Way-Early 2026 Division I Women's Rankings: 10-6

USA Lacrosse Magazine’s way-early look at the 2026 women’s season continues Thursday with five teams — all from the Big Ten and ACC — with the chance of making NCAA tournament runs. Today’s segment: Nos. 10-6.

Previously: Nos. 25-21 | Nos. 20-16 | Nos. 15-11

No. 10 Johns Hopkins

2025 record: 13-7 (5-3 Big 10)

Last seen: Falling victim to another Princeton onslaught in an 18-12 home loss to the Tigers in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Notable departures: Ashley Mackin, A; Charlotte Smith, A; Campbell Case, A; Annie Marshall, M; Megan Kielbasa, M; Paris Colgain, D; Quinlan O’Brien, D

Notable Additions: Sienna Chirieleison, M; Zoey Smith, M

Initial forecast: After one of their best regular seasons in recent memory, the Blue Jays fell short against Princeton in the NCAA tournament and narrowly lost 16-15 to Northwestern in the Big 10 tournament. Johns Hopkins graduated a substantial 55 percent of its offensive production and will lose two contributors on defense in Paris Colgain (47GB, 26CT) and Quinlan O’Brien (16GB, 11CT).

The Blue Jays’ defense, which ranked last in the Big 10 in goals allowed, will bring back first-team All-American Reagan O’Brien, who set the record for caused turnovers in a season with 103 last year.

Despite losing a solid senior class, O’Brien and attacker Ava Angello (65G, 25A) will lead arguably an even stronger group next season. Johns Hopkins also picked up one of the most talented recruits in the country in June. Sienna Chirieleison, who broke the Pennsylvania high school girls' lacrosse career goals record, switched her commitment from Syracuse to Johns Hopkins.

No. 9 Duke

2025 record: 14-6 (6-3 ACC)

Last seen: A tight 11-9 loss to No. 4 Florida in the NCAA quarterfinals after nearly completing a nine-goal comeback.

Notable departures: Callie Hem, A; Mattie Shearer, A; Kerry Nease, M; Reilly Traynor, D

Notable Additions: Avery Doran, D (Brown); McKenzie Olsen, M (Syracuse)

Initial forecast: 2025 served as a much-needed bounce back year for Duke. Its 6-3 conference record was the Blue Devils’ best since 2022, and their two wins in the NCAA tournament marked their most since 2015.

They will lose a few key parts of that team with attackers Callie Hem (67G, 5A) and Mattie Shearer (16G, 16A) graduating, but Duke’s leader in points, Carly Bernstein (46G, 36A), is eligible to return for a fifth season. The loss of the Blue Devils’ primary draw taker, Kerry Nease, could be made less of a worry with the emergence of Ellie White, who broke out during their 17-9 win over James Madison. She bested first-team All-American Maddie Epke 11-8 on the draw circle.

Duke will return three starting defenders and added Avery Doran (23G, 24A) who has three years of eligibility remaining after beginning her NCAA career at Brown.

No. 8 Virginia

2025 record: 12-7 (5-4 ACC)

Last seen: A somewhat surprising 17-9 loss to Duke in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Notable departures: Kate Miller, A; Abby Manalang, M; Breese Burlingame, GK; Maureen Duffy, D

Notable additions: Cadence Flaherty, M

Initial forecast: After earning the No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament last season, the Cavaliers failed to exceed the quarterfinals once again — a feat they haven't achieved since 2014. However, Virginia will bring back a stable core of young talent on both sides of the field. Eighty-six percent of its offensive production is returning, along with three of its four starting defenders.

The Cavaliers’ biggest loss is attacker Kate Miller (12G, 8A), but they already tasted life without her after she suffered a season-ending injury on March 8. Not to say they didn’t miss another scoring option after the loss, but Miller’s absence paved the way for a pair of sophomore All-ACC attackers to emerge. Madison Alaimo (22G, 58A) established herself as one of the best facilitators in the conference, and Jenna DiNardo (53G, 21A) finished ninth in the ACC in goals.

Virginia is also bringing back the reigning ACC Midfielder of the Year and second-team All-American Kate Galica (47G, 9A), who led the conference in draw controls (179).

No. 7 Stanford

2025 record: 15-6 (7-2 ACC)

Last seen: Crushing overtime loss to No. 4 Florida in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Notable departures: Sophia Brindisi, D; Allison Baldwin, D; Maddigan Miler, M (Clemson)

Notable additions: Emma Brown, D; Bronwyn Bolton, D

Initial forecast: There are no moral victories, but going 7-2 in your program’s first season in the ACC without having a single senior in your offensive lineup seems like a pretty good start to a new era. The Cardinals will return 95 percent of their offensive production, as midfielder Maddigan Miller (15G, 7A) is the only player on that side of the ball to leave the team.

The Cardinals will run it back with an almost identical roster to last season. Third-team All-American Aliya Polisky (65G, 17A), who has already surpassed 150 career points through her first two seasons, is a sleeper to be a Tewaaraton Award finalist.

Stanford did graduate two staples on its defense with Sophia Brindisi (44GB, 24CT) and Allison Baldwin (14GB, 18CT) but is adding two highly recruited defenders with five-star Emma Brown and Bronwyn Bolton.

No. 6 Maryland

2025 record: 15-6 (7-1 Big Ten)

Last seen: Lost at home in a double-overtime heartbreaker to No. 12 seed Penn in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Notable departures: Chrissy Thomas, A; Jordyn Lipkin, M; Megan Kenny, M (Florida State); Hailey Russo, A; Kate Sites, A; Sophie Halus, D

Notable additions: Caitlin Boden, GK (James Madison); Kristen Shanahan, M (Notre Dame); Keeley Block, A (Penn); Ava Meyn, M; Sofia Herrera, M

Initial forecast: Maryland’s 2025 season was a year tormented with almost moments. The Terrapins held a 6-2 lead in the Big 10 championship game before Northwestern rattled off a 6-1 run to claim its third consecutive conference title. They were also seconds away from advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals when Penn’s Erika Chung forced an eventual overtime victory after a last-second goal.

Maryland will need to replace its primary facilitator on offense in Chrissy Thomas (18G, 39A)  and the 40-goal scorer who was often on the end of those assists in Jordyn Lipkin. Still, Maryland will return 180 of their 261 goals from last season. Their offense will be headlined by first-team All-American Kori Edmonson (59G, 14A), juniors Lauren LaPointe (29G, 10A) and Maisy Clevenger (19G, 15A), who’ll return from a late-season injury.

Keeley Block (42G, 35A) was the Terrapins’ strongest portal addition and will round out a lethal attack if LaPointe and Clevenger take the next steps. Maryland’s freshman class also contributed 69 goals to the midfield last season, and Kayla Gilmore took the helm at the draw circle, leading the team with 93 draw wins. Defensively, the Terrapins will bring all but one starting defender back from last year, and junior goalie JJ Suriano will return for her second year as the starter.