(Photo Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletics)

At last, the season is here!

When the opening whistle blows at 11:00am on Saturday morning between High Point and Mercer it will mark the end of a 250-day offseason, which ensued following Notre Dame hoisting the trophy as national champions for the first time last Memorial Day.

Here is a look at five games and storylines to watch during this upcoming opening weekend of the 2024 season.

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays vs Denver Pioneers (Noon ET)

Storyline to Watch: Matt Brown’s Debut as Denver’s Head Coach

When the Denver Pioneers march out onto the field on Saturday afternoon they will be doing so with Matt Brown leading the program as head coach for the first time. Brown, a 2005 Denver alum, served as a full-time assistant under legendary Bill Tierney for the past 14 seasons. He took over the reigns of the program following Tierney’s retirement at the end of the last spring.

Brown inherits a program from his mentor who’s cupboards are far from bare. Denver returns 100% of its offense, entire starting close defense, starting goalie, and its top faceoff man. Among those returners is much experience with seven fifth-year players: Jake Edinger (SSDM), JJ Sillstrop (A), Alec Stathakis (FO), AJ Mecurio (D), Jack DiBenedetto (D), Richie Connell (A), Adam Hangland (D).

Matchup to Watch: Hopkins Midfield vs The Denver Defense

In 2023, Matt Collison (26G/9A) had a breakout freshman season for a Johns Hopkins team that returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 and to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018. Brendan Grimes was right behind him with 20 goals and 14 assists for 34 points. Jonathan Peshko (16G/5A), Dylan Bauer (9G/7A), Ryan Evans (8G/4A), Casey McDermott (6G/6A) and Brooks English (6G/5A) all also return after seeing significant minutes last season.

Hopkins’s talent and depth of it at the midfield spot creates intrigue on multiple fronts. Firstly, how will the Blue Jays trot out their midfield lines and who is among those lines? Secondly, how does this Denver defense fare versus this Hopkins midfield? That is particularly concerning the Denver rope unit, which is headlined by key returners in SSDM Jake Edinger (12GB/9CT) and LSM AJ Mecurio (19GB/7CT). That unit must replace LSM Malik Sparrow but also returns some younger contributors from a year ago in SSDMs sophomore Dan Anderson (15GB/6CT) and junior Casey Wilson (25GB/3CT).

Tanner’s Pick: Johns Hopkins

Ohio State Buckeyes vs Utah Utes (Noon ET, )

Storyline to Watch: Ohio State’s Transfers

When Ohio State welcomes in the reigning ASUN champions on Saturday afternoon there will be a lot of new faces donning the scarlet and grey. The Buckeyes dipped into the transfer portal over the summer and added 10 new players: Jack McKenna (A, Fairfield), Kurt Bruun (A, Tufts), Ben Mayer (A, York), Thomas Greenblatt (M, Binghamton),Gannon Matthews (M, Cleveland State), Eli Fisher (M, Wagner), Eli Gladstone (M, Grove City College), Tommy Burke (FO, Vermont), Zack Antoniou (D, Fairfield), Danny Brady (G, Wagner).

Faceoff man Tommy Burke is the biggest name among them as he went 64.8% at the dot last spring for Vermont and went 64.1% during his entire four-year career in Burlington. He firmly addresses the Buckeyes need at the faceoff dot. Jack Mckenna (36G/9A) and Thomas Greenblatt (23G/35A) are among those other transfers to really watch after the multiple seasons of success they had at Fairfield and Binghamton, respectively. How each of these transfers fit into this Buckeyes lineup and what their individual roles are will be of much intrigue.

Matchup to Watch: Utah Attack vs Ohio State Defense

The production of Utah’s attack line was a huge piece of the Utes’ run to an ASUN title and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance last spring. Utah averaged 16.12 goals per game (2nd in DI). Its starting attack line of Jordan Hyde (49G/9A), Tyler Bradbury (33G/23A), and Ryan Stines (38G/11A) combined for 162 points and was responsible for 38% of the team’s overall offensive production. There were only two games (Queens, Notre Dame) in which the entire trio did not record at least a point each.

Ohio State features two extremely talented defenders in Bobby Van Buren (18GB/5CT) and Marcus Hudgins (27GB/17CT). The duo headlines a Buckeyes defense that also returns a third starter from a year ago in Jacob Snyder, as well as key reserves in Cullen Brown and Johnny Cool. Fairfield transfer Zack Antoniou racked up All-Conference recognition during his two years with the Stags. No matter how this Ohio State defense, which is looking to improve upon a season where they gave up 13 goals per game (54th in DI), will have its hands full with this Utah offense on Saturday.

Tanner’s Pick: Ohio State

Loyola Greyhounds vs Georgetown Hoyas (Noon ET, )

Storyline to Watch: Who Starts at Attack For Georgetown?

Georgetown lost four of their top five scorers from last season, which included Tucker Dordevic, Brian Minicus, and Jacob Kelly. TJ Haley (1G/25A) is the team’s top returning attackman while Graham Bundy, Jr. (32G/12A) is the team’s top returner at the midfield. The Hoyas also added former Princeton standout Alexander Vardaro at the midfield spot via the transfer portal.

In addition to the more veteran presence that looks to make up the core of the Georgetown offense, this team also return young guns in Patrick Crogan and Jordan Wray. The pair combined for 30 points last spring as key reserves. Thus, despite their losses, the cupboard is far from bare at Georgetown. But exactly what this offense will look like is of peak of intrigue to many coming into the year. Who exactly starts at attack may be the most interesting piece of that puzzle.

Matchup to Watch: Georgetown Midfield vs Loyola Defense

Vardaro and Bundy create one heck of a scary duo for opposing defenses at the midfield. The pair highlight what could end up being one of the better midfield lines in college lacrosse this spring for the Georgetown Hoyas. Aidan Carroll and Dylan Hess, who is a two-way impact player, only add to the firepower of that Georgetown midfield.

Loyola loses its top two poles in Matt Hughes and Cam Wyers, as well as SSDM Payton Rezanka. SSDM Mustang Sally, LSM Diego Roman, and defenseman Alex Bean are the top returners out in front. Luke Staudt returns in cage after a season where he 174 saves with a 55% save percentage. That Greyhounds’ defense will have its hands full with Georgetown on Saturday and the biggest test could come from that midfield. How Loyola handles that may be the matchup that helps decide the contest between these two Jesuit foes.

Tanner’s Pick: Georgetown

Richmond Spiders vs Maryland Terrapins (1pm ET)

Storyline to Watch: Eric Malever’s Return

During the Terrapins’ unbeaten, national title run in 2022 a sophomore Eric Malever broke through the cracks of a veteran offense to contribute 48 points off 26 goals and 22 assists. Malever suffered a season-ending knee injury the subsequent fall that kept him off the field for all of 2023. Now back in 2024, many eyes will be on Malever to see how exactly he returns to the lineup for Maryland.

Malever returns to a Terrapins offense that was led by a fellow Peach State Native last season in Braden Erska (26G/22A). Daniel Kelly (30G/8A) and Daniel Maltz (28G/10A) also return on that end. In what role does Malever come back into the fold for Maryland this season and whether or not he truly comes back the same, or better, as two years ago will be something to watch with this Terrapins team all season. The first real glimpse of that will come on Saturday on the road against Richmond.

Matchup to Watch: The Faceoff Dot

These two met in the season opener a year ago in College Park. Maryland won the game soundly, 15-4. However, there were some very tight matchups between these two. The tightest happened to come at the faceoff dot where the Terrapins went 12-for-23 (52%) while Richmond went 11-for-23 (47%). Luke Wierman went 10-for-17 (58%) as the top option for Maryland while Jared Chenoy went 9-for-20 (45%) as the top option for Richmond.

Both of those aforementioned top options fared well on the season as a whole last spring. Wierman ended the season going 60% overall while Chenoy was 50% at season’s end. Saturday’s meeting could yield an exciting battle at the dot between these two.

Tanner’s Pick: Maryland

Syracuse Orange vs Vermont Catamounts (4pm ET | ACC Network)

Storyline to Watch: Has Vermont Dropped Off?

Vermont won nine games in 2021 and 2023, and won 12 games in 2022. The Catamounts were America East champions in two of those seasons (2021, 2022). They haven’t lost a regular season conference game since April 24, 2021. In the Chris Feifs era overall, Vermont is combined 53-29 (64% winning percentage). Things have indeed been great in Burlington in recent years. However, this season presents some major questions with the losses of David Closterman (A), Jackson Canfield (D), Nick Alviti (LSM), Colin Sharkey (SSDM), Danny Manning (D), Matt Shaffer (G), and Tommy Burke (FO). Those seven were all All-Conference honorees last season.

In 2023, Vermont opened the season with a 7-5 loss to Syracuse at the dome. Making the trip to Syracuse to open the year for a second consecutive season presents the Catamounts with an immeasurable opportunity to make a statement that they are not done being a power amongst mid-majors. And they don’t necessarily have to pull the upset to make that statement.

Matchup to Watch: Syracuse’s Offense vs Vermont’s New-Look Defense

Syracuse brings back four of its top five scorers (Joey Spallina, Owen Hiltz, Finn Thompson) back from an offense a year ago that averaged 14.33 goals per game as the No. 10 scoring offense in DI. The Orange also add to that group with Christian Mule’ and Sam English coming in as transfers from Lehigh and Princeton, respectively. Thus, many eyes will be on this Orange offense as they look to be as good or better than a season ago.

Butting heads with that Orange offense will be a new-look Vermont defense. The Catamounts strive to be a top 15 defense year in a year out and have effectively done that while having to replace big pieces in the past. Replacing nearly its whole unit is a different story. Vermont held Syracuse to its lowest goal total last season and was one of just two teams, along with Johns Hopkins, to hold the Orange under double digits. Trying to replicate that will be a challenge.

Tanner’s Pick: Syracuse

Other Games to Watch

Find a full schedule of this weekend’s games here.

High Point vs Mercer (11am ET, ESPN +)

Rutgers vs Lehigh (1pm ET, Big Ten Plus)

Air Force vs Marquette (2pm ET, Air Force All-Access)