😵‍💫 MASSIVE TOP 20 SHAKE-UP

We need to talk about last weekend.

North Carolina took down Hopkins at Homewood!? Syracuse fell apart against Harvard?? Virginia lost by nine to Ohio State??? Spring lacrosse has officially SPRUNG.

As a result of these recent outcomes (and several others around the D1 landscape), The People’s Top 20 underwent a major overhaul this week. The entire bottom quarter consists of teams that were unranked in this fan-voted poll a week ago.

Here’s a little bit on each of the new teams in our rankings this week…

No. 16 Colgate: The Raiders deserve some credit for taking their lumps against Penn State and Virginia. They’ve gone 3-0 since then and are building a decent résumé with wins over Albany, Harvard and Villanova. Brothers Rory and Liam Connor are an exciting duo that has combined for 40 points so far this season.

No. 17 Ohio State: Since suffering a season-opening beatdown at the hands of Utah, the Buckeyes have won five straight games. That’s the longest current winning streak (and most wins) in men’s D1. Ohio State’s defense looks legit after limiting Virginia to just five goals and holding star attackman McCabe Millon without a point.

No. 18 Fairfield: The Stags are the most fun team to watch in college lacrosse right now. They’re undefeated and have claimed their last two victories in overtime. Fairfield also has wins over two teams that made last year’s NCAA Tournament (Lehigh, Sacred Heart). This may be the team to beat in the CAA.

No. 19 Boston U: The Terriers still need a signature win, but they deserve some credit for starting the season 4-0. Despite losing some key scorers from last year, they’ve adapted well with fresh faces in the lineup. Patriot League play starts this week; it’ll be interesting to see how Boston U fares at Navy on Saturday.

No. 20 VMI: Give it up for the Keydets. They’re 4-1 and could run the table the rest of the way. The competition in the newly reestablished NEC won’t blow you away, but VMI has a pathway to the NCAA Tournament as the top team in a weak conference. Luke Ruterucci is a player to watch with a D1-leading average of 7.0 points/game.

Who’s YOUR sleeper team to watch this season? Reply to this email with a team we should be watching!

🤔 What’s Wrong With The ACC?

February is supposed to be a tune-up for the blue bloods of college lacrosse. But for two typical powerhouses in the ACC, Virginia and Syracuse, this month has been a struggle.

Let’s start with Virginia.

The Cavaliers are 2-2 with upset losses to Richmond at home and Ohio State on the road. Although those two teams are now ranked, the final results were still shocking. Richmond had never won in Charlottesville before, and Ohio State completely shutting down Virginia’s offense was unexpected.

Virginia has wins over Colgate (now ranked) and High Point, but the Cavaliers have to clean things up in order to salvage their NCAA Tournament résumé the rest of the way. They are averaging 18.3 turnovers per game and have the 58th ranked clearing rate (79.8%) in the country.

Now, let’s pick apart Syracuse.

The Orange entered the season with a ton of hype and started 3-0 with dominant wins over Jacksonville, Vermont and Towson. Since then, however, they have dropped two straight against Maryland and Harvard.

The Maryland game reset expectations, but it was largely excused. It was a rainy day at College Park, and the Terps might be the best-coached team in the country. Losing to Harvard at The Dome after taking a 5-0 lead in the first six minutes, on the other hand, is inexcusable.

Will Syracuse continue to spiral? The Orange have to go across the country to play Utah this week, then they host Hopkins the following weekend. The wheels could start falling off the wagon…

Elsewhere in the ACC, Notre Dame still looks like Notre Dame, and North Carolina is stepping forward as this year’s young and exciting team on the rise. But even 4-0 Duke is looking a little shaky. They struggled against St. Joe’s recently and needed overtime to beat Michigan, despite having home-field advantage in both games.

🏆 NCAA Title Rematch in Atlanta

This week was a wild shake-up in The People’s Top 20, but next week’s rankings could feature a new No. 1.

Notre Dame and Maryland, the top two teams in the country, are set for a rematch of last year’s NCAA Championship game. The game will be held at Georgia Tech Football’s Bobby Dodd Stadium as part of the Atlanta Lacrosse Invitational on Saturday, March 1.

Notre Dame beat Maryland, 15-5, in last year’s title game, but there’s reason to believe things will be different this time around. The Fighting Irish are without two Tewaaraton Award finalists from last year in Pat Kavanagh and Liam Entenmann. Meanwhile, Maryland head coach John Tillman had all offseason to learn from his team’s mistakes.

Both teams are undefeated heading into this neutral-site rematch. Notre Dame has the No. 1 offense (19.0 goals/game) in Division I lacrosse right now, while Maryland has not allowed an opponent to score double-digit goals in a game yet this year.

This will be a key moment for Chris Kavanagh to build his cases for Tewaaraton and potential No. 1 pick in the 2025 PLL Draft. He had six goals in the Championship game against Maryland last year and won Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament. Kavanagh is averaging 5.67 points/game (7th in D1) so far this year.

✍️ CJ Kirst Reveals His Advantage

Cornell attackman CJ Kirst has scored six goals in two straight games to start the season, and in a recent win over Denver, he hit that mark on just six shots (100% shooting).

So, how does he do it? Take a look at all six of Kirst’s goals against Denver and notice the various ways he put the ball in the back of the net.

Kirst recently shared the key to his game with USA Lacrosse Magazine:

“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve slowed the game down a little bit and learned that you don’t always have to go 100 miles an hour to get the right shot or the right pass,” Kirst said. “You have to see the game at a slower pace than everyone else. When you have that higher IQ, I feel like it gives you a huge competitive advantage.”

Kirst’s patience and lacrosse IQ is apparent when you watch him dodge against Denver. On his first goal, he splits right, gains a step on his defender with a rocker move, then fools the goalie with a subtle head-fake leaner.

Kirst also stacks moves while he dodges, and he’ll use different combos to keep defenders guessing. On his third goal, he rolls back once, then baits the defender with a rocker to get topside for a clear shot with his strong left hand. On the next goal, he does the opposite and rolls back twice, setting up an easy doorstep finish with his right.

The most impressive part of Kirst’s game might be how balanced it is. Not only did he score each of these six goals in different ways, three of them were left-handed and three of them we’re right-handed. How do you stop that!?

📺 College Lacrosse on TV!

Here’s the men’s D1 slate and watch links for this weekend, via Inside Lacrosse (all times Eastern):

Tuesday, Feb. 25:
2 p.m. — Monmouth at Wagner (NEC Front Row)
4 p.m. — Canisius at Michigan (BTN+)
4 p.m. — Iona at Stony Brook (FloSports)
4 p.m. — Providence at Merrimack (Merrimack Sports Network)
4 p.m. — Mercyhurt at St. Bonaventure (ESPN+)
5 p.m. — Cornell at Hobart (Hobart All-Access)

Wednesday, Feb. 26:
7 p.m. — Drexel at NJIT (ESPN+)

We’ll be back on Friday for the full weekend slate!