.
This was a huge weekend for Johns Hopkins, even though they only came out of it 1-1. Hopkins took on Towson in a big rivalry game on Friday night, and although Towson would keep on fighting, Joey Epstein would lead the Jays to victory with 7 points as Hopkins won 18-12. Sunday, Johns Hopkins traveled to D.C. to take on the Georgetown Hoyas in a huge game in the beginning of the season. The Hoyas would end up running away with the lead in 16-8 contest that can play a big factor by the end of the season. However, Duke’s loss to Jacksonville makes the Jays win over the Dolphins look even better in the power rankings, so they shouldn’t slip too far with a loss to the powerhouse Hoyas.
Logan Wisnauskas is leaving no doubt as to why he should be wearing the #1 for the Terps after leading the way past Loyola with a 6 point performance on 3 goals and 3 assists. Wisnauskas would find #1 overall NLL draft pick Jonathan Donville to get the day started, and the Terps would get rolling from there on out. Keegan Khan had a great day putting up 1 goal and 4 assists. Loyola’s offense had some good plays, with Adam Poitras showing us his dodging ability, scoring two goals while attacking from the wing. Maryland will probably be the number one team in the country now that they just put up 20 on Loyola who is a great team; but that just shows how scary good of a team the Terps will be when they are toward the end of the season.
Let’s move over to the highly anticipated debut of the Syracuse Orange led by Gary Gait, and Dave Pietramala as the defensive coordinator. The Orange took on the Crusaders of Holy Cross in the Carrier Dome, and boy did it go just as planned for the Orange winning 28-5. ‘Cuse got the game rolling with a great transition goal, followed by an absolute rip from Brendan Curry down the right alley. Curry would finish with 4 goals and 2 assists. Tucker Dordevic, Brendan Curry, and Owen Seebold are going to have a big year for the Orange, putting up 6 points each this weekend. This Syracuse team was fun to watch and we have a lot of optimism for the rest of their season.
UNC got off to a fast start this weekend, going 2-0 against Richmond and Colgate. Chris Gray did Chris Gray things, going off when the team needed him and making some unbelievable plays to lead the Tar Heels to victory. Chris led the way going into Monday with 12 points on 7 goals and 5 assists. Richmond and Colgate put up tough fights as we expected but UNC was able to get the job done. Chris Gray is leading a young squad so it will be nice to see those young guys gel together as they gain more experience.
Weekend Preview
Now that most of the teams have gotten their season underway, let’s see what matchups we can look forward to this upcoming weekend.
Saturday is loaded with great games, including Denver going to Duke, Georgetown taking on Penn, Jacksonville looking to start a run against Marquette for after the big win against Duke. Rutgers-Army should be a great matchup, with two under-the-radar teams battling to get their recognition. We also have Towson and Virginia squaring off, Hopkins and Loyola, and UNC and Ohio State all on Saturday. What a slate of games to look forward to. Sunday we have what might be the game of the week in Maryland heading to Syracuse to rain on the Orange’s retirement weekend. Syracuse will be inducting Roy Simmons, the legendary Men’s Lacrosse coach into the Ring of Honor as well as retiring Gary Gait and Katie Rowan’s jerseys. It is going to be a special day for the Orange, but Maryland is going to be looking to make it a special day for the Terps.
Tune in further for staff picks and recaps for week 3!