Vol. 15: Tourney Favorites Impress, Seeded Teams Roll Through Opening Weekend
For the second year in a row, the bracket went chalk in the opening weekend. Although there were a few surprises, all eight seeds advanced to the Elite Eight.
Florida beat upset-hungry Mercer and Jacksonville, advancing to the Elite Eight for the seventh time in its 13-year existence. Photo courtesy: Matt Pendleton/Florida Athletics.
North Carolina made a statement with a 24-2 win over Virginia in the second round. Maryland did the same with a 19-6 drumming of Duke.
The top-two seeds appear to be on a crash course for Baltimore. But that’s not to say that the other seeded teams couldn’t make a National Championship push.
All eight of this year’s national seeds made it to the Elite Eight. That happened last year, too.
Even though the bracket went chalk in the opening weekend, there were plenty of storylines and some surprising first-round results.
BEST GAMES OF THE FIRST ROUND
Syracuse falters, holds off MAAC champion Fairfield in one-goal win: In one of the more surprising results of the first round, Syracuse held on to defeat Fairfield by just one goal, 12-11. With Syracuse leading, 11-6, after three quarters, first-year head coach Kayla Treanor pulled starting goalie Kimber Hower for graduate student Hannah Van Middelem to start the fourth. Hower had allowed six goals and made seven saves in the first 45 minutes. Van Middelem let up five goals and had no saves. The run pulled Fairfield within one, and Treanor subbed Hower back in with 3:36 to play. The Orange staved the Stags from there, avoiding a massive upset.
Behind Schwab’s seven assists, UVA tops USC: Rachel Clark was the Cavaliers’ standout underclassman most of the season. She came through in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament with four goals. But another young UVA player stole the show: sophomore Morgan Schwab, who tied a single-game program record with seven helpers. Schwab assisted on five of the Cavaliers’ first seven goals. UVA staked itself to a 7-1 lead, however, USC battled back with a 6-0 run that bled into the third quarter. A goal from freshman Kate Miller woke UVA up, and, although the Women of Troy pulled within one before the fourth quarter, head coach Julie Myers’ Cavaliers created enough of a cushion in the final frame.
Early Princeton leads does the trick against UMass: The Tigers used a 5-1 first quarter to slingshot themselves past the Minutewomen. Kate Mulham, one of three Princeton players to register a hat trick in the opening-round victory, kicked off the scoring, but Kayla Sears carried the torch with a team-high four scoring strikes, surpassing the 300-point mark for her career. UMass attacker Alex Finn made it a four-goal game in the fourth quarter. Except, Princeton answered with three straight scoring plays to secure the win. Six of Princeton’s seven goal scorers recorded their first-ever NCAA Tournament goals in the victory.
Michigan shakes skid, defeats Notre Dame for second time: The Wolverines bested then-No. 5 Notre Dame, 11-7, way back on Feb. 13. The win was part of a 7-0 start that catapulted the maize and blue to No. 8 in the Inside Lacrosse Poll. Then they faded hard with a 3-6 close to the regular season. Notre Dame, on the other hand, won four of its last five to end the year. After a 3-3 first quarter, the Wolverines outscored the Irish in every frame. Five Michigan players tallied three or more points, highlighted by Caitlin Muir's three goals and two assists. Notre Dame’s Maddie Howe was the only Irish player with three points. Notre Dame head coach Christine Halfpenny is now 6-9 in the NCAA Tournament.
Mercer impresses, falls short to Florida: It’s hard to build a program, especially when you’re a mid-major. Despite Mercer’s 19-12 loss to Florida in the first round of the tournament, the Bears proved they’re doing just that. Prior to last weekend, Mercer was 0-2 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, losing by an average of 16.5 goals. This year, they lost by seven to the Gators. Mercer kept pace with the No. 7 seed, trailing by just one early in the second quarter. Senior attacker Haley Rhatigan had just two goals, but junior midfielder Chloe Schaeffer and junior attacker Shannon Urey each scored three to go along with an assist. Florida had three players with four or more points, led by six points from sophomore attacker Ashley Gonzalez and freshman attacker Emma LoPinto.
Jacksonville doesn’t skip a beat and dusts Stanford: The Dolphins averaged 22.4 goals per game in ASUN play this season. Then they combined for 40 goals in their two conference tournament contests. Jacksonville kept its foot on the gas against the Cardinal, racking up 20 goals in its first-round victory over the Pac-12 champions. Not even a two-hour lightning delay in Gainesville could slow down the Dolphins’ attack. It came after Jacksonville had already mounted an 11-3 lead. Shortly after play resumed, Jacksonville scored three goals in the span of a minute to go up double digits. Sarah Elms was the architect of the Dolphins’ triumphant victory, recording five goals and three assists.
Jacksonville’s Sarah Elms scored five goals in the Dolphins’ 20-8 first-round win over Stanford on May 13. Photo courtesy: Jacksonville Athletics.
SECOND ROUND ROUNDUP
Caitlyn Wurzburger (left) celebrates with teammates during UNC’s 24-2 second-round win over UVA on May 15. Photo courtesy: Jeffrey A. Camarati/UNC Athletics.
UNC throttles Virginia, proves it’s the team to beat: 24-2. That was the score. Twenty-four to two. In their regular season meeting, UNC won convincingly, but by a reasonable score of 17-7. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels dominated in one of the best showings in postseason history. The 24 goals were a program record for an NCAA Tournament game and tied for the largest win in school history. Fifth-year attacker Jamie Ortega, graduate midfielder Ally Mastroianni, fifth-year attacker Scottie Rose Growney and graduate attacker Andie Aldave all tallied hat tricks. Aldave’s came in a four-minute span in the first quarter, as UNC outscored Virginia, 9-0, in the first 15 minutes. Perhaps the story of the day, though, was sophomore attacker Caitlyn Wurzburger’s one goal and career-high six assists.
All in all, UNC scored on 24-of-37 shots for a 64.9% shooting percentage. The Tar Heels beat Virginia for the 12th straight time and 21st time in the last 22 meetings. UNC takes on Stony Brook on Thursday, seeking its 10th Final Four appearance and fourth in a row. The Heels have won nine of their last 12 Elite Eight games.
Stony Brook outlasts Rutgers, sets up a date with No. 1 seed: After pummeling Drexel in the first round, thanks to a 9-0 shutout in the second half, the Seawolves moved on to their fourth Elite Eight in the last five tries with an 11-7 win over Rutgers. The first quarter was back and forth, but Stony Brook held the Scarlet Knights to just three goals over the final 45 minutes of action.
Kailyn Hart registered her 11th straight hat trick. Haley Dillon caused four turnovers. And Charlie Campbell was one stop shy of Stony Brook’s NCAA Tournament single-game program record with 12 saves. Rutgers went on a 3-0 run to tie the game at 7-7 with 12:02 left in the third quarter, except the Scarlet Knights didn’t score again.
Stony Brook is headed back for another NCAA Quarterfinal in Chapel Hill. Rutgers’ program-best season, meanwhile, has come to an end.
Stony Brook has held its opponents to single digits in all eight of its NCAA Tournament games at LaValle Stadium. Photo courtesy: Stony Brook Athletics.
Syracuse, first-year head coach Kayla Treanor end Princeton, Chris Sailer’s epic season: The Orange put their first-round letdown versus Fairfield behind them, beating Princeton, 13-9, on the Tigers’ home turf. Princeton took an early lead, 4-1, thanks in part to two goals from sophomore midfielder Kari Buonanno. From the 12:53 mark in the second quarter on, Syracuse outscored Princeton, 12-5. Senior attacker Meaghan Tyrrell led the way with five goals, and freshman attacker Olivia Adamson continued her impressive tournament run with a hat trick.
While the offense certainly showed up for the Orange, it was the little things that made the difference. Syracuse was a perfect 24-of-24 on clears and won the draw control battle, 17-8. Junior midfielder Kate Mashewske had 13 of them. Both goalies were terrific, as Princeton senior netminder Sam Fish made 12 saves and allowed just 13 goals. Syracuse redshirt junior goalie Kimber Hower responded with nine goals allowed and 11 saves after being pulled in the fourth quarter of the Fairfield game.
With the loss, Princeton head coach Chris Sailer calls it a career. She finished with an all-time record of 433-168, going 183-45 in Ivy League play. She made 27 NCAA Tournaments, won 16 Ivy League titles and claimed three national championships.
Northwestern wins Big Ten second-round matchup, moves on: Another round, another regular season rematch for Michigan. In the second round, the Wolverines took on No. 4 Northwestern, which they lost to, 12-9, on March 26. The NCAA Tournament edition saw a similar result, as Northwestern won, 15-12. Northwestern graduate attacker Lauren Gilbert scored just 13 seconds into the game, and the ’Cats didn’t look back. Northwestern outscored Michigan, 5-0, in the first quarter and never trailed in the game. Michigan was able to cut the deficit to three at halftime and to two in the third quarter, but Northwestern prevented any further comeback.
Gilbert led the Wildcats’ scoring with four goals and was one of seven players to find the back of the net. Junior attacker Erin Coykendall had a five-point game with two goals and three assists. Northwestern dominated in the circle, winning 23-of-29 draw controls. Graduate midfielder Jill Girardi led the team with 11 and added three points as well. One concerning stat, though: Northwestern had 17 turnovers. Still, the Wildcats looks like a Final Four-caliber team. Imagine if Izzy Scane wasn’t injured…
Northwestern takes on Syracuse on Thursday. The Wildcats won their regular season matchup, 16-15 in overtime.
Maryland gets payback against Duke in a seismic way: Last year, Duke goalie Sophia LeRose stopped a Libby May shot in the waning seconds of the Blue Devils’ Sweet Sixteen victory over Maryland, snapping the Terrapins’ unfathomable streak of 11 straight Final Four appearances. Head coach Cathy Reese’s team got an opportunity to avenge that loss in the same round of the NCAA Tournament this year. And Maryland didn’t waste that chance.
Instead, the second-seeded Terps blasted Duke, 19-6. May got revenge with a team-high five goals, and Maryland used a 10-goal run to fuel its 10th consecutive victory. It didn’t matter that top-two scorers Aurora Cordingley and Hannah Leubecker each found the back of the net just once because the goals were coming from every direction for the Terrapins. Eloise Clevenger and Jordyn Lipkin—who rank fourth and seventh, respectively, on the team in goals this season—both notched hat tricks.
Maryland made a Duke offense that still ranks seventh nationally in scoring look pedestrian. The Terps outshot the Blue Devils, 37-13, and that started with an 18-10 advantage on the draw.
Libby May, who scored a team-high five goals, joins her fellow Terps for an embrace amid a 19-6 second-round win versus Duke. Photo courtesy: Maryland Athletics.
Florida ends Jacksonville’s season for second year in a row: Ever since the Dolphins upset Florida early last year—marking the program’s first-ever top-five victory—the Gators have put that game far in the rear view mirror. Florida thumped Jacksonville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 17-3, in 2021. Then the Gators beat their in-state foe, 12-6, back in late April. And, to cap a dominant stretch, they held off a more persistent Jacksonville effort over the weekend to advance to the Elite Eight with a 15-10 victory.
A 5-1 first quarter was really the difference as it was pretty even the rest of the game, with Jacksonville even outsourcing Florida, 4-2, in the third frame. The Gators’ defense stepped up, limiting a high-powered Dolphins attack to just 10-of-33 shooting. Led by Emily Heller, Florida caused 11 Jacksonville turnovers. Sarah Reznick did her thing between the pipes, logging 12 stops and a .545 save percentage.
Offensively, the Gators were paced by Danielle Pavinelli. She piled up five goals, and freshman middie Josie Hahn tallied her first career hat trick as Florida advanced to its seventh Elite Eight in the program’s 13 years of existence.
Loyola turns heads, defeats James Madison comfortably: The No. 6 seed Greyhounds are legit. With their 18-8 win over JMU, they have won 20 games in a season for the first time in program history. They’re 20-1, with the one loss being a controversial one-goal loss to then-No. 4 Syracuse. Graduate attacker Livy Rosenzweig was brilliant, dishing out season-high six assists and winning 13 draw controls. She was named IWLCA National Player of the Week for the performance. Not bad!
JMU was no slouch, either. Remember, the Dukes beat No. 2 overall seed Maryland back in March. They also beat UConn, Richmond and Virginia, some of the best teams in their respective conferences. Sophomore attacker Katelyn Morgan led the way for JMU with two goals and two assists, but the Loyola attack proved too much. The Greyhounds got out to a 6-1 lead in the first quarter and then allowed just one goal in the second half. Next up for the Greyhounds: Boston College. We think it’s the best of the quarterfinal games on Thursday.
Charlotte North sets NCAA goals record as BC is too much for Denver to handle: The reigning Tewaaraton Award winner and repeat finalist surpassed former Stony Brook star Courtney Murphy for the most goals all-time. North did it in the first quarter with a heat-seeking free-position shot. She finished with a game-high four goals. Denver, which entered with the fifth-best scoring defense in the country, didn’t have an answer for the Eagles’ attack. Even though BC committed 22 turnovers, only 12 of those were caused by the Pioneers. And Pioneers goalies Emelia Bohi and Victoria Macres didn’t make a single save.
Everything seemed to go BC’s way. Jenn Medjid registered a hat trick in the victory, in part because one of her three goals was ruled as such, despite her shot clearly missing the nearside pipe and landing on the outside of the net. The refs congregated, without replay at Newton Lacrosse Field, and upheld the scoring play. Denver players and coaches were understandably angry. The Pioneers cut their deficit to three goals—which really should have been two goals—twice in the second half. Each time, though, BC quelled the threat.
Eagles goalie Rachel Hall has struggled much of this season. That said, the senior posted a .500 save percentage in the 13-8 win over Denver.
Charlotte North surpassed former Stony Brook star Courtney Murphy for the all-time NCAA goals record in BC’s 13-8 win over Denver on May 15. Photo courtesy: BC Athletics.
Weekly Focus:
TEAMS ACROSS THE NCAA TOURNAMENT STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH DELAWARE STATE…
Unfortunately, some things never change, or they change far too slowly. In our second issue, we talked about how the Howard women’s lacrosse team was subjected to racist comments before its opener at Presbyterian College. Howard is one of two HBCUs in Division I women’s lacrosse, and the other, Delaware State, was subjected to an intimidating and humiliating search by police in Georgia just over a week ago.
As the Hornets were bussing back from their final game at Stetson, their charter bus was stopped by Liberty County police In Georgia. The officers removed players’ bags from the cargo bay and searched their materials. The officers reportedly made numerous references to drugs, warning the players “marijuana is still illegal in the state of Georgia,” according to USA Today.
Senior defender Aniya Aiken was reportedly asked to explain what was in a gift-wrapped box that was with her luggage. Aiken said it was a gift from her aunt, and that she was told not to open it until she came back to campus. Per the above USA Today story, witnesses say the deputy said, “You accepted something and you don’t know what it is?” The officers proceeded to open the present. It was a jewelry box, given as a graduation present.
After a 30-45 minute search, no drugs were found. The team went on its way.
The sheriff of Liberty County denied that the officers did anything wrong, saying there was no racial profiling. Delaware State president Tony Allen issued a statement saying he and the team were “incensed.” Head coach Pamella Jenkins called the experience “very traumatizing.” The university has since filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Justice.
Around the NCAA Tournament, teams have held a moment of silence before and during games to show solidarity with the Delaware State team, and with all those subjected to racism and racial profiling around the United States.
Numbers to Know:
2002 – The last time we saw a 22-goal margin of defeat in the NCAA Tournament. No. 2 seed Princeton defeated Le Moyne, 25-3. The Tigers won 26-of-30 draw controls and scooped up 24 ground balls in the win. Seventeen different players scored for Princeton, and the Tigers would go on to win the National Championship.
2 – All eight seeded teams have advanced to the national quarterfinal for the second straight year. From 2011-19, at least one unseeded team made it to the Elite Eight. We’re all for the powerhouses showing out, but can we get a couple of upsets please?!
21 – Today marks the 21st meeting between Northwestern and Syracuse. The Wildcats have a 15-5 advantage all-time, though the teams have alternated wins in their last six meetings. The Wildcats are 4-0 against the Orange in the NCAA Tournament. Three of those wins came in years where Northwestern won it all: 2007 (quarterfinal) 2008 (Final Four), 2012 (National Championship).
Tewaaraton Watch:
The finalists for the Tewaaraton Award were named on May 12. The winner of the award will be announced at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. on June 2. Four of the five finalists play for ACC teams. And the lone Big Ten representative is Maryland, which, of course, used to be in the ACC.
FINALISTS
Aurora Cordingley, Maryland - Grad. Student, Attack
Ally Mastroianni, North Carolina - Grad. Student, Midfield
Charlotte North, Boston College - Grad. Student, Attack
Jamie Ortega, North Carolina - Sr., Attack
Meaghan Tyrrell, Syracuse - Sr., Attack
Additionally, USA Lacrosse Magazine unveiled its annual All-American list. Top-seeded UNC was, unsurprisingly, first with nine total selections. Both the Tar Heels and second-seeded Maryland had three first-team honorees.
Here are the first and second teams:
FIRST TEAM
A — Charlotte North, Boston College
A — Jamie Ortega, North Carolina
A — Meaghan Tyrrell, Syracuse
A — Aurora Cordingley, Maryland
M — Jill Girardi, Northwestern
M — Ellie Masera, Stony Brook
M — Ally Mastroianni, North Carolina
M — Sydney Watson, UConn
D — Emma Trenchard, North Carolina
D — Katie Detwiler, Loyola
D — Sam Thacker, Denver
D — Abby Bosco, Maryland
G — Emily Sterling, Maryland
SECOND TEAM
A — Lauren Gilbert, Northwestern
A — Maddie Jenner, Duke
A — Kyla Sears, Princeton
A — Jenn Medjid, Boston College
M — Cassidy Spilis, Rutgers
M — Belle Smith, Boston College
M — Jillian Wilson, Loyola
M — Kasey Choma, Notre Dame
D — Sydney Scales, Boston College
D — Clare Levy, Stony Brook
D — Marge Donovan, Princeton
D — Courtney Taylor, Boston College
G — Taylor Moreno, North Carolina
Elite Eight Schedule:
Florida @ Maryland, May 19, 12 p.m.
Loyola Maryland @ Boston College, May 19, 2:30 p.m.
Syracuse @ Northwestern, May 19, 5 p.m.
Stony Brook @ North Carolina, May 19, 7:30 p.m.
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