The Sunday Slide: Lacrosse’s Own March Madness

It’s Selection Sunday (over in the college basketball world). And if all goes according to plan, our annual bracketology exercise will begin this week from the very-accurate Jeremy Fallis.

We’re (ballpark here) halfway through the college lacrosse season. Now’s as good a time as any to take stock of things. But getting a clear idea of what’s to come in May is about as difficult a task as it’s ever been.

As my colleague Jess Arline says every week in our Pick 5 series, “This year is so ‘any given Sunday.’” That is, indeed, the best way to put it.

Not a soul would have told you before the season that Northwestern would have three losses by March 15. Or that Boston College would be teetering on the edge of the Top 20. Or that Nos. 2-4 in the rankings would be (in order) Stanford, Maryland and Navy.

But here we are.

Seemingly the only team immune to 2026 shenanigans is North Carolina, the popular pick for the national title. But the Tar Heels play Florida on Tuesday. Then Boston College on Sunday. Then Northwestern on the following Wednesday. Yikes.

This season has been anything but predictable. We’ve had the parity discussion before, but every year it seems to ring even truer than the year before.

Let’s bank on even more craziness to come in the lead up to our own Selection Sunday on May 3.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

What a beast mode performance by Molly Guzik against Northwestern. She scored six of her team’s nine goals in a 9-6 Syracuse win over the Wildcats and also led the Orange with five draw controls. Guzik has been one of the top emerging performers this year, leading Syracuse with 23 goals and 26 points.

Kate Tyack also dropped six goals on Northwestern this week. This time, though, there was some help on offense. Maddy Paz actually led the Buckeyes with seven points (three goals, four assists) in one of the bigger upsets of the season, a 16-15 Ohio State win.

The Buckeyes are 6-2, and their two losses are forgivable — 13-10 to Pitt and 22-9 to North Carolina. In the spirit of March Madness, consider Ohio State a strong at-large contender.

This was a big week for individual greatness. Catherine Berkery — a May hero last year, if you remember her 2OT winner against Maryland — scored five goals in Penn’s 11-10 win over Georgetown at USA Lacrosse headquarters.

Another test passed by Stanford. A dominant first half, including a shutout first quarter, helped the Cardinal beat Notre Dame 17-11. Aliya Polisky, Mallory Hasselbeck and Ava Arceri combined for 18 points.

FUN WITH NUMBERS

10 • Points by Madison Taylor (seven goals, three assists) on Sunday in Northwestern’s 16-15 loss to Ohio State.

19 • The number Shea Dolce was presented before Boston College’s annual Red Bandana Game in memory of Welles Crowther. She made six saves and helped the Eagles to a 12-8 win over Pitt.

94-0 • Loyola’s regular-season record in the Patriot League — aka perfect since joining the conference — until Army snapped that streak in an 18-10 upset on Saturday.

100 • Career wins for UAlbany head coach Katie Thomson after beating New Hampshire.

601 • Career wins for Cindy Timchal, the most ever by a Division I lacrosse coach — men or women. She reached 600 on Tuesday in a win over Jacksonville and added one to the total after beating Bucknell this weekend.