The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament quarterfinals are the payoff round, with a trip to Championship Weekend up for grabs. Last week, we broke down each of the first-round matchups. Now, let’s take a look back at the first-round action and how it all played out.
#1 Cornell vs Richmond
The Big Red moved past Albany on a gorgeous Sunday night in Ithaca behind a superb performance from CJ Kirst. In his last home game, he delivered in front of a robust crowd that included his mom Michelle and his brothers.
The defense was dialed in early, as the CU shooters didn’t have their best night. Between two games last weekend and Slope Day on Wednesday, I wasn’t expecting a peak performance. Cornell had a season-low five goals at halftime.
Albany’s Silas Richmond is a scorer worth following next year. He could be a PLL first-round draft choice. The Danes face-guarded Ryan Goldstein at times, and that seemed to hamper the #1 rated offense.
The 15-6 final saw Kirst shoot 6-for-12. Hugh Kelleher is playing in career form, putting up a hat trick, and Michael Long, the brains of the operation, had a stealthy six points. Goalie Wyatt Knust was 67%, showcasing his quick hands and feet. The CU defense was quite good. They are playing boatloads of SSDMs and LSMs, which could come in handy as the temps hit 80 degrees plus. FOGO Jack Cascadden was 65%.
Richmond opened the first round with a rousing comeback win, 13-10, at North Carolina. Congrats to Richmond for their first NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament win in program history (12th season, beginning play in 2014). It’s their ninth straight win overall. They were the first of three unseeded wins over the weekend.
The Spiders seemed stuck in the mud early on, scoreless and juiceless for the first 24 minutes. Nerves usually impact clearing patterns and offensive flow. Down 4-0, Richmond cut into the deficit, trailing 5-2 at halftime. Veteran leader Max Merklinger spoke up at halftime. Richmond looked like themselves in the second half, outscoring UNC 11-5 and closing the game on a 4-0 run. The Heels looked like burnt toast — too many players injured, too few offensive options not named Owen Duffy and Dom Pietramala. Their no-name defense, a group of incredible overachievers, didn’t get enough help.
Spider crease man Lucas Littlejohn scored four times. Richmond goalie Zach Vigue, who grew up a Heels fan in Apex, NC about ten miles down the road, was solid as a rock between the pipes. Smith, Dunham, and Farrell are a terrific close defense. Spider fans rejoiced at Dorrance Field.
Richmond plays Cornell at Hofstra. The two teams played at Robbins Stadium during the regular season. Richmond led Cornell 6-1 and 11-8 in the fourth quarter but lost by a goal. Richmond now has wins over Virginia, Georgetown, and UNC. They own close losses to Duke and Cornell. This is exactly where they belong.
#6 Syracuse vs #3 Princeton
On Saturday, Towson — the CAA champs — hung tough in the first half at Princeton. Shawn Nadelen’s squad, wearing throwback black porthole mesh jerseys, got mini-runs by Mikey Weishaar and a Ronan Fitzpatrick hat trick to stay within shouting distance.
Princeton coach Matt Madalon was angry at halftime because his team was not making tournament-level decisions. Tiger FOGO Andrew McMeekin dominated face-offs, yet Princeton turned the ball over eight times, had six failed clears, took a too many men penalty, and had an equipment infraction — all in the first 30 minutes to keep Towson down just four goals at the intermission.
Princeton sharpened their swords at halftime and bombarded Towson with an array of dazzling shots. The Tigers exploded for nine goals in the third quarter. Nate Kabiri and Tucker Wade each finished with five goals. Barbecue Burns added four. Along the way, Coulter Mackesy became the all-time leading goal scorer in Princeton history.
The Tigers of New Jersey advance to the quarterfinals after losing first-round games on the road in 2023 and 2024.
In the Dome on Mother’s Day, the ACC champion Syracuse squad started slowly. Harvard was flowing on offense and up 8-2 at halftime. #HHH was generously turning the ball over, and Harvard freshman goalie Graham Stevens made some grade-A saves for the Crimson.
Coach Gary Gait maintained his poise — a trait that made Gait elite as a player. Syracuse edged Harvard 3-1 in the third to pull within four goals after 45 minutes.
Harvard scored at the 10:59 mark in the fourth to go up 11-6. Things didn’t look good for the Orange. Johnny Mullen was winning face-offs at a historic clip, plus-27 possessions on the evening. That triggered an epic season-saving run. Syracuse scored six in a row to go up 12-11, including a trio of extra-man goals on a one-minute non-releasable penalty. Harvard forced a turnover with :23 seconds left, and Owen Gaffney scored with :06 left to tie the game and send it into sudden death. Mullen won another draw and lefty Owen Hiltz got the game-winner off a cut from eyes-up Joey Spallina. Midfielder Luke Rhoa had four goals for Syracuse. Survive and advance.
The Orange lost to Denver in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament quarterfinals at Towson. SU is now 19-1 all-time against Harvard and turns its attention to Princeton. This matchup features some of the slickest and most skilled offensive players you’ll ever see on a college field. The two-man game expertise will be notable.
#5 Penn State vs Notre Dame
After a slow start, Notre Dame overwhelmed Ohio State in Columbus, 15-6, as FOGO Will Lynch and the defense were too much for the Buckeyes. Ohio State won the B10, and many people felt they got shafted in the bracket with this pairing. Should ND have been sent to Penn State? The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament bracket isn’t seeded 1-16. Geography has always determined first-round matchups. With 10 AQs and two play-in games, it feels like the committee protects the top two seeds. After that, you are on your own. The emphatic win by the Irish mutes any argument. Had Ohio State beaten Utah and not scheduled RPI anchors Bellarmine, Cleveland State, and Detroit, they would have been seeded #2 or #3.
OSU goalie Caleb Fyock made 15 saves in defeat. The possession advantage was overwhelming. Eleven players had a point for ND. The inconsistent and sporadic offense found more for coach Kevin Corrigan, who didn’t wear his superstitious old baseball cap. Chris Kavanagh had five goals. Finisher Jake Taylor was impactful — usually a sign of ball movement. When the two-time champions were backed into a corner, they responded.
On Saturday, Penn State held serve over Colgate in a 13-11 final in a game that went the full 60 minutes. The Nittany Lions didn’t score in the first quarter and didn’t lead in the first half. The tempo favored Colgate early. The Raiders created chaos and forced eight PSU turnovers in the first quarter. PSU didn’t unravel. Jeff Tambroni’s team settled down.
Penn State FOGO Reid Gills went 21-of-28 — after going 18-of-22 in the B1G semis against Maryland. Colby Baldwin was their top FO guy for most of the season; he’s injured, and freshman Gills has been clutch. With that advantage, and forcing 23 Raider turnovers, the Nittany Lions dominated possession and outshot Colgate 46-26.
A lefty wearing #51 from Canada, Liam Matthews, had four goals and a critical one near the end. Big Ten OPOY Matt Traynor had three goals. He’s a star. Ethan Long had four points. Colgate’s attack combined for a dozen points. Lion goalie Jack Fracyon fought through a tough night and returns home to Annapolis for the quarters. Penn State is now looking for a third trip to Championship Weekend (2019 & 2023).
#2 Maryland vs Georgetown
Maryland advances over Air Force 13-5, making their 22nd consecutive NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament appearance — the longest active streak by a kilometer (Georgetown is second with 7). That’s remarkable consistency.
The Terps scored 56 seconds into the Sunday afternoon game and led wire-to-wire. Conductor Eric Spanos had a career-high six goals. Corning’s favorite goalie, Logan McNaney, made 10 saves with only three goals against, extending his Maryland records to 753 saves and 58 wins. He is built for May.
Air Force had won seven straight after a 2-7 start to get to the round of 16. They handled Robert Morris in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, visited Gettysburg on Thursday, and saw the Washington Monument on Saturday. A lifetime of memories in one week. That’s great stuff.
Georgetown, the Big East champs, lost to Denver 7-3 on April 12 and are undefeated since, averaging 18 goals per game. It’s been an amazing transformation. They’ve settled in with a stable midfield and attack personnel rotation. They have better field balance with a few lefties now in the mix. The ball movement and skip passes have been vastly upgraded. Huge credit to OC John Hogan and assistant David Shriver.
The usually slow-starting Hoyas were ready to play under the lights at Koskinen. Kevin Warne’s squad led 3-0 and 3-1 after the first quarter. It was 5-2 when Duke finally woke up. The Devils tied it at 6-6 on a Ben Johnston skimmer off the grass from 20 yards with 19.4 seconds left in the half. Hoyas hero Aidan Carroll countered with :04 seconds left. Then Duke FOGO Cal Girard tied it at 7-7 with a bounce shot from 21 yards at the buzzer. He was outside the box. It was a crazy sequence — three goals in 19 seconds — and Duke went to the locker room buzzing and sensing a tidal shift. Or so you would think.
That’s when Aidan Carroll took over. Carroll, the GT grad student and PLL draft pick, scored six straight goals for the Hoyas over the second and early third quarters combined. Six in a row for Carroll, the takeover artist. He would not be denied. The late-developing righty had (8,2) in the Big East final against Nova and a monster eight-point game on Saturday night. He joined GT legends Dan Bucaro and Jake Carraway in the pantheon of epic NCAA performances.
His Hoyas pushed the lead to 11-7. Fulton Bayman (4,1), the Notre Dame graduate transfer who has fought through five ACL tears, played an inspired game. Defender Ty Banks was outstanding, bumping up to cover Ben Johnston. Duke’s offense never really got on track. Assisted goals were in short supply.
It was 12-8 GT after 45 minutes. Devil Eric Malever cut it to 12-9. Hoyas answered. Freshman crease man Jack Ransom from Charlotte, NC made it 13-9 and 14-9 before Bayman stretched the lead to 15-9.
The game went sideways — drunk — in the last five minutes as Duke pulled the goalie, applying pressure all over the field in a ten-man ride. The sloppiness was a net equal — fun to watch and unique — as both teams staggered to :00.
GT found the finish line and captured the road win on ACC soil. It was a rough day for the ACC on Tobacco Road.
Hoyas were the better team. Midfielder Patrick Crogan was very good and had three goals. FOGO Ross Prince went 20-of-30. Stopper Anderson Moore had shaky moments but made some decent saves when needed and played an A+ game out of the net with two runouts and precise clearing.
Duke once again falls short of expectations in May. Georgetown turns the page and gets another week together. They have not won an NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament quarterfinal game in their last ten tries. Kevin Warne began his coaching career at UMBC as an assistant to Don Zimmerman before working two years at Maryland as the DC for John Tillman. Maryland and Georgetown know each other very well. MD OC Mike Phipps spent five years in DC working for Warne. The Hoyas’ last trip to Championship Weekend was in 1999. Meanwhile, Maryland under John Tillman is (10-1) in the quarterfinal round. No secrets here — the teams scrimmage annually in January. The stakes are higher this time.
