Every sport is continually developing and progressing, allowing for a new wave of athleticism to come to fruition. Even though we watch athletes continue to get better and better, and as a result we see teams dominate in a fashion we have never seen, this doesn’t mean we forget about the legends who came before. There have been some outstanding teams with some top-tier players throughout the years, and they deserve some recognition. Here is our list of the Top-10 lacrosse teams of all time, brought to you by LU.
10. 2022 Maryland Terps
We could very well be suffering recency bias here, and maybe that’s what is preventing us from ranking this squad any higher than 10. We’re taking some caution, but man oh man was this team dominant. Going a perfect 18-0, this team won the NCAA Championship and outscored opponents by an average of 9 goals per game. This team had one of the most high-powered offenses of all time, led by Tewaaraton award winner Logan Wisnauskas, with support from players like Keegan Khan, Jonathan Donville and Jack Brennan. This team was incredibly hard to keep up with, and it showed on the scoreboard.
9. 2008 Syracuse Orange
This team on paper did not look like one of the best, but they had one of the hardest fought seasons in history as so many of the players showed out beyond expectations. This squad took on some incredible teams in a strong Johns Hopkins, Virginia, Notre Dame, Cornell, Georgetown, and others and still finished the season 16-2 with a conference chip. Their run to the championship W included bouts with #5 ranked Notre Dame, #2 ranked Virginia and #4 ranked Johns Hopkins. This cast consisted of Pat Perritt, Matt Abbott, Kenny Nims, Joel White, John Galloway, Mike Leveille, Jovan Miller and more.
8. 2022 Women’s UNC Tar Heels
This team had the perfect season. Going 22-0 with an ACC championship and an NCAA championship is more than any athlete can ever ask for from their team. Lead by head coach Jenny Levy with the support of Phil Barnes and Marie McCool, this team could not be stopped, and their schedule was no cake-walk. Taking down other top tier teams like Syracuse, Notre Dame, Duke, Boston College and Northwestern was almost seamless for this team, bringing them in to our number 8 spot.
7. 2019 Penn State
This might be a surprise to some people being that the Nittany Lions fell short of the championship this year with 2 losses to Yale, but this team surely had the juice to pull it off, and could hang with any of the all-time-greats out on the pitch. Averaging a whopping 18 goals per game, we saw one of the greatest offensive units to ever exist, led by one of the best offensive players in the game to date in Grant Ament. It’s not often a team like this comes together and doesn’t win it all, and they still deserve recognition.
6. ’77 Cornell
Throwing it back to an OG lax squad from the 70’s, we just could not leave the ’77 Big Red Bears off this list. Racking up a perfect 13-0 record, this group outscored opponents by almost 10 goals a game, while only averaging 7 goals against per game. They were proficient at both ends of the field, and their final record showed it, along with their NCAA Championship W.
5. 1973 Maryland Terrapins
This team pulled out an incredible championship led by midfielder Frank Urso (current hall of famer) with support from Doug Schreiber and Gary Besosa, against another dominant team in Johns Hopkins with a final score of 10-9. In the first two rounds of the championship run, they beat number 8 ranked Brown 16-4, and #4 Washington and Lee 18-7, for an average of an 11.5 goal win margin before winning the chip. This was all after a perfect 7-0 season. What a run by an incredible squad.
4. 1984 Johns Hopkins
Another undefeated squad, this team won a championship over the #1 Syracuse Orange after a perfect season. While the strength of the team was in net with Larry Quinn – who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player – this team had some weapons. Del Dressel, Peter Scott, and Brian Wood led the offensive push, while the elite defense was led by John Dethommaso.
3. ‘97 Princeton Tigers
A perfect 15-0 season was finished with a 19-7 win over Maryland in the finals. To this day, the 12-goal win is still the largest win margin in an NCAA men’s championship lacrosse game. This team was truly part of a dynasty, as this chip was a repeat of the previous year, as well as a prequel to the next. A lot of members in the lacrosse community deem this squad as the GOAT team, and there is a solid argument for it. But they’re clocking in at our 3 spot, as we give very few teams a slight edge over them…
2. 2006 Virginia Cavaliers
17-0. A 15-7 victory in the championship. Those are hard numbers to argue against. With two more wins than the 1997 Tigers, this record was a much more difficult feat with just as much talent to boot. With an average win margin of 8.2 goals in a 17-0 season, this team literally dismantled almost every opponent they faced. Led by the elite Matt Ward, this team saw a tough loss the year prior to Hopkins, and used that momentum to absolutely dominate and become arguably the greatest squad of all time.
1. 1990 Syracuse Orange
Excellence and controversy: this roster is by far the most talented in history with the championships to show for it, sort of. This team completed a 3 year span of championships with a 13-0 season lead by the revolutionizing twins, Paul and Gary Gait. The problem is, the NCAA no longer recognizes this roster, and vacated the championship as a result of a school official providing financial benefits to one of the player’s family. It’s a real shame to see such an incredible season and team tarnished for something that seems incredibly insignificant in the grand scheme, but the vast majority – us included – will continue to recognize this ‘Cuse squad as the G.O.A.T.
