In back to back weeks, the nation’s top squad has gone down, and again we have a new team atop the boards. The Syracuse Orange are having their best start to a season in several years and are looking to regain glory once more. They hop over the Nittany Lions to take the number 1 spot for the first time in a long time. The Syracuse offense put on a scoring clinic as they netted the most goals out of any team this weekend in their victory. There were a ton of the classic lacrosse schools battling it out early in the season, and we had a thrilling weekend of college lacrosse that really had history behind it. So far, it has been a great season with the polls constantly changing, and you just have to love seeing some chaos.
College Lacrosse Week 5 Biggest Games of the Week
Below are the best games from week 5 of the 2020 NCAA lacrosse season.
Penn State (4-1) beats Penn (1-2) in OT 18-17
It’s always an excellent lacrosse game between these two in-state rivals, and this was no different. Now, their last 3 games against each other have all been decided by only a goal. This one was quite the battle, with a huge 13 goal fourth quarter that forced overtime. Penn State started out on top, winning the first half, and then Penn fought back in the second which forced the game into extra time. The Quakers won a lot of the game on the stat sheet by a solid margin which usually can result in a W, but lady luck must not have been on their side. The Quakers were led by attackmen Sean Lulley with 2 goals and 6 assists and Dylan Gergar with 5 goals and 1 assist. The Nittany Lions fought back for their victory and scored when it mattered most; at the end of the game and in overtime. Their two stars both had solid games as Grant Ament notched 2 goals and 2 assists and Mac O’Keefe had 4 goals and 1 assist. Penn State also should be thanking their goalkeeper, Colby Kneese, who had a huge day getting 18 saves while getting peppered.
UMass (3-2) beats Yale (2-1) 13-10
In college lacrosse, being on top usually means you are gonna lose, and it was time for the Bulldogs to drop. The Minutemen’s biggest win in team history comes behind a solid defense that forced a ton of turnovers. Billy Philpott led the squad in points with 4 goals and 1 assist in the win. UMass did already take 2 rough losses this year, but now their schedule has 2 very high-quality wins. Yale was actually disappointing all around and had the ball plenty with lots of opportunities but could not connect on the day. The Bulldogs go on a far trip out to Cali to play Michigan where they look to rebound in the sunshine state.
Princeton (4-0) beats Johns Hopkins (1-3) 18-11
The nation’s leader in points, Michael Sowers, put on a show by putting up 2 goals and 7 assists over the Jays. This man is must-see tv at its finest. He is an offensive mastermind who very few can stop, and Princeton is rolling. Scoring all of Sowers’s dimes were Connor McCarthy with 5 goals and Alexander Vardaro with 4 goals. The Tigers played fiercely all day long; never letting up at Hopkins. The only place where they looked like they needed improving was man-down defense, where getting scored on 4 out of 5 times is never a good record. Johns Hopkins faces another disappointing start to the season dropping 3 out of their first 4, and this is not the usual Hopkins we’re used to seeing. They face the number one team in the country, Syracuse, next at home; luckily. Princeton is having a phenomenal start, and I think they can have a really good season behind Sowers if they don’t have any injuries.
North Carolina (5-0) beats Denver (3-2) 15-13
The Tar Heels are now officially on a hot streak and have reached the 5-0 mark. North Carolina was able to hang on after a rough 4th quarter and secure the victory. The Pioneers put in 8 goals in the last quarter after trying to come back from being held scoreless in the 1st. Ethan Walker and Jack Hannah both played great games getting 5 points apiece for the Pios but couldn’t best the Heels. North Carolina had a great first 3 quarters almost fall apart at the end, but luckily the team was able to put in a few to keep the victory intact. Senior middie Justin Anderson led the Tar Heels with 5 goals 2 assists, and Chris Gray 2 goals 4 assists.
Cornell (4-0) beats Ohio State (3-2) 17-16
The Big Red start rolling after the barn burner that began their stretch of some real hard games. This game was a back and forth battle after the first whistle. There were two very glaring statistics that defined the game: turnovers and faceoffs. For turnovers, Cornell only had 9 to Ohio State’s 25. At the X, Ohio State set a school record by winning 30 faceoffs to Cornell’s 7 wins. Ohio State definitely should have won this one, but their play was just way too sloppy. Despite the loss, Tre Leclaire had a big game by putting up 6 goals with 2 assists.
Cornell had a rough game at the end of the day but were able to pull out a road victory. John Piatelli was a standout with 5 goals and 3 assists and Jeff Teat put up 4 goals and 2 assists to get the victory for the Big Red. After this one, Cornell has Penn State, Yale, and Penn; maybe the toughest 3 game stretch any team will go through this season
The Rest of the Field
Syracuse over Hobart 21-13
-Orange;s Tucker Dordevic 5 goals and 2 assists, Brendan Curry 5 goals and 1 assist
Maryland over Notre Dame 14-9
Duke over Richmond 16-15 OT
-Blue Devils’s Dyson Williams 7 goals
Albany over Harvard 15-14
-Great Danes’s Tehoka Nanticoke 5 goals 3 assists, Jakob Patterson 3 goals 4 assists
Villanova over Delaware 19-10
-Wildcats’s Keegan Khan 2 goals 4 assists
Virginia over Air Force 15-5
Paul’s Picks for Week 5
Denver beats Notre Dame
Michigan shocks Yale
Cornell takes down Penn State
Syracuse over Johns Hopkins
Loyola shuts down Duke
