College lacrosse: March recap, power rankings, Tewaaraton tracker

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

Time to catch up on the month that was in college lacrosse.

Division I Power Rankings

Men’s Division I
1. Penn State (6-1)
2. Loyola (7 – 2)
3. Maryland (8 – 2)
4. Virginia (8 – 2)
5. Yale (6 – 2)
6. Penn (5 – 3)
7. Notre Dame (5 – 3)
8. Duke (8 – 3)
9. Ohio State (7 – 1)
10. Cornell (6 – 3)

Women’s Division I
1. Boston College (12-0)
2. Maryland (10-0)
3. Syracuse (12 – 2)
4. Notre Dame (10 – 1)
5. North Carolina (9 – 3)
6. Northwestern (9 – 3)
7. Michigan (13 – 0)
8. Virginia (9 – 4)
9. Penn (8 – 2)
10. USC (12 – 1)
Note: National college lacrosse rankings taken from Inside Lacrosse’s weekly media poll as of April 1.

Notable news

Denver Coach Bill Tierney registers 400th career win

Pioneers Coach Bill Tierney won his 400th game with Denver’s 16-9 win over Georgetown. He became the second coach in NCAA Division I history to reach the milestone and did so 62 games faster than Duke head coach John Danowski who reached the 400 win mark earlier this season.

Tierney is in his 35th year as a head coach, having coached at Princeton until his move to Denver University in 2009. His 400 wins include seven national titles, nine NCAA Final appearances and 29 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Yale’s Brian Tevlin takes time off to donate bone marrow

On March 16, Yale midfielder Brian Tevlin provided two goals and two assists in the Elis’ 16-11 win over Cornell. However soon after, he was instead providing something far more valuable: his bone marrow.

As a member of the “Be the Match” registry, Tevlin got the call that his bone marrow was needed and made the selfless decision to forego roughly a month of his lacrosse career to potentially save a life with his donation. He is currently recovering from the surgery required of his donation and is expected to be back on the field on April 19 when Yale takes on Albany.

Top moments of the month

Sam Apuzzo’s behind-the-back, top corner goal

Boston College’s Sam Apuzzo currently leads the nation in goals and points, but in the Eagle’s 15-12 victory against Virginia she was held to just one goal. Despite being held in check, she made the most of her lone goal with a behind-the-back shot that landed her on SportCenter’s Top 10.

Tufts goalie Mason Pollack follows up big save with a goal

In Tufts’ opening game against Hamilton College on March 3, goaltender Mason Pollack made a key save and proceeded to clear the ball all the way down the field. The icing on the cake? He gets the ball back on the doorstep and puts home his first career goal. He also recorded 17 saves in the Jumbos’ 20-11 win. Talk about doing it all.

One-armed lacrosse player Miles Moscato records 3 points including the OT game winner vs Wittenberg

It’s one thing to contribute two assists and a game-winning goal in overtime. It’s another to do it with only one hand. But Whittier College midfielder Miles Moscato, who was born missing an arm, did just that when he recorded three points in Whittier’s 13-12 win over Whittenberg University.

While some may think Moscato has a disadvantage, he’d argue that his ability to play with one-hand has actually given him an advantage and based on Moscato’s seven goals and three assists this season, we’d have to agree.

Albany fools UMass with full field hidden ball trick

It’s not too uncommon for a team to pull off a hidden ball trick on the offensive side of the field. However, in its game against UMass, Albany pulled off an impressive full field hidden ball trick that had even the camera guys fooled. Despite clever trickery, Albany would fall to UMass 14-8.

Best games you missed

Notre Dame tops Maryland in overtime

This game went back and forth all day with both teams going on four-goal runs in the third quarter resulting in an 11-11 tie heading into the fourth. The Irish would go up 13-11 in the fourth, but the Terps would tie it once again after a goal with 2:22 and 16 seconds left in the game. However, Notre Dame would prevail in overtime with a diving goal from Junior Brian Willetts, giving Notre Dame a 14-13 win.

Syracuse rallies late to take down Duke

Duke got off to a hot 3-0 start and took a 6-2 lead into the half. The Orange cut the lead to 6-3 with the only goal in the third quarter before the Blue Devils extended their lead to 8-4 late in the fourth. The Orange rallied and tied the game at 8-8 with under two minutes to play and had a chance to win in regulation that hit off the pipe with 15 seconds remaining. Yet, ‘Cuse would complete the 9-8 come from behind victory thanks to a game-winning goal from Brendan Curry in overtime.

Penn knocks off Yale in a triple-overtime thriller

This Ivy League contest featured eight ties with no team leading by more than three goals during the game. The Quakers had an 11-8 lead in the fourth quarter, but Yale went on a four-goal run to take a 12-11 lead. Penn refused to go down though and tied the game with one second in regulation. It would then take three overtime periods before Sam Handley sent a shot top shelf to give the Quakers a 13-12 victory over the defending champions.

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 at the end of each season. With the season nearing its halfway mark, now is a good time to take a look at the frontrunners.

Men’s Lacrosse

• Grant Ament (Penn State) – While it may still be too early to crown him the Tewaaraton winner, Ament has all but ran away with the award thanks to his Division I leading 48 assists that have helped elevate Penn State to its top ranking.
• Pat Spencer (Loyola) – The human highlight reel Pat Spencer continues to wow with his athletic plays that include crease dives, behind-the-back goals and 366 points that rank first in the nation.
• Michael Sowers (Princeton) – Sowers continues to lead the Tigers despite their disappointing 3-6 record. His 31 assists rank second behind Ament and Spencer and he has 49 total points on the year.

Women’s Lacrosse

• Samantha Apuzzo (Boston College) – The Eagles are the top team in the nation in part thanks to Apuzzo who leads NCAA Division I in goals and points with 59 goals and 77 total points.
• Charlotte North (Duke) – North ranks second in goals and points with 56 goals and 75 points this season and has meant more to her team’s success than any other player.
• Kenzie Kent (Boston College) – Kent is the other side of the coin when it comes to Boston College’s success and her 66 points rank third behind only North and fellow Eagle Apuzzo.
• Kelly Lakin (Navy) – Larkin boasts the most balanced attack of the top finalists with 38 goals and 30 assists. Her efforts have helped Navy achieve the 13th spot in the country.

Note: 2019 statistics and rankings as of April 1.

What to watch in April

Men’s

• Saturday, April 6 at 12 p.m. – Notre Dame at Duke (ESPN U)
• Tuesday, April 9 at 6 p.m. – Cornell at Syracuse (ESPN U)
• Saturday, April 13 at 3:30 p.m. – Army at Navy (CBSSN)
• Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m. – Maryland at Ohio State (Big Ten Network)
• Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. – Johns Hopkins at Maryland (Big Ten Network)

Women’s

• Wednesday, April 3 at 1 p.m. – Notre Dame at Boston College (ACC Network)
• Wednesday, April 3 at 7 p.m. – Maryland at Virginia (ACC Network)
• Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. – Army at Navy (CBSSN)
• Thursday, April 18 at 4 p.m. – Michigan at Northwestern (ESPN U)
• Saturday, April 27 at 4:30 p.m. – Johns Hopkins at Maryland (Big Ten Network)

Overtime

The Centennial Knights High School lacrosse team pull of a ridiculous quadruple behind-the-back fast break goal.

Boston University lacrosse “drafts” 5-year-old lacrosse fan Jamaica Plain who is currently battling brain cancer.

You can read more about the 2019 college lacrosse season in our February recap.