Welcome to On the Run. Here's what happened in college lacrosse this weekend, plus some little things that I loved. Quick and easy to read while you're on the run!
The storyline that stole the show this weekend.
One of the more electric weekends of college lacrosse in recent memory.
#1 Duke falls to #17 Penn on Friday. #2 Virginia loses to #8 Johns Hopkins in a 'game of the year' candidate on Saturday. Then, #3 Maryland loses to #6 Notre Dame on Sunday.
By default, it feels like you have to put Denver at #1, who had Le Moyne this weekend.
Denver is 5-0 with wins over Johns Hopkins and Cornell. Their resume warrants them being the top team in the college lacrosse polls.
But by no means are they the best team in college lacrosse right now.
Polls are fine and I think they are needed, but it's not an accurate reflection of the top teams. Based on resume, yes, Denver should be #1. But does anyone actually believe that they are the best team in college lacrosse right now.
They needed JJ Sillstrop to turn into superman to beat Johns Hopkins, scoring a miracle goal with a second left to tie the game. They scored 5 EMO goals in the 2nd half to beat Cornell. Sure, they have some good offensive weapons, a strong faceoff man in Alec Stathakis, and of course great coaching. But this team will likely not make it out of the first round of the NCAA tournament (if they make it) let alone win a national championship. They just don't have the offensive depth, middle of the field players, and defense to contend with an ACC or Big Ten school later in May (I know they beat Hopkins but if you play that game again, JHU wins by 5).
I know this conversation divulged into an attack on Denver. I apologize. I didn't mean for this to happen. Denver is still a good team. But it's important to point out that polls are not an accurate depiction of the 'best teams' in order in college lacrosse currently.
For what it's worth, I think Duke is still the best team in college lacrosse and they win it all this year (I'm guessing over Johns Hopkins). They didn't play great against UPenn, but I liked the way they responded against a dangerous Princeton team.
What else happened?
No, they shouldn't be ranked.
I'm not going to do a deep dive into the best freshman classes in history, but just by memory, this is easily the best I've seen in my lifetime.
Virginia's McCabe Millon was the first to break onto the scene in Week 1, but this week you had UNC's Owen Duffy, Notre Dame's Jordan Faison, and Princeton's Nate Kabiri all have huge performances in huge games.
Other guys that have been super impressive early on: Duke's Benn Johnston, Cornell's Willem Firth, Johns Hopkins' Hunter Chauvette, Bucknell's Peter Grandolfo, Princeton's Colin Burns, Georgetown's Ty Banks, and Ohio State's Caleb Fyock. All freshman that come to mind as meaningful contributors early on.
Yes, McAdorey is a great attackman, but him playing midfield for Duke is so important.
He's so fast that he can draw slides with ease, and his skillset is more suited to midfield dodges, shooting on the run, and feeding on the run as opposed to playing behind the net (which he can still very much do).
He is a 1st Team All-American caliber midfielder, and will be the catalyst to a Duke championship run in my opinion.
Getting closer!
Army is the Patriot League favorite, but this might be my favorite conference to watch come the end of May. So wide open.
Also, Dane Swanson can shoot the ball fast.
From a nifty substitution to a highlight-reel goal and everything in between. Here are the little things that maybe weren't the star of the weekend, but things I still enjoyed.
He impressed this weekend.
I have no clue how Yale lost this game.
Shoutout Coach Pugh for the clips. There was a good amount of give and go's this weekend. Some very cool clips below.
We know about the stars of college lacrosse - who's flying under the radar?
I did not expect Marinier to burst onto the scene like he did early on this season, but he's been impressive.
A lanky, hard-shooting Canadian, Marinier has exceptional wrists and places the ball with good velocity. Nice player.
Since freshman year I've been impressed by Davis, who started as an SSDM for Cornell during their 2022 run to the National Championship game.
His numbers aren't anything amazing, but he's always been very hard to beat and he's great in the clear.
I hope you enjoyed this week's edition of On the Run and hope to see you next week.
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