Tournament time is finally here! The Men’s Division I Tournament got started on Wednesday with UMBC defeating Marist, but the other 15 teams get started this weekend with the first round. All games are on ESPNU and each day of four games begins at noon. For some, it could be the final games of competitive lacrosse ever. For others, it’s a chance to extend their college lacrosse seasons and time with their teammates. While reading, check out our first round NCAA Tournament preview edition of the College Crossecast. SATURDAY GAMES Syracuse vs. #8 Loyola (Noon, ESPNU) How They Got Here Syracuse: After a 2-2 start to their season which included a stunning home loss to Colgate, the Orange have looked like a very good team in the college lacrosse landscape, especially on defense. Syracuse has limited the opposition to single-digit goal totals seven times, all of them wins. But their ACC Tournament run ended too early for the team after a late collapse to UNC to pretty much push them out of being a seed. This will be the first time since 2012 the Orange started the NCAA Tournament away from the Carrier Dome. Loyola: The Greyhounds have one of the best players in all of college lacrosse in Pat Spencer. The senior, who sounds like will play college basketball next season, has not been to Championship Weekend since he was a freshman. And that team got destroyed by North Carolina in Philadelphia. He looks to return back to Philly three years later and give the Greyhounds their second ever national title. Loyola hosted the Patriot League Tournament as the regular season champion yet again, but was upset by Army West Point in the semifinals. Players To Watch Syracuse: There will be the obvious in defenseman Nick Mellen who will more than likely be defending Spencer. But also on the other side of the ball in Stephen Rehfuss. He started the season banged up and ill and had one point in three total games. For the rest of the season, he finished with one point only once. He will be the initiator down low. Loyola: Again, the obvious is there in Spencer. The Mellen-Spencer matchup might be the best overall one-on-one matchup in the entire NCAA Tournament in just the second game. While Spencer can do it all, Kevin Lindley is the known finisher with a team-high 57 goals. He will not be afraid to shoot with a team-best 85 shots on goal. Freshmen To Watch Syracuse: It’s one of those years where the Orange don’t have a stellar freshman playing. The lone rookie that’s gotten time in all 13 games this season has been Griffin Cook who’s been a part of the second midfield and can also play attack. He’s got four goals and four assists. Could this be his breakout game? Loyola: Chase Scanlan has been a top three freshman this season with 40 goals on the year and a potential All-American. He’s already played against the best while with the Iroquois in Netanya at the FIL World Championships last summer, so the pressure shouldn’t be a problem for him. Keys To Victory Syracuse: Control Pat Spencer’s production, and even shut off Lindley. Perhaps you find a way to shut off one of Spencer’s main finishers and make him and others step up more, especially with a great goalie in the cage in Drake Porter. And not have another late collapse. Loyola: Force 50/50 ground balls on faceoffs against Syracuse’s double pole and limit production from the midfield. The top three for the Orange are good, but the bigger key is limiting Jacob Buttermore on the second unit. Georgetown vs. #5 Yale (2:30, ESPNU) How They Got Here Georgetown: Despite an 11-4 regular season record, the Hoyas had an unimpressive resume. Their best win was Villanova at home. Not to worry, because the Hoyas yet again won the Big East Tournament with wins over Providence and Denver for their second consecutive conference title. Similar to last season, the Hoyas are playing the #5 seed. A year ago, Georgetown built an 8-3 lead midway through the third quarter against Johns Hopkins only to fall 10-9 in overtime. Yale: The defending national champions have lost players such as Ben Reeves, Chris Keating, and Tyler Warner in the offseason. But the transfer of TD Ierlan from Albany has done wonders for the Bulldogs. Despite falling short of an Ivy League title again, Ierlan has given Yale a huge possession advantage which has mattered in games such as the early season win over Penn State. All three of their losses were by a goal, with two of them coming in overtime. Players To Watch Georgetown: A one-two duo of Daniel Bucaro and Jake Carraway bolster the attack. Both players have 53 goals with Carraway adding 30 assists and Bucaro recording 25. Lucas Wittenberg up top at midfield has been an underrated offensive player and set a school record eight assists in the team’s win over Providence in the Big East semifinals. Defensively, Gibson Smith and SSDM Patrick Aslanian are the only two Hoyas with over 25 caused turnovers. Yale: With Reeves gone, Jackson Morrill has been the quarterback of the offense with 36 goals and 40 assists. Last season, Yale’s players and coaches praised Morrill’s high lacrosse IQ on the field. Matt Gaudet is a threat at the crease with 40 goals, while Jack Tigh, Joey Sessa, and second liner Brian Tevlin give the midfield some punch. Despite Chris Fake having a down year compared to his freshman campaign, he’s still a top defenseman. But I also really like Aidan Hynes, who had limited time as a reserve last season after he went down with an injury. Freshmen To Watch Georgetown: Chris Brandau came into the Providence game relieving Owen McElroy and also started the Big East title game where he made 15 saves for the win. Along with Brandau, midfielder Declan McDermott and defenseman Alex Mazzone have been key contributors as starters, with Zachary Geddes being a nice compliment to the underrated Aslanian at short stick. Yale: Yale’s only freshman worth noting is Chris’ twin brother Matt Brandau, an attackman. He’s started only once this season despite being second on the team with 52 points. He will play a big part in an offense that’s second in the country in scoring on Saturday, and he should score against his brother. Just like good old times. Keys To Victory Georgetown: Since winning faceoffs will be hard, it won’t be that big of an issue. The Hoyas did that last season against Trevor Baptiste. Forcing ground balls on the draws will help, but playing solid defense against Yale’s extra possessions will turn Ierlan’s faceoff dominance into really nothing. On offense, get something going on midfield against Yale’s LSMs and SSDMs. Yale: Keep locks on Bucaro and Carraway. Similar to Penn State, Georgetown has other contributors that can aid in the overall offensive output. Jack Starr will have to play very well with a save percentage below 50%. Army West Point vs. #4 Penn (5 PM, ESPNU) How They Got Here Army West Point: Army finally got over the Patriot League Tournament struggles and defeated Loyola and Lehigh last weekend for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 after a record-setting 13-win year. They allowed only five goals to the Greyhounds and seven two days later against the Mountain Hawks. A defense led by Johnny Surdick and AJ Barretto in goal has Army boasting the second best scoring defense in the country, allowing only 8.35 goals per game. Penn: On the other hand, Penn has the third highest scoring offense with 14.86 goals per game. After losing their first three games, the Quakers have won 11 straight, including their first Ivy League title since 2014. They swept the Ivy League and are led by a mixture of upper and underclassmen. Players To Watch Army West Point: The bread and butter is on defense with Surdick, Griffin Schultz, and Barretto. Surdick has 34 caused turnovers which is more than double second place on the Black Knights. He is easily capable of shutting off the opposition’s top threat at attack. Barretto has a career-high 59.1% save percentage which is third in the country and a 8.29 goals against average that’s second overall. On offense, Nate Jones is the senior leader with 47 points while junior Miles Silva has 38 points, all of which are goals. Penn: With plenty of weapons available, Simon Mathias is the team’s primary option at attack with 52 points. But junior Adam Goldner leads all Quakers with 50 goals and is a scoring threat when he has the ball. Sean Lulley completes the attack and Tyler Dunn adds some punch up top. Reed Junkin has been a solid four-year starter in goal, while FOGO Kyle Gallagher has been one of the most impactful transfers this season with a 62.4% faceoff percentage. Freshmen To Watch Army West Point: The Black Knights have one of the best freshmen in the country in Brendan Nichtern, who has also been a program changer. Nichtern has exploded on offense with 50 assists and 80 points on the year. He’s already broken the single-season assists record in program history and is five points away from tying Army’s single-season points mark. With Nichtern’s success, LSM Marcus Hudgins has been flying under-the-radar with 15 caused turnovers and 31 ground balls. Penn: Another top freshman on offense has been midfielder Sam Handley. Similar to Nichtern, Handley leads his Quakers with 24 assists and 58 points. He’s kind of like a quarterback for the offense at midfield. Dylan Gergar has added some support with a 20-point campaign as well. On defense, LSM BJ Farrare has been one of the best rookies on the other end of the ball with a team-high 16 caused turnovers and isn’t afraid to get some action on transition. Keys To Victory Army West Point: As the saying goes, “defense wins championships.” Kind of. But it’s a big key to winning this game against Penn’s talented scorers. I’d expect Surdick-Mathias and Hudgins-Handley to be the two big one-on-one matchups to watch. Keep it close if you’re trailing, and make sure Nichtern doesn’t play like a freshman when he can’t afford to. Penn: Capitalize on the extra possessions. Army is horrendous on faceoffs with a 34.1% success rate. Faceoffs shouldn’t be a problem for Gallagher, it’s just if those wins are capitalized with goals. Mark Evanchick will need to shut off Nichtern’s passing abilities. Robert Morris vs. #3 Virginia (7:30 PM, ESPNU) How They Got Here Robert Morris: After winning an NEC title a year ago and being a favorite as a small conference team, the Colonials started the year 1-7. Six of their losses were within three goals, while the other was a 27-10 beatdown against Penn State. But Robert Morris turned things around in conference play, winning their final eight games of the regular season, three of them by a goal with two of them coming in overtime, to make it to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament. And they didn’t need to play a play-in game this time! Virginia: Easily Virginia’s best season since 2012 when the Cavaliers finished 12-4. UVA won the ACC Championship over Notre Dame last weekend and their offense has been clicking on all cylinders. They’ve only lost once since February 19th, which has resulted in Lars Tiffany being the conference’s Coach of the Year. Players To Watch Robert Morris: The Colonials have three guys with over 50 points in midfielder and NEC Player of the Year Tyson Gibson and attackmen Ryan Smith and Corson Kealey. Kealey has 48 goals on the season while Gibson leads his team with 35 assists. With two of their top defenseman gone due to graduation, Robert Morris has relied on senior Will Ewing as their leader at close defense along with goalie Alex Heger and LSM Jack Toomb. Virginia: Michael Kraus is still a player to watch, but the offense’s big star has been Matt Moore. After moving down to attack from midfield, the sophomore leads his Cavaliers with 32 assists and 68 points and even has 10 caused turnovers. Ian Laviano is still the goal-scorer on the team with 42 goals.<doc-sep>The Syracuse Orange will open the NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament on the road Saturday against eighth-seeded Loyola at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore. It’s the 12th consecutive NCAA bid for the Orange, and 36th in the last 37 seasons. It’s the first time since 2012, though, that Syracuse isn’t opening the tournament at home. The Orange, 9-4 and ranked No. 11 in the latest USILA coaches poll, are coming off an 11-10 loss to North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Loyola is 11-4 and ranked No. 7. The game is scheduled to start at noon and will be telecast on ESPNU. Below is the list of channel numbers for ESPNU in the Syracuse area: Spectrum: Channel 370 (SD & HD) Verizon Fios: Channel 573 (HD) and 73 (SD) DirectTV: Channel 208 (SD & HD) Dish Network: Channel 141 (SD & HD) New Visions: Channel 759 (HD) and 73 (SD) You can also watch online through Watch ESPN or by using the Watch ESPN app for tablets, mobile and streaming devices. You’ll need the online sign-in info for your cable or satellite provider to access WatchESPN.<doc-sep>
Men's lacrosse championships are heading to Philly, are you as ready as we are? Men's lacrosse championships are heading to Philly, are you as ready as we are? The 2019 men’s Division I lacrosse season is dwindling down, but in many ways is just getting started. Over the next month, we’ll see the best teams in the sport battle it out in a tournament. At the end, in Philadelphia, one team will hold the trophy. With the tournament’s opening round getting under way this week, we picked three must-watch games. (All times Eastern) May 11, 5 p.m. Eastern, ESPNU — Army vs. Penn This game will feature one of the nation’s top offenses and one of the best defenses. The Penn Quakers are third in scoring in all of Division I men’s lacrosse, putting 14.86 shots in the back of the cage per game. On the other side, the Army Black Knights have the second best defense in the country, allowing just 8.35 goals per game. Both sides come from competitive lacrosse conferences in the Patriot and Ivy leagues, but Penn and Army didn’t share any common opponents this season. Penn has won 11 games in a row, while Army has won four straight. MLAX TOURNEY: Press release | Interactive bracket | Printable bracket Penn’s offense is led by junior attack Adam Goldner, who has scored 50 goals in 14 games, good enough for the third-best goals per-game average mark in the country at 3.57. Army’s attack has been powered by freshman Brendan Nichtern, who has tallied 50 assists in 17 games this season, the sixth most in the nation. May 11, 2:30 p.m. EST, ESPNU — Georgetown vs. Yale A matchup between the Hoyas and Bulldogs will likely feature lots and lots of goals. Yale is second in the nation in scoring with 15.2 goals per game, while Georgetown is sixth with 14 goals per game. The Hoyas aren’t a one-man show on offense. Both Daniel Bucaro and Jake Carraway are among the nation’s leading scorers. Bucaro, a senior, is fourth in the country with 3.41 goals per game, while Carraway, a junior, has a 3.12 mark. HISTORY: Upset still resonates for 1975 Morgan State | Memorable championship moments Jackson Morrill has a big hand in Yale’s attack, as the junior is ninth in the country in assists with 2.67 dimes per game. The Bulldogs typically have the upper-hand in the possession battle too, as TD Ierlan is the nation’s leader in face-off winning percentage, taking victories in 77.2 percent of his battles. Ierlan also leads the country in ground balls, scooping up 14.27 per contest. Georgetown and Yale shared one common opponent this season in Villanova. The Hoyas beat their Big East rival 16-13, while Yale lost 11-10 in overtime to the Wildcats. BRACKET TAKEAWAYS: Yale's path to defending its title won't be easy After an 11-year NCAA Tournament drought, @HoyasMLacrosse is making its second straight appearance. Head coach Kevin Warne joined me to talk about the Big East title game win over Denver and the program’s incredible run these last 2 years:pic.twitter.com/Qwh8tu48vl — John Fanta (@John_Fanta) May 5, 2019 May 12, 2:30 p.m. EST, ESPNU — Maryland vs. Towson This is the first time these two in-state foes have met in men’s lacrosse since March 12, 2011. All-time, Maryland leads the series 28-5 and is on a 10-game winning streak. It would be hard to call this a rivalry based on merit and record, because Towson and College Park are just 40 miles apart, there’s a lot of Marylanders that will be fired up about this match-up. The Terps had a solid season, winning 11 games with the nation’s 18th best offense and 25th best defense in the nation. But Maryland is hungry for a win after dropping back-to-back games against another in-state foe, Johns Hopkins. The Terps have been led on offense this year by junior Jared Bernhardt, who has scored 45 goals through 15 games. MORE LACROSSE: Rankings | Stats Towson is riding a four-game winning streak and is coming off winning a CAA championship. The Tigers have the 17th best offense and the 28th best defense in the country. Brendan Sunday is their leading scorer, notching 45 goals through 15 games. Towson has the second best face-off man in the country in Alex Woodall, who has a 74.5 winning percentage. The lone common opponent Towson and Maryland shared this year was Johns Hopkins.