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Serving the scholastic field hockey and lacrosse community since 1998May 12, 2024 — A lot is happening
The NCAA women’s lacrosse universe is really ramping up in intensity today. The ocfofinals of the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse tournament is being played at the eight seeded sites from last Sunday. This, just two days after a raft of runaway wins on Friday. Only two games in the first round had margins of victory of fewer than five goals — a one-goal win by James Madison over Penn State, and one-goal win by Denver over Stanford. I expect most of today’s Division I games to be razor’s edge in terms of margin.
In Division III, there are 16 second-round games at campus sites — although there is one game which won’t feature the home team. That game will feature Stevens Institute of Technology against Babson in a game being played at Springfield College.
So, what of Division II? Their selection show is this evening, meaning that 16 teams will be celebrating their berths into the bracket. It’s a far cry from 1998 and 1999, when the best Division II team was put into a “National Championship” bracket with the best full-scholarship teams in the sport. West Chester was the Division II independent at-large team invited in both years, but they never won a game.
But the Rams, currently undefeated at 16-0, are playing in the PSAC championship this afternoon against Kutztown. It’s likely that the Rams will have a top-four seed in the tournament, even with a defeat.
Have at it; this should be some great lacrosse.
May 11, 2024 — A lot can happen
It was about 750 days ago when the University of North Carolina raised the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse championship trophy.
Last night, a program which was, literally, a shell of itself, dropped an 17-8 first-round game to Florida.
The story of the 2024 UNC season was a story of two teams: the one it could put onto the pitch, and the injured list. Nearly an entire starting lineup’s worth of players, including worldies like Brooklyn Walker-Welch, Chloe Humphrey, and Marisa White were lost to injury during the season.
To be sure, the pride of the team kept the team together and cohesive during a challenging season. But you had the feeling that not all was right with the team when it didn’t make the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament. Its relatively low Ratings Percentage Index and the fact that it had exactly two wins over Top 20 teams put the Heels on the proverbial tournament bubble.
If you watched the fourth quarter of last evening’s game against Florida, it was the entire season in microcosm. In the final term, chasing the game, North Carolina drew three yellow cards in a 1:18 span, leading to a phase of play when Florida was playing UNC 7-on-4 in outfield strength — something which almost never happens. Florida duly punished the Tar Heels defense with a power play goal, the first of four straight goals the Gators would score to start the running clock.
But one scene that will stay with me forever is a quick-stick goal that UNC scored to stop the clock with 12 seconds remaining. The goal-scorer was the greatest scholastic scorer in history, Caitlyn Wurzburger. You could see, from the look on her face, exactly that the game of lacrosse has meant to her over the years, whether it was playing for Delray American Heritage (N.C.), the U.S. U-21 national team, and North Carolina.
There will be other UNC teams in the future, perhaps ones which will win championships. Several players from the 2024 scholastic class, including goalie Lexi Zenk and forward Tess Calabria of top-ranked South Huntington St. Anthony’s (N.Y.), top-ranked recruit Eliza Osburn of Valor Christian (Colo.), and Kate Levy of Owings Mills McDonogh (Md.), who just happens to be the daughter of head coach Jenny Levy.
But, like we mentioned a few years ago about the Voorhees Eastern (N.J.) field hockey team, the story of North Carolina’s 2024 season isn’t about a drop in their form, it’s the fact that other teams in NCAA Division I have raised their level of play.
Which is good for the game.
May 10, 2024 — A much-needed convergence
TELESIDE, U.S.A. — The schedule for the first round of the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse tournament was released this week, and with it, some interesting games.
And with them, two hopeful signs of progress in terms of the marketing of the sport in America.
Time was, the first-round games were all at set times — usually 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. if they were doubleheaders. And the first-round TV/streaming coverage was usually governed by the host institution. If it was a Big Ten school, it would be on Big Ten Plus. If it was a CAA school, it would be on Flo Sports. If it was on the ACC, it would be on ESPN Plus, the ACC Network, or ACC Network Extra.
This year, however, you look at the 13 games, and they are spread out all across the afternoon. Maryland-Robert Morris starts off at noon, and the game action ends with Florida-North Carolina, a game which starts at 6 p.m. This allows high-school players to see some of the afternoon games after school, and you aren’t bouncing from one game to another on your screen.
But most importantly, ESPN is broadcasting each and every one of these games. It is the main rightsholder to the Division I women’s lacrosse tournament, and is exercising that right to great effect this year with staffing all 13 games.
It’s about time.
And it should be a great weekend as the Division I tournament begins anew.
May 10, 2024 — Friday Statwatch for games played through May 8
Hi, all. This week, we’re emphasizing one of the features of this site, and that is the fact that Statwatch only takes into account statistics as of the close of play on Wednesday. However, in the small type to the right under “Daily Statwatch,” we try to update frequently — daily, if possible. That’s why you will sometimes see different numbers below and to the right. It’s a feature, not a bug.
What follows are statistics from available published sources, including MaxPreps, Berks Game Day, the KHSAA, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, PhillyLacrosse, and Advance Media.
I encourage every school, league, or state governing body to adopt the easy-to-use MaxPreps.com platform, and we encourage you to get your fellow teams to enter their information there as well as whichever is your local news site, so that we can aim for as complete a statistical picture of American girls’ lacrosse as possible.
GOALS SCORED, SEASON
142 Morgan Siglin, Greenville Wade Hampton (S.C.)
141 Caroline Ling, Springboro (Ohio)
128 Mackenzie Farley, San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret’s (Calif.)
125 Riley Sterling, Palo Alto Castilleja (Calif.)
122 Lilly Rauch, Buffalo (N.Y.) Seminary
118 Natalie Boecke, Pittsboro Northwood (N.C.)
112 Maya Ciocian, Ashville T.C. Robertson (N.C.)
112 Ashley Cotter, St. Augustine Tocoi Creek (Fla.)
111 Laken Wright, Fuquay-Varina Willow Spring (N.C.)
110 Addy Haines, Gahanna Lincoln (Ohio)
110 Mady Nolan, Irvine Woodbridge (Calif.)
ASSISTS, SEASON
99 Jenna Balousek, Concord Carondelet (Calif.)
94 Kayla Nguyen, Cary Green Hope (N.C.)
93 Taylor McGovern, Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Fla.)
90 Maddisen Selvage, Pawley’s Island Waccamau (S.C.)
89 Morgan Gilbert, Reading Exeter (Pa.)
87 Julia Frosch, Pensacola (Fla.) Catholic
77 Rocquette Allen, Highlands Ranch ThunderRidge (Colo.)
74 Lauren Blackburn, Louisville Eastern (Ky.)
69 Lauren Hayden, Newport Croatan (N.C.)
69 Ava Goldson, Mary Institute-Country Day School (Mo.)
66 Addie Gilner, Chapel Hill (N.C.)
65 Isabelle John, Wake Forest (N.C.)
GOALS SCORED, CAREER
514 Caroline Ling, Springboro (Ohio)
459 Ryann Frechette, St. John’s Bartram Trail (Fla.)
392 Kylee Ferranto, Haddon Heights (N.J.)
300 Alexis Rodell, Randolph (N.J.)
295 Sophia Devaney, Jackson (N.J.) Memorial
264 Morgan Siglin, Greenville Wade Hampton (S.C.)
ASSISTS, CAREER
249 Hanna Watson, Abesecon Holy Spirit (N.J.)
244 Taylor McGovern, Parkland Margery Stoneman Douglas (Fla.)
COMBINED GOALS AND ASSISTS, CAREER
661 Caroline Ling, Springboro (Ohio)
621 Ryann Frechette, St. John’s Bartram Trail (Fla.)
502 Hanna Watson, Absecon Holy Spirit (N.J.)
476 Kylee Ferranto, Haddon Heights (N.J.)
457 Taylor McGovern, Parkland Margery Stoneman Douglas (Fla.)
415 Sydney Mulroony, Morristown Morris Hills (N.J.)
395 Tessa Caputo, Princeton (N.J.) Day School
382 Sophia Devaney, Jackson (N.J.) Memorial
380 Alyson Sojak, Barnegat (N.J.)
359 Teagan Scott, Mount Pleasant Oceanside Collegiate Academy (S.C.)
ACTIVE COACHING VICTORIES
866 Kathy Jenkins|
519 Lisa Lindley
469 Chris Robinson
So, here’s where the interactive part of the enterprise comes in. If you see something amiss in the listings above, feel free to send an email to us at TopOfTheCircle.com. Send us some evidence (a website will do), and we can make corrections.
Thanks for reading! We’ll be back with more next week
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May 9, 2024 — Another women’s lacrosse champion, crowned
It turns out that, last weekend, a women’s lacrosse champion was crowned. But it was a much different journey from one that any other women’s team has ever taken.
Last Sunday, in Columbia, Md., the inaugural season of the Next Collegiate League for women came to a conclusion with a title game between Morgan State and Hampton University.
If you’re coming to this site for the first time, and don’t recognize the names of the participants, you might be forgiven somewhat. This is the first year for the league, and the first time that the six participants in the league — all from historically-black colleges and/or universities — had a chance to play more than just a handful of scrimmages.
This was different. A lot different. The women in this league played Sixes lacrosse, the format which is scheduled for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. In addition, the women all were playing with different equipment from which they were accustomed. The players all had full-face helmets, gloves, shoulder pads, and sticks with deeper pockets — all equipment found in the men’s game.
Starting from the first series of games at an indoor facility in Springfield, Va. all the way to the final in Maryland, the women on the six teams all had to make adjustments. They had to create pace and speed in order to beat the 30-second possession clock. They had to account for the possibility of body contact.
So, for me, it was not a surprise that the schools which made the final had a history in men’s lacrosse from which the women could take inspiration.
Hampton is a current NCAA participant in men’s lacrosse. Morgan was famous for its “Ten Bears” teams of the 1970s. Morgan also won the inaugural NCL men’s league in 2022.
The Morgan women have had a lacrosse club since the pandemic, and reportedly had nearly 30 players coming to practice regularly. And it paid off, with an 11-10 win over Hampton. It also won the school a $5,000 prize presented by NCL after the game.
The winning goal was scored by Irma Gomez, a 5-foot-2 attacker from Baltimore, on a cross-field pass from Christina Krastel, who attends Morgan State’s architecture and construction school.
I’m hoping that more schools will get the idea for putting out a Sixes teams for the next iteration of the NCL league.
May 8, 2024 — A national lacrosse champion, crowned
A lot of folks will be following the three NCAA lacrosse championships in a ritual called May Madness. There will be 88 games across all divisions, with three wooden plaques with gold circles are the prize for the championship sides.
But last Saturday, another women’s college team took its own season-long journey to a national title with a title-winning performance in Savannah, Ga.
For it was on Saturday that Reinhardt University, a Methodist school out of Waleska, Ga., won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national title with an 18-10 win over Lawrence Tech.
Reinhardt’s season was one of considerable contrast. The opening game was a 20-4 defeat to NCAA Division I foe Kennesaw State, and the second game was a 10-9 overtime win over Keiser University.
After that, however, the Eagles hit a rich offensive seam of form. The team scored 20 goals in three contests. They also scored more than 16 goals in each of their five postseason games — their two Appalachian Athletic Conference contests and the three bracketed games in the NAIA Tournament.
That’s dominance, folks.
Anna-Marie Gazzo had five goals and tournament Most Outstanding Player Shelby O’Neil had four as the Eagles showed their class in the fourth quarter to break open a close match.
May 7, 2024 — Top 10 for the week of May 5
One of the two most competitive girls’ lacrosse competitions comes to a finish this week with the semifinal and final rounds of the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland taking place. In addition, we’re seeing league tournaments in Virginia and state tournaments in California and Colorado starting up. We’re also interested to see how the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Council shakes out, especially with last week’s win by Wilton over Darien. There is more to come, I’m sure.
1. South Huntington St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) 13-0
The game Friday at Manhasset (N.Y.) is a prime launching pad for the Friars’ run-in to the postseason
2. Olney Good Counsel (Md.) 18-0
The Falcons open WCAC tournament play today against Bladensburg Elizabeth Seton (Md.)
3. Owings Mills McDonogh (Md.) 16-1
The Eagles host Severn Archbishop Spalding (Md.) in tomorrow’s IAAM Class A semifinal
4. New Canaan (Conn.) 11-1-1
The Rams have Fairfield Warde (Conn.) tomorrow before a Thursday showdown at Wilton (Conn.)
5. Manchester (Md.) Valley 14-0
The Mavericks’ reward for an undefeated season? An MPSSAA Class 3A quarterfinal against a tough Sykesville Century (Md.) team
6. Garden City (N.Y.) 13-1
The Trojans play Manhasset (N.Y.) today in a great Long Island rivalry match
7. Newtown Square Episcopal Academy (Pa.) 17-1
The Churchwomen beat Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) 13-8 and Fort Washington Germantown Academy (Pa.) 11-1 in last week’s action
8. Charlottesville St. Anne’s Belfield (Va.) 17-1
Saints play in the semifinal round of the League of Independent Schools tournament tomorrow
9. Wilton(Conn.) 11-1
The Warriors’ win over Darien might have given them the 2 seed in the upcoming FCIAC Tournament
10. Denver Colorado Academy (Colo.) 15-0
Mustangs embark on the state tournament tomorrow against Colorado Springs Cheyenne Mountain (Colo.)
Who’s out: Darien (Conn.) 9-8 loss to Wilton (Conn.)
And bear in mind: Danville San Ramon Valley (Calif.) 18-1, El Dorado Hills Oak Ridge (Calif.) 20-2, Lakeville Hotchkiss School (Conn.) 11-0, Sacred Heart Greenwich (Conn.) 10-2, Delray American Heritage (Fla.) 20-1, Orlando Lake Highland Prep (Fla.) 19-3, Brooklandville St. Paul’s School for Girls (Md.) 14-5, Hingham Notre Dame Academy (Mass.) 12-1, Summit (N.J.) 9-4, Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) 11-3, Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.) 14-2, Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.) 11-2, Manhasset (N.Y.) 9-2, New Albany (Ohio) 15-0, Tredyffrin Conestoga (Pa.) 14-2
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May 6, 2024 — … apparently, not much
There were a number of surprises from last evening’s unveiling of the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse bracket. Some of these surprises have been harped on in the last few hours, such as the inclusion of Duke and the exclusion of the Naval Academy.
But for me, the biggest surprise was the fact that two teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference are in the tournament — Fairfield and Niagara. Both of these teams have 16 wins on the season, However, these two sides played a grand total of three games against teams ranked in the Top 20.
Yep, three.
Niagara, as MAAC champion, has the AQ from the conference. But somehow, runner-up Fairfield had enough bona fides in beating Connecticut, Albany and Drexel to make it in as an at-large team. Fairfield also had the 59th-best strength of schedule of the 127 Division I teams.
Now, I understand that the women’s lacrosse committee takes a different tack from the “black box” approach that some tournaments use to choose tournament fields. The committee takes into account all manner of metrics and considerations to pick the field.
However, I’m not sold on this field. The committee, I think, is not taking into the account the shifting of power of the game, putting Maryland in the top four and putting Michigan, in essence, as the 10th seed. I also think Loyola was undervalued, being put, in essence, in the 9 slot.
This being said, there are going to be some delectable first-round games on Friday, with Florida meeting North Carolina and Penn State taking on James Madison.
Get your popcorn out. This should be good, but has a chance to be a disaster.
May 5, 2024 — Five to go, but what do we know?
Today, starting at 10 a.m., the last five NCAA Division I conference tournaments get underway to fill out which 15 women’s lacrosse teams are going automatically to The Big Dance.
The ten teams winning their AQ bids are as follows:
ACC — Boston College
AAC — James Madison
ASun — Coastal Carolina
Big East — Denver
Big Ten — Northwestern
Colonial — Stony Brook
Mid-American — Robert Morris
Northeast — Long Island
Pac-12 — Stanford
Patriot — Loyola
Today, these five conference tournaments finals will take place. And here’s what we think will happen:
America East — Only one team, Binghamton or Albany, will make it
Atlantic 10 — Only one team, Richmond or Massachusetts, will make it
Big South — Only one team, Mercer or High Point, will make it
Metro-Atlantic — Only one team, Fairfield or Niagara, will make it
Ivy — Both Penn and Yale will make it, and the winner could very well be a hosting team in the first and second rounds next weekend
This leaves the question of the 14 At-Large teams. If you go straight chalk from the Ratings Percentage Index rankings as calculated after last night’s games (thanks to Lacrosse Reference), you see a very interesting situation brewing just outside the Top 20 (where we think the bubble is):
These four teams, rated from No. 20 to 23 in RPI, are within 12/1000th of a point of each other in the formula that is determined by a team’s won-loss record, the records of their opponents, and the records of their opponents’ opponents. None of these four teams are playing today, so I don’t think there will be much movement.
Remember: there are 29 teams in the tournament, and seven of the AQs are, or will be, rated lower than 23rd in RPI rankings. If the tournament committee weighs RPI more than the other factors they often use, such as significant wins/losses, record against the RPI Top 10, and how a team has done in its last six games, I think one or maybe two of these four sides won’t make it in.
Should make for interesting doings this evening on the Selection Show.
May 4, 2024 — A Hall-of-Famer achieves a new milestone
Megan McNamara-Cafiero is used to success in the game of lacrosse.
She helped Northport (N.Y.) to two state finals appearances before winning four straight NCAA Division I titles at Maryland.
Since then, she has been finding success as a head coach even as though her circumstances changed around her.
After four years at Stony Brook as an assistant coach, she took the open head-coaching position at C.W. Post University. She won two NCAA Division II championships at the school, which came in 2012 and 2013. But in 2019, she was heading up a Division I program following the merger of Post and Long Island University-Brooklyn.
As a Division I university, McNamara has found her greatest success just today with a win in the Northeast Conference championship game, a 10-7 win over Sacred Heart. This follows on from the Sharks’ first regular-season league championship.
At the same time, her staff won the NEC Coaching Staff of the Year Award from the league during last week’s awards announcements.
With one of the 15 AQs in hand, the Sharks await word tomorrow night as to where they will play in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Whether or not they are able to advance in the octofinal round is immaterial; the heavy lift that McNamara has made over the last five years has been inspirational.
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