Vol. 14: Conference Championships and NCAA Tournament Breakdown
Vol. 14: Conference Championships and NCAA Tournament Breakdown
Bid-stealing upsets, continued conference dominance and bubble question marks—it's the start of May Madness. And it's time to see how the 29-team field shook out.
Vermont celebrates its America East Championship, booking its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Photo courtesy: Kathleen Helman via Vermont Athletics.
It’s that time of year again. May Madness.
The 29-team field is out, and the NCAA Tournament begins Friday.
Here are the top eight seeds:
North Carolina (18-0)
Maryland (17-1)
Boston College (16-3)
Northwestern (13-4)
Syracuse (13-5)
Loyola (18-1)
Florida (15-4)
Stony Brook (14-2)
There’s a bit of deviation between the NCAA Selection Committee’s seeding and the latest Inside Lacrosse Top 25. The top three is identical, however, Northwestern is No. 6 in the IL Poll, while the Wildcats snagged the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, despite being blown out by Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Syracuse is still the No. 4 team in the country in the IL Poll, where Loyola is No. 5. Stony Brook is No. 7, and Florida is No. 8.
It’s worth noting that Syracuse is the lone five-loss team to receive a national seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Last year’s national runner-ups, the Orange bowed out to Virginia in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Conference Championship Rundown:
Drexel recovers from slow start to steal CAA bid from Towson: Last year, Drexel made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Dragons needed a little help—most notably, James Madison not being eligible for the CAA Tournament—to get back there, but they did it, even without head coach Jill Batcheller, who moved to Villanova last offseason. After starting the season 5-5, Drexel won seven of its last nine games, including back-to-back CAA Tournament contests. The Dragons edged top-seeded Towson in overtime to claim the program’s first conference championship.
Fairfield keeps the streak alive with its fourth straight MAAC title: Book it. The Stags are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row. Canisius is the only other league member to win four consecutive MAAC Championships. Fairfield came into the conference tournament as the fourth seed, but it didn’t matter. The Stags rolled past Canisius and then beat Siena and Monmouth to claim the title. Libby Rowe starred in the final, scoring five goals and leading the Stags back from two goals down in the third quarter.
Denver escapes surging Georgetown in double-overtime thriller for Big East Crown: The third-seeded Hoyas, who came into the conference tournament with a .500 record, nearly shocked the country in the league final. They staked themselves to a 12-7 halftime lead and maintained a five-goal advantage over No. 12 Denver early in the third quarter. That’s when the Pioneers rallied. In fact, they registered eight of the game’s final 10 goals. Denver used runs of four and three goals to erase its deficit and even pull ahead. But Georgetown’s Jordyn Sabourin forced overtime. Except, Pioneers graduate attacker Bea Behrins, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, notched the game-winner in the extra frame to clinch a 16-15 win.
Like clockwork, Florida coasts through the AAC: Remember when Florida was 2-4 back in March? If you don’t, we don’t blame you. Because the Gators have put those days behind them with 13 straight victories. They were 5-0 in AAC play and dominated the league tournament, trouncing East Carolina and Vanderbilt, each by a score of 18-7. This is the ninth time in program history that Florida has won both the regular season and tournament conference titles. Florida’s only losses this season have come against national seeds (UNC, Maryland, Stony Brook and Loyola).
Princeton breezes past the Ivies: Princeton played its last non-conference game on April 13 against then-No. 8 Maryland. The Terrapins won convincingly, 19-9, though the Tigers scored the first three goals of the game. Maryland graduate attacker Aurora Cordingley had five goals and two assists, while Princeton junior attacker Kate Mulham led the way for the Tigers with five goals off the bench. Since then, Princeton has coasted through the Ivy League play. The Tigers went a perfect 7-0 in conference play and beat Harvard, 13-6, and Yale, 19-9, to capture the Ivy League crown. Princeton has now won seven straight, and its first-round matchup with UMass is one of our favorite games in the bracket.
Amid a nine-point outing, Princeton’s Kyla Sears cradles the ball against Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals. Photo courtesy: Shelley Szwast via Princeton Athletics.
Loyola’s Patriot League reign continues: We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Loyola is head and shoulders above the rest of the Patriot League. The Greyhounds have won seven straight regular season conference titles going back to 2014. They’ve won the conference tournament three straight times and have captured six of the last eight tournament titles. The Greyhounds swept the Patriot League major awards, led by graduate attacker Livy Rosenzweig, who has tallied 60 goals and 38 assists this year. Loyola defeated Lehigh, 19-5, and Navy, 15-8, to capture this year’s tournament title, and they’ve lost just one game—a one-goal heartbreaker at then-No. 4 Syracuse. Loyola faces Mount St. Mary’s in round one.
Jacksonville is still the team to beat in the ASUN: Perhaps the Dolphins didn’t enjoy the kind of non-conference success they were searching for—they lost a one-goal game to USC, were clobbered by Notre Dame and were doubled up by in-state rival Florida. But they cleaned up against Atlantic Sun competition. Jacksonville’s offense, which is tops in the nation in scoring, averaged a whopping 22.4 goals per game in ASUN play this season. That carried over to the league tournament, during which the Dolphins scored a combined 40 goals against fourth-seeded Coastal Carolina and second-seeded Liberty, en route to its fifth straight championship.
Jacksonville graduate attacker Jenny Kinsey, second on the team with 47 goals, looks to cage against Liberty on April 23. Photo courtesy: KJ Jugar via Jacksonville Athletics.
Mount St. Mary’s runs it back and wins NEC: Siri, play “Back to Back” by Drake. The Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers defeated Wagner, 12-11, and Bryant, 15-13, to win their second straight NEC Tournament. Trailing, 11-10, to Wagner in the fourth quarter of the conference semis, sophomore attacker Christina Haspert scored a goal with 4:07 left to tie the game. With 2:11 left in the first overtime, Haspert worked her way through traffic and netted the game-winner. She finished with three goals and two assists. Junior goalie Madison Bradley led the Mounts with 15 saves against top-seeded Bryant in the championship, and the Mountaineers punched their ticket. Mount St. Mary’s went 7-1 in conference in the regular season, was voted the NEC preseason favorite and faces Loyola in round one on Friday. An NEC team has never won a first-round NCAA Tournament game.
Vermont wins back-to-back nail biters to capture America East crown in dream season: The Catamounts, seeded second in the America East Tournament, defeated third-seeded Binghamton, 13-12, and top-seeded Albany, 12-11, to earn a program record 14 wins in 2022. Vermont narrowly lost to Binghamton on April 30 and avenged that defeat last Thursday. Nothing compares to the revenge they got beating Albany, though. Since 2008, the Catamounts dropped 16 straight games to Albany, including three America East Tournament contests. Before this year, Vermont was 0-9 in America East Tournament games. Senior midfielder Grace Giancola and junior midfielder Ava Vasile each registered hit tricks in the title game.
Stanford downs Arizona State to secure Pac-12 title: The Cardinal had a funky year. They entered the season ranked No. 13 in the nation and were the only Pac-12 team in the IL Poll. Then Stanford started 1-4 with close losses to Syracuse and Denver, an upset loss to Richmond, and a 10-goal drumming at the hands of Virginia. After that, though, head coach Danielle Spencer’s team righted the ship with an 11-2 close to the year. The Cardinal defeated Oregon, 21-9, and Arizona State, 18-12, in the Pac-12 Tournament. In her first full season, Ashley Humphrey wowed the country with 84 assists, the most in the country. The Cardinals are fourth in the sport in points per game with 25.11, and they’ll play Jacksonville in round one.
Maryland is atop the Big Ten again: It might be a while before Maryland has another “off year” like it had in 2021. The Terrapins have convinced everyone that it was nothing more than a blip on the radar. They pummeled Rutgers in the Big Ten final, 18-8, after Northwestern was bounced by the Scarlet Knights in the tournament semifinals. Maryland, the No. 2 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, hasn’t lost since its shocking March defeat to JMU. The Terps boast three USA Lacrosse Magazine first-team All-Americans. They’re national title contenders.
Aurora Cordingley (right) celebrates with Hannah Leubecker (left) during Maryland’s Big Ten Tournament semifinal win over Johns Hopkins on May 6. Photo courtesy: UMD Athletics.
UNC blows away BC with monster third quarter in ACC final: BC has won a national championship. And the Eagles have beaten UNC twice in the Final Four. But they can’t seem to get past the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament title game. For the third time in the last five years, UNC defeated BC for the conference crown. Scottie Rose Growney scored right before halftime at a rain-soaked Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill. It was the first of 11 straight Tar Heel goals that turned a three-score deficit into a runaway victory. Jamie Ortega, the ACC Attacker of the Year, starred with nine points (4 goals, 5 assists). UNC has won six straight conference championships, tying Maryland (2009-14) for the longest streak in ACC history.
Mercer wins in Year One in the Big South: Last year, Mercer celebrated its third straight SoCon Championship with a 14-13 win over Furman. The Bears experienced more celebration this time around—only, in a different league—as they topped Furman, 22-14, and High Point, 16-13, to win the Big South. Senior attacker Haley Rhatigan tallied 15 points across the two games. Mercer is 0-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with losses to Florida, Jacksonville and Wagner. Mercer takes on Florida in round one, and the Gators won the the teams’ regular season matchup, 19-5.
St. Joe’s wins A-10, makes first NCAA appearance: We documented this in-depth last week, if you need a refresher. St. Joe’s pulled off two epic upsets over Richmond, 10-9, and UMass, 15-9, to punch the Hawks’ first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Senior attacker Lauren Figura logged 13 goals and two assists in the tournament and won Most Outstanding Player honors. St. Joe’s will face Rutgers on Friday in its first game in 12 days.
Central Michigan wins the MAC and goes dancing for the first time: Central Michigan has been building since its first season in 2016. After two losing seasons in 2016 and 2017, the Chippewas earned their first winning record in 2018, going 11-7. In 2022, they won a program-best 12 games and went 12-7 overall and 8-2 in the MAC. CMU beat Kent State, 15-5, and Robert Morris, 20-10, to win the crown and make their first NCAA Tournament in program history. Junior midfielder Audrey Whiteside led the way with 75 points this year. CMU will face No. 4 seed Northwestern on Friday.
Senior Brennan Paddy flings her stick after a goal in Central Michigan’s MAC Championship win over Robert Morris on May 7. Photo courtesy: Jack Reeber via CMU Athletics.
NCAA Tourney First-Round Matchups to Watch:
Rutgers vs. St. Joseph’s: You can make the argument that Rutgers got jipped. The Scarlet Knights could have been a national seed (more on that later) but, instead, are matched up with one of this season’s Cinderella stories. St. Joe’s is coming off a miraculous run through the Atlantic 10 Tournament, during which the Hawks beat second-seeded Richmond and then top-seeded UMass to clinch their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The question is, can Rutgers stop senior attacker Lauren Figura? She is fifth nationally with 71 goals and piled up 13 amid the Hawks’ three-game A-10 Tournament run.
UMass vs. Princeton: Because of St. Joe’s magic, UMass almost missed the NCAA Tournament. The Minutewomen ended up grabbing one of the final at-large bids and now are pitted against Princeton in the first round. Unfortunately for UMass, it has to play at Princeton since the Tigers are hosting their pod’s games due to commencement taking place at the Carrier Dome, where Syracuse—the region’s top seed—has its home games. Still, the Minutewomen could make things interesting. They rank eighth nationally in scoring. And they whip up the fourth-most shots on goal per game (26.58) in the country. The pressure is on Princeton, which is playing for longtime head coach Chris Sailer, who is in her 36th and final season at the helm of the Tigers.
UVA vs. USC: This matchup has a blue-blood feel. Big-name schools Virginia and USC fight for a chance to take on No. 1 seed UNC in the second round. The Trojans went 13-4 this season and fell, 13-12, to Arizona State in the Pac-12 semifinals. They boasted one of the top defense in the conference, as they were first the Pac-12 in caused turnovers per game (10.12) and second in ground balls per game (19.65). Virginia survived the ACC gauntlet with a 9-9 overall record. They pulled off an upset over Syracuse, 18-14, in the ACC quarters before suffering a 20-12 loss to BC. Freshman midfielder Rachel Clark dominated with 70 points for the Cavaliers this season. Can she and UVA crack the code of the USC defense? That will be a trend to watch in this game.
Jacksonville vs. Stanford: Kind of an intriguing matchup, no? Stanford was a mildly disappointing power conference team, while Jacksonville held strong in the ASUN. The Dolphins lost ranked matchups to UNC, Notre Dame and Florida. Interestingly, they also lost, 13-12, to USC in February. Stanford beat USC twice this year, 15-14 in overtime and 23-17. This game could have the making of a shootout. Stanford and Jacksonville are both in the top-10 in the nation in assists per game, and both are top-20 in free position percentage. Jacksonville ranks much better defensively as it’s 10th nationally in caused turnovers per game (10.71) and 12th in clearing percentage. The Cardinal are 88th and 13th in those categories, respectively. With two high-powered offenses, look for Stanford goalie Kara Rahaim or Jacksonville netminder Paige Pagano to be a difference-maker.
Weekly Focus:
BRACKET REACTION…WHO GOT SNUBBED? WHO GOT LUCKY?
Biggest snub: Arizona State
Arizona State built on a breakthrough 2021 campaign with a trio of top-25 wins (Rutgers, USC and Stanford) this season. The Sun Devils went 7-2 in their final nine games and reached the Pac-12 Championship for the first time in the program’s young history. ASU finished 27th in RPI, and their early-season loss to Michigan came back to haunt them. It also didn’t help that the Sun Devils lost to both USC and Stanford twice. Still, ASU had more wins (2) against top-20 foes than UConn (1), Johns Hopkins (0) and UMass (0)—all of whom made the tournament.
Arizona State swarms in jubilation after beating USC on May 6 to advance to the Pac-12 Championship. Photo courtesy: Arizona State Athletics.
Luckiest team in: Michigan
It certainly looks like Michigan was a pretender, not a contender. Regardless, the Wolverines have snuck into the NCAA Tournament. After starting the season 8-1 and rising to No. 12, Michigan dropped five of its final seven games, plummeting to No. 21 in the IL Poll and missing out on the Big Ten Tournament. An RPI ranking of 20 and wins against three NCAA Tournament teams (Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins and Central Michigan) were enough to get the Wolverines in. And, again, that head-to-head over ASU proved critical.
And…did Rutgers deserve a national seed?
Maybe! It’s tricky to get inside the head of the NCAA Selection Committee. Last year, Duke was a No. 7 seed, despite being 9-7 with just two wins over NCAA Tournament teams. Rutgers ranked seventh in RPI this season and made the Big Ten Tournament final after upsetting Northwestern in the semis for its first-ever top-five victory. The Scarlet Knights set a single-season program record with 15 wins this year. That said, it would have been hard to deny Stony Brook, Florida or Loyola a seed. So leaving Rutgers out makes some sense.
Bracketology Nuggets:
Last four in: In case you missed it, the last four teams into the NCAA Tournament were UConn (13-4, No. 14 RPI, lost to Denver in Big East semis), Johns Hopkins (10-8, No. 15 RPI, lost to Maryland in Big Ten semis), UMass (16-3, No. 19 RPI, lost to St. Joe’s in A-10 Championship) and Michigan (10-6, No. 20, did not make Big Ten Tournament).
First four out: The first four teams out of this year’s bracket were Temple (11-6, No. 22 RPI, lost in OT to Vanderbilt in American semis), Arizona State (11-8, No. 27, lost to Stanford in Pac-12 Championship), Yale (11-6, No. 25 RPI, lost to Princeton in Ivy Championship) and Ohio State (9-7, No. 23 RPI, did not make Big Ten Tournament).
Princeton, not Syracuse, will host four-team pod: As mentioned above, Princeton has an unexpected home-field advantage, despite the fact that Syracuse is the seeded team in the four-team pod consisting of Syracuse, Fairfield, UMass and Princeton. Syracuse Athletics issued a press release last week stating that the university could not meet the NCAA’s minimum requirements for hotels and lodging and therefore has to forfeit home field. Syracuse is hosting graduation events May 12-15. That means Princeton will play at home for its first-round game versus UMass and its potential second-round game against Syracuse. Spicy.
Numbers to Know:
4 – the number of No. 1 seeds that have won the NCAA tournament out of the last 10. Coincidentally, Maryland was No. 1 each time, winning in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019. Two No. 2 seeds have won in the last 10 tourneys, along with three No. 3 seeds and one No. 4 seed. No seed No. 5 or lower has won the tournament since 2011.
2017 – the only year of the last 10 tournaments in which two unseeded teams made the Final Four. BC faced Navy in the national semifinal. That year, the Eagles upset No. 6 seed Syracuse in the second round, and Navy beat No. 7 seed Penn in the first round. No. 1 seed Maryland would go on to beat BC in the title game.
6 – in six of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, the No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds all made the Final Four. This happened in the last three tournament, too, in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Just three unseeded teams have made the Final Four since the 2011 NCAA Tournament: BC (2017), Navy (2017) and Penn State (2016).
5 – the number of seeded teams to make the Elite Eight in 2015 and 2017. In every other tournament since 2011, six or more seeded teams have made the Elite Eight. Last year, seeds 1-8 all made the Elite Eight, and that was the only time that has happened in the last 10 tries.
Tewaaraton Watch:
POINTS LEADERS
GOALS LEADERS
NOTE: Stats correct through May 11.
Our Brackets:
ANDY’S PICKS
DAVID’S PICKS
Want to join in on the bracket-making fun? Lacrosse Reference has you covered. Just click on the link in the tweet below to get started.
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.