Season Rewind: Postseason Troubles on Tobacco Road

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2026, our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking one last look at 2025.

After all, you have to look at the most recent results before making projections for what’s to come. To do that, we’re taking a journey through the top 30 teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse — what went right, what went wrong and what we should all think of that team’s season.

Was it a success? A failure? A mixture of both? You’ll find out our thoughts over the next week.

NORTH CAROLINA

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 17/No. 12
2025 record: 10-5 (3-1 ACC)

What went right: Owen Duffy (34G, 27A) and Dominic Pietramala (48G) both enjoyed strong sophomore years. Brady Wambach won 64.3 percent of his faceoffs, more than enough to get the Tar Heels’ star attackmen plenty of opportunities. North Carolina’s defense, an uncertainty given the lack of experience at that end of the field, held up well until losses to Duke (ACC tournament) and Richmond (NCAA tournament in May). But most of all, the Tar Heels returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021.

What went wrong: Duffy and Pietramala were hobbled by the end of the season; coach Joe Breschi acknowledged after the 13-10 NCAA tournament loss to Richmond that both got limited work in practice once the Tar Heels ventured into ACC play. Only three other Carolina managed to reach 10 goals, and the Tar Heels once again struggled to provide consistent punch from the midfield. The Tar Heels averaged nine goals in their last five games, shooting no better than 23.7 percent in any of them.

Season highlight: At the time, it seemed like a 13-12 victory at Johns Hopkins on Feb. 22 was a message that Carolina would have to be reckoned with. Ultimately, an 8-7 victory at Duke on April 12 showed the Tar Heels could win in far-from-flashy fashion, and a 14-12 triumph at Syracuse two weeks later that North Carolina dominated until the final three minutes ultimately helped lock up a home game in the NCAA tournament.

Verdict: In a vacuum, North Carolina has plenty to be pleased with. It returned to the postseason after a three-year hiatus, and it survived defenseman Peter Thomann’s ACL tear in the preseason to hold up well on that end of the field. Plus, the Tar Heels captured a share of the ACC regular season title. But the last two games were duds, in different ways. North Carolina effectively no-showed in a 14-7 loss to Duke in the ACC semifinals, falling behind 12-1 and scoring just once in the first 44 minutes. The Tar Heels didn’t make the most of their chances early against Richmond, and then ceded a three-goal halftime lead in the first three minutes of the third quarter before fading late. A 10-5 season looks pretty good; knowing it came from a team that was 10-3 adds a dash of sourness.

DUKE

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 7/No. 11
2025 record: 12-6 (2-2 ACC)

What went right: The Blue Devils were usually strong at the defensive end, with Aidan Maguire earning national midfielder of the year honors — the first short stick to be so honored since Towson’s Zach Goodrich in 2019. Junior Charlie Johnson emerged as one of the nation’s top defensemen, and goalie Patrick Jameison was particularly stout during conference play. Maryland transfer Eric Malever had 34 goals and 34 assists as a graduate student, and midfielder/attackman Andrew McAdorey (22G, 22A) earned first-team All-American honors for the second year in a row.

What went wrong: The defense wasn’t always strong, and Princeton, Denver, Notre Dame and Georgetown each shot better than 35 percent in victories over the Blue Devils. Duke wasn’t particularly consistent, and it didn’t firmly place itself into the NCAA tournament until a three-game winning streak in late April and early May. Most strikingly, a program that usually has at least one extremely charismatic offensive player failed to produce a 40-goal scorer in a full season for the first time since 2003. It was a team that clearly missed the graduated Brennan O’Neill (and Josh Zawada and Dyson Williams, too).

Season highlight: The Blue Devils mauled North Carolina in the ACC semifinals, a 14-7 victory that effectively secured an NCAA tournament home game. It was the best synthesis of offense and defense against a quality opponent all season by Duke, which shot nearly 40 percent and surrendered one goal in the first 44 minutes while avenging a regular-season loss to the Tar Heels.

Verdict: Duke was younger than it has been in a long while, and it showed — particularly at the offensive end. It was a team that puzzled coach John Danowski for much of the season, and its inefficiency in the middle of the field helped deliver its undoing in a 16-12 loss to Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament. An opening weekend defeat in the postseason — at home, no less — is not up to Duke’s lofty standards, even in a year when a step back was far from surprising.

ARMY

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 15/No. 10
2025 record: 12-2 (7-1 Patriot)

What went right: Where to start? Jackson Eicher (54G, 31A) was a worthy Tewaaraton Award finalist. Gunnar Fellows and Brayden Fountain added 35-goal seasons. Long pole Christian Fournier and short stick Christian Mazur were among the nation’s best defensive midfielders. Will Coletti won 62.6 percent of his faceoffs despite injuries costing him four games. AJ Pilate closed out the latest in a string of titanic careers for a Black Knights defenseman with another All-American nod.

What went wrong: Army played its worst game at a terrible time, dropping a 16-13 decision to Colgate in the Patriot League semifinals. That ultimately left the Black Knights just outside the NCAA tournament field — in the process excluding a team that no one would have been eager to contend with had it advanced to its second postseason in three years.

Season highlight: In terms of an eye-catching victory, it was the 13-12 victory over North Carolina on March 29. But anytime Army beats Navy in anything (or vice versa), it’s the result most likely to be remembered for decades. And this year’s Army-Navy game was a whopper, with Evan Plunkett scoring twice in the final 2:06 to send the game to overtime and Eicher winning it with 58 seconds left in the extra session.

Verdict: Tournament play — especially in leagues likely to produce only one NCAA team, like the Patriot League — can be painfully fickle. Army had a lot of pieces in its sophomore and junior classes two years ago when it made an unexpected run to the NCAA quarterfinals that ended with an overtime loss to Penn State. Even better times in the near-future seemed certain.

And to be clear, the last two seasons have been largely good for the Black Knights. They’ve gone 23-5. They’ve also stumbled in both seasons in the Patriot League semifinals at home, to Boston U in 2024 and eventual champ Colgate this year.

There is no ignoring Army’s toughness and togetherness, nor its copious amount of talent. There is also no way to minimize how frustrating it must be that a loaded 22-man senior class departs West Point with just one NCAA tournament trip.

GEORGETOWN

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 14/No. 9
2025 record: 12-5 (4-1 Big East)

What went right: Aidan Carroll, for starters. The graduate student turned in an absurdly good final season, piling up 50 goals and 27 assists to become the third Hoya to amass multiple 60-point seasons (joining Jake Carraway and Greg McCavera). Eight of those goals came in the Big East final, helping Georgetown earn its seventh consecutive conference tournament title. Notre Dame grad transfer Fulton Bayman had 31 goals and 32 assists to provide Carroll with a superb complement, and freshman faceoff man Ross Prince won 63 percent of his draws. Toss in a stout defense anchored by Ty Banks and goalie Anderson Moore, and the Hoyas exceeded expectations — and threw in the program’s first NCAA tournament victory over a seeded team since 2000 for good measure with a 16-12 victory at Duke.

What went wrong: If you’re going to lose 7-3 (as the Hoyas did at home on April 12 on Denver), it’s best to follow it up with a five-game winning streak that sends you into the NCAA quarterfinals. Georgetown did that while averaging 17.8 goals over its late-season surge, prompting plenty of questions on how it got from Point A to Point B.

Season highlight: The Hoyas advanced to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years thanks to the May 10 victory at Duke. Georgetown never trailed that night, playing very much like a tested postseason team even though it had many first-year starters sprinkled all over the field.

Verdict: The Hoyas maxed out this season. Even in the 9-6 loss to Maryland in the quarterfinals, they were within a goal with eight minutes to play. Georgetown managed to stay old as COVID-era players remained in the sport, and this always looked like a transition year. Instead, the Hoyas constructed a sturdy bridge to the future, kept their postseason streak alive and demonstrated the strength of the foundation coach Kevin Warne and his staff have laid over the last decade.

RICHMOND

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: Also considered/No. 8
2025 record: 14-4 (5-0 Atlantic 10)

What went right: The headline, of course, is the Spiders earned a victory in the NCAA tournament for the first time. But that was a culmination of an exceptional three and a half months. Richmond was exceptionally balanced, with Lucas Littlejohn (40G, 13A), Max Merklinger (31G, 21A) and Aidan O’Neil (29G, 22A) each authoring 50-point seasons. The Spiders’ offense grew even deeper as the season unfolded, and by May, their second midfield line had three players with double-digit goals. Richmond had proven answers in the cage (Zach Vigue), on close defense (notably Hunter Smith, the A-10’s defensive player of the year) and at long pole (Tommy Stull) and short stick (Jack Pilling). There were a handful of teams that were better than the Spiders, but they may have been Division I’s most interconnected group.

What went wrong: The Spiders lost a pair of one-goal games to Cornell, including in the NCAA quarterfinals, but that’s a relatively modest problem given how the Big Red treated most opponents this spring. Richmond got a bit unlucky that its early victory at Virginia didn’t retain its value as much as anticipated. If it had, the Spiders might have earned a first-round home game in the NCAA tournament.

Season highlight: Unquestionably, it was the May 10 victory at North Carolina in the first round of the postseason. The Spiders sputtered in the first half, at one point going more than 16 minutes without a shot, but they erased a three-goal halftime deficit in the first three minutes of the third quarter and took control from there to claim a 13-10 victory and a trip to the quarterfinals for the first time.

Verdict: It seemed like only a matter of time before Richmond would advance in the NCAA tournament for the first time, and checking off that major program goal makes this season an unqualified success. Now the question is what comes next for a program only a dozen years into existence that already schedules ambitiously. This might just be the beginning of the Spiders making noise in May.

NOTRE DAME

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 1/No. 7
2025 record: 9-5 (3-1 ACC)

What went right: Chris Kavanagh (39G, 27A) was a Tewaaraton Award finalist as a senior. Will Lynch (.595) had a strong season facing off. Shawn Lyght (close defense), Will Donovan (long stick midfielder) and Ben Ramsey (short-stick defensive midfielder) were among the best players at their respective positions. Goalie Thomas Ricciardelli (.565SV%) had a rock-solid season in his first year as a starter after the graduation of Liam Entenmann. The Fighting Irish won four games against NCAA tournament teams, including a 15-6 thrashing of Ohio State on the road in the first round of the postseason.

What went wrong: In 2023, when Notre Dame won its first national title, it had an abundance of talent only two teams came close to matching. In 2024, when it won another championship, Notre Dame enjoyed an outrageous amount of depth. While the Irish were good, and probably should have been awarded a home game in the first round of the tournament, their ceiling just wasn’t as high this spring because a bunch of really good players graduated the year before. It happens.

Season highlight: Two come to mind. The Irish won their seventh in a row against Duke, doubling up the Blue Devils on March 29 in their ACC opener. But a shiver had to go down the rest of the postseason field when Notre Dame demolished Ohio State in the first round of the tournament. It may have been the Irish’s most complete performance of the season.

Verdict: Notre Dame was 20 minutes away from making a third consecutive trip to Memorial Day weekend and held a six-goal lead on Penn State. Hold on, and the conversation is about how the Irish were the first unseeded team to make the semifinals since 2017. Instead, Notre Dame’s title defense ended as the Nittany Lions scored the final eight goals in a 14-12 victory. That’ll prompt some what-ifs, certainly, and it brought an end to a good season that followed two great ones in South Bend.