5. Towson — A two-win week is nothing to shrug at. The Tigers won at Loyola on Wednesday and took care of UMBC on Saturday by jumping out to a 9-0-halftime lead. Towson is athletic at the midfield, rangy and cohesive on defense and has confident finishers on attack. They took 48 shots against UMBC and got multiple tallies from Ben McCarty (3G), Ryan Drenner (2G) and Spencer Parks (2G). Tigers were able to play 42 guys. Ownership of Baltimore is one win away as Towson faces Hopkins this week. (ESPNU)
4. Syracuse — #HHH won a road game in Charlottesville on grass. Their defense and goaltending wasn’t Memorial Day worthy. The Orange have firepower — guys who can absolutely rip corners if they’re allowed to shoot with their feet set. They shoot 35% and goalies want no part of Tim Barber, Sergio Salcido, Derek DeJoe or Dylan Donahue. Against the Wahoos, they shot 14-of-31. All high heat, liquid smoke, turn and rake.
3. Yale — The Bulldogs are 3-0 having beaten UMass-Lowell 17-7, Maryland 8-5 and Bryant 14-4. Yale took 49 shots, won 15 of the 21 face-offs and cleared a perfect 16-for-16 against Bryant. Ben Reeves (13 points), Michael Keasey (eight points), Jeff Cimbalista (seven points) and Eric Scott (seven points) are their top scorers. Yale will be favored in its next seven games against St John’s, at Fairfield, at Cornell, Princeton, Penn, Sacred Heart and at Dartmouth. None of those teams are Top 20 caliber right now. A 10-0 start looks possible.
2. Denver — The Pioneers beat North Carolina in overtime on Saturday despite making only six saves. Will they get the necessary goaltending to win the NCAA title? Denver led 11-8 before a UNC rally gave the Heels a 12-11 lead with 1:06 to go. Zach Miller tied it up with :09 to go and Connor Cannizzaro won it in OT. Pioneers were plus-14 in face-offs and groundballs. Miller scored four times, Cannizzaro chipped in a hat trick, Jack Bobzien and Tyler Pace had five points apiece. Denver’s close defense scooped up just one grounder. Survive and advance. Denver could have easily lost this one. Notre Dame on Sunday is next (ESPNU).
1. Notre Dame — A sellout crowd in California watched a defensive battle between the Irish and the Terps. Tied 2-2 at half, and laeading 4-3 after three quarters, a late Notre Dame run sealed the deal with a 9-4 win. It was really a 6-4 type win. This game featured fundamentally sound defense, it was a clinic. Approaches, angle plays, one-on-one technique, slides, rotations, recoveries, and sticks up in the passing lanes, and communication by both teams were exceptional for 45 minutes. The disparity between these (Maryland and Notre Dame) defenses and Syracuse and Virginia on Friday night is striking. Remarkable to watch the cohesion, discipline and toughness displayed by Notre Dame and Maryland. Hopefully the California fans (6,970) appreciated the low-scoring nature of the game. ND only put 18 shots on goal. Mikey Wynne had four goals.
The No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup on Sunday, March 13, against Denver (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU) should be fun. With a later. start and weather predicted to be rainy with temperatures in the mid 50-degree range, it’s safe to say this game will be played outside.
No comments have been posted yet, be the first!
Post a comment by filling out the form below.
