Top-ranked Duke scored seven unanswered goals to defeat No. 3 Denver, 15-12, on Friday.
There have been few guarantees early in the men's lacrosse season as six ranked teams lost on Friday and Saturday, including four in the top 10, so what you can guarantee is that there will be some major shake-ups in the next Inside Lacrosse poll. How much will change and which teams will be involved still has to be determined.
This weekend's slate of games was exciting out of the gate, starting with No. 1 Duke's 15-12 come-from-behind win over No. 3 Denver. The Blue Devils scored seven unanswered goals to secure the victory. Attacker Joe Robertson led the way for Duke with four goals, all coming in the final frame.
"This game is a huge testament to our character." - Danny Fowler pic.twitter.com/1ee4bKsYol
— Duke Men's Lacrosse (@DukeMLAX) February 17, 2018
The drama continued into Saturday at an even higher level. Villanova topped No. 5 Yale 10-9 in overtime, No. 4 Albany downed No. 7 Syracuse 15-3 for its second-ever head-to-head win, No. 12 Loyola beat No. 8 Johns Hopkins 12-5, No. 13 Army bested No. 11 Rutgers 9-7 and Quinnipiac upset No. 18 Brown 12-11 in overtime. The damage taken by ranked teams could have been even worse, if you can imagine an even less favorable weekend for the top 20.
VIDEO: Check out Danny Seibel’s game winning goal in overtime! #GoNova pic.twitter.com/SlxDS4THd3
— Villanova Men's Lax (@NovaLacrosse) February 17, 2018
North Carolina, ranked No. 14, needed overtime to beat Lehigh and No. 18 Princeton required two overtimes to pull out a win against Monmouth. Towson escaped Mount St. Mary's 15-13 and No. 20 Marquette squeaked by Jacksonville 11-10.
Here's the full breakdown of ranked teams that lost on Friday and Saturday.
| Ranked teams to lose Friday and Saturday |
|---|
| No. 1 Duke def. No. 3 Denver, 15-12 |
| No. 15 Villanova def. No. 5 Yale, 10-9 (OT) |
| No. 4 Albany def. No. 7 Syracuse, 15-3 |
| No. 12 Loyola def. No. 8 Johns Hopkins, 15-2 |
| No. 13 Army def. No. 11 Rutgers, 9-7 |
| Quinnipiac def. No. 18 Brown, 12-11 (OT) |
It's obviously early in the season but Duke's comeback win over Denver likely justified the Blue Devils' top spot in the rankings, but good luck figuring out the order of the rest of next week's poll. Yale, Syracuse and Johns Hopkins will slide, potentially out of the top 10, while Loyola, Army and Villanova should climb in the poll and potentially replace the top-10 spots vacated by the aforementioned trio of top teams that fell this weekend.
