Syracuse Lacrosse: Orange hold onto No. 1 spot in polls

The Syracuse Orange are once again the top dog in the nation landing first in each poll. In a season in which the first ranked team has had trouble winning in the following week, its impressive that the Orange have held the spot two weeks in a row.

The Duke Blue Devils have strung together three straight wins against UNC, UND, and UVA and are 8-1 in its last nine games. The Dukies sit fourth in every poll. Notre Dame fell to Syracuse and Duke in back-to-back weeks but rebounded last week against Marquette in a one-goal win leaving them in the bottom halves of each top ten. There are two big games remaining against UNC and Army. North Carolina is in real danger of not being eligible for the NCAA Tournament. The loss to SU puts the Heels at 6-6 with one more regular season game against Notre Dame looming and an ACC Semifinals game against either Duke or Syracuse in the near future. UNC has to either beat Notre Dame or win the ACC Tournament to reamin eligible for the NCAA Tournament. Finally we have Virginia. The regular season ended this past weekend for the Cavs with a blowout loss to Duke. UVA will play Penn on the Saturday of the ACC Tournament and will without a doubt miss the NCAA Tournament. The Media Poll and Coaches Poll each have Virginia not ranked while the US Lacrosse rankings have the Cavaliers 20^th, which is a little curious.

On Sunday, the Maryland Terrapins beat Rutgers in a triple overtime thriller. There really is nothing better than Sunday night lacrosse. The Terps now hold the second position in each poll, as they should. The Denver Pioneers move up in each poll to third after a win over the St. John’s Red Storm.

Penn State now has two losses on the year after falling in back-to-back weeks to Maryland and Johns Hopkins. This week’s game against Rutgers will be huge in deciding which one of those two teams makes the Big Ten Tournament.

The previously undefeated Hofstra Pride fell to the Drexel Dragons in a one goal game this past weekend. While the Pride are still in the top ten of each poll, Hofstra took a deep fall.

Maverik Men’s Division I Media Poll

Ranked Teams by Conference: ACC (4/5), Big Ten (5/6), Ivy (2/7), Patriot (2/9), Colonial (2/6), Big East (3/6), Northeast (0/7), SoCon (1/8), America East (1/7), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Independent (0/2)

Biggest Movers:

Johns Hopkins +5

Hofstra -8

Exiting the Poll:

Binghamton Bearcats

Loyola Greyhounds

Virginia Cavaliers

Entering the Poll:

Villanova Wildcats

Boston University Terriers

Providence Friars

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (5), Johns Hopkins (8), Duke (4), Notre Dame (6), UNC (16), Army (12)

Also Receiving Votes: Virginia Cavaliers, Loyola Greyhounds, Binghamton Bearcats, Monmouth Hawks, Air Force Falcons, UMBC Retrievers, Michigan Wolverines, Penn Quakers

Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20

Ranked Teams by Conference: Big Ten (4/6), ACC (5/5), Patriot (2/9), Colonial (2/6), Big East (3/6), Ivy (2/7), America East (1/7), SoCon (1/8), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Northeast (0/7), Independent (0/2)

Biggest Movers:

Army -9

Duke, Yale +5

Exiting the Poll:

Loyola

Marquette

Entering the Poll:

Villanova

Providence

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (7), Johns Hopkins (12), Notre Dame (9), Duke (4), Virginia (20), Army (13), North Carolina (17)

Also Considered: Binghamton, Boston University, Brown, Loyola, Penn

USILA/Nike Division I Coaches Poll

Ranked Teams by Conference: Big Ten (5/6), ACC (4/5), Patriot (3/9), Colonial (2/6), Big East (3/6), Ivy (1/7), America East (1/7), SoCon (1/8), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Northeast (0/7), Independent (0/2)

Biggest Movers:

Hofstra, Penn State, Duke -5

Johns Hopkins +3

Exiting the Poll:

Virginia

Loyola

Entering the Poll:

Boston University

Providence

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (5), Johns Hopkins (9), Notre Dame (6), Duke (4), UNC (17), Army (11)

Also Considered: Loyola, Virginia, Lehigh, Binghamton, Navy, Marquette, Drexel