What a week!
There were upsets galore that affected this week’s IWLCA women’s lacrosse coaches poll. Nine of the 10 schools in the top 10 shifted spots from the last poll, and four of those teams moved by three spots or more. Let’s take a look at where everything sits after the tumult
1. North Carolina (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
Movement: none
Last Week: 13-9 win over No. 13 Syracuse
This Week:
vs. Ohio State, vs. LouisvilleDespite trailing at the half, North Carolina managed to maintain its No. 1 spot with a 13-9 road victory over the Orange.
UNC’s offensive attack looks quite balanced this year, with five players scoring two goals or more in the Syracuse game, and a second-half surge helped the Tar Heels survive an uncharacteristically poor day from Betty Nelson, who let in nine goals while making just four saves. Expect North Carolina to take care of business in its upcoming unranked matchups.
2. Stanford (3-0, 1-0 ACC)
Movement: up two spots
Last Week: 10-9 win over No. 8 Clemson, 18-6 win over Vanderbilt
This Week: vs. No. 13 Syracuse, vs. USC
The Cardinal began their week two play with an absolute thriller against the Tigers, locking into a close battle where each squad scored either two or three goals in every single quarter. Stanford led by three goals at one point in the fourth, but it managed to hold off Clemson’s late charge, as neither team could get a tally in the final 6:59 after Kayla MacLeod’s goal to cut the deficit to one. A comfortable win over Vanderbilt only cemented the positives from the weekend. It’s clear this Stanford team is here to stay, and it might be a Final Four favorite at this point given Florida’s early struggles.
3. Maryland (2-0, 1-0 B1G)
Movement: up three spots
Last Week: 17-9 win over No. 24 Virginia
This Week: at Georgetown, at Saint Joseph’s
UVA has skidded down the rankings so far this year, but that doesn’t make the Terrapins’ blowout win unimpressive by any means. Maryland led Virginia 15-7 through three quarters, and it leaned on hat tricks from three different players and another great performance from JJ Suriano, who let in just nine goals while making 13 saves. Maryland has a quality offense, a stellar goalkeeper and two ranked early-season wins over tough ACC competition, making the Terps a team to watch out for going forward.
4. Northwestern (3-1, 0-0 B1G)
Movement: down two spots
Last Week: 18-7 win over No. 21 Army, 25-2 win over Central Michigan
This Week: vs. Marquette
As expected, the ‘Cats finally dropped in the IWLCA coaches poll after their upset loss to Colorado on Feb. 9, but over the weekend, NU was able to make a strong case that the Buffaloes’ upset win was more of a fluke than anything else. Northwestern’s offensive talent returned against a solid Army squad, and it exploded against CMU, with several players making their offensive mark off the bench by the end. Cards and turnovers are the issues to keep an eye on for the Wildcats, but as long as those get kept in check, Northwestern should be right back in the national championship conversation.
5. Notre Dame (4-0, 1-0 ACC)
Movement: up 11 spots
Last Week: 12-9 victory over No. 6 Boston College, 10-7 victory over Harvard
This Week: vs. No. 24 Virginia
Upset alert! After a dominant start to the season featuring a win over Michigan and a 25-0 shellacking of CMU, the Fighting Irish took their year to new levels, taking down a titan in their 12-9 victory over the Eagles. The win featured six unanswered fourth-quarter goals for the Fighting Irish, who started off in a 6-0 hole against Harvard in their next game but showed off their comeback capabilities once again. Notre Dame began its year at the No. 25 spot in the rankings, but despite a tough schedule, it remains undefeated.
6. Boston College (0-2, 0-1 ACC)
Movement: down three spots
Last Week: 12-9 loss to No. 5 Notre Dame
This Week: vs. No. 12 Michigan
Technically, the Eagles have two top-five losses to begin the season, but that doesn’t make an 0-2 start any easier to swallow. Star goalkeeper Shea Dolce was on point with 14 saves against the Fighting Irish, but that alone wasn’t enough to overcome a floundering attack that struggled to find consistently good looks on net. Unfortunately for BC, the schedule doesn’t get much easier yet, as it faces a surging Michigan squad with a big resume win over Florida next.
7. Johns Hopkins (3-0, 0-0 B1G)
Movement: up one spot
Last Week: 14-8 win over No. 19 Loyola Maryland, 14-13 win over No. 20 Duke
This Week: at No. 14 Penn, vs. Georgetown
The Blue Jays remain undefeated! After handling Loyola Maryland on the road, Johns Hopkins traveled to Durham, N.C. to take on the Blue Devils. The game was truly a wild affair that ended up going into double overtime after Johns Hopkins blew a six-goal fourth-quarter lead. In the end, a goal by McKenzey Craig from just in front of the crease helped the Blue Jays escape, maintaining their status as one of the teams to beat in the Big Ten.
8. Clemson (3-1, 0-1 ACC)
Movement: up one spot
Last Week: 10-9 loss to No. 2 Stanford, 24-5 win over Queens
This Week: vs. No. 10 Florida
Unsurprisingly, the Tigers trounced Queens after their loss to Stanford, but the defeat against the Cardinal was still an impressive performance despite the end result. Clemson won the draw control battle 12-0 against Stanford, finding ways to hang in the game and capitalizing on a whopping 23 Cardinal turnovers. Unfortunately for Clemson, things might get brutal very quickly. The Tigers will need to be ultra-prepared for a brutal five-game stretch against No. 10 Florida, No. 6 Boston College, No. 1 UNC, No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 24 Virginia.
9. Princeton (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
Movement: down two spots
Last Week: none
This Week: vs. No. 19 Loyola Maryland
Oh, Princeton. The Tigers have simply sat and watched their IWLCA ranking slip over two weeks despite not having played a single game yet. Finally, we’ll get to see the Tigers in action on Saturday against Loyola Maryland.
10. Florida (1-1, 0-0 Big 12)
Movement: down five spots
Last Week: 12-10 loss to No. 12 Michigan, 17-13 win over No. 19 Loyola Maryland
This Week: vs. No. 8 Clemson
Florida’s start to the season was spoiled by an upset home loss to Michigan, who won 12-10 by capitalizing on subpar goalie play from the Gators (12 goals allowed across three different goalkeepers compared to just six saves). In response, seven goals from Clark Hamilton led the Gators’ charge to a victory over the Greyhounds, and the goalkeeping was much better, as Paige Crowther and Maya Soskin combined for a .500 save percentage. Florida is still clearly missing the presence of 2025 leading goal scorer Gianna Monaco, who unexpectedly left the program shortly before the season began. Nonetheless, a neutral-site Saturday matchup against Clemson should be a fun test to evaluate whether this Gator squad still has Final Four potential.
Just missed the cut: Navy (win over Villanova), Michigan (wins over No. 10 Florida and USF), Syracuse (loss to UNC)
