The state of Maryland has three NCAA lacrosse teams in the top ten, three of which take up the first three spots of the rankings. Maryland (ranked first), Loyola (second), and Johns Hopkins (third) have started their seasons off with a bang and have combined for an overall record of 15-1 in the first 16 games of the season.
Maryland:
After two big wins against number ones Syracuse on Feb. 22 and Duke on Mar. 1, the Terps propelled themselves into the first spot of the rankings. On the road in Syracuse, New York, the Terps were playing in the Carrier Dome against the Orange for the first time since 1983. Maryland outscored the Orange in shots, 55-32, and dominated the face-offs by winning 19 of the game’s 27. Attacker Jay Carlson scored a hat trick for the Terps along with midfielder Connor Cannizzaro to give the team an easy 16-8 victory over the best team in the nation.
A week later, Senior Mike Chanenchuk matched his career goals record with five against Duke at a packed Byrd Stadium in College Park. Senior goalie Niko Amato made an impressive 17 saves against the powerful Blue Devil offense to help the Terps take down the number one seed for the second time in just one week. This will be the Terrapins’ last season in the ACC before moving to the B1G division next year. Another test for the Terps this year will be in a match-up against Virginia on Mar. 30 in College Park.
Loyola (MD):
The Loyola Greyhounds have also started out very well this season. On Sunday, the number five Greyhounds took down number four Duke at home to glide into second in the rankings this week. Matt Sawyer scored a career-high six goals against the defensive Blue Devils and Nikko Pontrello added five of his own to lead Loyola to a big 14-7 victory over a struggling Duke squad. The Greyhounds held Duke’s leading scorer, Jordan Wolf, to just one goal in their easy win. The Greyhounds show a lot of promise this year under coach Charley Toomey and it will be interesting to see whether or not they can power their way into the finals in their hometown of Baltimore this year. The Greyhounds should breeze through the rest of the season with what should be easy wins against the un-ranked Georgetown, Lafayette, and Navy teams.
Johns Hopkins:
Under head coach Dave Pietramala, the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays are currently in third place in the rankings. On Feb. 9, Hopkins won its first game of the season in exciting fashion after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in overtime, 10-9. Attacker Brandon Benn tallied two goals on ten shots and an assist as well to power the Blue Jays through the respectable Ohio State defense and to the victory. On Mar. 1, the fifth ranked Blue Jays traveled to New Jersey to face the tenth ranked Princeton Tigers.
Attacker, Ryan Brown scored five goals and racked up three assists to lead the Jays to a 15-9 victory. The rest of the season certainly won’t be easy for the Blue Jays who will face the five ranked teams of Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and Loyola (MD) all before the end of the season. If Hopkins can win a majority of these games, they will certainly be a contender in the tournament and may find themselves in a championship spot on Memorial Day.
The state of Maryland has long dominated the sport of lacrosse. With the Terrapins, Greyhounds, and Blue Jays all showing a lot of promise this early in the season, Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium should be packed with Marylanders this May.
