Area lacrosse teams continued a great start to the 2014 this weekend and have been rewarded for it by rising in the weekly polls. The University of Maryland went on the road and topped Stony Brook 11-8 to remain unbeaten, Johns Hopkins used two big runs to top UMBC 15-8 Saturday afternoon and Loyola doubled up Duke Sunday night at Ridley Athletic Complex.

Here are this week’s new rankings (courtesy of NCAA.com), starting with the Inside Lacrosse media poll.

Of note, Towson appeared in the “Also receiving votes” portion of the IL poll. Now here is the new USILA coaches’ poll…

The area’s top college lacrosse teams had another great weekend. The University of Maryland handled previously #1 ranked Duke with relative ease Saturday, winning 10-6 at Byrd Stadium. Johns Hopkins went on the road and handed Princeton their first loss, a 15-9 final. And Loyola continued their red hot play by going on the road and topping Lehigh 14-7.

As a result, all three teams moved up in the new weekly lacrosse rankings announced Monday. The Terps are the new Number 1 team in the country according to both polls, both other teams have joined them in the top five in both polls.

First, the new Inside Lacrosse media poll, courtesy of NCAA.com.

And the new USILA Coaches’ Poll, also courtesy of NCAA.com.

The University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University and Loyola University Maryland lacrosse teams all moved up in the weekly polls Monday courtesy of weekend victories.

The Terps posted the most impressive victory, topping previous #1 Syracuse 16-8 Saturday in the Carrier Dome. The Blue Jays crushed future Big Ten foe Michigan 14-5 at Homewood Field and Loyola raced past Holy Cross 16-4 in their first ever Patriot League contest.

Here are the new rankings (courtesy of NCAA.com), starting with the Inside Lacrosse media poll…

And now the new USILA Coaches’ Poll…

Inside Lacrosse announced their Preseason Player of the Year watch list this week. Albany junior attackman Lyle Thompson was the choice for Preseason Player of the Year, a year after tying the all-time Division I single season scoring record.

Only one player from the area made this year’s list, Loyola senior attackman Justin Ward (Old Mill) was ranked ninth. Ward will look to become only the second men’s player from a school in the state of Maryland to ever win the Tewaaraton Trophy (Johns Hopkins’ Kyle Harrison in 2005) this year after amassing 105 points over the last two seasons.

Here is what IL had to say about Ward in their write-up…

As a freshman, Ward talked of modeling his game after Rob Pannell. Through intense physical preparation, he’s emerged as a dodging feeder with a similar combination of strength and quickness, and he’s got the leadership and eyes-up intangibles to be nearly as good.

Ward was selected 23rd overall in the 2014 MLL Draft by the Charlotte Hounds and was picked as a co-captain for the Greyhounds this season. Here is the entire Preseason Player of the Year watch list from IL.

10. Brandon Mangan, A, Sr., Yale
9. Ward
8. T.J. Sanders, A, So., Penn State
7. Matt Kavanagh, A, So., Notre Dame
6. Joey Sankey, A, Jr., North Carolina
5. Wesley Berg, A, Jr., Denver
4. Kieran McArdle, A, Sr., St. John’s
3. Thomas Schreiber, M, Sr., Princeton
2. Jordan Wolf, A, Sr., Duke
1. Lyle Thompson, A, Jr., Albany

(Honorable Mention: Jimmy Bitter, A, Jr., North Carolina; Chris LaPierre, M, Sr., Virginia; Jesse King, M, Jr., Ohio State; Mark Cockerton, A, Sr., Virginia; John Glesener, A, Jr., Army)

Loyola opens the 2014 season Thursday, February 6 at Virginia.

BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins University men’s lacrosse team is ranked 14th in the 2014 Face-Off Yearbook Preseason Top 20 it was recently announced. The poll is compiled by members of the staff at Inside Lacrosse, which published a completely digital version of Face-Off Yearbook for the 2014 season.

Johns Hopkins posted a 9-5 record last season and returns its top two scores and four players who scored 10 or more goals in 2013 in junior Wells Stanwick (24g, 23a), senior Brandon Benn (34g, 1a), sophomore Ryan Brown (17g, 4a) and senior Rex Sanders (13g). In addition, senior Jack Reilly returns for his fourth season as a regular on defense, while the rope unit of long stick midfielder Michael Pellegrino and short stick defensive middies Phil Castronova and James Malm returns intact.

Johns Hopkins will open the 2014 season on Sunday, February 9 when the Blue Jays welcome Ohio State to Homewood Field. The Buckeyes are one of 10 teams the 2014 Johns Hopkins schedule that appear in the top 20.

2014 Face-Off Yearbook Preseason Top 20
1 – Duke
2 – Syracuse
3 – North Carolina
4 – Notre Dame
5 – Denver
6 – Maryland
7 – Ohio State
8 – Penn State
9 – Virginia
10 – Yale
11 – Penn
12 – Albany
13 – Princeton
14 – Johns Hopkins
15 – Bucknell
16 – St. John’s
17 – Cornell
18 – Villanova
19 – Loyola
20 – Towson

The Ravens’ Super Bowl XLVII will obviously go down as the biggest sports story of 2013 here in Baltimore. But for those of us who live in Charm City-we truly know the story that has actually been the most discussed.

The Ravens opened on the road in 2013-getting absolutely crushed by the Denver Broncos in the process-due to the fact that the Baltimore Orioles were previously scheduled to play the Chicago White Sox on September 5-a date that was traditionally held for the defending Super Bowl champs to open at home.

The debate that occurred between when the Ravens won the Super Bowl and when they played the Thursday night opener in the Mile High City was one of the historically contentious debates our city has ever seen. Instead of debating what was best for the city, the debate became more about allegiances. The common question was about whether you supported the Ravens or the Orioles-the National Football League or Major League Baseball-and who you thought the bad guys were in the process.

What was so rarely discussed was what was best for Baltimore and what needed to happen to ensure such issues wouldn’t occur moving forward. As I mentioned in a column this March, this issue wasn’t as uncommon as some wanted to paint it. I reported then that the 2012 Baltimore Marathon was dangerously close to being cancelled because the O’s could have ended up hosting Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS had they won the AL East. (They would have still needed to win the ALDS to host the first two games of the Championship Series, but the race would have been cancelled prior to that because of the possibility.)

As I reported in March, the Birds had the power to force such a cancellation because in their lease agreement for the Camden Yards complex with the Maryland Stadium Authority-they have been granted not only the first right to dates available, but they have essentially been granted ALL rights to dates available. They have the exclusive power to decide they want a date for a game (or an event), preventing the Baltimore Ravens or another entity from using the complex.

I told you then this situation wasn’t going anywhere. I told you then this was an issue that needed to be addressed in a bigger picture scope than just adjusting a football game. I wasn’t kidding.

The situation already looms as a factor twice in 2014. The Orioles are scheduled to be home against the Cleveland Indians over Memorial Day weekend-the same weekend the Ravens are scheduled to host the NCAA Lacrosse Final Four at M&T Bank Stadium. Then on Labor Day weekend the Birds are scheduled to be home against the Minnesota Twins-the same weekend Ohio State is scheduled to face Navy at the home of the Ravens. The scheduling complexities of that weekend have already lead to the cancellation of the Grand Prix of Baltimore for at least the next two years if not longer. No solutions have been determined for those events-instead the parties involved appear to simply be hoping those events will work out.

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BALTIMORE, MD – Less than two weeks from its season-opener, the Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team earned a pair of preseason top five rankings on Monday. The Blue Jays are tied for fourth in the USILA Preseason Coaches Poll and check in at number five in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Preseason Media Poll. The Blue Jays picked up one first-place vote and 186 points in the USILA Poll and earned one first-place vote and 402 points in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Poll.

The Johns Hopkins office of Athletic Communications uses the USILA Poll to represent Johns Hopkins’ official national ranking.

Johns Hopkins returns eight starters from last year’s team, which posted a 12-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Among the returning starters are senior defenseman Tucker Durkin, the 2012 William C. Schmeisser Award winner as the nation’s top defenseman, Second Team All-American midfielders John Ranagan and Rob Guida, and senior Zach Palmer, who led the team in scoring last season with 27 goals and 26 assists.

Johns Hopkins will open the 2013 season at home against Siena on Friday, February 8.

2013 USILA Preseason Coaches Poll
Rk. Team (Pts/1st-Place Votes)
1. Loyola (232/10)
2. Maryland (221/1)
3. Notre Dame (198)
4T. Johns Hopkins (186/1)
4T. North Carolina (186)
6. Duke (185)
7. Virginia (170)
8. Cornell (168)
9. Denver (150)
10. Colgate (122)
11. Lehigh (113)
12. UMass (104)
13. Syracuse (103)
14. Princeton (88)
15. Penn State (68)
16. Fairfield (40)
17. Yale (36)
18. Bucknell (32)
19. Ohio State (23)
20. Hofstra (18)

Others Receiving Votes: Villanova, Drexel, Harvard, Bryant, Georgetown, Army, Delaware, Albany, Brown
2013 Nike/Inside Lacrosse Preseason Media Poll
Rk. Team (Pts/1st-Place Votes)
1. Loyola (494/21)
2. Maryland (459/2)
3. Notre Dame (427/2)
4. Duke (416)
5. Johns Hopkins (402/1)
6. Cornell (360)
7. North Carolina (354)
8. Denver (325)
9. Virginia (319)
10. Lehigh (272)
11. Colgate (251)
12. Syracuse (227)
13. UMass (194)
14. Princeton (182)
15. Penn State (126)
16. Fairfield (100)
17. Hofstra (70)
18. Bucknell (68)
19. Yale (56)
20. Ohio State (42)

Others Receiving Votes: Villanova, Bryant, St. John’s, Drexel, Georgetown, Albany, Robert Morris, Towson, Navy

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - Senior long pole Jesse Bernhardt headlines a group of seven Maryland men’s lacrosse players that were named to the annual Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook preseason All-America teams.

Bernhardt earned a first team selection, while senior midfielder John Haus and sophomore defender Goran Murray were second team honorees. Junior goalie Niko Amato was a third team pick, while senior attackman Owen Blye, senior midfielder Landon Carr and junior midfielder Mike Chanenchuk were honorable mention selections.

Bernhardt, a native of Longwood, Fla., was a second team USILA All-America selection in 2012 after leading the Terps in groundballs and caused turnovers. Bernhardt was selected as the ACC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year and was a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee.

Haus, a native of Lutherville, Md., is a two-time USILA All-American and has proven to be one of the top all-around midfielders in the nation. Last season, he was third on the team with 31 points on 15 goals and 16 assists, which was second on the squad. In addition to his offensive prowess, Haus is also a capable defender and is often found defending some of the nation’s top midfielders.

Murray, a native of Merion Station, Pa., was an honorable mention USILA All-American last season as a freshman, helping the Terrapin defense rank ninth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 7.75 goals per game. Murray was the first Maryland freshman to earn All-America honors since 2003.

Amato, a native of Conshohocken, Pa., earned his first USILA All-America award last season after ranking sixth in the nation with a 7.36 goals-against average. Amato finished third on the team with 49 groundballs.

Blye, a native of Downingtown, Pa., earns his first preseason All-America nod after tallying 40 points on 20 goals and 20 assists last season. For his career Blye has totaled 79 points on 43 goals and 36 assists.

Carr, a native of University Place, Wash., is also making his first appearance on the preseason All-America list. One of the top short-stick defensive midfielders in the nation, Carr has matched up with some of the top offensive midfielders in the country with tremendous success. Carr is also an offensive threat in transition and has 13 career goals.

Chanenchuk, a native Poquott, N.Y., was a second team USILA All-American in 2009 as a freshman at Princeton. He transferred to Maryland prior to the 2012 season, but was hampered early on due to injury. Chanenchuk returned to his All-America form in the postseason, scoring five goals and adding two assists in the Terps’ four NCAA tournament games.

BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team placed five players on the 2013 Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America Team it was recently announced. Johns Hopkins is one of just three teams in the nation to have an attackman, midfielder, defenseman and goalie selected to the team; Lehigh and Maryland are the others.

Headlining the group for the Blue Jays is senior defenseman and returning Schmeisser Award winner Tucker Durkin, who was named to the first team. Durkin earned First Team All-America honors last season after grabbing second team honors as a sophomore. The 13th Johns Hopkins player to earn the Schmeisser Award as the nation’s top defenseman, Durkin started all 16 games last season and has started all 47 games in his career. He totaled 35 ground balls, 19 caused turnovers and one assist last season while leading a Hopkins defense that allowed an average of just 7.4 goals per game. JHU finished seventh nationally in scoring defense in 2012.

Junior midfielder Rob Guida landed a spot on the second team after enjoying a breakout season in 2012. Guida started all 16 games at midfield and totaled 17 goals and 11 assists for 28 points in 2012. A tireless worker, Guida tied for second on the team with five extra man goals, added 19 ground balls and led all Johns Hopkins midfielders in goals, assists and points a year ago. Guida was a Second Team All-America selection last season.

Senior attackman Zach Palmer earned Third Team Preseason All-America honors after pacing the Blue Jay offense a year ago. Palmer totaled career highs in goals (27), assists (26) and points (53) and tied with Guida for second on the team in extra man goals (5). He led the team in points and assists and ranked second in goals. His 27-goal, 26-assist effort marked just the eight time since 1980 that a Johns Hopkins player has totaled more than 25 goals and 25 assists in one season.

Senior midfielder John Ranagan and senior goalie Pierce Bassett round out Johns Hopkins’ Preseason All-America selections as both grabbed an honorable mention nod.

Ranagan has twice earned All-America honors in his career with a first team nod as a sophomore and second team selection last season. A starter in all 16 games last season and 39 straight games dating back to 2010, he posted 16 goals and seven assists last season and has career totals of 43 goals and 26 assists for 69 points.

Bassett will enter his third full year as Johns Hopkins’ starting goalie and has started 39 consecutive games entering the 2013 season. He posted a 7.47 goals against average and a .522 save percentage last season; his 7.47 goals against average ranked seventh in the nation. He earned Second Team All-America honors as a sophomore, when he posted a 7.07 goals against average and a .570 save percentage.

Johns Hopkins posted a 12-4 record last season and earned its NCAA-record 41st consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. The Blue Jays return eight starters, seven of their top eight scorers, five of the top six midfielders, two-thirds of last season’s rope unit and their top two faceoff specialists from a year ago. Along with 31 returning players, head coach Dave Pietramala also welcomes 12 newcomers to the program for the 2013 season.

Six Men’s Lacrosse Players Earn Face-Off Yearbook AA Honors

BALTIMORE – Six returning members of Loyola University Maryalnd’s NCAA Championship men’s lacrosse team were named to the various Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America teams, the publication announced on Tuesday.

Last week, the Greyhounds were picked as the nation’s No. 1 team by the annual magazine.

A pair of Loyola players – junior defender Joe Fletcher and senior defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins – were named to the All-America First Team, while two more Greyhounds – senior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff and senior attacker Mike Sawyer – earned Second Team recognition.

Junior midfielder Davis Butts was honors on the Third Team, and senior defender Reid Acton drew All-America Honorable Mention. Also, last week, Acton, Butts, Ratliff and Sawyer were named the team’s co-captains for 2013.

All six earned All-America honors last season with Sawyer earned Second Team honors and Ratliff was named to the Third Team. Acton, Butts, Fletcher and Acton earned Honorable Mention along with graduate student Eric Lusby.

In his first year as a starter, Fletcher was named to the NCAA and ECAC Championships All-Tournament Teams and earned a reputation as one of the top defenders in the nation. In 19 games as a sophomore, Fletcher caused 26 turnovers, second most on the team, and had 41 ground balls.

Hawkins has continued to be one of the top defensive midfielders in the nation and garnered considerable respect nationally for his play during the NCAA Championships. He earned NCAA All-Tournament honors and helped the Greyhounds limit Notre Dame and Maryland to a combined eight goals on Championships weekend. In addition to his six goals and two assists in 15 games last year, Hawkins was second on the team with 63 ground balls.

Sawyer was a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player last season when he scored 52 goals and assisted on 10 more and was named the team’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. During the regular-season, he led the ECAC in goals and goals per game while earning All-ECAC First Team honors. He became the second player to score 50 or more goals in a season and was joined by a third on last year’s team.

Ratliff continued to be one of the top long-stick midfielders in the nation and set a Loyola scoring record for the position last year. He finished with 12 goals and seven assists, exceeding current Loyola Assistant Coach Matt Dwan’s previous record for a long-stick midfielder set in 1995. In addition to his scoring, he tallied 88 ground balls and 37 caused turnovers while earning ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, ECAC Championships Most Valuable Player, NCAA All-Tournament Team and team co-defenisve player of the year honors.

Butts was a first-line midfielder for the Greyhounds for the second year in a row. He excelled as a dodger and finisher and ranked fourth on the team in points (35) and third in goals scored (21). A versatile player, Butts also saw plenty of action on the wings of faceoffs and in the defensive midfield where he picked up 40 ground balls.

Acton will enter 2013 having started on the Greyhounds’ defense each of the last three years. He finished the 2012 season with 44 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers, while helping Loyola record a 7.21 goals allowed per game average, the fifth-best mark in Division I. The Greyhounds set a pair of defensive records during Championship Weekend, holding Notre Dame and Maryland to a combined eight goals in the two games and allowing the Terrapins just three in the title match.

Loyola opens the 2013 season, after three exhibition games, on Saturday, February 16, with a road game at Delaware.