This past weekend, the first set of collegiate lacrosse games was played. The weekend helped provide a picture of the landscape for the future of the season.
Although most games were either cancelled or postponed, there were still a handful of good teams playing. For example, 3 teams in the top 10 played last weekend, including Syracuse, Penn State, and Duke. All three teams won their respective games, with the best game among them being Syracuse playing Boston University.
The Terriers were coming into the Syracuse Dome being ranked the 16th team in the nation. They kept the game within 3 against the number two-ranked Orange at halftime. Throughout the first half and the rest of the game, the Orange dominated in faceoffs, as they won 14 out of the 22 faceoffs. They came out in the third quarter surging, getting three goals in the first minute and six goals overall in the quarter. In the end, the Orange won 13-6, holding Boston to only three goals in the second half. Joey Spilliana seemed to once again be the heart of the Oranges offense, having 5 points in the game with four of those points coming in the second half.
On the following Monday, the Duke Blue Devils took on Bellarmine in a blowout. The Blue Devils came out to a hot start and never looked back, winning 23-8. The Blue Devils win was driven by attackman Max Sloat’s six points. Five of those being goals with one being an assist.
In Pennsylvania, the Penn State Nittany Lions played the Colgate Raiders in a close matchup. The Lions opened with three goals, then the Raiders of Colgate responded with five straight goals, which put them up 5-3 with 12 minutes left in the second quarter. In those final 12 minutes of the quarter, 10 goals were scored, with 7 of those being for Penn State, thus making the score at half 10-8 Lions. In the second half, Colgate tried to keep the game close with good fundamental offensive possessions, but Penn State kept matching them. The final score of the game was 18-14 Penn State thanks former B10 freshman player of the year, Hunter Aquino’s 4 goals.
When asked about the excitement of college lacrosse being back, junior Jack Griffiths said, “The game is finally back! I always feel this rush of joy when the season comes back” When asked the same question, sophomore Aiden Holmes said, “College Lacrosse is one of my favorite sports to watch! The speed of the game and big hits make it really fun to watch”.
