The NCAA Lacrosse season has gotten underway and with Maryland having seven Universities playing DI lacrosse this spring there is a chance that one or more end up in Baltimore for the National Championship. With University of Maryland, Towson, Johns Hopkins, Loyola (MD) , Navy, UMBC and Mount Saint Mary’s all fielding DI men’s and women’s teams there is high quality lacrosse being played all across the state. Each school hopes to make it to the NCAA National Championships this year with both being held in Maryland. The Men’s National Championship returns to Baltimore and M&T Bank Stadium May 24-26 and the Women’s National Championship returns to Towson at Johnny Unitas Stadium May 23-25. Last time Towson hosted the tournament championship game an attendance record was set for a women’s lacrosse match. Make sure you get your tickets soon to hopefully see one of these teams play on Memorial Day Weekend.
Maryland
The Maryland Men’s team has started their season off 2-0 by beating Mount St. Mary’s 16-3 and UMBC 14-3. The scoring has been lead by true freshmen Matt Rambo who has already scored 7 goals this season. They are currently ranked #5 in the country but have a tough season ahead of them. With the ACC adding Syracuse and Notre Dame to the conference, the strongest lacrosse conference has gotten even stronger with the ACC having the top 5 teams nationally and 6 of the top 7. Maryland will have their last home ACC games this year against defending National Champion Duke (3/1) and Virginia (3/30).
The Women’s team has also gotten off to a great start by beating UMBC 14-3 and Richmond 15-5 and is currently ranked #3 in the country. The women look to come off their National Championship appearance from 2013 and bring a National Championship back to College Park. They travel to Chapel Hill and defending National Champion UNC on 4/5 to avenge the National Championship game loss. The women will host their last ACC games versus Notre Dame (3/15), Boston College (3/29) and Virginia (4/13).
Towson
The Towson Men started their season on a high note by defeating High Point University 14-3 at home. They then traveled to Baltimore to face Johns Hopkins and had a tough defeat 15-8 and another tough loss against Loyola (MD) 20-4. Towson looks to improve on their CAA Tournament Championship and NCAA appearance from last year. They play CAA rivals Delaware (3/22), Penn State (4/12) and Drexel (4/19) at home.
Women’s Lacrosse started their season recently with a big 11-6 victory over UMBC. The women are also coming off a CAA Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance from last year and are currently ranked #20 in the country. Look out for games against CAA foes Delaware (3/30), William and Mary (4/11) and James Madison (4/13).
John Hopkins
The Johns Hopkins Men’s Lacrosse team has started their season off strong. With two big victories versus Virginia, 14-13 in 3OT, and against Baltimore rival Towson, 15-8, the Blue Jays are off to a good start and the #8 ranking in the country. They look to return to the NCAA Tournament this year and possibly win a National Championship in their home city of Baltimore. They have their annual Homecoming game against in-state rival Maryland (4/12).
The Johns Hopkins Women have also started off strong with a huge 16-2 win over Marquette and a 17-3 victory against Mount St. Mary’s to start off their season and look to continue that good play into American Lacrosse Conference play. They have tough home games against Michigan (3/16), Florida (4/5) and Ohio State (4/26) as they look to make a run at an NCAA Tournament Appearance.
Loyola (MD)
Loyola (MD) started of the season with two dramatic games. The first was a 14-13 OT loss to Virginia while they came up big against Penn State getting a 12-11 OT win. They followed this up with a much simpler victory over Towson 20-4. With a record of 2-1 Loyola (MD) is currently ranked #10 in the country and looks to continue the recent success the program has had over the last couple years. With a National Championship in 2012 and another tournament appearance in 2013, losing to eventual National Champion Duke in the quarterfinals, the Greyhounds are a serious contender this year. This is their first year playing in the Patriot League and they have big home games against Army (3/15), Lafayette (3/22), Boston University (4/12) and Bucknell (4/17).
The Lady Greyhounds are also off to a great start beating national power Virginia 16-12 and have earned the #6 ranking in the country. They had a very similar year to the Loyola Men’s team losing to eventual National Champion UNC in the NCAA Tournament. They will look to improve this season while also moving to the Patriot League with home games versus Leigh (3/22), Holy Cross (3/29), American (4/9) and in-state foe Navy (4/19).
Navy
The Navy Men’s Lacrosse team is looking to bounce back after a tough 3-10 season in 2013. They have started the season 1-1 with a win against VMI and a tough overtime loss to Georgetown. They look to make the Patriot League Tournament this year and have home conference games against Holy Cross (3/1), Lafayette (3/7), Colgate (3/22) and Loyola (MD) (4/5).
Coming off a great 19-2 season and a NCAA Tournament berth the Women Midshipmen have gotten off to a huge 3-0 start with big blowout wins against Longwood, Campbell and Liberty. The season gets tougher in the Patriot League as they look to defend their Conference Championship at home against Lafayette (3/8), Boston University (3/22), Colgate (3/29) and Leigh (4/9).
UMBC
The Retriever’s started off the season with a tough loss versus Maryland 14-3 and look to rebound in the upcoming weeks. They look to have a successful season in the America East Conference and to improve on their 7-8 season from last year. They have American East home games against Stony Brook (3/28), Hartford (4/12) and Albany (4/19).
The Women’s Lacrosse Team also played Maryland in their opener and lost big 14-3 followed by another tough loss to Towson 11-6. They had a solid 2013 season going 8-8 and look to get over the .500 mark in 2014. They host New Hampshire (4/5), Vermont (4/12) and Albany (4/19) in America East play.
Mount St. Mary’s
The Mount has had a tough opening start to their season playing lacrosse powers Maryland and Georgetown in their first two games of the year. They lost 16-3 to Maryland and 10-4 against Georgetown but are looking to turn their season around with home games against Northeast Conference foes Robert Morris (3/25), Hobart (3/29) and Wagner (4/19).
Mount St. Mary’s Women’s started their season against Johns Hopkins and were outmatched 17-3. Although they had a tough opening loss they are still looking to improve upon their 7-11 record from last year. They have a tough road in the Northeast Conference with big home games against Central Connecticut (4/4), Bryant (4/6) and Saint Francis (4/25).
This year there are more teams than ever in Maryland with a chance to win a National Championship. With the tournaments being hosted in Baltimore and Towson every team wants a chance to win a title in front of their hometown fans and families. Maryland also has tons of DIII teams looking to make a title run so be on the lookout for our blog post previewing the DIII season.
