Lax Factor Lacrosse Podcast

We have a full slate of college lacrosse games popping off a week from today, so I want to rip through my personal top 10, along with the full poll I submitted to InsideLacrosse for their media poll. I'll start by talking about the top 10, and then by the end I go through my entire top 20 and line that up against the released preseason media poll that dropped early last week.

In this video, I'll heavily discuss Denver, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Duke, Cornell, Virginia, Princeton, Maryland, Syracuse and Notre Dame.

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Syracuse brings back more offensive talent than any team in the country. Yes, I’m a homer, but that is a fact. Joey Spallina headlines a healthy roster of returning talent as the only returning “numbered” All-American.

Spallina & Hiltz and whoever they put in that 3rd spot on attack will be one of the top 5 units in the country (IL has them at #5 in fact). The real strength of this team is quality depth on the offensive midfield. I’m not the only guy speaking on the strength of Syracuse’s first two midfield lines. IL has them ranked #2 in their midfield unit rankings.

Billy Dwan is the lone returning “numbered” All-American on the defensive side. Carter Rice was an honorable mention All-American and in my opinion was one of the best 10 or so SSDM’s in the nation by seasons end.

A few teams lost top level faceoff guys, including Syracuse in Mason Kohn (58%). But most teams didn’t have two guys on their roster that won 58% of their draws in 2024. Syracuse did, and John Mullen comes back looking like the guy that can give the Orange some draw stability for years to come.

The only outright question mark this Syracuse team has is in cage. Can Jimmy McCool or whoever ends up starting be “just good enough” to allow this team to get back to the final 4? Hot Take #1, if Syracuse has a goalie that stops at least 53.5% of the shots he faces going into the tournament, they’ll make it to the Final 4.

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We saw a ton of very good, top goalies graduate in 2024. While there are a few “very easy to peg top returners”, two are total no brainers, Emmet Carroll of Penn and Jack Fracyon of Penn State. These guys were both numbered All-Americans a season ago (Carroll was on the 2nd team and Fracyon was the 3rd team). Both of these keepers are proven talents and will have big seasons in 2025.

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College lacrosse is almost back so it's time to start looking at who the top returning players will be in 2025. I want to start with Harvard's Sam King and and Penn's Emmet Carroll. Both are incredible players that will be heavily leaned on by their respective teams. Sam King has been Harvard's leading scorer since his first season on campus, and Emmet Carroll was the best goalie in college lacrosse a season ago, at least in my opinion.

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It's now fully official, Syracuse and Johns Hopkins lacrosse squards are back and playing in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament.

Syracuse, Notere Dame, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins all got a bit of a scare put in them, but all prevailed by the end. Duke, Virginia, Denver and Maryland all handled their business pretty easily and advanced.

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In this weeks show, I'm going to talk about why I have Notre Dame, Syracuse & Johns Hopkins sitting atop my poll vote, in that order. Many are going to light me up for it, but after Notre Dame took down Virginia, and North Carolina beat Duke, I can't ignore the fact that Syracuse holds victories in the head-to-head matchups between Hopkins and Duke, the only other teams with RPI's higher than theirs.

Every weekend has brought some chaos to the college lacrosse world, and this weekend was no different. After Boston University took down #1 Army Friday night, Michigan and High Point decided to get in on the upset action with each team scoring late on the way to Michigan upsetting Maryland, and High Point stunning UNC. Princeton, Cornell and Penn all handled their business in Ivy league play.

#6 Syracuse hosted the #4 Duke Blue Devils in the Dome on Wednesday night and came away victors, with a 10-4 statement win. The Orange defense played their best game of the season, and in reality the best defensive game any team has played all year long. They held the Duke attack to just 2 goals and an assist. Will Mark was a monster with 14 saves for the Cuse and Owen Hiltz put up 3 goals in the win.

Syracuse and Johns Hopkins are back near the top of the college lacrosse world, and everything is great when these two teams play in a top-10 matchup. #9 Syracuse defeated #2 Johns Hopkins 14-13 in an instant classic. Maryland needed overtime to take down a very pesky Brown squad. Notre Dame edged Ohio State, Virginia & Duke both pulled away in the second half to pick up wins. It was Penn State beating up on Cornell that was the surprise of the weekend.

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