NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament First-Round Recap

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It was a lacrosse fan's paradise. NCAA tournament action all day Saturday and Sunday.

Here are the scores, standout performances and must-see moments that stood out and our headlines from the weekend.

When the dust settled, eight teams were left.

» First-Round Rewind: Vintage Syracuse Comeback, a Black Eye and Seeds of Doubt

» Syracuse Stages Epic Fourth-Quarter Comeback, Beats Harvard in OT

» Third-Quarter Blitz Richmond to First-Ever NCAA Tournament Win

» Notre Dame Shows Championship Mettle, Ousts Ohio State

» Maryland Posts Workmanlike Effort in 13-5 Win Over Air Force

» Mackesy Surpasses Hubbard, Princeton Throttles Towson in First-Round Win

» Underdog in Name Only, Georgetown Beats Duke to Ensure Quarterfinal Return

(6) Syracuse vs. Harvard

Final: (6) Syracuse def. Harvard 13-12 (OT)

🔥 Top Performer: John Mullen, Syracuse — Mullen kept winning faceoffs and Syracuse kept converting, especially in the fourth quarter. This is why lacrosse has the best end game in sports. No lead is safe against the Orange when Mullen goes into make-it, take-it mode, which he did in winning 24 of 28 faceoffs, including 15 of 16 in the second half and 10 of 11 in the fourth quarter as Syracuse erased a six-goal deficit.

💥 Key Moment: The Orange trailed by five with a shade more than 10 minutes left when Harvard got slapped with a one minute non-releasable penalty. Syracuse made the Crimson pay with three extra-man goals, part of a five-goal, 99-second rally that turned an 11-6 deficit into a tie game. It was an insane turnaround that had everyone at the Dome gasping for air and fans online scrambling for the wow emoji.

⏭️ Next: For fans of a certain era, a dream NCAA quarterfinal matchup between Syracuse and Princeton. The teams met numerous times on the big stage in the 1990s and early 2000s, including four NCAA championship finals.

(1) Cornell vs. UAlbany

✅ Final: (1) Cornell def. UAlbany 15-6

🔥 Top Performer: CJ Kirst, Cornell — Who else? The likely Tewaaraton Award winner and recent No. 1 overall pick in the PLL draft scored six goals in a game for the sixth time this season. It was a memorable final game at Schoellkopf Field for the NCAA's all-time goals leader.

💥 Key Moment: This was one of the Big Red's clunkier offensive performances of the season, and they still poured in 15 goals. Cornell only led 4-3 near the end of the second quarter before Kirst scored goals going into and coming out of halftime to ignited a five-goal run. Michael Long played a key role, assisting three of the goals.

 ⏭️ Next: A rematch with Richmond, the first-time NCAA quarterfinalist. The Spiders won't be afraid going against the top seed. They grabbed a 6-1 lead on Cornell when the teams played March 2 in Richmond and were up three in the fourth quarter before the Big Red finished on a four-goal run to eke out a 12-11 win.

(4) Ohio State vs. Notre Dame                     

✅ Final: Notre Dame def. (4) Ohio State 15-6

🔥 Top Performer: Thomas Riciardelli, Notre Dame — Arguably the biggest loss from Notre Dame's star-studded back-to-back national championship teams was goalie Liam Entenmann. How would the Irish fare in the postseason without him? Junior Thomas Riciardelli, who played just six minutes in two seasons as one of Entenmann's backups, more than answered the call in his first NCAA tournament start. Riciardelli made 15 saves to lead the Irish past Big Ten champion Ohio State. His 71.4 save percentage was his best performance of the season.

💥 Key Moment: The faceoff dot in the second quarter. Will Lynch had a dominant day overall, but especially in the second quarter when Notre Dame flipped a 3-1 deficit into a 7-4 halftime lead. After losing the faceoff to start the second quarter, Lynch won seven of the next eight in the quarter to fuel the comeback. Lynch finished the game winning 17 of 23 faceoffs.

⏭️ Next: Notre Dame will play fifth-seeded Penn State in a quarterfinal next Sunday at Navy. It will be the first meeting between the two schools in more than a decade. Penn State edged Notre Dame 8-7 early in the regular season in 2014.

(2) Maryland vs. Air Force     

✅ Final: (2) Maryland def. Air Force 13-5

🔥 Top Performer: Eric Spanos, Maryland — The 6-foot-5 senior broke out with a career-high six goals, the most for any Terp since Jared Bernhardt also had six goals in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA tournament against Vermont. Spanos took 11 shots, but all six of his shots on cage found the back of the net. The 13 goals for Maryland was just one away from its season-high of 14 against Delaware while the defense (5 goals allowed) also had its second-best game of the season (3, also against Delaware).

💥 Key Moment: Maryland and Air Force spent most of the first half sparring with little damage being done, but then the Terps scored three goals in less than two minutes late in the first half. That gave Maryland a 7-2 halftime lead and playing from behind is almost always a recipe for disaster against the Terps. Maryland kept the momentum rolling from that spurt and blanked Air Force in the third quarter to extend its lead to 10 goals.

⏭️ Next: Maryland will meet regional rival Georgetown in a game Sunday at Navy – meaning there should be plenty of fans making their short trip to Annapolis. Despite their two fields being just over 20 miles apart, this will be the first meeting between the schools since 2012. The Terps lead the all-time series 10-2.

(7) Duke vs. Georgetown

✅ Final: Georgetown def. (7) Duke 16-12

🔥 Top Performer: Aidan Carroll, Georgetown — Find a bigger big-game performer on this stage, we beseech you. A week after going off for eight goals and two assists in the Big East title-clinching win over Villanova, Carroll scored six goals and added two assists, at times making it look easy against a Duke defense that was operating in peak form down the stretch. None were bigger than the two goals Carroll scored coming out of halftime. The Blue Devils had just tied it at 7 on a buzzer-beating heave from midfield by faceoff man Cal Girard, but Carroll sparked the Hoyas to a dominant third quarter that proved the difference.

💥 Key Moment: Duke playing with desperation and Georgetown a tad of inexperience made for a chaotic fourth quarter. The key moment came with 9:24 remaining. The Hoyas led 12-9 at the time. Blue Devils midfielder Benn Johnston swim-dodged and fired a low bouncer that Hoyas goalie Anderson Moore kicked aside. Georgetown defenseman Ty Banks emerged from the scrum with the ground ball, ran the break and found Jack Ransom on the doorstep for a goal — a crucial two-goal swing. Instead of pulling within two, Duke trailed by four, a deficit too great to overcome.

⏭️ Next: The Hoyas advance to the NCAA quarterfinals for the third straight year and will play either Air Force or second-seeded Maryland next Sunday in Annapolis, Md.

(5) Penn State vs. Colgate

✅ Final: (5) Penn State def. Colgate 13-11

🔥 Top Performer: Liam Matthews, Penn State — The Orangeville, Ontario, native and product of The Hill Academy was about as clutch as you could be in a game that featured six ties and was arguably the most chaotic game of the season. Matthews scored the tiebreaker that mattered most, depositing his fourth goal of the evening for a 12-11 lead. Prior to the goal, Colgate had come up with a huge defensive stop, forcing a shot clock violation after a pair of feeble Penn State attempts. But the Raiders committed their 23rd turnover on the clear. Live by the sword, die by the sword.  With 43 combined turnovers, the game was Colgate's flavor and the chaos almost — almost — finished in its favor.

💥 Key Moment: The aforementioned Matthews goal was huge. The next faceoff was the key moment, though. Reid Gills won it cleanly for the Nittany Lions, allowing Jeff Tambroni to kill some clock before calling a timeout with 38 seconds to go. Out of the timeout, Matt Traynor scored for a little cushion.

⏭️ Next: Penn State plays the winner of Sunday's must-watch game between Ohio State and Notre Dame. Ohio State beat the Nittany Lions 13-9 earlier this season.

— Kenny DeJohn

(3) Princeton vs. Towson

✅ Final: (3) Princeton def. Towson 22-12

🔥 Top Performer: Tucker Wade, Princeton — The sophomore midfielder from Bethesda, Md., scored a career-high five goals and added two assists in the Tigers' onslaught. Opponents know to account for Coulter Mackesy, who surpassed the great Jesse Hubbard as Princeton's all-time leading goal scorer, and Nate Kabiri, who also had five goals and two assists. But when the middies get going, look out.

💥 Key Moment: Princeton got up 4-1 early but gave Towson new life in the second quarter. Aided by three failed Princeton clears and four turnovers in the frame, Towson rallied to tie at 5. That lasted all of 49 seconds, however. Wade buried a pass from Peter Buonano and then Princeton added three more goals in a 35-second stretch to snuff out any thought of an upset. Princeton shot 17-for-20 after Towson tied the game. A six-goal flurry at the end of the third quarter put it out of reach. The last time Towson gave up 22 goals? The 1996 NCAA quarterfinals against Princeton.

⏭️ Next: Princeton plays the winner of Sunday's first-round game between Harvard and Syracuse in the NCAA quarterfinals next Saturday on Long Island. There's plenty history with both teams, one being an Ivy League foe (the Tigers have already defeated the Crimson twice this season) and the other being an old rival. Princeton and Syracuse have only played each other once since 2013, but before that, they played every year and met on in the NCAA tournament 10 times between 1992 and 2003 — including four national championship games.

—  Matt DaSilva

Read: Mackesy Surpasses Hubbard, Princeton Throttles Towson in First-Round Win

(8) North Carolina vs. Richmond

✅ Final: Richmond def. (8) North Carolina 13-10

🔥 Top Performer: Lucas Littlejohn, Richmond — The sophomore attackman from Courtise, Ontario, scored two of his game-high four goals during a three-goal salvo to open the third quarter and tied the game at 5 after the Spiders' offense struggled to get anything going for most of the first half. "Our game plan was to outlast them," Littlejohn said afterward on ESPNU. "Outlast them in every aspect of the game."

💥 Key Moment: Littlejohn credited senior attackman Max Merklinger for the halftime talk that allowed the Spiders to reset despite trailing 5-2. Then Merklinger backed up his words, scoring on a buzzer beater from beyond the restraining line to tie the game at 9 at the end of the third quarter. Though Dominic Pietramala scored early in the fourth quarter to push North Carolina back in front, Littlejohn answered less than a minute later, igniting game-ending four-goal run to give Richmond the first NCAA tournament win in the program's 12-year history. This is the sixth NCAA tournament appearance for the Atlantic 10 champion. Littlejohn also staved off three defenders to secure a late ground ball and timeout while clinging to a two-goal lead.

⏭️ Next: The Spiders will play the winner of Sunday's game between UAlbany and top-seeded Cornell in the NCAA quarterfinals on Long Island. It could be a rematch with the Big Red. No. 1 seeds are 21-0 in the first round since the tournament expanded in 2003. Cornell barely beat Richmond 12-11 during the regular season. Never count out the Spiders. "For the last 12 years we've focused on everything that we have," coach Dan Chemotti said on ESPNU, "not things that we're lacking." Now that includes an NCAA tournament victory.

—  Matt DaSilva

Read: Third-Quarter Blitz Leads Richmond to First-Ever NCAA Tournament Win