This weekend was a reminder of why we love lacrosse so much.
Dramatic finishes, controversy, unexpected stars, gut checks, stick checks and the genuine joy that we can all see in the eyes and bouncy steps of the people who play this game.
We’re now nine days into the season and the team that everyone thinks is No. 1 in the country – Notre Dame – has yet to play. The Irish will knock the rust off when they host Cleveland State on Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile Syracuse is playing like a No. 1 team in the country and Johns Hopkins is putting together the best early-season resume of anyone in the country.
The Blue Jays season-long gauntlet began with road wins at Denver and Towson, followed by an impressive 11-6 victory over Georgetown on Saturday in its home opener. All three wins have come against top 15 teams and the schedule doesn’t let up.
Next Saturday they’ll take a short jaunt up University Parkway to play neighborhood rival Loyola, which is coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Maryland. It will be a familiar setting for new Hopkins goalie Luke Staudt. The grad student, who was Loyola’s starter the last two seasons, has allowed just 26 goals in helping the Blue Jays to the 3-0 start.
But the beauty of college lacrosse is more than the teams chasing No. 1 in the rankings. Sometimes it’s the teams just chasing a single win. Here’s a look back at the first full weekend of the college lacrosse season.
UMass-Lowell’s players looked like they were floating on air as they rushed to celebrate their 14-9 victory over Merrimack. Deservedly so.
Head coach Drew Kelleher, who led Manhattan to the NCAA tournament in 2022 before taking over the River Hawks program ahead of the 2023 season, has faced an uphill battle to get things turned around. UMass-Lowell went 0-25 in his first two seasons before finally hitting paydirt.
"I'm really happy to see my guys see the fruits of their labor from the past eight months or so," Kellher said. "These guys have worked really, really hard, and they deserve it. My assistant coaches deserve it, they have been amazing since I got here, and we've had to go through a lot of adversity. To get the first one, hopefully, it's the first of many."
Friday’s win, fueled by five goals from senior Riley Lawhorn and 15 saves from freshman goalie A.J. True, gave off vibes of NJIT’s early-season success a year ago.
Loyola had the other side of the spectrum following a gut-wrenching 8-7 loss to Maryland in overtime. The Greyhounds stifled the Terps for the first 45 minutes, taking a 5-2 lead into the final quarter. But Maryland, led by Eric Spanos, suddenly got hot with four goals in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter – three of them from Spanos.
Loyola was far from done, a longpole goal from Remi Remington tied it and after Maryland’s Daniel Kelly gave the Terps the lead again, Kenan Everhart came up huge to score with just two seconds left to send the game to overtime.
But a Maryland team that reached the NCAA final last year after a pedestrian regular season, showed the heart of a champion. The Terps won the faceoff in overtime and then Binghamton transfer Matthew Keegan scored the game-winner.
Delaware had its own come-from-behind victory and this one came with some intrigue. Flying west to Utah, the Blue Hens fell behind 4-1 and trailed 7-5 at the half. The game stayed nip-and-tuck in the second half, but Delaware took a 12-11 lead on John McCurry’s goal with 2:02 to play.
Before the ensuing faceoff, Utah called for a stick check and Delaware’s Logan Premtaj was hit with an unreleasable three-minute penalty. Utah, which scored three extra-man goals in the game, immediately took advantage. Luke McNamara scored with 1:48 to play to tie the game.
Delaware won the next faceoff, but had to overcome some aggressive defense from the Utes. Playing man-up, Utah constantly double-teamed the ball, but the game flipped when Delaware freshman Bennett Parmer split two longpoles and powered his way to the game-winning goal with 54 seconds left. It was his fourth of the game.
BENNETT PARMER. 💪
MAN-DOWN. ALL THE JUICE.@DelawareMLAX wins it against Utah with less than a minute left. pic.twitter.com/GrkXfLozmJ— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) February 8, 2025
Lars Tiffany made no bones about Ben Wayer’s ceiling for this season. He predicted him as a Tewaaraton finalist and Wayer was everywhere in Virginia’s 19-9 win over Colgate. The LSM had two goals, an assist, nine ground balls and two caused turnovers in the game.
Where will Duke find its offense in 2025? The starting attack is brand new, but midfielder Andrew McAdorey is not and he reminded everyone of how good he is on Saturday. With Duke leading Jacksonville just 9-7 late in the third quarter, McAdorey scored back-to-back goals to ignite a five-goal rally in a 14-9 win.
Stony Brook beat a ranked team for the first time since 2021. The Seawolves upset No. 20 Rutgers 9-8 behind three goals from Vermont transfer Carson Boyle and 13 saves from senior goalie Jamison MacLachlan.
Iona picked up its first-ever victory behind five goals from Cullen Lawry. Playing its second game in as many days, the Gaels edged Hampton 13-9 on Sunday despite 21 saves from Pirate goalie Ben Kieu. Kieu has made 35 saves in Hampton’s first two games.
By the Numbers
13 • Points for Penn State’s Matt Traynor in the Nittany Lions 2-0 start. After netting seven last week, Traynor had four goals and two assists in PSU’s 15-5 win at Villanova on Sunday. He’s had a part in 13 of Penn State’s 29 goals this season.
20 • Turnovers by Virginia in its 19-9 win over Colgate. The Cavaliers are going to be wild to watch as they try to settle into 2025. Kyle Morris got the start in goal and made eight saves before giving way to three-year starter Matt Nunes (4 saves, 4 GA) in the second half. Junior Truitt Sunderland, a one-time top-five recruit, had a career-best nine points (6g, 3a).
12 • Saves for new North Carolina goalie Michael Gianforcaro in the Tar Heels 15-6 win over Michigan. He led the Ivy League in goals against average the last two years at Princeton.
1 • Saves for Holy Cross goalie J.R. Long is the Crusaders 13-12 win over Queens. Long, who had 22 saves in Holy Cross’ opener against Providence, came up with the one stop his team needed early in the third quarter with the Crusaders leading 7-6.
7 • Caused turnovers by Fairfield’s Julian Radossich, a new school record, in the Stags 10-7 victory over Lehigh. The sophomore from Delbarton (N.J.) had six games last year with three caused turnovers and epitomized Fairfield's pedal to the metal approach against Lehigh.
7 • Career-high goals for Sacred Heart’s Tucker Spencer in a 12-11 win over St. Joseph’s in a battle of two NCAA tournament teams from a year ago.
Title
10
Points for Syracuse's Joey Spallina in a 13-5 win over Vermont. Spallina had eight of the points in the first half as the Orange jumped out to a 10-1 halftime lead.
5 • Number of games Ohio State will have played by next Saturday, which will be opening day for the Ivy League teams. The Buckeyes beat Cleveland State 14-4 to improve to 2-1 and host Bellarmine on Tuesday and Air Force on Saturday.
14 • Assists for Providence’s Ryan Bell in just two games this season. Bell had a goal and six assists in the Friars 15-12 win over Bryant, its first win over its state rival since 2020.
10 • First-quarter goals for Navy in a 22-9 win over Iona. It was the most goals in a game for Navy since a 23-5 win over Holy Cross in 2004.
21 • Goals for Bucknell in a 21-8 win over St. Bonaventure. The Bison have scored 20 or more goals in back-to-back games for the first time in school history.
2 • Coaches who led their alma mater’s to victory for the first time as head coaches this weekend. Dave Scarcello led Marist past Mercer 16-6 and Jake Richard led Marquette over Detroit Mercy 16-6.
10 • School record points for Marquette’s Nolan Rappis in the win over Detroit Mercy. Rappis had five goals and five assists, surpassing the seven points he scored in all of 2024.
