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US Lacrosse College Notebook
Feb. 27, 2004
Small World
The college lacrosse season moves into full gear this weekend and what a weekend it is shaping up to be. A total of 16 men's and women's lacrosse games this weekend will feature teams that are both ranked in Lacrosse Magazine's preseason Top 20. And that's just in NCAA Division I play. Compare that to college basketball where there is only one men's game between two Top 20 programs this weekend.
Highlighting the men's schedule are two Top 10 showdowns. No. 3 Maryland will play at No. 8 Georgetown in just the second regular season game between the two Washington, D.C. area schools. Maryland beat Georgetown 9-5 last season on April 28 after their regularly scheduled opener was delayed due to weather. Also squaring off will be No. 7 North Carolina and No. 10 Massachusetts at Baltimore's Calvert Hall College. This is the first meeting between the schools since 1977.
The women's slate also has two Top 10 games. No. 3 Maryland will play at No. 4 Duke and No. 10 Syracuse is at No. 2 Virginia. Duke snapped a string of four straight losses to Maryland with a 9-8 victory in 2002, but the Terrapins returned the favor last year 9-8 in overtime. Maryland coach Cindy Timchal picked up her 298th career victory in the Terps 16-6 win over Richmond last weekend. She is vying to become to first women's college coach with 300 victories. Syracuse has beaten Virginia each of the last two seasons, including a 12-11 overtime win last year.
Around the Country
Getting Defensive
It's still very early, but the scores in the handful of games played in Division I men's lacrosse have been way down this year. Through Wednesday, eight games had been played and the averaged combined goals scored was just 12.6. Delaware, which hosts Stony Brook this weekend, is off to a 2-0 start despite scoring just 13 goals in its two victories. The Blue Hens beat St. Joseph's 8-7 in its opener and then beat Lehigh 5-3. Only two teams have scored in double digits this year—Virginia, in a 15-4 win over Drexel, and Navy, in a 14-1 win over Lafayette in its Patriot League opener.
Western Exposure
Stanford's women's team is off to a 3-0 start after knocking off state rivals UC-Davis, St. Mary's and California. The Cardinal will entertain Ohio State and Notre Dame this weekend, the first two of five nationally-ranked teams to come to Palo Alto this season. Also playing at Stanford will be Vanderbilt (March 7), Dartmouth (March 20) and Loyola (April 24).
No More Sneaking
The two biggest surprises in men's Division I lacrosse last year were Dartmouth and Rutgers and they'll met in the opener for both schools on Saturday at the St. Paul's School in Baltimore. Dartmouth went 11-3 last season, earning a share of the Ivy League title, and played in the NCAA tournament for the first time. Rutgers finished 10-5, just one season after going 2-12, and qualified for the NCAA's for the first time since 1991. Dartmouth has a new coach, Bill Wilson, but returns junior goalie Andrew Goldstein, an honorable mention All-American last year. Rutgers also returns an All-American goalie, sophomore Greg Havalchak, the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2003.
Still on Top
Colorado State and UC-Santa Barbara met in last year's US Lacrosse Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates National Championship game and when the first MDIA regular season poll came out on top this week, those two schools were in the top two spots. Colorado State is off to a 3-0 start and hosts No. 9 Texas A&M and NCAA Division III member Colorado College this weekend. UCSB is 6-0, including impressive wins over No.3 BYU and No. 4 Sonoma State.
Sailing Away
Navy tops the first regular season US Lacrosse Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates poll. Navy started the season 5-0, including a 5-4 victory over Florida, which is ranked second.
Stick Checks
When St. Mary's (Calif.) beat Claremont Mudd Scripps 16-4 on Feb. 1, it marked the earliest start ever to a NCAA women's lacrosse season...Queens University, a new NCAA Division II women's program, won the first two games in program history.
US Lacrosse College Notebook is a weekly feature on the US Lacrosse web site. For information about supporting the sport through membership in US Lacrosse, visit our membership page.
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