Vol. 2: Four Ranked Teams Fall in Upset Weekend
No. 18 UMass and No. 12 JMU dropped one-goal thrillers. No. 20 Ohio State and No. 14 Rutgers were on the wrong side of Big Ten sweeps. All against unranked foes.
Elon celebrates a goal during its 6-5 victory over No. 12 James Madison on March 7. It marked the Phoenix’s first-ever win over JMU. Photo courtesy: Madison McCart/Elon Athletics.
NEW HERE? Quick on the Draw is a weekly newsletter about Division I college women’s lacrosse. Every Monday, I'll overview the best storylines, stars, and plays from the previous week. Analysis will be included, as I track the season’s development, national polls, and Tewaaraton candidates. Expect stats, graphics, and GIFs. To learn more, click here.
Elon came into Sunday’s matchup against No. 12 James Madison with a 4-33 all-time record against ranked opponents. What’s more, the Phoenix had never beaten the Dukes, who had won 18 straight Colonial Athletic Association games.
Everything changed when Elon stormed out to a 5-0 lead, thanks to a first-half hat trick from junior attacker Cate Mackel. The Phoenix defense forced nine JMU turnovers in the opening frame, holding the Dukes to just six shots in the process. It wasn’t until the 5:40 mark in the first half that JMU finally got on the board.
Rachel Matey ended the scoring drought, and the Dukes carried what little momentum they had into the second period, extending their run to 3-0. That’s when Elon buckled down. Sara Bouwman found the back of the net with 20:44, and the Phoenix defense kept JMU to two goals the rest of the way. The Dukes trailed, 6-5, over the final 9:27 yet couldn’t knot it up, even turning the ball over on a shot clock violation with under two minutes to go. Elon ran the waning seconds off the scoreboard and, as soon as it hit triple zeros, celebrated the monumental victory with screams and a dog pile.
"It's been a long time coming," head coach Josh Hexter said postgame, via Elon Athletics. "To get a win over a team like JMU who plays so hard all the time, every play, it speaks to our girls and just how poised we were able to stay throughout the entire game. I'm really proud of their poise and the mental toughness they showed."
Elon goalkeeper Paulina DiFatta piled up eight saves in the win, coincidentally her most since she tallied 10 against JMU in the 2019 CAA Tournament semifinals.
She wasn’t the only one at her best on Sunday. UConn senior midfielder Sydney Watson scored a season-high six goals, including an overtime game-winner, in addition to registering 13 draw controls in the Huskies’ dramatic 12-11 victory over No. 18 UMass. Watson fueled a 6-0 UConn run, which started at the end of the first half and picked back up in the second, turning an 8-4 deficit into a 10-8 lead.
Sydney Watson cradles the ball in UMass territory. Watson scored six goals in UConn’s 12-11 win over the Minutewomen on March 7. Photo courtesy: Stephen Slade/UConn Athletics.
After a bit of back-and-forth, the Minutewomen tied the game with less than three minutes remaining: Kelly Marra scored first, then Maddy Moloney followed up with the equalizer. Watson had a chance to end it in regulation, but UMass goalie Lauren Hiller made a game-saving stop to force overtime. It was then that Watson cashed in her final goal of the game, after UConn netminder Landyn White saved a Marra shot and UConn cleared. The Huskies moved to 4-1 with their fourth consecutive win.
The Big Ten weekend series invited drama for the second week in a row, and, once again, Ohio State was at the center of it all. The Buckeyes, ranked as high as No. 17 this season, dropped their second and third straight one-goal games in another sweep. This time, it came at the hands of Johns Hopkins, which entered Friday winless.
Despite hat tricks from Lindsay Epstein and Kelsey Reed, the Buckeyes’ offense couldn’t score when it needed to most. After trading goals with the Blue Jays throughout the game, Ohio State trailed, 12-11, in the second half and couldn’t equalize for the final 13:18 of regulation. A Maggie Schneidereith free-position goal went down as the game-winner. Schneidereith and fellow graduate student attacker Mackenzie Heldberg combined for seven scores in the victory.
Sunday’s game was even more painful for the Buckeyes. Ohio State rolled out a 6-1 lead, in large part because of four consecutive Liza Hernandez strikes. Slowly but surely, though, Johns Hopkins chipped away at the Buckeyes’ advantage, ultimately using a 4-0 run to go up, 9-8, in the second half. Ohio State tied it up with 2:49 left, but Blue Jays middie Shelby Harrison iced the game, scoring on a free-position attempt with 7.1 seconds remaining.
No. 14 Rutgers was the first to squeak out a one-goal win over Ohio State this year, however, the Scarlet Knights were on the receiving end of one of those brutal results this weekend, as well as a three-goal defeat that wasn’t as close as the scoreboard indicated. Michigan, which was ranked No. 9 in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll but started the year 0-3, pulled out a nail-biting 12-11 overtime win over Rutgers on Friday.
The game featured eight ties and eight lead changes. Caroline Bean forced the extra frame, and Molly Garrett, who led Michigan with eight points, buried the game-winner. Two days later, the Wolverines got out to a 6-3 halftime advantage. When Rutgers strung together a 3-0 run in the second half to come within one, Michigan stood tall. Kaitlyn Mead and Caitlin Muir teamed up for three of the Wolverines’ last four goals, and they held on for a 12-9 victory.
Other Notable Storylines:
1) Louisville and Towson nearly pulled off upsets of their own. Head coach Scott Teeter’s up-and-coming Cardinals came back from an 8-4 halftime deficit against No. 9 Virginia to tie the game with 12:30 to go. Caroline Blalock (2 goals, 3 assists) and Hannah Morris (4 goals) led the charge for Louisville. But UVA freshman midfielder Maggie Bostain ended the Cardinals’ comeback bid and preserved the Cavaliers’ undefeated record. Louisville’s performance didn’t go unnoticed, though, as the program moved into the Top 20 Monday. Similarly, No. 13 Towson hung around with No. 8 Stony Brook. The Tigers fought back from a 6-2 halftime deficit, narrowing the gap to a one-goal deficit twice in a physical matchup. Except Towson only converted 3-of-11 free-position attempts and struggled to penetrate the Seawolves’ zone defense. Stony Brook escaped with a 10-8 win, yet Towson climbed to No. 11 in this week’s poll.
2) Loyola finally got on the board, and did so in convincing fashion. After a surprisingly slow start, Loyola—the No. 5 team in Inside Lacrosse’s preseason poll—entered the win column this week. The Greyhounds mustered a combined 13 goals in losses to Syracuse to Towson earlier this year. Following a COVID-19 postponement and cancellation, Loyola came roaring back against Villanova and American. The Greyhounds outscored those two opponents, 39-10, quickly evening their record at 2-2. Livy Rosenzweig was at the root of Loyola’s offensive revolution. This week, she quadrupled her point total from the first two games, registering 10 goals and six assists in the Greyhounds’ blowout victories. Loyola’s shot percentage went up significantly, as did its draw control win percentage (from 42.9% to 59.6%).
3) When playing UNC, you just have to pick your poison. There isn’t really a way to shut down the Tar Heels. Boston College learned that on Saturday. The No. 10 Eagles successfully faceguarded No. 1 UNC’s superstar pairing of Jamie Ortega and Katie Hoeg for much of the first half. Still, the Tar Heels had more than enough firepower. USC transfer Kerrigan Miller and the rest of the midfield stepped up, as six of UNC’s first eight goals were scored by non-attackers. BC’s 3-1 lead disappeared, and, while the Eagles were able to stay within reach by the end of the first period (down 10-7), they dropped off after the break. The Tar Heels won the first four draws of the second half, scored the first seven goals of the frame, and suffocated BC’s offense with a relentless ride that forced 12 turnovers and two shot clock violations. Ortega prevailed in the back half of the game and finished with a resounding six goals.
The Tar Heels rejoice after a goal amid their 21-9 win over No. 10 BC on March 6. UNC used a 7-0 second-half run to pull away. Photo courtesy: Jeffrey A. Camarati/UNC Athletics.
Numbers to Know:
12.0 - saves per game by Louisville netminder Rachel Florek, the most of any goalie this year with more than two games under her belt. The redshirt senior has recorded 14-plus saves in two of the Cardinals’ four games in 2021.
78.8% - of draw controls won by LIU in its first three games of this season. The Sharks have gained possession on 52 of their 66 bouts in the circle, and it’s helped them emerge with a 3-0 start. No other team has won more than 70% of its draws so far.
17.8 - goals per game scored by Drexel’s offense, good for third nationally behind Arizona State (18.3 goals per game) and Northwestern (19.3 goals per game). The 5-0 and now No. 16 Dragons have three players with 18 or more goals so far this year.
Lucy Schneidereith ranks second on the team with 22 goals this year. She was named IWLCA National Offensive Player of the Week on March 2. Photo courtesy: Drexel Athletics.
Tewaaraton Watch:
NOTE: As the season progresses, I’ll also track draw control, ground ball, and caused turnover leaders. Because of COVID-19 and the various postponements (and game totals), I’ve also broken down scoring categories in game averages. Stats are correct through March 8.
POINTS LEADERS
POINTS PER GAME LEADERS
GOALS PER GAME LEADERS
Latest Inside Lacrosse Poll
NOTE: screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
What’s Ahead?
No. 4 Notre Dame @ No. 2 Syracuse, March 11, 7 p.m. & March 14, 12 p.m.
No. 5 Penn State @ No. 3 Northwestern, March 11, 4 p.m. & March 13, 3p.m.
No. 18 Loyola @ No. 13 Navy, March 13, 12 p.m.
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 Monday for more coverage.