Looking for a chaotic start to the season? Then Saturday wasn’t the afternoon for you.
Go through a handful of teams that made last year’s NCAA quarterfinals — Duke, Georgetown, Maryland and Syracuse — and there were a bunch of results that were effectively sealed by halftime. Michigan and Penn State, two more tournament teams from a season ago, avoided any serious friction in their debuts.
And while Johns Hopkins warrants credit for coming out of Denver with an opening victory, the teams played within a five-goal range. The Blue Jays never led by more than four or trailed by more than one. Hopkins walking away with a 13-10 defeat to a team that is working its way through a hefty number of graduation losses is in no way a shock.
Even the result that seems the most striking featured a team coming off consecutive NCAA trips (Utah) dealing a 19-13 loss to a team that posted sub-.500 records the last two seasons (Ohio State).
It was a fine result for the aggressive Utes, who still have Denver, Syracuse and Virginia to play. It had to be at least a little unnerving for the Buckeyes, who were more than doubled up on faceoffs (23-11) and gave up two goals in less than a minute four times.
But the overall view of the Division I season wasn’t altered much Saturday, in part because only a bit less than half of the sport got underway.
Patrick Stevens is a longtime USA Lacrosse Magazine contributor. This is his weekly submission to the USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20.
PATRICK STEVENS’ DIVISION I MEN’S TOP 20
1. Notre Dame (0-0)
The back-to-back champions do not open the season until Feb. 12 against Cleveland State, and there’s no reason to dislodge the Irish from their opening perch until they actually play.
2. Syracuse (1-0)
How good was Gary Gait’s bunch in its 24-5 rout of Jacksonville? It scored the first 10 goals of the game, gave up a couple and then fired in the first 10 goals of the second half. One blowout doesn’t ensure an Orange restoration come May, but it didn’t provide fodder for pooh-poohing the idea, either.
3. Princeton (0-0)
Still another two weeks until Ivy opening day, so the Tigers have another Saturday without a game before things get started. Princeton’s take-on-all-comers schedule starts with a Feb. 15 trip to Penn State.
4. Cornell (0-0)
Another Ivy counting down the days to a Feb. 15 opener. The Big Red opens at reigning Patriot League champ Lehigh, which dropped its debut Saturday against Rutgers.
5. Virginia (0-0)
Not that the Cavaliers are being ignored, but there’s probably more muted external expectations for them than at any point since 2019. And everyone knows how that turned out for Lars Tiffany’s program. The fun begins in Charlottesville on Saturday against Colgate.
6. Maryland (1-0)
The Terrapins opened with a stress-free Saturday, scoring all seven goals of the first half on the way to a 12-7 defeat of Richmond. Binghamton transfer Matthew Keegan had three goals and two assists, while veteran goalie Logan McNaney made 14 stops. Best of all, a four-man faceoff committee combined to win 13 of 21 draws as the post-Luke Wierman era began. Next up is a trip to Loyola.
7. Johns Hopkins (1-0)
Just a really solid start for the Blue Jays — a 13-10 victory at Denver that featured a measurable faceoff advantage (16-11), a good debut by grad transfer goalie Luke Staudt (12 saves) and Russell Melendez’s first six-point game (four goals, two assists) since the first round of the 2023 NCAA tournament. The Blue Jays visit Towson on Tuesday and play host to Georgetown on Saturday.
8. Duke (1-0)
The Blue Devils hammered Bellarmine 26-7 as Maryland transfer Eric Malever had four goals and two assists and ex-Richmond attackman Luke Grayum tacked on three goals and two assists in their respective Duke debuts. Next up is a trip to Jacksonville, something that didn’t go well two seasons ago.
9. Yale (0-0)
The Bulldogs are going to be a fascinating team to watch, assuming they can avoid the poor injury luck they had last year. But they won’t open until Feb. 15 at Villanova.
10. Penn State (1-0)
The Nittany Lions weren’t ambushed by Colgate this time. Instead, Matt Traynor’s five-goal, two-assist effort helped Penn State pounce early to secure a 14-9 victory in its opener. Like Yale, their next game is also at Villanova — in the Nittany Lions’ case, this Sunday.
11. Georgetown (1-0)
It probably felt a bit precarious as Loyola scored four of the first five goals Saturday, but the Hoyas were in firm control for the final three quarters of a 13-6 victory. Kevin Warne probably isn’t thrilled with 17 turnovers and five penalties, but freshman faceoff man Ross Prince’s 16-for-20 debut is encouraging.
12. Towson (0-0)
The Tigers have plenty back from last year’s CAA champions, but how good is this team? They’ll find out in a hurry with Johns Hopkins making the trip up Charles Street on Tuesday before visiting Syracuse early next week.
13. Penn (0-0)
One last preseason tune-up awaits the Quakers this week. They’ll scrimmage Drexel and Dickinson at Franklin Field before heading to Georgetown for their Feb. 15 opener.
14. Denver (0-1)
The point of playing an eye-catching opener is to get an early measure of a team (not to mention keep the attention of players during a long and chilly preseason). The Pioneers’ 13-10 loss at home to Johns Hopkins only drives home the obvious: Denver had a lot to replace from a team that reached the NCAA semifinals, and it might take them some time to fully figure things out.
15. Michigan (1-0)
The Wolverines actually trailed in a game when their defense held Marquette scoreless for a stretch for 56:49. That’s because the Golden Eagles scored the first goal. Michigan tallied the next 14 — with five players posting multi-goal days — on the way to an opening blowout.
16. Army (0-0)
The Patriot League favorites head to UMass on Saturday for their season opener. Army and Boston University were the only Patriot League teams not in action this week; the conference went 3-4 on Saturday, with Bucknell (against Merrimack), Lafayette (over Air Force) and Navy (at High Point) all winning.
17. North Carolina (0-0)
Without a doubt, one of the week’s most interesting games is the Tar Heels’ opener against Michigan — two teams with genuine upside that won’t face strength of schedule questions at the end of the season.
18. Utah (1-0)
The Utes applied a bunch of pressure on Ohio State, peppering the Buckeyes with 34 shots on goal on the way to a 19-13 victory in Columbus. Luke McNamara scored five goals and Cody Hart added four goals and an assist for Utah, which meets Delaware on Saturday in its home opener.
19. Harvard (0-0)
Like the four Ivies listed above, the Crimson open on the road on Feb. 15. They’ll make the short trip to Providence in what could be a bellwether game for both New England programs.
20. Rutgers (1-0)
Something that had to please Brian Brecht and his staff about their 10-6 victory at Lehigh was that the Mountain Hawks went 12 of 22 on clears. Some of that can probably be chalked up to early February lacrosse, but when the Scarlet Knights have been good in the last decade, they’ve had the ability to create chaos. LIU visits Piscataway on Tuesday.
Also considered (alphabetical order): Lehigh (0-1), Navy (1-0), Providence (1-0), UAlbany (0-0), Villanova (0-0)