The Polls – the shock of Maryland at #1

It’s Monday and in the world of NCAA lacrosse media, that means it’s time to take our not so prurient look at some poll dancing.

MEN’S DIVISION I

As Captain Renault said, his voice dripping with irony as he issued an order to shut down Rick’s Café while accepting his evening’s winnings, “I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.” Such should have been the collective reaction when, by virtue of Maryland’s win at Penn State and Albany’s shocking loss at UMBC, the Terps moved to the top of the Inside Lacrosse media poll for the first time this season with the Great Danes sliding one spot to second.

While I want to give the Retrievers all credit for their win, the reality is that they faced a somewhat depleted Albany squad that was without not only Tewaaraton candidate Connor Fields but Justin Reh as well. So before Terps fans get too excited, I’d suggest they first ask themselves whether these results truly demonstrate that Maryland is objectively better than Albany or merely circumstantially so. I’d also suggest they keep in mind that it’s only week nine and that three weeks remain in the regular season which will then be followed by a month of postseason play to determine a true number one.

Elsewhere in the DMV, Johns Hopkins extended their winning streak to seven and moved up one spot to number four. Loyola, who peaked at number six three weeks ago reentered the top 10 after plunging to number 11 following their loss to Bucknell and Navy made the biggest move of the week jumping five spots to number 17.

Speaking of Bucknell, after wins last week over Yale and Mount St. Mary’s, the 9-3 Bison are themselves cozying up to the bar of a top 10 ranking jumping three spots to number 11 one behind Loyola.

On the other side, Yale’s loss to Bucknell dropped them three spots to number 6 while Denver’s 22-6 thrashing of Villanova not only moved the Pioneers up a spot to number three but might have stripped any pretense the Wildcats had of landing in the top 10 as they plunged to number 13.

In addition to Maryland and Hopkins, the Big Ten continues to be well represented with Rutgers edging up one spot to number nine. Penn State, despite the loss to Maryland, also moved up one and hold the number 14 spot while Michigan hung on to the final spot in the top 20.

And, of course, I can’t end this section without noting that at least one wag gave a vote to the 3-7 Retrievers.

MEN’S DIVISION III

If the movement in the DI poll was predictable and understandable, some of the changes in the DIII poll were a bit puzzling. Locally, defending national champion and preseason number one Salisbury dropped four spots and out of the top 10 despite winning both their games over a pair of ranked squads from Cabrini who fell out of the top five and Christopher Newport who sits at number 15 in the Week 6 poll published on IL’s website as of noon Monday.

Rochester Institute of Technology and York continue to occupy the top two spots with Tufts, Gettysburg and Wesleyan rounding out the top five.

WOMEN’S DIVISION I

The top five teams in the women’s poll remained unchanged. Undefeated Stony Brook received 15 of the 24 first place votes while Boston College, the only other remaining undefeated squad, garnered the other nine. Maryland, who picked up wins over previously 10^th ranked Virginia and an unranked Rutgers squad continued to hold on to the third slot. James Madison and North Carolina remained fourth and fifth respectively.

Loyola, fell two spots to number eight after beginning the week with a heartbreaking one goal loss to Syracuse before bouncing back to chalk up a 16-12 win over Navy. The Midshipmen weren’t impacted by the loss and held on to the twelfth spot. Towson, whose only losses came at the hands of Loyola and Stony Brook, extended their winning streak to five with a 20-5 rout of Drexel followed by a 16-7 thrashing of Delaware was rewarded with a move up one spot to number six.

The Big Ten now has three representative in the top 20. Winners of six straight, Northwestern jumped two places to number seven but it was the Penn State Nittany Lions who made the biggest leap. After a slow start to the season, Penn State has now won six of their last seven games and moved up from 21^st to 14^th.

Princeton, who will host Maryland Tuesday night, received enough votes to show up at number 26.