🔮 NCAA ROUND 1 PREDICTIONS

May Madness has officially arrived.

The NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Tournament is already underway, with Albany taking down Sacred Heart in the play-in game on Wednesday. Now we can look ahead to all eight first-round matchups on Saturday and Sunday.

This newsletter will predict the winner and final score for each contest. We’ll also provide game times and tune-in links, so you can catch all the action this weekend.

But first, are you ready to rep your team in the tournament? Click the image below to shop from the TLN x Champion Collegiate Collection.

💥 St. Joe’s at (6) Virginia

When: Saturday, 12 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU

Virginia has lost four games in a row. There’s no way St. Joe’s makes it five, right? A lot hinges on Virginia goalie Matthew Nunes, who has been benched multiple times in the past month. He has to stop St. Joe’s creative Canadians — namely Levi Anderson and Carter Page — for the Cavaliers to end their skid. At the end of the day, Virginia is a better team from a better conference. Don’t let recent results fool you into thinking this will be an upset.

Prediction: Virginia 17, St. Joe’s 12

💥 Utah at (2) Duke

When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU

Congratulations to the Utes! You’re back-to-back ASUN Champs, but the run ends here. Just like last year when Utah had to go to Notre Dame in Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament, Duke should run away with this one. I can see Brennan O’Neill recording a first-half hat trick in his first game since going No. 1 overall in the PLL Draft. He was named one of five Tewaaraton Award Finalists this week and is looking to become the third player ever to win it twice.

Prediction: Duke 18, Utah 6

💥 Michigan at (5) Denver

When: Saturday, 5 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU

Last year, Michigan ran the table to win the Big Ten Championship and then went on to upset Cornell in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament. Going to Denver will be a different experience. The altitude gives the Pioneers a unique home-field advantage, as evidenced by their 6-1 home record this season. The matchup to watch in this one will be at the face-off stripe between Denver’s Alec Stathakis and Michigan’s Justin Wietfeldt.

Prediction: Denver 9, Michigan 8

💥 Princeton at (7) Maryland

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU

People are saying Princeton will punish an over-seeded Maryland team, but this is recency bias. When these two teams met in February, the Terps won by six goals. To be fair, they are both much different teams now. Princeton is hot, and Maryland was embarrassed in the Big Ten Tournament after losing top scorer Braden Erksa to injury. I think this rematch will be much closer, with Princeton ultimately squeaking past Maryland in a low-scoring slugfest.

Prediction: Princeton 8, Maryland 7 (OT)

💥 Lehigh at (3) Johns Hopkins

When: Sunday, 12 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU

The top two seeds in this tournament feel safe to reach the NCAA quarterfinals, but Hopkins may be in trouble against Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks know how to scratch and claw out victories. Plus, they’ll have arguably the best player on the field in attackman Scott Cole. Hopkins has scored more than 10 goals just once in their past four outings. The Jays have the better roster, but they have to play up to their potential on offense.

Prediction: Hopkins 10, Lehigh 8

💥 Penn State at (8) Georgetown

When: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU

The last time we saw the Nittany Lions, they were run out of the Big Ten Championship game by a red-hot Michigan team. That was by far the worst Penn State looked all season. Was the weather delay a factor? Maybe. I think they’ve regrouped and will look much better against Georgetown, who needed a pair of overtime finishes against Providence and Villanova to capture the Big East Championship. Penn State’s A-game can easily overwhelm the Hoyas.

Prediction: Penn State 14, Georgetown 10

💥 Albany at (1) Notre Dame

When: Sunday, 5 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU

This matchup might remind you of the 2014 NCAA Quarterfinals. Unfortunately for the Great Danes, there are no Thompsons coming to save them. This Notre Dame team looks better than the one that won the NCAA Championship last year. The Fighting Irish are especially deep at midfield, allowing them to own transition and dominate ground ball battles. Albany would need at least 10 more Jake Pisenos to pull off this upset.

Prediction: Notre Dame 19, Albany 8

💥 Towson at (4) Syracuse

When: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU

There’s a reason the TV schedulers saved this game for last. Syracuse is looking to claim its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2017, but there’s some serious upset potential brewing on the opposite end. Towson went undefeated in conference play and will bring significant firepower into this matchup. If you like high-scoring games, this has the potential to be a shootout. The energy at the Dome should be through the roof, and I think that will lift ‘Cuse to victory.

Prediction: Syracuse 17, Towson 16 (OT)