College lacrosse: Power rankings, best games, Tewaaraton tracker

Catch up on the latest news from college lacrosse, including the latest rankings, best performances and games of the last month and the Tewaaraton tracker.

Division I Power Rankings

Men’s Division I

1. Penn State (6-1)
2. Duke (6-1)
3. Cornell (4-1)
4. Yale (3-1)
5. Towson (5-1)
6. Maryland (6-1)
7. Notre Dame (3-1)
8. Loyola (4-2)
9. Ohio State (6-0)
10. High Point (6-1)

Women’s Division I

1. Boston College (8-0)
2. Maryland (6-0)
3. North Carolina (5-1)
4. Syracuse (6-2)
5. Virginia (6-2)
6. Penn (6-0)
7. James Madison (6-1)
8. Princeton (4-1)
9. Northwestern (5-3)
10. Johns Hopkins (6-1)

Note: National college lacrosse rankings taken from Inside Lacrosse’s weekly media poll as of March 11.

Notable news

Tehoka Nanticoke is suspended, returns, and is sidelined again

Albany sophomore Tehoka Nanticoke is one of the most talented players in college lacrosse right now, but he keeps landing in the news for all the wrong reasons. It was first announced that Tehoka was sitting out Albany’s game vs Cornell on March 2 after the NCAA had “suspended” him for an Instagram post that violated NCAA rules.

As the story developed, reports showed that it was the University of Albany administration, not the NCAA, that had barred him from competition. Nanticoke would return for Albany’s game against UMass on March 5 and would lead the team in scoring with four points in the game.

However, “Tehoka Watch” did not end there. Nanticoke suited up for Albany’s next game against Maryland on March 9, but did not play, with Albany Head Coach Scott Marr stating “[It was] my decision for him not to play.” Marr elaborated that there was “no need for the public to know.”

Bottom line, this story is far from over, and the lacrosse community will be watching closely as the season continues.

Goalie, who was without a helmet that fit his head, returns to the field

Wheaton College netminder Alex Chu was sidelined at the beginning of the season because there wasn’t a helmet that fit his head and was authorized by the NCAA. Chu had used a modified Cascade helmet in high school, but the helmet didn’t meet the NCAA specifications.

After waiting several weeks, Cascade delivered a custom helmet to Chu. Ironically it was modeled after the custom helmet Tehoka Nanticoke wears due to his similarly large head size). Kudos to those who brought awareness to the issue and Cascade for coming through with the custom lid.

Top performances of the month

Pat Spencer takes flight and scores five goals against Rutgers
Pat Spencer played unreal in February, racking up 26 points in four games, including a seven-point performance against Rutgers that saw him score a goal on a high flying crease dive. His performance helps solidify him as one of the favorites to win the Tewaaraton, an award he’s been a finalist for the past two seasons.

Travis Reid breaks the record for most points and ties record for most goals

Assumption College senior Travis Reid broke the NCAA record for most points scored in a game (at any division level) with 22 points in the Greyhounds’ 34-3 win. He also tied the NCAA Division II single-game record for goals with 13 and the Greyhounds as a team broke the NCAA team record for most goals in a game with 34.

Kali Hartshorn’s backhand goal ties game vs North Carolina

Maryland’s Kali Hartshorn had a spectacular backhand goal in the final 7 minutes of Maryland’s game against North Carolina. The goal tied the game at 12-12 and Maryland would later complete the win in overtime to win 13-12.

Connor Kirst scores back-to-back overtime game-winners

Villanova midfielder Connor Kirst came up big for the Wildcats when he netted the overtime game-winner against the defending champion Yale Bulldogs. It was his first goal of the season and gave Villanova the 11-10 victory.

He followed up his dramatic heroics with two goals against Hofstra, including yet another overtime game-winning goal. His OT gave Villanova a 10-9 win and another ‘wild’ finish for the ‘Cats.

Tyler Canto comes up big between the pipes against Loyola

When discussing top performances, there is a lot of talk about great offensive plays and epic game winners. However, arguably the most impressive performance came in net when then-No. 7 Towson’s goalie Tyler Canto notched 14 saves against the top-ranked Loyola. 

His performance included a clutch diving save in the 4th quarter that helped Towson secure not only a win but also the top ranking in college lacrosse at the time.

Best games you missed

High Point upsets Duke and takes down Virginia

Arguably the best story of February was the emergence of High Point University as a top tier lacrosse program. High Point handed Duke it’s annual bizarre February loss in a 13-9 road win that saw the Panthers goalie Tim Troutner Jr. make 19 saves.

However, High Point wasn’t done just yet. They traveled to Charlottesville where they secured a 14-13 win over the Cavaliers to start the season 4-0. They would lose to St. John’s 9-10 the following week to end their winning streak, but nonetheless prove that they are a national contender.

Holy Cross completes an epic comeback vs Harvard

Down 10-3 to Harvard with less than 30 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, Holy Cross’s chances of securing a win looked dismal. Yet, they ended the 3rd quarter with three goals in the final 27 seconds to close the score to 10-6.

In the 4th quarter, they scored four unanswered goals, including Kevin Kodzis’ game-tying goal with 42 seconds to force overtime. Holy Cross would cap off the dramatic comeback with Will Spangenberg’s backdoor game-winner in double overtime for the 11-10 win.

Towson knocks off Loyola to secure a top seed

As mentioned earlier, Towson took down its crosstown rival with a 12-10 win. The then top-ranked Loyola fell behind early as the Tigers took a 4-2 lead in the 1st quarter. Loyola kept it close throughout even tying it in the 3rd quarter, but were never able to take a lead and the Tigers prevailed 12-10 at the end of regulation.

Tewaaraton Tracker

College lacrosse’s version of the Heisman is called the Tewaaraton (the Mohawk name for lacrosse) and it is awarded to the most outstanding player in NCAA men’s and women’s college lacrosse in May. The Tewaaraton foundation recently announced its 2019 watch list of potential nominees. Some notable players on the list to continue to watch are:

Men’s Lacrosse 

• Grant Ament (Penn State) – 8 goals, 38 assists in 6 games
• Pat Spencer (Loyola) -18 goals, 22 assists in 6 games
• Michael Sowers (Princeton) – 12 goals, 18 assists in 5 games
• Jeff Teat (Cornell) – 13 goals, 11 assists in 4 games
• TD Ierlan (Yale) – .760 Faceoff %, 54 groundballs in 4 games
• Daniel Bucaro (Georgetown) – 24 goals, 15 assists in 7 games

Women’s Lacrosse

• Samantha Apuzzo (Boston College) – 41 goals, 14 assists in 8 games
• Charlotte North (Duke) – 36 goals, 13 assists in 7 games
• Kenzie Kent (Boston College) – 19 goals, 33 assists in 8 games
• Jamie Ortega (North Carolina) – 28 goals, 7 assists in 6 games
• Paige Petty (Virginia Tech) – 28 goals, 5 assists in 8 games

Note: 2019 statistics as of  March 10.

What to watch the rest of March

Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m. – Cornell at Yale (ESPN News)
Thursday, March 21 at 5 p.m. – Maryland at Penn State (ESPN U)
Sunday, March 24 at 2 p.m. – Duke at Syracuse (ESPN U)
Tuesday, March 26 at 6 p.m. – Denver at Princeton (ESPN U)
Saturday, March 30 at 12 p.m. – Syracuse at Notre Dame (ESPN U)
Sunday, March 31 at 7 p.m.  – Penn State at Maryland (Big Ten Network)

Overtime

Golden State Warrior Steph Curry tries out lacrosse with the Arizona State women’s team.