College Lacrosse Roundup: Ryan Tierney sets CAA scoring record, Colgate wins in OT

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics

Welcome to Lacrosse Playground’s College Lacrosse Roundup, where we recap all the notable news, scores and highlights of the past week, while previewing upcoming matchups and analyzing the latest Tewaaraton trophy race.

Notable News

Ryan Tierney breaks CAA scoring record

Ryan Tierney had a pair of hat tricks in the 18-6 beatdown against Wagner this past Tuesday. With these goals Tierney broke Curtis Dickson’s CAA points record (212) as well as Tom Kessler’s goals record at Hofstra (140). Tierney now has 216 points (144 G, 72 A) and is in sight of Curtis Dickson’s CAA goals record which stands at 162, as well as the Hofstra points record at 238.

St. Bonaventure gets their first win in program history

The Bonnies finally got the monkey off their back after two years (2019 and the shortened 2020) and got their first win in the program’s history beating Quinnipiac 13-6. The Bonnies were led by Austin Blumbergs who had six points with three goals and three assists (and who I had the pleasure of playing travel lacrosse with for two years while we were in high school.) The Bonnies were also helped out by Jake Rosa who had five points (2 G, 3 A) and Sean Westley who added on four (2 G, 2 A). Brett Dobson was a stud in net, making 14 saves on 20 shots for a 70% save percentage. The Bonnies will travel to Detroit Mercy on March 13, while Quinnipiac will travel to play Marist.

Top Moments of the Week

https://twitter.com/LaxPlayground/status/1368348094442700800

The Orange offense continues to thrive and it was evident on this beautiful assist from Stephen Rehfuss to Jamie Trimboli.

https://twitter.com/USLacrosseMag/status/1368408024386318343

With a sudden-victory win on the line, Colgate went for the kill in the closing seconds of overtime and it payed off in the form of a Jacob Sposita buzzer beater.

https://twitter.com/LaxPlayground/status/1368328545198542852

Charlie Kitchen delivered a highlight-worthy goal for Delaware, going top corner by way of this BTB beauty on the crease.

https://twitter.com/LaxPlayground/status/1369081006125416448

Jackson Reynolds and TJ Malone must share some telekinetic connection because Reynolds delivered an unreal, backhand feed right to Malone who buried it for a goal.

Best Games You Missed

Men’s Lacrosse

Penn State gets first win against rival Ohio State, 15-13

TJ Malone led the Nittany Lions with seven points (5 G, 2 A) followed by Dylan Foulds who had four goals, while Mac O’Keefe added a hat trick as well. Jackson Reid led the Buckeyes with three points (2 G, 1 A) along with Griffin Hughes who had the same. Tre LeClair and Jack Myers both added hat tricks in the loss to Penn State. Penn State will travel to Johns Hopkins to take on the Blue Jays on March 13 while the Buckeyes will host their foes in Michigan for “the game” on March 13 as well.

Lehigh tops Loyola, 10-6

Lehigh was led by Tommy Schelling who had five points (2 G, 3 A) along with Cole Kirst who added two goals. But the spotlight was on Mike Sisselberger who went 84% from the stripe, which is unheard of. Loyola on the other hand was led by Peter Swindell who had three points (2 G, 1 A) as well as Kevin Lindley who added a pair of goals. Lehigh hopes to keep their 2021 vibes rolling as they will travel to Bucknell on March 14, while Loyola will head back to the drawing board when they play hosts to Lafayette on March 13.

Colgate outlasts Holy Cross in OT, 12-11

Colgate was led by Mike Hawkins who had six points (4 G, 2 A) followed by Michael Minicus, who added a hat trick. Brendan Jordan (1 G, 2 A), and Jacob Sposita (2 G, 1 A) also added three points apiece in the win over Holy Cross. Dean DiNanno and TJ Lynch led Holy Cross with four points a piece (3 G, 1 A), followed by Jayce Lambert who had three points (2 G, 1 A). Colgate will travel to West Point to take on Army on March 13 while Holy Cross will host Boston University March 12.

Women’s Lacrosse

UConn overcomes UMass in OT, 12-11

Sydney Watson led UConn to victory over UMass with six goals followed by Kate Shaffer who added a hat trick herself. Maddy Moloney (3 G, 1 A) and Kelly Marra (4 G) each added four points a piece in the loss to UConn. UConn’s Landyn White had 13 saves on the day, and was pivotal in the win. These two teams will face off against each other again except in Massachusetts on March 13.

Virginia beats Louisville, 13-12

Virginia was lead by Maggie Bostain (3 G, 1 A) and Taylor Regan (1 G, 3 A), who each had four points in the win over Louisville, followed by Aubrey Williams and Mackenzie Hoeg, who each added two goals and an assist in the win. For the Cardinals on the other hand, Caroline Blalock had five points (2 G, 3 A), Hannah Morris followed with four goals and Alex McNicholas and Allegra Catalano each had a pair of goals. Virginia will host George Mason on March 10 to see if they can improve to 5-0, while Louisville will travel to Central Michigan on March 12.

UAlbany tops New Hampshire in OT 13-12

Sarah Falk led the Great Danes with five goals, followed by Ally Alliegro who had four points (1 G, 3 A) and Bryar Hogg who added a hat trick in the OT win over New Hampshire. Julia Neyland led New Hampshire with five points (4 G, 1 A) followed by Rylee Leonard who had four points (1 G, 3 A) and Sabrina Grovom and Liv Dunn each had a pair of goals in the loss. UAlbany will host Hofstra on 3/9, while New Hampshire will travel to play Vermont on 3/13. 

Tewaaraton Tracker

Men’s Lacrosse

Chris Gray (North Carolina) 

Chris Gray leads the nation with 40 points on 24 goals, as well as adding 16 assists thus far into the 2021 season. In the Tar Heels most recent bout against Mercer, Gray had 10 points (6 G, 4 A). In my opinion, Chris Gray is a much bigger asset to North Carolina than Michael Sowers is to Duke.

Michael Sowers (Duke)

Michael Sowers is now tied for seventh in the nation for points with 27, adding 10 goals and 17 assists in the 2021 season. In the Blue Devils’ most recent win against Richmond, Sowers added five points (3 G, 2 A). Since this Duke Blue Devils team is loaded with an enormous amount of talent, Sowers doesn’t need to have his 11 and 14 point games like he did at Princeton; an easy five points will do the same amount of damage.

Ryan Tierney (Hofstra)

Ryan Tierney is currently third in the nation with points at 30, adding 23 goals on seven assists. Tierney most recently broke the CAA points record and is looking to take down two more records before the year is up. Watch Tierney potentially continue to sneak up on the list.

Other players to watch: Jackson Morrill, Ethan Walker

Women’s Lacrosse

Katie Hoeg (North Carolina) 

Katie Hoeg is currently fourth in the nation with 27 points on nine goals and 18 assists, as her and Ortega continue to lead the high powered Tar Heel offense. The Tar Heels will play Virginia Tech in a double header weekend, it will be interesting to see her and Ortega continue to shine. 

Sorana Larson (UC Davis)

Sorana Larson is a new addition to the list as she climbed to the top of leaderboard, tying North Carolina’s Jamie Ortega with 32 points on 25 goals and seven assists. In UC Davis’ most recent game, Larson had four points (2 G, 2 A) in a loss against USC. Keep an eye out for Larson as they travel to Fresno State on March 13.

Colleen Grady (Drexel)

Another new addition to the list is Colleen Grady who is also tied with Ortega and Larson with 32 points on 18 goals and 14 assists. In Drexel’s dominant win over Villanova, Grady added eight points, going an even four and four in goals and assists. Drexel will play host to UAlbany on March 14.

Jamie Ortego (North Carolina)

Jamie Ortega is currently tied for first in points with UC Davis’ Sorana Larson with 32 points on 22 goals and 10 assists. Ortega will look to get on top of the board when the Tar Heels travel to Virginia Tech for back-to-back games on March 11 and March 13. 

Other players to watch: Cassidy Spilis, Izzy Scane, Ally Kennedy

What to Watch this Week by Lacrosse Reference

We’ve teamed up with Lacrosse Reference to provide you with the top games to watch this coming weekend based on Lacrosse Reference’s ELO ratings. The ELO system is a method for comparing the relative strength of teams. The higher the ELO rating, the better the team. The difference in two teams’ ELO ratings can be used to estimate the likelihood of each team winning.

Men’s Lacrosse

  • Denver (1788 Elo) vs Georgetown (1853 Elo) – 2pm ET on Saturday, March 13
  • Virginia (1731 Elo) vs North Carolina (1756 Elo) – 7pm ET on Thursday, March 11
  • Maryland (1801 Elo) vs Rutgers (1662 Elo) – 3pm ET on Saturday, March 13
  • Duke (1891 Elo) vs High Point (1513 Elo) – 7pm ET on Wednesday, March 10
  • Johns Hopkins (1600 Elo) vs Penn State (1767 Elo) – 12pm ET on Saturday, March 13

Women’s Lacrosse

  • Jacksonville (1927 Elo) vs Florida (2173 Elo) – 1pm ET on Saturday, March 13
  • Syracuse (2135 Elo) vs Notre Dame (1942 Elo) – 7pm ET on Thursday, March 11
  • Virginia Tech (1747 Elo) vs North Carolina (2256 Elo) – 5pm ET on Thursday, March 11
  • Johns Hopkins (1568 Elo) vs Maryland (2133 Elo) – 3pm ET on Friday, March 12
  • Loyola (2030 Elo) vs Georgetown (1643 Elo) – 7pm ET on Wednesday, March 10

Note: ELO only uses the final score, the location of the game, and the date of the game, and it does factor in some season-to-season carryover. To reiterate, this is not a ranking based on past performance, but an attempt to sort teams based on “current” strength. Consider these ratings in beta for the time being.

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Sean Wiser

Sean Wiser grew up in Binghamton, a small town in Upstate New York, and attended Chenango Forks High School where he was a part of the varsity lacrosse team for four years and three sectional championships. He and his teammates made history his senior year, earning the program's first-ever trip to the Final Four in the New York state tournament. Wiser currently plays college lacrosse at DeSales University and was a part of the program's first-ever MAC Freedom championship in 2019. He has been playing lacrosse since he was 6-years-old and enjoys the flow and speed of lacrosse, as well as the momentum swings that happen throughout the game.

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