The 2019 Big Ten tournament will get underway on Thursday, May 2nd with the semifinals and finish up with the championship game on Saturday, May 4th. The tournament will be held in Piscataway, N.J. as Rutgers plays host this season.
In the Big Ten tournament Penn State has the top seed while Johns Hopkins earned the number two seed. Maryland will be the three seed and Rutgers got in as the fourth and final seed in the tournament.
#1 Penn State vs #4 Rutgers – Semifinals
In the first semifinal Penn State and Rutgers will go head-to-head. This is going to be an interesting one as Rutgers has much more to play for than Penn State at this time. Penn State has been the most dominate team in the country with junior attackman Grant Ament leading the way while junior attackman Mac O’keefe puts on a show as well. The Nittany Lions defense as been scary as well with Chris Sabia headlining that close defense unit and Colby Kneese in between the pipes.
Rutgers needs a win here as they will likely not make the NCAA tournament without at least one win in the Big Ten tournament. They will be looking for that offensive duo of Adam Charlambides and Kieran Mullins to step up and d big things as we have seen all year. On the defensive end Max Edlemann has been one of the best in between the pipes this season. This is a Rutgers team that can burn anyone in the country when they are 100% on but can also slip between the cracks. It’ll be an interesting one come Thursday.
#2 Johns Hopkins vs #3 Maryland – Semifinals
The Rivalry is brought to the post-season. These two teams just played on Saturday so it’ll be interesting to see what adjustments each makes before they meet again on Thursday.
Johns Hopkins needs this win much more than Maryland does. The Blue Jays are coming in hot off a win against Maryland on Saturday. Johns Hopkins will be looking to play another complete game here as Joey Epstein and Kyle Marr lead that offense that has bee growing all year. On the defensive end sophomore goalie Ryan Darby has been good with a 144 saves and a 46% save percentage thus far. Robert Kuhn has been a leader on the defense as well, giving opponents trouble all season.
Maryland has been good this year but they have had some ups and downs for sure. The Terrapins will need to be on the best this tournament. They have been led by a depth of offensive production with Jared Bernhardt, Anthony DeMaio, Logan Wisnauskas, and others. On the defensive end of the field Danny Dolan has been good in cage, making 152 saves with a 52% save percentage. Curtis Corley and other have been leading that defense out front as well. Both the offense and defense will need to step up big time in this one and they can’t have any lapses like last week.
Semifinal 1 Winner vs Semifinal 2 Winner – Championship
The winners of each semifinal game will meet in the Big Ten championship game on Saturday May, 4th.
Big Ten men’s lacrosse this season has been on fire, week in and week out they have seen a ton of success. This week was a bit different as the Big Ten finished the week with 3 wins and 3 losses. One bad week won’t stop the men in the Big Ten from gathering their composure and come out fired up for Week seven.
The Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays started the Big Ten off with a with a decisive win against Mount St. Mary’s 11-4. The Blue Jays started a bit slow in the 1st quarter and were down 2-1 after 15 minutes of play but it only that one quarter for the Jays to find their footing and take control of the game moving forward. We saw an offensive explosion from JHU as they put up 9 goals in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Seven Jays put the ball in the back of the net that were led by freshman attackman, Joey Epstein who snuck 3 past The Mount’s goalie for the Hat-Trick. The Blue Jays defense was no slouch either this week and even with 6 penalties they were able to keep The Mount scoreless in the 3rd quarter and only gave up 1 goal in the 2nd and 4th quarters. Sophomore goalie, Ryan Darby was a brick wall in the cage as he was able to stop The Mount offense by recording 12 saves.
The Jays week six stretch wasn’t over after their win over The Mount as they hosted Delaware at Homewood field and secured themselves a 12-10 victory. Johns Hopkins proved once again that they’ve got a lot of offensive talent and haven’t just been relying on a few players to get the job done this week. Eight players found the back of the net and 8 of their 12 goals were off assists. Freshman, Joey Epstein proved showed up once again with a 2 goal performance but it was senior attackman, Kyle Marr was able to score 3 goals and assist 2 others. A strong offense was once again complimented well with Johns Hopkins specialists proving that they were a force to be reckoned with. Sophomore faceoff man, Kyle Prouty showed up for the second time this week and dominated the faceoff x winning 17 of 23 faceoffs while scooping up 9 groundballs. The man in net was sophomore, Ryan Darby who recorded 11 saves and was above .500 for the second game this week. The youths of Johns Hopkins have really stepped up their game and are ready to show the lacrosse world what they have to offer as they finish this week with an overall record of 4-3.
The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers faced off against 16th ranked Lehigh in a game that saw Rutgers with a 6-5 lead entering halftime. Even with the halftime lead, second half woes were the achilles heel for the Scarlet Knights as they gave up 8 goals in 3rd and 4th quarters resulting in a tough 13-10 loss to Lehigh. Sophomore attackman, Ryan Gallagher did all that he could by producing a 5 point performance with 4 goals and 1 assist. The Rutgers defense was pretty solid causing 13 turnovers and were led by senior defenseman, Kyle Pless who recorded 4 caused turnovers himself. Even with Lehigh having 21 unforced turnovers, the Scarlet Knights were unable to come out on top in their first game of the week.
Unfortunately for Rutgers University they were, yet again, unable to hold onto their lead when they traveled to the Carrier Dome to take on 13th ranked Syracuse. Entering the 4th quarter, the Scarlet Knights had a narrow 11-10 lead over the Orange but after giving up 8 goals in the 4th quarter, ‘Cuse topped Rutgers 18-14. The Scarlet Knights offense was led by redshirt sophomore attacker, Adam Charalambides as he produced 8 points on 6 goals and 2 assists. Even though their offense wasn’t able to score enough to take down the Orange, Rutgers was working as a unit as 11 of their 14 goals were scored off of assist. It may be a bit frustrating to lose a game like this but Rutgers should be excited that they are working as a cohesive offensive team. Faceoff woes hurt the Rutgers winning only 9 of 36 but redshirt senior goalie, Max Edelman showed us once again that he is a talented goalie. Letting 18 goals in may seem like a lot but he stood tall and refused to get down by continuing a stellar season and recording 19 saves. After a pretty strong start week #6 proved to be a tough week for Rutgers and they end the week with 4-4 on the season so far.
Unfortunately for us lacrosse fans we were unable to see if The Ohio State University were going to keep their undefeated season alive as the March 16th matchup against Denver was canceled. We will have to wait until March 23rd when they face Notre Dame if they can keep their dreams of a perfect season going.
The Wolverine of the University of Michigan were another Big Ten team that was unable to come home with the win as they suffered a 16-13 loss to the Golden Eagles of Marquette. Marquette, with their home field advantage, came out scoring fast and often in the first half as they took the lead 9-4 going into the half. The Wolverines really stepped up their game and were able to have a pretty solid second half by scoring 9 of their own but it just wasn’t enough as they couldn’t slow down their opposition until the 4th quarter. Michigan had 7 different players find the back of the net and were led by junior Avery Myers and freshman Bryce Clay who both recorded hat-tricks in this week’s loss. Something of a common theme for Big Ten teams as of late seems to be the faceoff x. Going 9 for 33 at the faceoff x really seems to be an issue for Michigan and not to mention losing the ground ball battle 40-22 didn’t help much either. Even though the Wolverines are a somewhat young program they’ve proven to the world that they have got the talent to compete. They end the week with a 3-3 overall record and they are going to be fired up to play Notre Dame.
The #6 ranked Maryland Terrapins showed us once again that they are on fire this year as they dominated Villanova 17-7 this week. The Terrapins started strong and never let off the breaks as they scored 5 or more goals in 3 of the 4 quarters this week. A whopping 9 Terrapins got on the board this week with junior Jared Bernhardt producing 5 points on 3 goals and 2 assists while sophomore Bubba Fairman showed up as well with 6 points of 4 goals and 2 assists. Maryland’s defense also stood tall and made things difficult for the Villanova shooters. Both Danny Dolan and Andrew Morris saw some time in net and recorded 13 and 3 saves respectively. The Terrapins improve to 7-1 on the season.
Big Ten Team of the Week
The Big Ten Team of the Week is going to go out to the Bluejays of Johns Hopkins University. They’ve proven that they can handle adversity and bounced right back after a tough loss to Syracuse last week. Their schedule only gets tougher from here, so we will see how they continue to handle challenging teams.
Big Ten Player Spotlight
This weeks Big Ten player spotlight is going to go to Rutger’s very own Adam Charalambides for his 8 goal and 2 assist performance this week. After being held to 2 goals against Lehigh, Adam came out firing against Syracuse and recorded 6 goals and 2 assists. It was great seeing the redshirt sophomore step up big against a tough opponent and do what needed to be done.
Thoughts for the Week
In a similar fashion to last week, lacrosse is a 60 minute game and it needs to be played that way. The team that plays for the full 60 usually comes out on top. Every team has to finish the game strong because when conference play comes around, 50 minutes isn’t going to cut it.
It should also be noted that the faceoff game has been playing a huge role in who is coming out on top in these games. If you’ve got a player dominating the faceoff x, you are essentially playing “make-it take-it” lacrosse.
In the Week to Come
Tuesday, March 19th
The University of Michigan takes on Notre Dame it what can be considered a top tier rivalry in all of their sports, lacrosse is no exception. The Wolverines will be hosting the Irish in Ann Arbor at 4:00 PM. The game will be on ESPNU and you won’t want to miss these two teams try to prove their superiority.
Saturday, March 23rd
The University of Michigan Wolverines will be back at it again on Saturday as they host Delaware at 12:00 PM.
After a week off, Penn State will be heading to midwest where the weather has become incredibly unpredictable as they take on the Vikings of Cleveland State. The game will be at 12:30 PM.
The Ohio State University will be heading over to South Bend and will be playing to keep their perfect season alive as they take on Notre Dame at 1:00 PM.
Big Ten Men’s Lacrosse has seen some successful weeks so far this year and Week four was no exception to this. Big Ten lacrosse came out on top in 5 of the 7 games that were played this week.
Penn State has proven that they are a forced to be reckoned with after winning two games in 3 days this past weekend in Charlotte N.C. at the Crown Lacrosse Classic. The Nittany Lions are an absolute force to be reckoned with on the offensive end and put up 43 goals and 27 assists, for a total of 70 points in their two wins this weekend. Penn State started off the weekend strong with a 19-13 over Cornell. Grant Ament led the offensive charge with a 9 assist performance that helped three other Nittany Lions score 4 or more goals with Mac O’Keefe putting 6 in the back of the net. With a short one day break Penn State was back at it again with another blowout win against Jacksonville. Grant Ament had another big day for himself by putting up a staggering 10 points on 2 goals and 8 assists. With another strong offensive outing, we saw 4 players end the day with hat tricks, this time TJ Malone led the goal scoring efforts with 7 goals. With two great games for Penn State it’s no surprise that they are #1 in the nation with a 6-1 record on the season so far.
The Ohio State University Buckeyes kept their perfect season alive after a solid 14 – 8 win over Hofstra. The Buckeyes defense was on lockdown this game while being led by their goalie, Josh Kirson who only let 6 goals slip by while protecting his net with 12 saves. The offense was no slouch either as 10 different players recorded at least one point with Jack Myers leading the offensive charge with 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists). The Ohio State looks to keep their perfect season going as they had into next week with a 6-0 record.
The University of Maryland was out for revenge after Notre Dame ended their dream of a perfect season. With some time to focus, the Terrapins set their sights on Albany and fired away. Maryland’s offense came out firing and their defense went into lockdown mode, entering the half with a strong 7-2 lead. A tough 3rd quarter cut their lead to 2 goals but after a 6 goal 4th quarter performance, the Terrapins locked down the win. Jared Bernhardt led the offensive charge with a 8 point performance that saw him dishing out 5 assists and finding the back of the net 3 times. Not to be outdone, Justin Shockey and Austin Henningsen battled it out at the faceoff winning 17 of 27. The Terrapin defense held it together on their side with a clean performance only giving up one man-up opportunity for the Danes. Maryland is prepping for the next week as the head into the week with a 6-1 record.
The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University held onto 9 – 3 lead against Princeton to squeak out the win, 9-8. The Rutgers offense lost their footing a bit and didn’t score a single goal in the second half. Good thing for them, is that they’ve got Max Edelmann in the cage stopping shots, a lot of shots. Edelmann might have let 8 goals in the back of the net but he stood on his head and made a amazing 18 saves. This man is an absolute unit and currently has 75 saves on the season with a .610 save percentage that is enough to put him at 3rd in the nation in save percentage. Rutgers sits at 4-2 on the season and will take this time to regroup their offense and continue to stand tall for senior goalie, Max Edelmann.
After two wins to put Johns Hopkins at 2-2 on the season, the Bluejays headed to the Carrier Dome to take on the Orange of Syracuse. A strong start for Johns Hopkins propelled them into halftime with a 8-7 one goal lead over the Orange. But just like all sports, the game isn’t over until the final whistle blows and giving up 6 goals on the 4th quarter resulted in a 14-10 loss to Syracuse. Even with 7 unique goal scorers, trouble on the faceoff couldn’t help Johns Hopkins hold onto the win and head into their next game with a 2-3 record.
The Wolverines faced a tough Yale team down in Atlanta but were unable to make the stops and lost 17-11. Hat Tricks from Clay Bryce and Kevin Mack and 23 saves from Tommy Heidt weren’t enough to make up for the absolutely dominating performance by Yale at the faceoff x. Michigan going 4-31 at the faceoff resulted in a make it take game for the Bulldogs. The Wolverines hope to bounce back after a tough loss to #4 Yale and continue what has been a pretty successful season so far as they sit 3-2 on the year.
Big Ten Team of the Week
The Big Ten Team of the Week has got to go the team that worked as a complete offensive unit, Penn State. Putting up 43 goals and 27 assists (70 points total) in two games is something that coach’s dream of. The Nittany Lions are currently sitting comfortably at the #1 spot and it seems as if they are only getting started. Expect a big year from these men as they prepare for Big Ten play coming up in the next couple of weeks.
Big Ten Player Spotlight
It’s not going to surprise anyone that this week’s Big Ten Player Spotlight is awarded to Penn State attackman, Grant Ament. Can you really not give it to the man who put up 19 points in two games with 17 assists and 2 goals in just two games!? Ament has been on a tear this season and is averaging a 8.00 points per game and is currently sits atop the assist leader board with 46 assists through 7 games. If Grant Ament can keep this trend going for the rest of the year, it would be very surprising if he weren’t in the running for the Tewaaraton.
Thoughts for the Week
If there’s one takeaway from this week, it’s easily a lacrosse game last for 60 minutes. When playing the fastest game on two feet, there’s no time to take a rep or play off. Rutgers might have won their game but getting shutout in the second half isn’t going to work when conference play starts. The same can be said for Johns Hopkins. I would imagine that a lot of these coaches will be preaching to their players that they’ve got to play for 60 minutes.
In the Week to Come
There have already been some games played this week, but there are still plenty of Big Ten lacrosse action this weekend.
Tuesday, March 11th
Johns Hopkins beat Mount St. Mary’s 11-4
Rutgers was defeated 13-10 by Lehigh in a comeback back win
Saturday, March 16th
Johns Hopkins will be looking for another win as they host Delaware at 1pm
Michigan travels to Marquette as they look to get back on track after a loss over the weekend. That game will be at 1PM.
Rutgers has a road contest at 1pm in the Carrier Dome against Syracuse.
Ohio State has a HUGE game this weekend, hosting Denver at 1pm.
Maryland has a home contest at 3PM on Saturday against a hungry Villanova team searching for a bounce back win.
Talk about nail biters! This weekend, the Big Ten walked away with 5 wins and 1 loss loss, and every game was decided by 5 goals or less. These close games are becoming a common thing amongst all of men’s lacrosse this season.
March 2nd was a good day for the Big Ten as each team walked away with a win. Penn State squeaked out a win against Penn 15-14. The Nittany Lions found themselves down by one with about 3 minutes left before Nick Spillane put two in the back on the net within 38 seconds to put Penn State up by one with 2:01 left in the game. All in all, a pretty solid performance for the Nittany Lions with 4 different players scoring hat-tricks. Penn State improves to 4-1 on the season.
The Buckeyes of The Ohio State are still standing as one of the few undefeated teams in Division I after their 13-9 win over Marquette. The slow start for both teams only lasted a quarter as Ohio State put up 5 goals in the 2nd quarter to extend their lead, and added another 5 goals in the 4th quarter to seal the deal. Jackson Reid lead the Buckeye offense with 5 goals of his own in route to Ohio State’s 5th win of the season.
After two tough early season losses, Johns Hopkins University has shown they’ve got what it takes to win close games against against a tough opponent. The Blue Jays found themselves down by one entering the 4th quarter but a 6 goal onslaught was enough to seal the deal as they took down Princeton 14-12. Their faceoff unit showed they were a force to be reckoned with as Matt Nerewski went 10-15 at the X and scooped up 9 ground balls, while Kyle Prouty went 9-13. Don’t count out Johns Hopkins just yet as they improve to 2-2 on the season.
A strong start for the University of Michigan proved too much St. John’s. A 10 goal first half gave the Wolverines enough confidence to play a strong second half and finishing the game with a score of 16-11 (the largest margin of victory for any Big Ten team this week). Clay Bryce and Peter Hollen both put up 5 points on their way to improving to 3-1 on the season. Hopefully a weeklong rest is enough for Michigan’s faceoff man, Matt Delacroce after taking 30 faceoffs because next week will be a lot tough, facing Yale and lining up against TD Ierlan at the faceoff dot.
Consistent lacrosse and strong defense is what put Rutgers on top as they took down Farifield 8-4. The Scarlet Knights offense put up 2 goals every quarter behind what seemed to be an impenetrable defense and a brick wall of a goalie. Rutgers goalie, Max Edelmann, had a stellar performance put up 17 saves and while only letting in 4. With this win, Rutgers is over .500 on the season so far and they’ve got to be feeling good about who they’ve got protecting the cage.
The only Big Ten team to walk away this week with a loss is The University of Maryland. In what must have come as a surprise for everyone but the Notre Dame faithful, the Terrapins lost in overtime 14-13. Walking into the game undefeated, Maryland had a one goal edge on the Irish after the 1st quarter. However, Notre Dame came out firing on all cylinders in the 2nd quarter to extend their lead 7-5 entering the half. Not to be outdone, the Terrapins didn’t give up and were able to have a big quarter of their own, putting up 4 goals in the 4th quarter to tie the game up at 13 after an Anthony DeMaio goal with :16 seconds left in the 4th. After a 4 quarter battle a diving Irish goal ended the Terrapins’ dream of an undefeated season. Maryland moves into next week with a 5-1 record.
Big Ten Team of the Week
The Big Ten Team of the Week is a pretty tough one for me to choose this week. A lot of deserving teams but this week my vote is going to go the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins. I’m choosing Johns Hopkins because after a tough start with some big losses, they seem to have gotten back on track and are moving in the direction that they want. We will see how they handle their newfound success moving forward.
Big Ten Player Spotlight
This weeks player spotlight is a really easy one to choose. Rutgers redshirt senior goalie, Max Edelmann stood on his head this week with a stellar performance in net. Edelmann protected his net like a champ recording 17 saves and 4 goals against. This is the second time this season that Edelmann has put up 17 saves, which is his career high. This young man is on fire and I look forward to seeing what he can do throughout the season.
Thoughts for the Week
Lacrosse this season has been quite the roller coaster. Top ranked teams are going down left and right, and upsets aren’t becoming that shocking anymore. In terms of the Big Ten, it seems as if they are in the same boat. It doesn’t matter your ranking, your history or how old your program is, these men are battling it day in and day out. The biggest takeaway has to be that NO ONE is safe this season.
In the Week to Come
Penn State is one of four teams (Cornell, Towson, Jacksonville) taking part in the Crown Lacrosse Classic in Charlotte, NC this weekend. The Nittany Lions play Cornell on Friday, March 8th at 8pm, and Jacksonville on Sunday, March 10th at 3:30pm
Ohio State is heading out east to Hempstead, NY to battle the Pride of Hofstra at 12:00pm on Saturday, March 9th
Maryland will be on the road as they take on Albany at 1:00pm on Saturday, March 9th
Rutgers will be staying home this week, hosting Princeton at 1:00pm on Saturday, March 9th. It will be the 97th all-time meeting between the two programs with Princeton leading the series 61-30-3
Johns Hopkins will be on the road facing rival Syracuse in the Carrier Dome at 1:00pm on Saturday, March 9th
On a Sunday afternoon in South Bend,IN, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Maryland Terrapins went to battle indoors. It was a game of runs, and quite the offensive battle from what we have seen in the past when these two meet. While Maryland was able to force overtime, Notre Dame finished as the 17 ranked Irish took down the 2 ranked Terrapins.
Notre Dame was led Brendan Gleason and Brian Willetts who each tallied 5 points in the Irish win. Matt Schmidt made 11 saves in goal, anchoring that tough Notre Dame defense they are known for.
Logan Wisnauskas led the Terrapins with 5 points (3G,2A). Jared Bernhardt, Anthony DeMaio, and Kyle Long all contributed heavily as well, each tallying 4 points. In goal, Danny Dolan made 7 saves.
As many say, lacrosse is a game of runs. That statement proved to be true in this game as it truly was a game of runs, and that made for some exciting back-and-forth lacrosse.
Louis Dubick got things started off early with a goal to give Maryland the 1-0 lead. Notre Dame answered just a few minutes later as Connor Morin got the Irish on the board to notch things up at 1. After a three-goal run midway through the first Maryland was abale to push out to a 4-1 lead. Notre Dame answered with a two-goal run to end the first and make it a one-goal game heading into the second.
Notre Dame turned their two-goal run into a four-goal run as their offensive success continued into the second with Brian Willetts and Morrison Mirer each finding the back of the cage. Maryland was able to find a little offensive success as Kyle Long scored the Terrapins only second quarter goal. Notre Dame ended the half strong, pushing their lead to 7-5 and using strong defensive stands to limit the Terrapins getting any momentum.
Coming out of the half trailing 7-5, Maryland was able to finally get passed the Notre Dame defense early on with two goals coming from Will Snider. The Irish again answered in a big way, scoring four straight to go up 11-7 with 7:16 in the third. The Terrapins started to heat up with two goals to end the third, cutting the Notre Dame lead to 11-9.
The Terrapins continued their offensive firepower into the fourth as Logan Wisnauskas tied things up at 11 midway through the fourth. Brendan Gleason went off zipped two past Dolan to give Notre Dame a two-goal 13-11 lead late in the fourth. Logan Wisnaukas scored a transition goal off of deflected save to make it a one-goal game. Anthony DeMaio tied things up with :16 in the fourth to tie it up at 13 and force overtime.
Brian Willettes set up behind the cage at ‘X’, turned the corner, and zipped it past Danny Dolan to score the game winner for Notre Dame to secure the 14-13 victory.
Both of these squads will be in action next weekend on Saturday. Maryland will travel to Albany and Notre Dame will face Denver at home in some Saturday night lacrosse action.
This past weekend in the Big Ten, we saw an absolute blowout, few nail biters and an upset that is really shaking up what we normally view as lacrosse’s “Powerhouses.”
For starters, Penn State absolutely blew the doors off Robert Morris 27-10. Penn State saw 17 different players getting on the score sheet in that blowout win. A strong start for the University of Michigan made up for their second half woes as they were able to finish with a 10-8 win over Cleveland State. The Wolverines weren’t the only ones to almost give up a lead, The University of Maryland went into the 4th quarter with a 6 goal lead, only to be shut out in the 4th and give up 5 goals to the Spiders of Richmond and narrowly escaping with a 10-9 win. The Ohio State University started real strong with a 7 goal first quarter and couldn’t be stopped in their 17-10 win against Boston University. Lacrosse blue blood, Johns Hopkins University, struggled at the faceoff X and a strong 2nd and 3rd quarter for Towson resulted in an absolute blowout with JHU losing to the Tigers of Towson 17-8. Rutgers and St .John’s were all tied up going into the 4th quarter but a 7 goal performance for Rutgers resulted in the 19-15 barn burner of a win.
Big Ten Team of the Week
The Big Ten Team of the Week this week is a pretty straightforward decision. When a team has 17 different players score a goal or tally an assist it’s pretty obvious that they were playing like a TEAM. The Nittany Lions are my choice for the Big Ten Team of the Week in week one of the season.
B1G Player Spotlight
This week’s player spotlight goes to the Terrapins face-off man who legit pulled of a perfect performance. Senior faceoff specialist, Austin Henningsen went 15 for 15 at the faceoff X and scooped up 6 GBs. This young man absolutely crushed the competition and looks like he could have a great senior year if he can keep this up.
Thoughts for the Week
Some big takeaways from B1G Week #2 is that NO ONE IS SAFE. With a huge upset loss for Johns Hopkins and Michigan and Maryland barely getting by on games that would “normally” go the more established teams way, the B1G might be in for quite the roller coaster of a year.
In the Week to Come
Rutgers will be hosting Army – February 16th at 12:00pm
Penn State will be traveling up to Stony Brook for a 12:00pm showdown on February 16th.
Ohio State will be heading out east to take on Massachusetts for a battle at 1:00pm on February 16th.
Maryland will be heading to PA to take on the Quakers of Penn at 1:00pm on February 16th
Johns Hopkins will be hosting in state rival Loyola Maryland on February 16th at 2:00pm.
We are just about three weeks away from the start of the 2019 NCAA season as February 1st marks opening day. The first game of the NCAA season will be Utah vs Vermont to kick off what should be an exciting season.
Over the next few weeks I will be giving my own personal conference by conference predictions for this upcoming 2019 season. Going in alphabetical order we move on and take a look at the Big Ten.
Final Standings
1. Maryland
Never count out Maryland no matter what year it is. Coach Tillman and the Terrapins have been one of the most dominant teams in the country year after year. Even when it may appear to be a “down year” they find a way to come up big. The Terrapins come into the 2019 season after losing to Duke in the NCAA semifinals.
Offensively Maryland brings back a lot of talent as always. Junior midfielder Jared Bernhardt, Sophomore midfielder Bubba Fairman, and sophomore midfielder Logan Wisnauskas look to be the leaders on that offense along with a host of other contributors as well. On defense Maryland will be relying on senior Curtis Corley, sophomore jack Welding, and senior LSM Nick Brozowski. One of the biggest holes to fill will be in goal as the Terrapins graduated Dan Morris. We will likely see senior Danny Nolan in cage for the Terrapins this season. At the faceoff dot Maryland returns sophomore Justin Shockey who looks to be the main guy again after a stellar freshman campaign.
2. Penn State
The Nittany Lions have been on an upward trend over the past few season as they look to make it back to the NCAA tournament in 2018 after missing out in 2018. Penn State returns a strong core group of guys and they get to play in that awesome new lacrosse stadium they just built!
One of the big keys for Penn State’s success is just to stay healthy, that was an issue last season. On offense the Nittany Lions return junior attackman Mac O’Keefe, redshirt junior attackman Grant Ament, junior attackman Dylan Foulds, and others to lead the charge. The Nittany Lions have firepower on defense as well with senior Chris Sabia and sophomore Brayden Peck to help lead that defense. In goal is junior Colby Kneese who looks to have an even better season did he did last year. At the faceoff dot they return Gerard Arceri who looks to have another stellar season.
3. Ohio State
The Buckeyes are coming off a season in which they made it to the Big Ten Championship game where they lost to Johns Hopkins and missed out on the NCAA tournament. Ohio State returns a ton of talent as they look to get back to Memorial Day weekend, where they were in 2017.
Offensively the Buckeyes return their top three scorers from last season in junior midfielder Tre LeClaire, senior attackman Jack Jasinski, and sophomore midfielder Jackson Reid. They also have a whole host of other weapons coming back as well. At the faceoff dot sophomore Justin Inacio looks to improve of off a very impressive freshman campaign. On the defensive end of the field Ohio State does lose some key pieces from last season in Freddy Friebott and Erik Evans. Senior Matt Borges and junior Jeff Henrick will be helping to lead that defense. In goal for the Buckeyes looks to be junior Josh Kirson who was the backup last season.
4. Johns Hopkins
The 2018 Big Ten Champions look to comeback strong in 2019. The Blue Jays lose some key pieces but as always they have the talent to make a run come NCAA tournament time, especially after a first round exit last season.
Offensively the Blue Jays return some big pieces in senior attackman Kyle Marr, junior attackman Cole Williams, sophomore midfielder Connor Desimone , and others. The Jays offense looks to be pretty strong with those three helping to lead the charge. At the faceoff dot it’ll be more of a question mark as they lost Hunter Moreland to graduation. It does look like sophomore Kyle Prouty will be taking the majority of the draws this season. On defense they have a veteran core with senior Robert Kuhn, senior Patrick Foley, junior Jack Rapine leading the way. In goal for the Blue Jays looks to be sophomore Ryan Darby as they did graduate Brock Turnbaugh.
5. Rutgers
Can the Scarlet Knights finally get over the hump and make the NCAA tournament after nearly three years of barley missing out? That question will be answered as they do bring back a lot of talent from last season on both ends of the field.
With Jules Henningberg graduated and tearing up the pro game the Scarlet Knights offense will be led by sophomore attackman Kieran Mullins and junior midfielder Casey Rose. Redshirt sophomore Adam Charalambides looks to have a strong comeback after suffering a torn ACL in the preseason two years in a row. On defense Rutgers will be led by senior Garrett Michaeli and junor Garrett Bullett. Anchoring the defense in goal will be senior Max Edlemann as he looks to cap off his Rutgers career on a high note.At the faceoff dot senior Alex Schoen will be taking the majority of the draws again this season.
6. Michigan
Many, including myself, believe that Michigan can see a big improvement in year two under Kevin Conry. The Wolverines bring back a lot of talent from last season and many have some high expectations for this Michigan squad. They will try to live up to the hype and maybe even shock the nation a bit.
Michigan returns their top five point scorers from last season in senior attackman/midfielder Brent Noseworthy, sophomore attackman Kevin Mack, senior midfielder Decker Curran, sophomore attackman Alex Buckanavage, and junior attackman Rocco Sutherland. On defense the Wolverines will be led by senior Nick Decaprio, junior Sam Bouhdary, and senior Michael Borda, among others. In goal for Michigan will be junior Matt Towbridge as the starter as he was the backup last season and did see quite a bit of action. At the faceoff dot sophomore Connor Cronin looks to improve off of a stellar freshman campaign last season.
Freshman Watch
Here are some freshman that you should keep your eyes on this season across the Big Ten.
