🤯 WAS THIS THE PLAY OF THE YEAR?

It’s a Saturday afternoon in mid-March. The field at Klockner Stadium is surrounded by 5,700+ screaming fans, and you’re a freshman goalie trying to stop the undefeated Virginia Cavaliers from scoring in overtime.

That’s the situation Maryland’s Brian Ruppel found himself in last weekend. With the game on the line and the No. 1 scoring offense in the country bearing down on him, Ruppel made a series of saves that may go down as the Play of the Year.

If you still haven’t seen the moment, here it is in GIF form:

[Click here to watch the moment with sound]

Shortly after Ruppel made those saves, Maryland’s Daniel Kelly buried the game-winning goal. With the win, the Terps improved to 5-2 on the season and sent a reminder that they’re still the defending national champs.

Thanks to Ruppel’s quick coming of age, Maryland has been able to weather the loss of All-American goalie Logan McNaney to a torn ACL. Through four starts, Ruppel has a .570 save percentage and is allowing just 9.68 goals per game.

🔥 Duke is Catching Fire

The Blue Devils (8-1) look like an absolute BUZZSAW right now. Teams step up to play them, and they leave the field shredded into a million pieces.

Now on a six-game winning streak, look at what they've done to their last three opponents:

Duke’s offense, in particular, is supercharged. You’ve got the obvious star power in Brennan O’Neill, but this unit has another lethal lefty in Dyson Williams and a powerful spark plug in Andrew McAdorey. Through nine games, the Blue Devils have seven players with 15+ points.

After getting snubbed entirely from the NCAA Tournament last year, Duke looks like a team that’s capable of winning it all in 2023.

💪 Player of the Week: Levi Anderson

Saint Joseph’s doesn’t get a lot of time in the spotlight, but Levi Anderson deserves his chance to shine. He is TLN’s Player of the Week after dropping 10 points — including eight (!!!) goals — in a 16-10 win over St. John’s on Saturday.

Anderson’s filthiest goal of the weekend was this backhand flick from the high crease:

Anderson is a matchup nightmare at 6-foot-4 and 205 lbs. He has an extremely strong left hand, and his creative scoring habits are true to his Canadian roots. The Calgary native has recorded a hat trick in six out of seven games so far this season.

🧐 What Happened to The Ivy League?

Last year, the Ivy League gobbled up SIX spots in the NCAA tournament. This year will be a different story.

Ivy League teams are a combined 1-10 vs. ACC/Big Ten opponents in 2023. Here are the results of those games listed out:

❌ Harvard LOSS to Virginia❌ Yale LOSS to Penn State❌ Princeton LOSS to Maryland❌ Penn LOSS to Duke✅ Cornell WIN over Ohio State❌ Penn LOSS to Penn State❌ Brown LOSS to UNC❌ Cornell LOSS to Penn State❌ Harvard LOSS to Michigan❌ Princeton LOSS to Rutgers❌ Dartmouth LOSS to UNC

Because the NCAA Selection Committee leans heavily on RPI ratings, these losses will hurt the conference’s overall standing for at-large bids. That puts a heightened importance on the outcome of the Ivy League tournament.

Right now, Cornell looks like the favorite to claim the conference title. The Big Red beat the brakes off Yale in a 20-10 rout on Saturday.

😳 Long Poles Have Lost Their Minds

What are they feeding long poles these days? It seems like every week they do something that makes you re-think what's possible with a six-foot stick.

Let's start with this "Air Gait" from Adrian College's Cameron Reed, which was featured on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays:

Still not impressed? Take a gander at this absolutely disgusting face dodge and finish from Denver's AJ Mercurio:

Denver had three pole goals in that game, and they all came in the second quarter.

This goal from Delaware's Owen Grant might be the most impressive, though. Watch him launch this one from DEEEEEEEEP:

There was nothing accidental about that strike. He fired the shot with pinpoint accuracy, and you can even see him directing traffic to clear a path before letting it fly.

At this point, maybe teams should try putting long poles on EMO units...

📺 Midweek TV/Streaming Info

All times Eastern (streaming links via Inside Lacrosse/USA Lacrosse Magazine):

Tuesday, March 21:3 p.m. — Dartmouth at Hampton (FloSports)4 p.m. — Navy at Villanova (FloSports)6 p.m. — St. Bonaventure at Syracuse (ACCNX)7 p.m. — Harvard at Boston U (ESPN+)

Wednesday, March 22:7 p.m. — High Point at North Carolina (ACCN)

Thursday, March 23:*No Division I games*