The 2025 college lacrosse season began in early February with 78 schools fighting to be crowned national champions. The past two seasons have been dominated by Notre Dame, who wrapped up the 2024 season with a 15-5 win over Maryland in the National Championship. So far, the 2025 season has been nothing short of special with a handful of upsets and ranked showdowns in just the first month. 

#10 Denver @ #8 Johns Hopkins 

The 2025 college lacrosse season kicked off with a top ten showdown between Denver and Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins capped off its 2024 campaign with a quarterfinal’s loss to Virginia, while Denver made a push to the semifinals where they fell to the eventual national champion, Notre Dame. Johns Hopkins attacked early, gaining a 4-1 advantage to end the first quarter. The rest of the way was back and forth, with both teams trading blows. Entering the fourth quarter Johns Hopkins held on to a 10-8 lead. The Bluejays held on to the victory behind four goals from senior attackman Russell Melendez. An opening win against a team of Denver’s caliber has set the tone for the Bluejays season as they are sitting at 4-1 after the first five games. 

#16 UNC @ #15 Michigan 

With lofty expectations coming into the new season, the Michigan Wolverines looked to start off hot with a ranked matchup against the UNC Tar Heels. UNC came out swinging, opening a 5-2 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Sophomore Owen Duffy led the way in this one with four goals to lead UNC to a commanding 15-6 victory. UNC had one of the most complete games of any team this season, winning the faceoff and goalie matchup and being dominant offensively and defensively. For Michigan, this loss broke their momentum coming into the season and they now sit at 3-2. Hingham High School junior Jack Germain says that “I expected UNC to be good this year, but nothing like what I saw in that game. They were dominant from the start and my expectations for them have grown immensely.” 

#2 Syracuse @ #6 Maryland 

February 15th was a highly anticipated day in college lacrosse, highlighted by two of the all-time great lacrosse programs. Both teams came into this one with elevated expectations for the season. The first half this one went back and forth ending with Syracuse holding a 5-4 lead. The second half, however, was dominated by Maryland. Syracuse was only able to string together 2 second half goals compared to Maryland’s 7. Hingham High School student Ben Brazis says, “I was on the edge of my seat the entire first half. I just wish the second half were a similar story.” Maryland’s victory over Syracuse was due to a combination of scoring with Eric Spanos, Daniel Kelly, and Bryce Ford all scoring multiple goals in the 11-7 win over Syracuse.