Ten to Watch: Show Me Time

by Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Each Friday, your crack laxperts here at Lacrosse Magazine Online will try to handicap the upcoming weekend for the top 10 college games across all divisions. Follow here at laxmagazine.com all season long.

Last Week	7-3	5-5	5-5	3-7	4-6	4-6
Overall	31-9	29-11	28-12	26-14	26-14	26-14

MD1: No. 18 Navy (3-2) at No. 16 Lafayette (4-0) – Friday, 7 p.m.
Yeah, you really saw Navy as an underdog in this game coming into the season. Navy breathed life into its season with a dramatic 8-7 overtime win against Bucknell on Saturday. Lafayette started to turn the corner last season under Terry Mangan and they’re off to an impressive start with solid wins over Fairfield and Penn. Tom Perini led the nation in goals per game last year and he already has 16 in four games this year.

DaSilva: Navy
Krome: Navy
Ohanian: Lafayette
Coyne: Navy
Lochary: Lafayette
Logue: Navy

"The Leopards have attained double digit scores in all four of their games this year, granted against cupcake competition. But I just don't think that the Navy attack, especially given Tim Paul's season-ending injury, can keep up with that. The Midshipmen are averaging 8.6 gpg and Navy's high-water (heh, Navy, water) mark was a 16-5 win in their season opener over VMI. If you take that game out of the equation, their gpg drops to 6.75. Ouch. (Also, how cool a mascot is the Leopard? Why don't more schools use that one?)."

MD1: No. 1 Virginia (5-0) at No. 8 Cornell (4-0) – Saturday, 12 noon
The last time Virginia lost a game is when Cornell humbled them 15-6 in last year’s NCAA semifinal at Gillette Stadium. Think Virginia’s forgot about that? The Cavaliers are averaging 14 goals per game and have been good enough defensively. Huge test for Cornell’s hometown hero, freshman goalie A.J. Fiore. He’s been solid so far (55.6 save percentage), but this is by far his biggest test.

DaSilva: Virginia
Krome: Cornell
Ohanian: Virginia
Coyne: Virginia
Lochary: Cornell
Logue: Virginia

"LM photographer Greg Wall made a poignant observation through the lens about Cornell. 'They're all new faces,' he said. The Big Red has had to do some patchwork on defense because of injuries on top of its task to rebuild its midfield. I'm not sure Cornell can contain this Virginia offense that's just hit its stride.

MD1: No. 15 Stony Brook (2-1) at No. 14 Delaware (4-1) – Saturday, 1 p.m.
Delaware is thrilled to be playing in 23,000-seat Delaware Stadium on its new FieldTurf surface, but this game might draw a bigger crowd north of the border. Stony Brook is led by the 1-2 punch of Jordan McBride (14g) and Kevin Crowley (9g, 7a) from British Columbia, Canada. Delaware is led by one of the most electrifying players in the game — Curtis Dickson. Dickson, also from British Columbia, had a career-best eight goals in UD's 16-9 win over Albany last week and has scored 32 points (24g, 8a) in just five games.

DaSilva: Stony Brook
Krome: Delaware
Ohanian: Delaware
Coyne: Stony Brook
Lochary: Delaware
Logue: Stony Brook

"If this is the Show Me week for teams, its the Show Me week for one player in this one. Curtis Dickson has put up unreal numbers for Delaware, but he disappeared for much of the game in the Hens' loss to Johns Hopkins. With Stony Brook's offense is good as it is, Delaware will have to put up goals. That won't happen unless Dickson answers the bell.

MD1: No. 13 Harvard (2-1) at No. 19 Massachusetts (3-1) – Saturday, 1 p.m
Interesting early-season regional battle for teams that could very well be in the at-large mix come tournament time. Harvard is living off its preseason ranking at this point, and will need to get someone besides Dean Gibbons and Jeff Cohen involved. The duo has scored almost half (18 of 37) of Harvard’s goals this year. UMass bounced back from its surprising loss to Yale with a solid win over Albany. First-year starter Tim McCormack will need to be better (47.9 save percentage) for UMass to win. He was solid (7 saves, 6 GA) against Albany.

DaSilva: Harvard
Krome: Harvard
Ohanian: Harvard
Coyne: Harvard
Lochary: UMass
Logue: UMass

WD1: No. 5 Georgetown (2-1) at No. 6 Duke (6-1) – Saturday, 1 p.m.
Georgetown continues a very tough road trip that began with a 15-10 loss at No. 1 Northwestern last Saturday and continued with a gritty 13-11 win at Florida on Tuesday. Molly Ford has 13 goals in three games. Duke has moved on from its ugly 17-4 loss to Maryland with wins over Princeton and Boston University. U.S. World Cup team member Sarah Bullard is having a breakout year offensively. She leads the Blue Devils with 22 goals.

DaSilva: Duke
Krome: Georgetown
Ohanian: Duke
Coyne: Georgetown
Lochary: Duke
Logue: Georgetown

WD1: Florida (3-2) at Johns Hopkins (3-3) – Saturday, 1 p.m.
To this point, Florida has had three games they were probably expected to win and two games they were supposed to lose. Now, the first true swing game comes their way. Hopkins is coming off a tough 11-10 loss to No. 12 Towson on Wednesday night, its second one goal loss of the season. Colleen McCaffery is having a great season for Hopkins (11g, 16 DC), but the Blue Jays D will need to step up. Hopkins is giving up 10.0 goals per game. Florida is having some defensive challenges of its own. The Gators have given up 42 goals in their last three games.

DaSilva: Florida
Krome: Florida
Ohanian: Johns Hopkins
Coyne: Johns Hopkins
Lochary: Florida
Logue: Johns Hopkins

More than just serving as the ALC opener for both teams, a Florida victory could validate the Gators' recruiting strategy. While virtually all teams recruit the state of Maryland, UF has drawn as heavily from JHU's backyard as any team, with 18 of its 29 players hailing from the Free State."

WD1: Louisville (4-0) at Ohio State (3-2) – Saturday, 1 p.m.
Two teams hoping to break through into the upper end of their power conferences square off in what should be a good match-up. Louisville has breezed through its early schedule, highlighted by a 13-10 win over Oregon. Junior Bergan Foley has followed up her back-to-back 61-goal seasons with 17 in the first four games this season. Ohio State’s two losses have come by a combined two goals, both to Top 20 teams, including an 11-10 overtime loss to Stanford. The Buckeyes offense has been ridiculous – 15.0 goals per game – with four players already to double digits in goals.

DaSilva: Ohio State
Krome: Ohio State
Ohanian: Ohio State
Coyne: Ohio State
Lochary: Louisville
Logue: Ohio State

WD1: No. 9 Boston University (3-1) at No. 19 Vanderbilt (2-3) – Saturday, 2 p.m.
Vanderbilt began the season with high hopes, but their three losses to ranked teams have come by a combined 20 goals. They’ve still have opportunities to reverse their season, but the clock is starting to tick. BU is coming off its first loss of the season, a 10-6 loss at Duke on Wednesday. Continuing the road trip to Nashville will be no easy task, but veteran goalie Rachel Klein (7.76 goals against average) should keep BU close even if the offense is slow to get untracked.

DaSilva: Boston U
Krome: Boston U
Ohanian: Vanderbilt
Coyne: Boston U
Lochary: Boston U
Logue: Vanderbilt

MD1: No. 10 Duke (2-3) at No. 9 Loyola (3-1) – Saturday, 3 p.m.
The preseason couldn’t have gone better for Duke: No. 1 ranking and a win over Team USA. The regular season: two struggles for victory and three losses. The offense needs some serious midfield help as attackmen Max Quinzani, Ned Crotty and Zach Howell have combined for 31 goals and 20 assists. The rest of the team combined has just 14 goals and 10 assists. They’ll face another hungry team, Loyola, which also has the motivation of dedicating the new Ridley Athletic Complex, a 6,000-seat facility that gives the school a serious upgrade in facilities.

DaSilva: Duke
Krome: Duke
Ohanian: Loyola
Coyne: Duke
Lochary: Loyola
Logue: Duke

"A double-stroke of bad luck for the Greyhounds. Saturday they're dedicating their new Ridley Athletic Complex, a three-field game and practice facility a mile or two from campus that includes a sweet 6,000-seat stadium. Unfortunately the forecast calls for plenty of rain in Baltimore, which could dampen the festivities. More ominous, however, is Duke's entrance in this game as the loser of two straight. Might be too early to say the Blue Devils are desperate to save their season, but they'll probably do whatever it takes to avoid falling to 2-4."

MCLA: No. 4 Colorado State (5-1) at No. 3 Arizona State (3-1) – Saturday, 5 p.m.
Arizona State has bounced back from last year’s canceled season with a strong 3-1 start, blemished only by a one-goal loss to two-time defending national champion Michigan. CSU is also experiencing a new beginning of sorts with the other Alex Smith in his first year as head coach, but the legendary Flip Naumburg is still on the sidelines as co-head coach. The Rams 5-1 start includes four wins against ranked teams and the lone loss came to NCAA Division III Colorado College.

DaSilva: Arizona State
Krome: Arizona State
Ohanian: Arizona State
Coyne: Colorado State
Lochary: Arizona State
Logue: Arizona State