The NCAA Division I men's lacrosse championship has produced one of its most chaotic opening weekends in recent memory, with three of the top eight seeds knocked out before the quarterfinals even begin. Yet the survivors include the headline acts the sport demanded — Princeton, Notre Dame and North Carolina all powered through to set up a stacked weekend across Hofstra and Delaware.
"Three of the top eight seeds were knocked out in the opening round, but the top three seeds — Princeton, Notre Dame and North Carolina are still playing," wrote USA Lacrosse senior director of communications Brian Logue in his quarterfinal preview, capturing the strange duality of an upset-heavy tournament that nonetheless preserved its biggest names.
Saturday's slate at Hofstra opens with No. 2 Notre Dame (11-2) against Johns Hopkins (10-5) at 12 p.m. ET on ESPNU, followed by No. 3 North Carolina (13-4) against No. 6 Syracuse (12-5) at 2:30 p.m. The Tar Heels carry the tournament's most explosive offensive weapon in Dom Pietramala, who erupted for 10 goals against UAlbany — an NCAA single-game record — to drag North Carolina past the first round. Tewaaraton finalist Owen Duffy is racing the clock with an injury, leaving freshman goalie Josh Marcus and senior Kent Goode (who delivered eight saves in the opener) to anchor the defence.
Syracuse responds with its own Tewaaraton finalist in attackman Joey Spallina and goalie Jimmy McCool, while Notre Dame leans on the spine of defenceman and Tewaaraton finalist Shawn Lyght, first-team All-American long-stick midfielder Will Donovan and second-team All-American keeper Thomas Ricciardelli. Johns Hopkins arrives off a stirring win over Cornell sealed by Jimmy Ayers' game-winner, with leading scorer Hunter Chauvette (38 goals) and All-American midfielder Matt Collison giving the Blue Jays genuine upset hopes.
Sunday at Delaware brings the top seed onto the floor. No. 1 Princeton (14-2) meets No. 8 Penn State (10-5) at 12 p.m. ET, with the Tigers leaning on their own Tewaaraton finalist Nate Kabiri (35 goals, 41 assists), first-team All-American goalie Ryan Croddick and 55.3 percent faceoff specialist Andrew McMeekin. Penn State counters with two-way midfielder Reid Gills (63 percent at the faceoff dot, honorable mention All-American) and freshman threat Hunter Aquino, who buried a hat trick to send Army home.
The weekend's Cinderella narrative belongs to Georgetown, who travel to face Duke at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. Head coach Kevin Warne knew the Hoyas were under-rated walking into their opener: "not many people expected Georgetown to beat Virginia," Warne acknowledged, before his side did exactly that. Brothers Liam and Rory Connor — Colgate transfers who have combined for 75 goals and 67 assists — give the Hoyas the kind of attacking pedigree that has carried mid-tier seeds to championship weekend before. Duke counters with attackman Benn Johnston, midfielder Max Sloat and Aidan Maguire, who in April became the first short-stick defensive midfielder ever selected first overall in a professional lacrosse draft.
With all four 1-vs-8 seeding lines effectively dissolved, the bracket has the markings of a tournament where any survivor on Memorial Day weekend in Foxborough is plausible. As Princeton arrived at the quarterfinals as the unanimous No. 1 in the media poll for the first time this season, the question is whether the Tigers are simply the best of a field that has now declared itself genuinely wide open.