When it comes to the strongest men’s lacrosse leagues in Division III, in the past few years the Liberty League and NESCAC have been mentioned in the same breath.
For now, that’s two breaths. This week’s two Division III polls show that the Liberty League has pulled ahead. In the USILA poll, RPI — coming off a home 10-9 overtime win over RIT — is ranked second, RIT fourth, St. Lawrence fifth and Union eighth. Skidmore also received votes. In the Inside Lacrosse poll, the rankings are the same for three of the teams, with RIT third. And that even extends down the line, as Vassar turned heads last Saturday with its 11-7 win over Ithaca, a traditionally strong team, but one that hasn’t gotten beyond the Liberty League Tournament quarterfinals since 2018, its first year since moving from the Empire 8.
NESCAC fans will argue, with merit, its breadth, with Tufts (No. 3/4), Bowdoin (No. 9), Amherst (No. 10), Wesleyan (No. 12/14), Williams (No. 19/20), Middlebury (No. 18 in Inside Lacrosse) and Hamilton receiving votes, but for now the top tier belongs to the Liberty League.
That works in Union’s favor — for the time being. The 7-1 Garnet Chargers have a 15-10 win over Clarkson in the league, but turned around from that two days later and showed the strain in a 24-5 drubbing from Tufts. In the grand scheme, it’s a non-conference road loss to a top-five team on two days’ rest, but this Saturday’s league battle at St. Lawrence holds more sway.
For starters, it’s a league game, and while it’s hard to imagine Union falling out of the top five and not making the league tournament, it doesn’t want to get too many league losses. The Garnet Chargers want to show they belong in the top part of the rankings. A win certainly does that, even a close loss. But a more one-sided St. Lawrence win could signal to the voters that Union — which has important-but-narrow wins over lower-ranked Endicott, Babson, Middlebury and Williams — isn’t a top-tier team. It all counts when it comes to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Body of work, and all that. Ask the St. John’s and Seton Hall men’s basketball teams. No matter how strong your league is, if you’re at the bottom of someone else’s invisible cutoff line, you don’t see it coming until it’s too late.
Meanwhile, a word about RPI: Wowapalooza! It first sent a message on March 20 with a 16-8 win over Williams, which Union only beat 12-11 after a fantastic performance from goalie Dan Donahue. It turned around three days later and handed RIT its first loss of the season. It may be too early to start comparing the Engineers to the 1952 team that won the national championship, but this group is for real.
UALBANY WOMEN SHARPENING DRAW CONTROLS
The UAlbany women’s team had always been good at draw controls, but there were some hiccups earlier this season. It appears the Great Danes have figured out some things, as their last three games have shown a turnaround.
In their 15-13 victory over Binghamton, the Great Danes got 19 draw controls to the Bearcats’ 12. In UAlbany’s 20-11 loss to No. 7 Syracuse, the Orange had an 18-16 edge in the category, but UAlbany’s Katie Pascale — the school’s all-time draw control leader — said the team did well and “figured some things out”. Sure enough, UAlbany outdrew Vermont 23-4 in last Sunday’s 17-7 win.
Pascale is Pascale, but there has also been noticeable improvement from 6-foot-1 junior attack Haley Phalines on draw controls. She had eight against Binghamton, four against Syracuse and a career-high 12 against Vermont. Pascale and Phalines rank second and third, respectively, in the America East conference.
AWARDS
For the second time this season and third time in his career, Union senior Matthew Paolatto earned a spot on the USILA Division III Team of the Week, the body announced Tuesday. Paolatto won 81.1% of his faceoffs and grabbed 24 ground balls in wins over Middlebury and Clarkson.
Union freshman Gillian Joseph was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. Joseph led the Garnet Chargers with seven goals and one assist in a 2-1 week.
Siena’s Grace Dobrzynski and Olivia Nicholson were named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week and MAAC Rookie of the Week. Dobrzynski led the Saints’ offense with eight points (two goals, six assists) in a 22-4 win over Rider. Nicholson scored three goals and had two ground balls.
UAlbany’s Jake Piseno and Ryan Doherty were named the America East’s Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively. Piseno scored two goals, scooped four ground balls and had three caused turnovers against No. 3 Virginia. He added seven ground balls and an assist in a win over Vemont. Doherty had three goals, one assist and three ground balls against Vermont. He also had two assists and three ground balls versus Virginia.
UAlbany’s Emma Torkoff was named America East Defensive Player of the Week. A midfielder, she caused three turnovers, scooped five ground balls and had one draw control against No. 7 Virginia. In a win over Vermont, she forced two turnovers, had a ground ball and helped keep the Catamounts scoreless for the first 18:50.