Vol. 5: Hello There, Ivy League Chaos
Vol. 5: Hello There, Ivy League Chaos
Ivy League play is underway, and The Ancient Eight did not disappoint with a pair of signature upsets and another near-shocker that would have jumbled the Top 10.
Harvard beat then-No. 24 Penn for the first time since 2000 on March 5, knocking the Quakers out of the Top 25 in the process. Photo courtesy: Harvard Athletics.
Caroline Mullahy helped Harvard do something it hadn’t done since, well, before she was born: defeat then-No. 24 Penn. And the freshman attacker did it in style, too.
Before Riley Campbell could be smothered by the Quaker double team, she dumped off a pass to Mullahy inside the eight-meter arc. She started to veer left, drawing Penn netminder Kelly Van Hoesen to one side of the cage. Then she unleashed a behind-the-behind shot that quickly reached the open twine on the other side of the pipes to give Harvard an early fourth quarter lead that it would never give up.
Mullahy scored the head turner, but Campbell set the stage for the highlight-reel play, and, with four goals, she was the architect of the Crimson’s 9-8 win—the program’s first victory over Penn since 2000.
That wasn’t the only Ivy League upset on Saturday.
Yale topped Dartmouth—co-Ivy League champions in 2019—for the first time since 2015 and is now off to a 4-0 start for the first time in four years. Seven different Bulldogs found the back of the net in the monumental win, but senior attacker Olivia Markert and junior Olivia Penoyer piloted the ship with four points apiece.
Dartmouth actually opened the scoring gates with a 3-0 lead, however, a 5-0 Yale run tipped the scale. Bulldogs goalie Clare Boone made nine stops, including a pair in the final four minutes that sealed the deal for Yale.
The game that nearly stole all league headlines, though, was Princeton-Cornell. The Big Red came into the matchup with a 5-41 all-time record against the Ivy League heavyweight Tigers. Cornell once had a 22-game losing streak versus Princeton. This time, it entered the conference bout with a six-game skid against the Tigers.
At first, it appeared as if this meeting was going to be no different than the previous six. Princeton jumped out to a 6-2 lead. That said, Cornell’s dominance in the circle—it won 21-of-29 draws—and the play of goalie Katie McGahan—she registered 13 saves in the second and third quarters alone—allowed the Big Red to rattle off five consecutive goals, take a 7-6 lead and even establish a 12-9 advantage with 8:12 remaining in the third frame.
Cornell goalie Katie McGahan sets up in net. She tied a career high with 18 saves in a 13-12 loss to No. 10 Princeton on March 5. Photo courtesy: SideLine Photo/The Ivy League.
Except, Cornell wouldn’t score again. As good as the Big Red was on the draw, they were sloppy with the ball, committing 20 turnovers. Plus, they gave up five free-position goals. Princeton’s Ellie Mueller tied the game with 10:20 left, and Kate Mulham notched the game-winner a few minutes later.
While the Tigers are still top dogs in the Ivy League, don’t assume any game in The Ancient Eight is a gimme.
Other Storylines to Know:
1. The one-possession games keep on coming for No. 3 Syracuse. This is March. No, no buzzer beaters or conference tournaments yet, but Syracuse has made nearly every game so far a thriller. We led by talking about their 12-11 win over then-No. 4 Stony Brook two weeks ago. We also recapped the Orange’s second straight one-goal win when they beat Notre Dame, 16-15, in South Bend. Since then, Syracuse has played a pair of games with total scores adding up to 34-33.
The day the calendar flipped to March, the Orange continued their Midwest tour with a trip to Evanston to take on the then-No. 6 Northwestern Wildcats. After trailing, 8-5, at halftime, the Orange exploded for an 8-2 third quarter, in which Emily Hawryschuk and Jenny Markey each tallied two goals. Syracuse led, 13-9, with 30 seconds left in the quarter and looked like they could maybe win a game going away.
Nope.
Northwestern responded with five fourth quarter goals—three from star attacker Lauren Gilbert and two from the newly converted attacker Jill Girardi. Just moments after Gilbert’s game-tying goal with 55 seconds left, Gilbert netted the overtime game-winner via free position to give Northwestern a stunning, one-goal victory.
Over the weekend, Syracuse had ANOTHER epic matchup, this one with No. 7 Duke. We’ve touted Duke plenty, as they are averaging north of 20 goals per game and have been dominant on the draw. The Blue Devils jumped out a stunning 9-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, but it was all Syracuse from there. Meaghan Tyrrell finished with another six points (five goals, one assist), and Megan Carney netted five of her own. The Orange climbed all the way back to take a 14-13 lead early in the fourth and wound up winning, 18-16.
So why all the one-goal games? We’d remind you of a few things. First, Syracuse is led by a first-year head coach in Kayla Treanor. The Syracuse alum has plenty of experience playing and coaching in close games throughout her career but is still establishing her systems as she enters just her seventh game with the team. Second, the schedule has been hard, like five ranked teams hard. Stony Brook, Northwestern and Duke even look like programs that can play into late May. Third, and perhaps most importantly, the Orange have a new goalie duo after the departure of Asa Goldstock. USC transfer Delaney Switzer and UNC transfer Kimber Hower have more than held their own, but the split time should tell you something. Before the Duke game, in which Hower played the whole game, the two goalies had split halves in the previous five outings.
2. Pitt-Virginia Tech goes to triple overtime. A sunny, 3-0 February welcome to women’s lacrosse for the Pitt Panthers has quickly turned into a 3-3 record after Saturday’s triple-overtime loss to Virginia Tech, 12-11. We had this game circled to see how Pitt would stack up in the second tier of ACC teams with the likes of Virginia Tech and Louisville. We now have our answer.
The Panthers looked every bit the equal of the Hokies, leading, 7-2, at the end of the first quarter. A 9-2 run, however, put Virginia Tech up, 11-9, with 8:21 left in the fourth. Two Pitt goals sent the game to overtime, then double overtime, then triple, then this.
Freshman midfielder Olivia Vergano moved to her left between two defenders and sniped a shot into the top corner to win it for the Hokies. She also had an elite stick flip. Elsewhere for the Hokies, Sarah Lubnow stretched her season goal total to 14 with three scores, and Claire Schotta piled up a team-high four goals and 11 shots after coming off the bench. Virginia Tech next plays Notre Dame on Thursday, while Pitt travels to Durham to take on Duke.
3. No. 6 Stony Brook fends off Florida’s comeback, and the No. 12 Gators fall to 1-3. This one was all Seawolves in the early going. Head coach Joe Spallina’s team staked itself to an 8-2 lead late in the second quarter. Stony Brook’s dominance was, in part, fueled by Ellie Masera and Jaden Hampel, who combined for five points in that span. The tide started to turn in the third quarter, though. That’s when Florida took control of the circle, winning 9-of-11 draws. The Gators scored four goals in the final five minutes of the period, knotting it all up at 11-11 before the fourth quarter. Stony Brook and Florida traded goals in the first half of the final frame, but Kailyn Hart—who had five goals on the day—buried what would be a game-winning, free-position shot for the Seawolves with 6:41 left. It was a fitting way to clinch a contest that saw 10 free-position goals, 66 fouls and 11 yellow cards.
Florida has lost three consecutive games to top-10 opponents. And, for the second game in a row, the Gators have faced a significant early-game deficit (they were down, 7-1, against Maryland). Next, they get a feisty Liberty team that forced overtime against No. 22 Richmond and beat Virginia Tech with an extra frame earlier this year.
Stony Brook attacker Kailyn Hart eyes the cage. After the 14-13 win over No. 12 Florida, she now has nine goals in her last two games. Photo courtesy: Stony Brook Athletics.
4. No. 15 Notre Dame snaps four-game skid and downs No. 14 UVA. Man, the Irish needed this one. Following a four-game losing streak, which saw upset losses to Michigan and Vanderbilt and then one-goal losses to No. 5 Northwestern and No. 3 Syracuse, the Irish returned to winning ways with a 12-10 win over No. 14 UVA. The victory saw the Irish at their best as they did not trail the entire game. After jumping in front, 3-0, with goals from Madison Ahern, Kasey Choma and Jackie Wolak, Notre Dame kept UVA at bay. A huge reason why was Bridget Deehan, perhaps the key to the season for Notre Dame. The All-ACC netminder made 16 saves to just nine goals allowed. Notre Dame also had four-multi goal scorers and caused seven turnovers. The next two games for the Irish are intriguing: They travel to Virginia Tech on March 10 and then host Jacksonville on March 13.
5. Is Colorado for real? Out west, Colorado has sneakily put together a 5-0 start and sits atop the Pac 12 standings heading into conference play. The Buffs boast an impressive resume with wins over teams from the ACC (Louisville, 14-13 OT), Big Ten (Ohio State, 13-10) and Ivy League (Harvard, 12-6). Fifth year Sadie Grozier already has 18 goals to lead the team after her first-team All-Pac-12 season in 2021.
Senior middie Liz Phillips celebrates after logging one of her two goals in Colorado’s 18-11 win over Vanderbilt on March 4. Photo courtesy: Tyler Davis/Colorado Athletics.
So is Colorado a contender or pretender?
We’d lean the former. Will they win a national championship or make the Final Four? Probably not. But, since the start of the 2019 season, Colorado has 27 wins, third most in the Pac-12 behind Stanford (28) and USC (34). Last season, they gave the undefeated Stanford Cardinal one of their biggest scares of the regular season in a 10-9 overtime loss. Just three years ago, this team not only made the NCAA Tournament but won an opening-round game, defeating Dartmouth, 16-13, before falling to No. 1 Boston College in the second round. The way the Buffaloes are playing, we see no reason they can’t be back dancing in a couple months.
Weekly Focus:
MAYBE NORTH CAROLINA IS THE BEST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY…
It’s something to consider. After all, let’s not forget that the No. 2 Tar Heels were the favorites practically all of last season. They won the ACC Championship, were the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and started 20-0 before falling to BC in the Final Four, 11-10. One goal.
That’s all that separated UNC from a National Championship bout with conference foe Syracuse, which Jenny Levy’s team took down, 9-4, in the league tournament title game.
The Tar Heels returned five of their top-six scorers from that team, not to mention All-American goalie Taylor Moreno. That list includes Jamie Ortega, a 2021 Tewaaraton Award finalist who is now the program’s all-time leading scorer. And Scottie Rose Growney, another fifth-year attacker who ranked third on the team in points last season.
Screenshot from lacrossereference.com, which shows UNC’s advanced stats, including its offensive efficiency numbers and ELO rating.
Then Levy added Big Ten Midfielder of the Year Olivia Dirks from Penn State, two-time All-American midfielder Andie Aldave from Notre Dame and prolific attacker Sam Geiersbach from Richmond. Through six games, those three rank fourth, sixth and seventh on the team in points, respectively. Six Tar Heels have recorded 14 or more points this season (only five BC players have reached that mark so far).
UNC flexed its depth Sunday against No. 5 Northwestern as six players notched multiple goals, including Geiersbach, who piled up a season-high five scores. The Tar Heels routed the Wildcats, 20-9 (BC beat Northwestern by nine goals).
What could really differentiate UNC and BC, however, is goalkeeping. Moreno, a 2021 Tewaaraton Award finalist, is 26th nationally in save percentage (.482). Meanwhile, BC’s Rachel Hall has gotten off to a slow start, clocking in at 98th (.319). Hall stood on her head in net and actually outplayed Moreno in last year’s Final Four. But, without that kind of performance, UNC’s defense—which is third in goals allowed per game (6.8)—is still superior to BC’s.
The Eagles have been the No. 1 team each of the last four weeks. But don’t be surprised if things change when the two squads square off in Chestnut Hill on March 20.
Numbers to Know:
10 — the number of points Manhattan senior attacker Grace Lipponer scored in a 18-5 win over Central Connecticut State. Lipponer had four goals and six assists, setting a career high for both single-game assists and points. The 10 points were tied for the third most by a player in a game this season, behind only Duke star Cat Barry’s 11 at High Point and Stanford freshman Ashley Humphrey’s 12 at Albany. Not bad company.
20 — the number of saves UMass Lowell’s Alex Salim made in a 16-11 loss to Mercer on Sunday. No other goalie in the country can say they have as many saves in a game this season. Salim, a grad transfer from Campbell, made 288 saves in four seasons for the Fighting Camels prior to this year.
10.80 — Richmond’s assist per game average through five games, good for the top mark in the nation. Second is Duke at 10.43 per contest. The Spiders are coming off of a 12-4 win over Coastal Carolina and will travel to Charlottesville to take on No. 14 Virginia on March 9.
Tewaaraton Watch:
POINTS PER GAME LEADERS
GOALS PER GAME LEADERS
NOTE: Stats correct through March 6.
Latest Inside Lacrosse Poll
NOTE: screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
It was a relatively quiet week in the Top 25. Just two teams shifted more than four spots in the poll. The biggest winner was No. 25 Navy. The Midshipmen find themselves ranked for the first time this season. Last week, Navy sat 12 spots outside the poll but catapulted after a dominant upset win at Drexel, 13-6. Speaking of the Dragons, Drexel was the biggest loser this week, falling from No. 15 to No. 24. They are just 3-2 on the season.
No. 13 Rutgers leapfrogged No. 14 UVA following a Scarlet Knights win and a Cavaliers loss. Rutgers is a sneaky 6-0 and is coming off a 17-4 win over Villanova. Similarly, No. 11 Denver and No. 12 Florida traded places after the Pioneers beat Vanderbilt, and the Gators lost to Stony Brook. Denver is also perfect at 6-0 this year. In the Top 10, the only movers were No. 5 Northwestern and No. 6 Stony Brook. The Seawolves, through no fault of their own, fell one spot after beating Florida. Northwestern’s overtime win against No. 3 Syracuse was just that good. Stony Brook has played only three games, though, and is 2-1 this year. Can we see some more of the Seawolves please?!
What’s Ahead?
No. 10 Princeton @ No. 17 USC, March 8, 6 p.m.
No. 1 BC @ No. 11 Denver, March 9, 6 p.m.
No. 6 Stony Brook @ No. 5 Northwestern, March 10, 7 p.m.
No. 13 Rutgers @ No. 21 James Madison, March 12, 1 p.m.
No. 15 Notre Dame @ No. 20 Jacksonville, 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 week for more coverage.