4/6/22
This season of division one lacrosse has been, well, insane. With the return of the Ivy League after missing all of last year due to COVID-19, they have made their presence known throughout the land. With 5 Ivy League teams in the top 20, all in the top 10, here is what you need to know about the Ivy League as well as the rest of the field.
The Ivy League is THE BEST CONFERENCE in college lacrosse. There, I said it. Let the ACC and Big 10 fans come at me but it’s true, and here’s why. Nobody knows who is going to win the Ivy. There has been a rollercoaster of wins and losses within the conference. Cornell, Princeton, and Yale all have one conference loss apiece, with Penn having 2 but still holding the 8th seed in the nation. Harvard sits atop the Ivy League undefeated in conference, but they hold the worst Ivy League ranking in the country at number 10. Yale is coming off possibly the best offensive half of the season for any team, shooting 18 goals and beating 13th ranked Boston University 22-15. Princeton scored a total of 18 goals in a dominant win over Marist the same Tuesday night. Like the other 3 Ivy League teams, they all have impressive offensive power all over the field. the biggest thing that will decide who wins the Ivy League is who will have the best defense. These defenses have been shelled not just in conference so the test of getting kills, not stops, will decide the fate of the Ivy League.
With the return of the Ivy League comes the death of the ACC. What the hell is going on with the ACC? To Start, it is evident that the lack of talent for the Syracuse Orange is hurting them a lot. Tucker Dordevic is literally the entire offense, and if he gets shut down then it’s over for the team. Bringing in Dave Petromala should help the defense, right? Nope. They got pummeled by Notre Dame 9-0 IN THE FIRST QUARTER! What they were able to do, however, was somehow beat Duke up in the Dome. The Duke Bluedevils are the biggest frauds in the nation. With embarrassing losses to Jacksonville and Loyola, and barely beating teams like High Point, what is going on in Durham? one Saturday they look phenomenal, the next they get the doors blown off. They need to figure out how to be more consistent. Finally, UVA needs to wake up. I legitimately thought that they had a shot against Maryland a few weeks ago, but they got their asses kicked up and down the field. They then have a statement game by dominating Notre Dame at home, but then get upset by Richmond, losing to them for the first time since the 60s I believe. The Cavaliers have the pieces to win the whole thing for the third time in a row, they just need to show up. The defense, juiced by freshman tendy Matthew Nunes is big and lengthy, the face-off dot should be better but Petey Lasalla isn’t having the best year, and the offense isn’t fair. Every guy on the offense needs a team’s best pole covering them. In the end, nobody in the nation is going to beat those Terps.
I’m still waiting to see Maryland play Rutgers and maybe have those mid/late season inconsistencies they’ve had in the past. but Maryland could be one of the best college lacrosse teams OF ALL TIME. They’re just loaded everywhere on the field with insane depth at every position. Defensively they only lost one senior from last year, but regardless they are stacked with Brett Makar leading the way. At the midfield, they just aren’t fair. Their second line midfield is any other team’s first line by a mile, and the first line is gross. Oh and they have the first overall pick in the NLL John Donville playing like a man out of hell. Finally, you’ve got number 1 down at attack leading the charge. Logan Wisnauskas is holding up the expectations of what it means to wear number 1 for Maryland. Them and Rutgers are the only reasons why the Big10 is still relevant.
For now, this is the landscape of the lacrosse world. With conference play fast approaching, it’ll be interesting what teams do with the remainder of the season. At the end of the day, the Ivy League teams have the best shot, in my opinion, of knocking down the Terps, but I really don’t see Maryland losing a game this year.
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