Division III is, as this weekend proved once again, the wildest division in all of college lacrosse. And, really, it should be with 400-hundred teams vying for wins and consideration in the USA Lacrosse Top 20.
But this was not a good week to be ranked for a litany of squads.
The biggest upset of the week is difficult to identify. Was it Swarthmore’s 13-9 win over Gettysburg? Or was it Wesleyan’s 16-14 victory over Tufts? Roanoke topping Hampden-Sydney 14-8 is also up for consideration. Does Washington and Lee’s 10-9 win over Lynchburg qualify as an upset? How about Trinity’s 11-7 win over Hamilton? (Perhaps that’s a bit too deep into the weeds with the NESCAC, though.)
But you get the point. Let’s hone in on those first two results, as they are the most impactful in the Top 20. Swarthmore had an argument for being underrated since the start of the season. Even though they have been in the Top 20 for the entire spring, the result against Gettysburg has fans going wild on social media. The “I Told You Sos” came immediately after the final whistle sounded, and in this case, perhaps the chirps should be heeded.
Wesleyan’s losses have come to identify them more than their wins this season — and this result against Tufts shows that such an approach is a mistake. In past seasons, the Cardinals defense was their biggest strength. But this year, it’s the offense that is breaking down barriers. And really, against Tufts, you have to be able to score at a clip that at least matches the Jumbos to have a chance to win. And Wesleyan did that — especially in the fourth quarter, when the Cardinals managed to outscore Tufts 5-3.
With the acceleration of conference play, we are going to see fewer and fewer easy wins and more and more hard losses befall most of the teams in the Top 20. But that’s how you get ranked. If you play tough games and you win them, the reward is a trip to the NCAA tournament.
USA LACROSSE DIVISION III
MEN’S TOP 20
1. Salisbury, 12-0 (Prev: 1)
2. RPI, 12-0 (Prev: 2)
3. St. Lawrence, 11-0 (Prev: 3)
4. RIT, 11-1 (Prev: 4)
5. Dickinson, 10-1 (Prev: 6)
6. Tufts, 8-2 (Prev: 5)
7. Swarthmore, 9-1 (Prev: 7)
8. Wesleyan, 8-2 (Prev: 19)
9. Union, 8-2 (Prev: 10)
10. Gettysburg, 6-4 (Prev: 8)
11. Babson, 10-2 (Prev: 9)
12. Washington and Lee, 8-3 (Prev: 12)
13. Christopher Newport, 8-4 (Prev: 11)
14. Bowdoin, 7-2 (Prev: 14)
15. Amherst, 6-3 (Prev: 16)
16. Lynchburg, 6-5 (Prev: 13)
17. Endicott, 10-1 (Prev: 17)
18. Stevens, 9-2 (Prev: 20)
19. Roanoke, 10-2 (Prev: NR)
20. Williams, 5-5 (Prev: 15)
Also considered (alphabetical order): Cabrini, Grove City, Hamilton, Hampden-Sydney, Middlebury