Vol. 9: Drexel Sneaks Into Top 10, and Conference Tournaments Get Underway
The 12-1 Dragons continued their breakthrough season by remaining perfect in CAA play. Meanwhile, the ACC Tournament kicked off, and it's already delivering drama.
Senior midfielder Karson Harris huddles with her teammates after a goal during No. 11 Drexel’s 17-7 win over Towson on April 23. Photo courtesy: Drexel Athletics.
NOTE: National stats included are correct through April 27.
Drexel has never made an NCAA Tournament. It hasn’t finished with a record above .500 in CAA competition since 2013. And when head coach Jill Batcheller took over the team in 2018, the Dragons were looking to rebound from a 4-12 season.
Flash forward three years, and Drexel is 12-1, perfect in conference play, and a lock for the NCAA Tournament.
Not only that, but the Dragons have one of the most electric offenses in the country.
The unit is spearheaded by senior midfielder Karson Harris (55 goals, 6 assists) and Colleen Grady (41 goals, 33 assists). Together, they help drive what is the third-best scoring offense in Division I women’s lacrosse.
Drexel averages 17 goals per game, only trailing UMass and No. 2 Northwestern in that category. The Dragons hit that mark exactly in their 17-7 win over Towson last Friday. In the process, Harris broke the program’s single-season goals record, Grady tied the single-season assists record, and Batcheller notched her 100th career win.
The Dragons outplayed Towson on both ends of the field. They outshot the Tigers, 22-14, while tying a season high with 14 caused turnovers.
Lucy Schneidereith scored six goals. And Harris registered her 11th hat trick of the year with four tallies.
The victory finally got Drexel into the Top 10. Sitting at No. 9, the Dragons have some time off before the CAA Championship.
Winning a conference title is the first step. Winning a game in the NCAA Tournament is the next for a program that has taken Philadelphia and the country by storm in 2021.
Other Notable Storylines:
1) No. 1 UNC stepped up without Jamie Ortega and fended off No. 7 Duke. Caitlyn Wurzburger. If you don’t know the name, remember it. She’s one of the most highly-touted recruits in college women’s lacrosse history, and she showed why on Friday. The No. 1 Class of 2024 recruit scored a season-high five goals in the absence of star Jamie Ortega, who missed the game with injury. The story was the Tar Heels’ supporting cast. Backup goalie Kimber Hower replaced Taylor Moreno—who entered with the highest save percentage in the country—and put a stop to an 8-1 Duke run, revitalizing UNC’s top-ranked scoring defense. Courtesy of Maddie Jenner, the Blue Devils won the first 12 draws of the second half, but Ally Mastroianni was awarded the final bout of the game after she clinched a 12-11 victory with the game-winning goal.
2) No. 4 BC split weekend doubleheader with No. 3 Syracuse at the Dome. The previous three meetings between the Eagles and Orange had been decided by one goal, including the teams’ 2019 ACC Tournament semifinal matchup where BC’s Taylor Walker scored the game-winner with 17 seconds left. So it was only natural that the first leg of the ACC foes’ doubleheader trended in that direction as well. Caitlynn Mossman logged her first career hat trick, Charlotte North piled up five goals, most notably this ridiculous underhand score, and Rachel Hall made the game-saving stop with 37 seconds remaining. Syracuse did, however, snap its five-game losing streak to the Eagles in Saturday’s game. It wasn’t close, even without Megan Carney, who suffered an injury in the contest two days earlier. Sophomore Emma Tyrrell recorded a career-high six goals on seven shots, and North was held without a point.
3) No. 16 Johns Hopkins brought out the brooms for Michigan. The Blue Jays wrapped the regular season winning five of their last six games. They secured the three seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament, which is the program’s highest placement in the conference tourney since joining the Big Ten in 2017. Johns Hopkins erased a 9-4 halftime deficit in Ann Arbor to kick off the doubleheader with a comeback overtime victory. Freshman Abbey Hurlbrink did the honors in the extra frame, scoring with 52.8 seconds left to cap a 13-12 win. Saturday’s game saw the Blue Jays explode for another big second half. But, this time, no come-from-behind win was needed. Instead, Maggie Schneidereith’s seven goals powered Johns Hopkins to a 20-13 win as the program moved to 5-1 all-time versus Michigan.
Graduate attacker Maggie Schneidereith drives toward the cage in Johns Hopkins’ 20-13 victory against Michigan on April 24. Photo courtesy: Johns Hopkins Athletics.
Early ACC Tournament Bulletin:
The Tar Heels clobbered Louisville, 19-6: Katie Hoeg racked up seven assists—a single-game ACC Tournament record—and UNC won the first nine draws of the game en route to a 7-1 lead. Louisville never really recovered.
Notre Dame squeaks by Duke, 17-16: The Blue Devils pulled out another impressive second-half comeback, using a 6-1 run to tie the game at 15-15. After the teams traded goals, Notre Dame’s Maddie Howe put the game away with a bouncer at the 2:59 mark, her fourth score of the day. Bridget Deehan secured the win with one last stop.
Syracuse took down Virginia Tech, 9-4: The Tyrrell sisters combined for four of Syracuse’s nine goals, as the Orange cruised to an 8-2 advantage before closing the door on a dominant defensive performance. Graduate defender Ella Simkins tied a career high with four caused turnovers, and Ally Trice wasn’t far behind with three.
BC prevailed against UVA, 16-12: The Cavaliers staked themselves to an early 3-1 lead, yet BC responded by scoring eight of the game’s next 10 goals. That was enough of a cushion to lift the Eagles, who were led by Cara Urbank (2 goals, 3 assists).
Caitlynn Mossman and Cassidy Weeks prepare to embrace during the Eagles’ 16-12 ACC Tournament quarterfinal win over Virginia on April 28. Photo courtesy: BC Athletics.
Other Conference Tournament Start Dates:
Big Ten: April 29
Pac-12: May 6
AAC: May 6
CAA: May 7
Patriot League: May 3
Numbers to Know:
3.40 - assists per game registered by Monmouth attacker Nicole Ceraso, tops in the country. The fifth year has accumulated 55 points this season, including 35 assists.
14.29 - draw controls won per game by UMass attacker Caitlyn Petro, more than any other player in Division I. She’s been named Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week twice this year and had 44 draws in two victories last week.
54.6% - shot percentage of Loyola, the highest in the country. The Greyhounds have totaled 165 goals on 302 shots in 2021.
Loyola celebrates after a goal during its 17-6 win against Furman on April 25. The Greyhounds have won nine straight. Photo courtesy: Larry French/Loyola Athletics.
Tewaaraton Watch:
NOTE: Qualifying players for the tables below must have played at least three games this season. Stats are correct through April 27.
POINTS LEADERS
GOALS LEADERS
Latest Inside Lacrosse Poll
NOTE: screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com (not all records fully updated).
Both Duke and Notre Dame climbed a spot this week, and Stony Brook slid back two places. Otherwise, though, there wasn’t much movement up top. As mentioned above, Drexel finally cracked the Top 10. UVA continued to fall further and further from the top five with its fifth consecutive loss—an upset defeat to Virginia Tech. Johns Hopkins jumped a few more positions, rising to No. 12 with its sweep of Michigan. The biggest loser of the week was Jacksonville, which plummeted from No. 9 to No. 17. Gone is the Dolphins’ perfect season after they fell to Coastal Carolina in overtime. The Hokies entered the poll, thanks to their triumph in Charlottesville, and Arizona State dropped out of Top 20, following a loss to USC and a win over San Diego State.
What’s Ahead?
NOTE: all times listed in EST.
No. 14 Maryland vs. Michigan, April 29, 5 p.m.
No. 12 Johns Hopkins vs. Penn State, April 29, 8 p.m.
No. 1 UNC vs. No. 5 Notre Dame, April 30, 12 p.m.
No. 3 Syracuse vs. No. 4 BC, April 30, 2:30 p.m.
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