May is fast approaching. There is no more time to mess around. It’s winning time.
This column obviously highlights the individual contributions of Canadian players, but I noticed a strong trend for their teams this week. Let’s get right into it.
For the second straight week, Matt Collison (Scarborough, Ontario) scored the overtime winner for Johns Hopkins. Now up to number two in the polls, JHU’s season and tournament resume would look very, very different if not for Collison.
When I played in college, often on our team film software we would have access to various angles of the game, or at least wide angles that showed the bench or other players. This clip from Hopkins shows the beauty of College lacrosse. Notice the Hopkins defender running in from the midfield line, the young Buckeye fans behind the net who are crushed, and the reaction of Ohio State goaltender Caleb Fyock (who is already a stud and has an insanely bright future). There is nothing like college lacrosse.
The best Canadian performances on the mens side this week came from Loyola’s Adam Poitras (Whitby, Ontario) and St. Joseph’s Levi Verch (Victoria, BC). Both of them led their teams to victory.
Poitras had 4 goals and 4 assists against Holy Cross for the fourth straight victory by the Hounds. Don’t look now, but nobody will want to play Loyola in April.
On the defensive side, Verch had a remarkable statistical day. The official NCAA stats page (which informs my data) had him at 5 caused turnovers and 11 loose balls. His team page had him at 4 and 8 respectively, but we will give him the bump. St. Joe’s took care of Hobart.
Calgary’s Kyle Playstead led Bellarmine to two victories this week. He had 1 goal and 4 assists against Robert Morris and another 3 goals and 3 assists against Cleveland State. Teammate Denton Macdonald (Victoria) had an impressive week as well, scoring 2 goals, and adding 4 caused turnovers and 3 loose balls. It was a great week for the Knights.
Here’s one of Macdonald’s goals.
Yale’s David Anderson (Cambridge, Ontario) lit it up this week as well. He had 4 goals against Boston University, and followed it up with 5 against Dartmouth. Yale won both.
Utah’s Carson Moyer (King City, Ontario) had a goal and assist against Lindenwood, and 1 goal and 3 assists at Mercer. I’ll let you guess how the Utes did, but hint: it was same as everyone above.
He even showed off some range! That’s not the Canadian way Carson! Get to the crease!
Delaware’s Mike Robinson (Peterborough, Ontario) had 4 goals and 2 assists in a victory for the Blue Hens, who have an under the radar strong season going. They have three quality losses to Penn, Michigan, and Syracuse but have been hot recently. Robinson is a big reason why.
This one was pretty sick…
Vermont’s Brock Haley (Port Hope, Ontario) led the Catamounts to a crucial win over Bryant by adding 2 goals and 3 assists, while Canisius defender Keegan Kozack (Delta, BC) had 4 caused turnovers in two games. All three of those contests were wins for the Griffins and Catamounts.
They lost to Bellarmine earlier in the week, but Robert Morris defender Owen Tapper (Whitby) was outstanding in a victory over Queen’s. He had 5 ground balls and 3 caused turnovers in a winning effort.
Unfortunately not everyone could win, but Ty Banks (Coquitlam, BC) was outstanding in a loss to Denver, with 3 caused turnovers and 3 loose balls.
On the women’s side, it was more of the same. Kassidy Morris exploded on the weekend for a monster 7 goals against VCU, and that came after a 3 goal, 2 assist effort against the other UMass. Morris and her UMass Amherst teammates won both.
For her efforts, Morris was named the A10 Offensive Player of the Week. Is that good?
The other notable performance was from Denver’s Lauren Black (New Westminster, BC). She had 3 points against Butler early in the week, but then was dominant against Arizona State. She had 3 goals and 5 assists, and the Pioneers stayed red hot. With their only losses coming to Northwestern (first in the polls), Michigan (fourth), and Maryland (eighth), the Pioneers likely have an argument to be higher in national consideration. Black is a big part of that.
Like Morris, Black was also named conference player of the week. I think that’s good folks.
Alissa Digiacinto (Brooklin, Ontario) helped the Lindenwood Lions defeat Butler with 4 goals, while Eve Hritzuk (Sherwood Park, Alberta) added 3 goals and 1 assist for the Colorado Buffaloes against Arizona State, and added a goal against Kent State to sweep the weekend.
As a reminder, you can find the full list of stats here. And check back here tomorrow for the division II breakdown.