Top-ranked Salisbury added a second victory against a Top 20 opponent, Gettysburg climbed up the chart by collecting a pair of wins over ranked competition and the Division III women’s lacrosse season is heating up early.
The defending national champion Sea Gulls are staking their claim atop the rankings to start the season with a 3-0 start that this week included a narrow win over former No. 3 Washington & Lee. Gettysburg moved into the top five by beating No. 8 Messiah on Wednesday and No. 12 Denison on Saturday.
The New England Small College Athletic Conference teams return to competition starting this week as the spring season kicks into full gear.
NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III WOMEN’S TOP 20
| Feb. 28, 2022 | W/L | Prev | Next | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salisbury | 3-0 | 1 | 3/1 vs. Rowan |
| 2 | Tufts | 0-0 | 2 | 3/5 at Colby |
| 3 | Washington and Lee | 2-1 | 3 | 3/6 vs. No. 4 Gettysburg |
| 4 | Gettysburg | 3-0 | 9 | 3/6 at No. 3 Washington and Lee |
| 5 | Franklin & Marshall | 1-1 | 4 | 3/2 at No. 11 Messiah |
| 6 | Middlebury | 0-0 | 5 | 3/5 vs. Bowdoin |
| 7 | St. John Fisher | 0-0 | 6 | 3/5 at Stevenson |
| 8 | William Smith | 1-0 | 7 | 3/5 vs. SUNY Geneseo |
| 9 | Ithaca | 0-0 | 10 | 3/2 at No. 12 SUNY Cortland |
| 10 | TCNJ | 0-0 | 11 | 3/1 at Scranton |
| 11 | Messiah | 2-1 | 8 | 3/2 vs. No. 5 Franklin & Marshall |
| 12 | SUNY Cortland | 0-0 | 13 | 3/2 vs. No. 9 Ithaca |
| 13 | Brockport | 0-0 | 14 | 3/2 vs. Rochester |
| 14 | York | 0-0 | 15 | 3/2 at Washington (Md.) |
| 15 | Denison | 1-1 | 12 | 3/5 vs. No. 13 Brockport |
| 16 | Catholic | 1-1 | 16 | 3/6 vs. Kenyon |
| 17 | Christopher Newport | 2-0 | 18 | 3/5 vs. Kean |
| 18 | Wesleyan | 0-0 | 17 | 3/5 at Bates |
| 19 | University of Chicago | 1-0 | NR | 3/1 vs. Wartburg |
| 20 | Colby | 0-0 | 19 | 3/5 vs. No. 2 Tufts |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Amherst (0-0), Bowdoin (0-0), FDU-Florham (1-0), SUNY Geneseo (0-0), Mary Washington (0-1), Meredith (0-0), Roanoke (1-0)
Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
Gettysburg (+4)
The Bullets jumped out to a 7-2 halftime lead against Messiah and rolled to a 17-7 victory Wednesday with Jordan Basso leading the attack with five goals and an assist. They kept the momentum going Saturday with a 14-7 win against Denison, an NCAA semifinalist last year. Katie Fullowan scored five goals and added four draw controls to lead Gettysburg, while Basso added four goals to bring her to nine scores for the week.
Shannon Twill made 13 saves in goal against Messiah and needed just five to preserve the win over Denison.
Gettysburg finished last year ranked No. 15 with a 7-1 record in a limited schedule.
Salisbury (no change)
The Sea Gulls edged then-No. 3 Washington & Lee 7-6 on Saturday in a game that showed both teams are legit contenders this season.
Lily Cavallaro scored the game-winner with nine minutes left after the Generals rallied from a 6-4 deficit to tie the game early in the fourth quarter. Salisbury’s defense closed the game strong to preserve the lead, and goalkeeper Mary Claire Hisle finished with seven saves.
Erin Scannell led the offense with a game-high five points on three goals and two assists, and she has now recorded hat tricks in all three games this season. Cavallaro added four points from two goals and two assists.
NOT
Messiah (-3)
The 10-goal midweek loss to Gettysburg caused the Falcons to drop in the rankings, though they bounced back with a 20-9 win over Randolph-Macon on Saturday.
Messiah fell behind Gettysburg early and despite a better second half, the Falcons couldn’t slow the Bullets’ offense enough to make a comeback. It was a different story against Randolph-Macon, as the Falcons netted nine goals in the first 18 minutes and added eight tallies in the third quarter to seal the victory. Hope Flack led the attack with six goals, Rachel Delate added four goals and two assists and Amanda Wadsworth chipped in one goal and three assists.
The team gets another shot to climb back up the rankings with a meeting against No. 5 Franklin & Marshall looming Wednesday.
Denison (-3)
Denison’s seven-goal loss to Gettysburg cost it three spots in the rankings. Casey McTague scored two goals in the first quarter to help the Big Red to a 3-2 lead, but Gettysburg outscored them 5-1 in the second period to carry an advantage into halftime and never lost momentum.
McTague and Jane Bailey each tallied three goals to lead Denison, which bounced back Sunday with a 17-11 win over Dickinson. The Big Red scored 11 goals over the final two quarters to pull ahead after the teams went into the break tied at 6.
Denison meets No. 13 SUNY Brockport on Saturday.
IN
University of Chicago (No. 19)
Lulu Hardy scored the game-winner four minutes into overtime to lift Chicago to an 8-7 win over Bates in its season opener, and that was enough to slide the Maroons into the rankings after an NCAA tournament berth last year.
Chicago took a 6-3 lead in the third quarter, but Bates limited the Maroons to one goal over the final 29 minutes of regulation and mounted a comeback. The Bobcats scored the final two goals in the fourth to send the game to overtime.
Lally Johnson fed Hardy the ball to set up the walk-off winner and preserve a home unbeaten streak since Chicago’s first season in 2019. Hardy and Ali Sheehy finished with three goals each to pace the offense, and Rachel Keefe finished with six saves in goal.
OUT
Montclair State (No. 20)
The Red Hawks dropped out after opening with a 13-10 loss to Haverford College.
Graduate student Rhiannon Brown scored four goals, but it wasn’t enough as Haverford broke a 9-all tie in the fourth quarter with four straight tallies for the largest lead of the game. Montclair scored the final goal with 29 seconds left.
Monclair returns to play Wednesday against FDU-Fordham.