Way-Early 2027 Rankings: No. 5-No. 1 (Division I Men)

It’s time to look ahead 2027, even if next season’s first lacrosse game is more than six months away.

USA Lacrosse Magazine will spend the week counting down a far-too-early top 25(ish), wrapping up today with five programs that all enjoyed postseason success in May and should benefit from continuity in important places next year.

Way-Early 2027 Rankings: 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1

5. PENN STATE

2026 record: 10-6 (3-2 Big Ten)

Last seen: Giving eventual national champion Princeton its toughest game of the postseason, leading early in the fourth quarter of the quarterfinals before falling 14-10.

Projected starts lost: 48 of 160 (30 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 66 of 313 points (21.1 percent)

Initial forecast: For as much chatter as there was about the Nittany Lions’ inconsistency in 2026, they were actually pretty steady after some admittedly puzzling play in their first four games. Penn State smothered Maryland and throttled Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten tournament, then made it three quarterfinal trips in four years with a first-round defeat of Army, all the while playing about as disciplined as anyone.

The projected losses undersell the impact graduation will take on the defensive end (short stick Jon King, long pole Ryan O’Connor and defenseman Alex Ross), but the Nittany Lions should be in good shape on offense. Penn State could return seven of its eight 20-point scorers, a group highlighted by Kyle Lehman (27 goals, 11 assists), Jack Iannantuono (17 goals, 20 assists on the way to Freshman of the Year honors in the Big Ten), Hunter Aquino (26 goals, nine assists) and Chase Robertson (21 goals, nine assists).

One of the big questions in Happy Valley will be whether Aquino can stay on the field; he got banged up during the Nittany Lions’ run to Memorial Day weekend in 2025, then missed five games as a sophomore and played sparingly after the first quarter in the quarterfinal loss to Princeton. Penn State was plenty dangerous without him, but its ceiling is higher with him at his best.

Plus, Jeff Tambroni’s team could need its offense to be sharp early as players fill elevated roles on defense around promising goalie Preston Hawkins (52.2% save percentage as a freshman).

Overall, the Nittany Lions should be Big Ten favorites and a capable of reaching the season’s final weekend for the fourth time.

4. DUKE

2026 record: 11-5 (1-3 Atlantic Coast)

Last seen: Getting dissected in the picking game by Princeton in a 14-7 NCAA semifinal loss, a defeat that didn’t overshadow Duke’s remarkable resurrection over the previous month.

Projected starts lost: 21 of 160 (13.1 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 54 of 353 points (15.3 percent)

Initial forecast: What would the general consensus about the Blue Devils be if they hadn’t made the NCAA tournament and didn’t have a riveting victory at Richmond and a stomping of Georgetown to their name? Probably that they weren’t tested enough in nonconference play and were a bit underachieving once the schedule stiffened, leaving them with plenty to prove in 2027.

Instead, Duke got to display something approaching an ideal version of itself during a three-game winning streak that started with an upset of North Carolina on April 25, and now the vast majority of the production from that roster is back for another run and armed with Memorial Day weekend experience.

All six offensive starters — Benn Johnston (43 goals, eight assists), Max Sloat (36 goals, eight assists), Michael Ortlieb (25 goals, 18 assists), Kyle Colsey (32 goals, 11 assists), Liam Kershis (17 goals, 15 assists) and Brady Scioletti (24 goals, seven assists) — are set to return. So will defensemen Charlie Johnson and Nikolas Menendez, primary faceoff option Cal Girard (59.1%) and two goalies (Buck Cunningham and Patrick Jameison) who split time last season.

Even without the graduated Aidan Maguire at short stick and Henry Bard on close defense, the Blue Devils will be one of the sport’s most seasoned teams, and they shouldn’t find themselves at the edge of the field when next Selection Sunday arrives. Consider Duke one of the favorites to get to Lincoln Financial Field in late May.

3. PRINCETON

2026 record: 17-2 (5-1 Ivy)

Last seen: Scoring 11 consecutive goals in the first half of a 16-9 drubbing of Notre Dame on Memorial Day to bring an emphatic close to a quarter-century title drought.

Projected starts lost: 56 of 190 (29.5 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 139 of 459 points (30.8 percent)

Initial forecast: The national champions somehow both lose a bunch and bring back a ton from their exceptional run. Starters Chad Palumbo (48 goals, 31 assists) and John Dunphey (21 goals, 18 assists) graduate from the offense, but the Tigers still have eight of their 10 scorers in the fold. It’s a group that includes Tewaaraton finalist Nate Kabiri (39 goals, 48 assists), all-around organizer and pick-setting ace Colin Burns (37 goals, 19 assists), outside threat Tucker Wade (39 goals, eight assists) and promising sophomore Parker Reynolds (16 goals, 20 assists).

Another name to remember is lefty Peter Buonanno (nine goals, four assists), who wowed the program last fall but wound up getting injured midseason.

The starting close defense of Jack Stahl, Hunter Spiess and Finn Fox remains intact, and the Tigers keep two of their top three short sticks (Jackson Green and Cooper Mueller).

The obvious questions are the specialists. Ryan Croddick (58.3%) graduates after earning Most Outstanding Player honors on the season’s final weekend. Senior Colin Vickrey and junior Carter Johnson have 71:57 of college experience between them, though Princeton’s history of developing quality goalies under Matt Madalon and defensive coordinator Jeremy Hirsch suggests the Tigers will most likely be fine in the cage.

Princeton may well miss faceoff man Andrew McMeekin (57.7%) as much as anyone in its graduating class, since the Tigers’ lethal offense rarely was lacking for opportunities. Princeton shouldn’t fall off much, if at all, as it begins chasing its eighth national title.

2. NORTH CAROLINA

2026 record: 13-5 (2-2 Atlantic Coast)

Last seen: Preventing Syracuse from generating transition opportunities and paying a steep price in a 13-11 loss to the Orange in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Projected starts lost: 38 of 180 (21.1 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 34 of 378 points (9.0 percent)

Initial forecast: The Tar Heels’ championship window might not entirely disappear after 2027, but it probably isn’t opening any wider than it will next spring. They’ll have back Owen Duffy (31 goals, 40 assists), a Tewaaraton finalist who has played hurt at the end of his last two seasons, and redshirt senior Dominic Pietramala (55 goals, eight assists), who set North Carolina’s career goals record and the NCAA tournament single-game mark when he dropped a 10-spot on Albany in the first round.

Juniors Brevin Wilson (27 goals, nine assists) and Mason Szewczyk (17 goals, 12 assists) are coming off solid years, and sophomore midfielder Anthony Raio (18 goals, eight assists) showed a lot of promise in his debut season.

First team All-American faceoff man Brady Wambach (65.7%) should help the Tar Heels dominate possession again, and long pole Peter Thomann and defenseman Cole Aasheim are among the notable defensive returnees.

One question of significance will be how sophomore Josh Marcus (47.4% save percentage) responds to late-season struggles that led coach Joe Breschi to turn to the now-graduated Kent Goode for the NCAA tournament.

North Carolina is coming off its first quarterfinal appearance since 2021, a fine step for a team that looks like it will be capable of more next spring.

1. NOTRE DAME

2026 record: 13-3 (3-1 Atlantic Coast)

Last seen: Getting overwhelmed on the final day of the season on the way to a 16-9 loss to Princeton in the national title game.

Projected starts lost: 32 of 160 (20 percent)

Projected scoring departing: 124 of 339 points (36.6 percent)

Initial forecast: That defense that held 10 of its last 14 opponents to single digits? It’s largely back. Tewaaraton winner Shawn Lyght will be among the favorites for national player of the year as a senior, and fifth-year senior Thomas Ricciardelli (57.8% save percentage) figures to be one of Division I’s most reliable goalies. The entire close defense unit is intact, and while the graduation of long pole Will Donovan is a significant loss, the Fighting Irish are going to be plenty stingy.

The two departing starters are attackman Josh Yago (34 goals, 23 assists) and midfielder Will Angrick (16 goals, seven assists), and second-line midfielders Jalen Seymour (12 goals, seven assists) and Max Busenkell (five goals, eight assists) also exhausted their eligibility.

Still, depth was Notre Dame’s calling card on offense, and a group that brings back Luke Miller (34 goals, 12 assists), Brock Behrman (21 goals, 16 assists), Will Maheras (19 goals, 17 assists), Matt Jeffery (19 goals, 11 assists) and Teddy Lally (15 goals, nine assists) will start off in a good spot.

The Irish have played on Memorial Day in three of the last four years, and there’s an impressive enough of a combination of continuity, experience, skill, talent, coaching and in all likelihood hunger after coming up a game short of the program’s third national title that no one should be surprised if Notre Dame is right back to earning a place in an NCAA final again in 2027.