Unsettled: Is This the Year Defense Wins a National Championship?

Welcome to this week's edition of Unsettled, a weekly look at big stories, random observations and the numbers from the NCAA men's lacrosse scene. Check back each Sunday for the latest.

Is this the year defense wins a national championship? Despite the age-old saying that defenses win championships, that hasn’t been the case in recent years for the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

Three of the last four champions had the No. 1 ranked scoring offense in the country and the last time the champion wasn’t ranked among the top five in scoring was in 2019 when Virginia had the No. 7 offense. The last time the champ wasn’t in the Top 10 in scoring? Go back to 2007 when Johns Hopkins finished with the No. 15 offense.

But take a look at some of this year’s top contenders – three of them came into last weekend ranked outside the Top 10 in scoring. No. 1 ranked Notre Dame’s offense was just No. 11 and that’s with a 29-goal outburst against Bellarmine impacting the numbers. Syracuse, as well-known as anyone for explosive offenses, ranked 16th, even with Joey Spallina on attack and serious weapons from the midfield. Maryland, the first-place team in the Big Ten race, ranked just 42nd.

Goals are at a premium this season – just look at the Big Ten on Saturday. Even with Maryland’s pedestrian offensive numbers overall, they were the only team in the Big Ten to crack double-digits this weekend, beating Rutgers 12-2.

Syracuse and Virginia in the Dome usually lights up the scoreboard – they combined for 35 goals in the 2024 matchup, but had just a combined 23 on Saturday in Syracuse’s 14-9 win as Orange goalie Jimmy McCool made 18 saves.

Cornell, last year’s top-scoring offensive team, and Duke, this year’s No. 1 ranked offense, combined for just 16 goals in a 9-7 Cornell victory.

Perhaps the biggest flex for the defenses came in Notre Dame’s 10-5 win over North Carolina. It was a season-low for the Tar Heels, who have scored at least 17 goals five times and had been held to single-digits just once prior. North Carolina went scoreless for the final 19 minutes of the game and stars Owen Duffy and Dom Pietramala combined for just two goals on 15 shots. Thomas Ricciardelli has been rock solid in goal this year and made 15 saves against the Tar Heels. With Shawn Lyght often making opponent’s top players an afterthought, Notre Dame might have an unusual recipe to try and bring home its third title in the last four years.

Its Midwest neighbor, Ohio State, is also riding the defense train with an offense that was just No. 50 entering the week. What’s most impressive is that All-American defenseman Bobby Van Buren has missed the season with an injury and the Buckeyes haven’t skipped a beat. Caleb Fyock was unreal on Saturday, making 14 saves, including one with 10 seconds to play, in Ohio State’s 7-6 win over Johns Hopkins.

Maryland has also overcome an injury to an All-American defender when Will Schaller went down a few weeks ago in a 13-12 triple overtime win over Virginia. Since the injury, Maryland’s defense has given up just 27 goals in four games – three of them wins. Perhaps someone will ride their hot offense to the championship like Cornell did a year ago, but it didn’t feel like that this weekend.

Random Observations 

What a weekend for the Shannehans. Luke Shannehan, a freshman attackman for Michigan, was held to just one assist for the first 59 minutes of the game, but with 13 seconds remaining weaved through traffic and kept Michigan’s postseason hopes alive with a 9-8 win at Penn State. A little over three hours later, his older brother, Timothy, a sophomore attackman at Boston University, finished a six-point day with the game-winner in overtime in the Terriers 13-12 win over Bucknell. 

Don’t forget about Siena. Following the tragic death of head coach Liam Gleason in December, there were a lot of eyes on the Saints as they returned to the field in February under new head coach Tim Cox, a longtime offensive coordinator under Gleason. The Saints lost their opener, 23-7, to Boston University, but it’s been a different story since then. Siena has won 10 of their last 11 and clinched a MAAC tournament berth with a 15-11 win over Sacred Heart in a rematch of last year’s MAAC championship game. The Saints last three wins have come with leading scorer Patrick Radomski on the sidelines. Radomski, currently leading the country in points per game, suffered a foot injury that is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the season. 

High Point has authored an incredible turnaround after a 1-5 start. The Panthers have won five straight in the Southern Conference – including wins over Massachusetts and Saint Joseph’s when both were nationally-ranked – to improve to 6-5. They’ll get two big tests before the SoCon tournament. High Point plays at Cornell on Monday and then hosts Richmond next Friday.

By the Numbers

15,156 • Fans at Army’s Michie Stadium to see the Black Knights beat rival Navy, 14-9. It was the largest college lacrosse crowd this season and the largest ever to watch a lacrosse game at Michie.

306 • Career points for Syracuse’s Joey Spallina after his two-goal, three-assist effort against Virginia on Saturday. He’s just one away from tying Michael Powell for the school’s all-time record. He’ll try to break it on Saturday at home when the Orange host Colgate.

4 • Consecutive wins for Colgate in the Patriot League following a 9-7 win over Lehigh on Friday night. Since starting the season 1-6, Colgate is very much in the thick of the league race.

16 • Combined points for the Connor brothers in Georgetown’s 17-7 win over Marquette. The former Colgate players have been lights out for the Hoyas this season. Liam Connor tied Georgetown’s single-game assist record with eight and added a goal while his brother, Rory, led the Hoyas with seven goals.

7 • Goals that Brown trailed Dartmouth by late in the third quarter before rallying for a 17-16 win in overtime. Sophomore Brady O’Kane scored four goals, including the game-winner.

19 • Career-high saves for Drexel’s Brendan Donnely in a 17-8 win over Hofstra that clinched a CAA playoff berth.

20 • Goals scored by Princeton against Penn, the second-highet ever for the Tigers in the Ivy League series. Princeton won 20-8 behind five goals and two assists from Chad Palumbo. Princeton scored 21 in a 21-20 overtime win against the Quakers in 2022.

62 • Shots by Richmond in a 23-7 win over St. Bonaventure. The Spiders have scored at least 21 goals in three of their last four games.

13 • First-half faceoff wins for Loyola’s Carson Hall in the Greyhounds 16-7 win over Lafayette. Hall finished the game winning 15 of 20.

9 • Consecutive wins for Robert Morris, setting a school record, following an 18-5 win over Mercyhurst.

17 • Career-high saves for Delaware’s Colton Silverstein, including one in the closing seconds, in Delaware’s 8-7 win over Massachusetts