Vol. 12: Army-Navy Rematch Headlines Conference Tournament Weekend
Quick on the Draw has its first-ever video preview for conference tournament weekend. We're covering everything from the ACC and Big Ten to mid-major action.
Navy freshman Ava Yovino is fourth nationally in assists this season. The Mids are looking for revenge versus Army in the Patriot League semis. Photo courtesy: Navy Athletics.
The sport’s deepest and, lately, most prolific conference has already wrapped its league tournament. And, boy, did the ACC Championship deliver. Boston College finally got the monkey off its back, winning not only its first ACC Championship in program history, but also the school’s first ACC Championship since the BC men’s soccer team accomplished that feat in 2007.
BC came back from three goals down in the second half to beat North Carolina, holding the Tar Heels scoreless the final 22:50. It was a defensive master class by the Eagles, who were previously winless against the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament.
What a way to start this year’s stretch of conference tournaments, and we cover it all on Quick on the Draw’s first-ever YouTube video.
Andy and David start with the ACCs but tackle all the major league storylines heading into this weekend in a can’t-miss half-hour episode.
Topic rundown…
Note: The time stamps for the video are in parentheses.
(1:45) — ACC Tournament recap: BC coupled its ACC regular season title with an elusive conference tournament championship while avenging last year’s national title game loss to UNC. But Syracuse, notably, suffered its second loss in the last three games. The Orange’s late-season hiccup begs the question: Are they still in the national championship conversation? The RPI thinks so. ’Cuse is still second in that department, ahead of both UNC and BC.
(8:00) — More parity in the Big Ten this year: Northwestern is atop the national poll, but the pecking order of the rest of the conference is harder to figure out. Maryland, which has been to the Final Four 12 of the last 13 full seasons, doesn’t have the offensive firepower of years past. Michigan and Penn State are both 11-win bubble teams. And what about Rutgers and Johns Hopkins? Well, the Scarlet Knights are somehow still hanging around after, at one point, losing 7-of-8 games.
Michigan celebrates after beating fellow bubble team Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. The Wolverines have hit the 11-win mark for the second year in a row. Photo courtesy: Michigan Athletics.
(17:45) — Loyola, Army-Navy headline Patriot League Tournament: The Army-Navy women’s lacrosse rivalry has never been juicier. Army hadn’t defeated Navy until last year. Now, the Black Knights have taken down the Mids back-to-back seasons. Navy has a chance to reclaim bragging rights in the Patriot League Tournament, just like last year. This game could decide which of these teams makes the NCAA Tournament, and it features an awesome freshman matchup of Patriot League Rookie of the Year Brigid Duffy (Army) and the fourth-leading feeder in the country Ava Yovino (Navy). Whoever wins that game will likely get Loyola, and we go in depth on the Greyhounds’ run of Patriot League dominance.
(24:50) — The Big East is Denver’s to lose: Denver is the only remaining undefeated team in the country and yet is the No. 5 team in the Inside Lacrosse Top 25. If that doesn’t make sense to you, you’re not alone. The Pioneers have a suffocating defense that leads the nation in fewest goals per game allowed. They’re second in the nation in caused turnovers per game and fifth in draw control percentage. That’s pretty tough to beat. Marquette is having a storybook season of its own and hopes to reach the Big East Tournament title game to get one more crack at Denver.
Denver’s suffocating defense played a big role in Marquette turning the ball over 27 times in the teams’ regular season finale, a 12-5 Pioneers win. Photo courtesy: Denver Athletics.
(29:30) — Mid-major tournaments that excite us & some lightning round picks: We finish off the episode by highlighting four mid-major tournaments that might be flying under the radar but should be entertaining: the AAC, A-10, America East and MAC tourneys. Then we give quick picks for players to watch as well as our locks for conference tournament weekend.
Numbers to Know:
50 – There are 50 conference tournament games that will be played between today and Sunday. Enjoy the start of May Madness, everyone!
19 – The number of saves that BC freshman goalie Shea Dolce registered across three games of the ACC Tournament. She was named the tournament’s MVP. Dolce’s 8.64 goals against average is second in the ACC and seventh in the nation.
2018 – The last time that Loyola lost in the Patriot League Tournament came on May 6, 2018. The Greyhounds fell, 17-10, to Navy in the conference tournament championship. Can Lehigh, Army or Navy knock off the top dogs in 2023?
Junior attacker Sydni Black charges upfield against Army earlier this season. Black is one of three Greyhounds players with at least 40 goals this year. Photo courtesy: Larry French/Loyola Athletics.
Tewaaraton Watch:
The Tewaaraton Award Foundation revealed the top-25 nominees for the sport’s most prestigious award toward the end of April. The list includes honorees from 14 different schools, headlined by Northwestern (four players) and Syracuse (three). BC, Denver, Florida, James Madison, Loyola and Notre Dame all have two players in Tewaaraton consideration.
Northwestern’s Izzy Scane and Syracuse’s Meaghan Tyrrell—the nation’s top-two point scorers—are the frontrunners for the award. Both are in position to be repeat finalists. Tyrrell was a finalist last year, while Scane was one of the final five up for consideration in 2021.
But here’s every player who made the cut:
Madison Ahern, Sr. –, Attack (Notre Dame)
Meghan Ball, Sr. –, Defense (Rutgers)
Abby Bosco, Gr. – Defense (Maryland)
Kasey Choma, Sr. – Midfield (Notre Dame)
Erin Coykendall, Sr. – Attack (Northwestern)
Katie Detwiler, Gr. – Defense (Loyola)
Mairead Durkin, Sr. – Defense (James Madison)
Emma LoPinto, So. – Attack (Florida)
Ellie Masera, Jr. – Midfield (Stony Brook)
Ashlyn McGovern, Gr. – Attack (UVA)
Trinity McPherson, Gr. – Defense (Denver)
Jenn Medjid, Gr. – Attack (BC)
Emily Nalls, Sr. – Defense (UNC)
Isabella Peterson, Jr. – Attack (James Madison)
Sarah Reznick, R-Jr. – Goalie (Florida)
Hailey Rhatigan, Gr. – Attack (Northwestern)
Izzy Scane, Gr. – Attack (Northwestern)
Belle Smith, Jr. – Midfield (BC)
Jill Smith, So. – Attack (Michigan)
Delaney Sweitzer, Sr. – Goalie (Syracuse)
Sam Thacker, Sr. – Defense (Denver)
Meaghan Tyrrell, Gr. – Attack (Syracuse)
Emma Ward, Jr. – Attack (Syracuse)
Sammy White, So. – Defense (Northwestern)
Jillian Wilson, Gr. – Midfield (Loyola)
The five finalists for this year’s Tewaaraton Award Ceremony will be announced on May 11. The ceremony will take place in Washington, D.C. on June 1.
POINTS LEADERS
GOALS LEADERS
NOTE:Â Stats correct through May 2.
Inside Lacrosse Poll
Screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
All of a sudden, Syracuse — the No. 1 team in the Inside Lacrosse Poll from Week 6-10 — is No. 4 after a regular season finale loss to BC and an ACC Tournament defeat to UNC. Now the ACC regular season and tournament champion, BC, has climbed to No. 2, and UNC, the ACC Tournament runner-up, is at No. 3. Denver, the lone undefeated in the sport, rounds out the top five, dropping two spots despite locking up the Big East regular season title.
Maryland responded to back-to-back losses by returning to the top 10 with a Big Ten Tournament win over Ohio State. That pushed Stony Brook to No. 11 and Virginia to No. 12. Michigan beat Penn State, another bubble team, in the Big Ten Tournament. A six-goal win vaulted the Wolverines to No. 16, while the Nittany Lions plummeted to No. 21. USC rose three spots, from No. 20 to No. 17, and has the inside track on the Pac-12 Tournament title.
Marquette jumped five places, hiking up to No. 19, even though the Golden Eagles suffered their second loss of the season: a 12-5 defeat to Denver. Yale got back in the win column yet was ousted from the top 25. The Bulldogs were the only team to get pushed out of the poll this week, and No. 23 Rutgers — winners of four of its last five games — was the lone newcomer.
What’s Ahead?
No. 23 Rutgers (6-seed) vs. No. 10 Maryland (2-seed), May 4, 6 p.m.
No. 25 Navy (3-seed) vs. No. 15 Army (2-seed), May 4, 7 p.m.
No. 16 Michigan (4-seed) vs. No. 1 Northwestern (1-seed), May 4, 8:30 p.m.
Princeton (3-seed) vs. Yale (2-seed), May 5, 4 p.m.
No. 24 UConn (3-seed) vs. No. 19 Marquette (2-seed), May 5, 1 p.m.
Six conference tournament championship games (ASUN, Big Ten, CAA, NEC, Pac-12, Patriot), May 6
Eight conference tournament championship games (A-10, America East, AAC, Big East, Big South, Ivy, MAAC, MAC), May 7
Hope you enjoyed this edition of the Quick on the Draw newsletter. If you liked it or know someone who will, please share! We’ll be back next week for more coverage.