The 4.8-magnitude earthquake that mildly jiggled the tri-state area on Friday was about as seismic as this week’s USA Lacrosse Division II Men’s Top 20 shuffling ‑ for the top of the ranking, anyway.
No team ranked in the top 10 tasted defeat. In fact, you have to go all the way down to No. 14 to find a team that lost - and that was a midweek 11-10 triple-OT defeat of Bentley at the hands of Pace.
Oh, and Mercyhurst turned traitor and took their train set to Division I. But that’s next year. We live in the moment.
Teams in the lower section of the Top 20 saw a lot of results go against them. It’s the sort of thing that is bound to happen at this point in the season, as there is a lot of game film banked for in-conference opponents to watch and adjust. As those key games begin to ramp up in-conference, teams outside of the Top 20 have a chance to force their way into Top 20 consideration.
Ironically, right now, there are more teams worthy of Top 20 inclusion than there are spots.
So, unfortunately, cuts must be made and some deserving teams must be left out. One of those teams is Mount Olive, which had its biggest result of the year, a 12-11 overtime win over Belmont Abbey. Lewis kicked its way back into the Top 20 with its big 20-12 win over Maryville. Saint Leo’s drop continued, as they fell to conference foes.
A lot of important conference showdowns will take place in the peninsula during the week, including Florida Tech vs. Florida Southern, Saint Leo vs. Tampa, and Rollins vs. Embry-Riddle. So, expect even more movement before next weekend’s slate even begins.
We’re in the thick of the action across the entire Division II landscape, but let’s get deeper into last week’s results.
USA LACROSSE DIVISION II
MEN’S TOP 20
1. Limestone, 13-0 (Prev: 1)
2. Lenoir-Rhyne, 11-1 (Prev: 2)
3. Tampa, 12-1 (Prev: 3)
4. Adelphi, 8-2 (Prev: 4)
5. Mercy, 9-1 (Prev: 5)
6. Rollins, 9-2 (Prev: 6)
7. Wingate, 9-3 (Prev: 7)
8. Saint Anselm, 5-1 (Prev: 8)
9. Pace, 8-1 (Prev: 10)
10. Newberry, 9-3 (Prev: 9)
11. UIndy, 9-3 (Prev: 11)
12. Mercyhurst, 8-3 (Prev: 12)
13. Seton Hill, 6-3 (Prev: 13)
14. Frostburg State, 9-2 (Prev: 15)
15. Florida Southern, 8-4 (Prev: 17)
16. Bentley, 4-4 (Prev: 14)
17. Colorado Mesa, 8-3 (Prev: 18)
18. Rockhurst, 8-2 (Prev: 20)
19. Saint Leo, 7-4 (Prev: 16)
20. Lewis, 8-3 (Prev: NR)
Also considered (alphabetical order): Embry-Riddle, Maryville, Mount Olive, Palm Beach Atlantic, Westminster