I apologize for the hiatus with this series, but we are back just in time for the NCAA tournament. If you haven’t been paying attention, you missed… a lot. Let’s get right into it.
The story of the week was Payton Cormier breaking the all-time record for goals scored in NCAA lacrosse history. While we have been alluding to this record all year, it is finally time to celebrate.
After scoring 12 goals in the COVID shortened 2020 Campaign, he has had seasons of 45, 50, 52, and 63 goals. He was a part of two national title teams (he was a redshirt freshmen in 2019, then won another in 2021) and is coming up on a potential fourth final-four trip of his career. He currently leads the country in both goals and goals per game.
A good shooting percentage is anything above 30%. Payton’s 222 goals have come on 41% career shooting, a positively ridiculous mark. Unlike other finishers, Payton has also had more than 10 assists in each of the last three seasons.
Cormier has been the ultimate running mate for Connor Shellenberger, and the two of them have formed one of the great partnerships in the history of college lacrosse. Their combination of individual and team success, in an era of unmatched parity compared to previous, is an accomplishment for the ages.
As a former teammate of Payton in Junior and a competitor against UVA twice in college, congrats to him and their program on an incredible run. It isn’t over yet, but I wanted to lead with some flowers for PC and company.
Elsewhere in the NCAA tournament, Dyson Williams scored five goals for Duke in a dominant win over the Utah Utes. Williams has been in nice form recently with 11 goals in his last three games.
Speaking of the Utes, midfielder Carson Moyer finished off a nice career with an assist against Duke. The King City, Ontario native scored 85 points over a productive career, and was part of a team that has continued the upwards trajectory of the Utah program.
While Moyer ends his career, Luca Pivetta (Victoria, BC) is just beginning his. The freshmen LSM had 30 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers this season for the Utes. Those are impressive numbers.
In Baltimore, Johns Hopkins used 6 goals from Canadians to defeat the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Matt Collison (Scarborough, Ontario) continued an impressive season with 4 goals and 1 assist, while Jonathan Peshko had 2 goals and 1 assist. Former high school teammates, these two have a penchant to go off at the same time. Hopkins fans will hope this trend continues.
Several Canadians took part in the contest at the Carrier Dome (it is no longer called this and I don’t care). Syracuse got 10 goals from Canadians. Owen Hiltz had 4, Jake Stevens had 3, Finn Thomson had 2, and Sam English had 1, and those players added 5 assists as well.
Not to be outdone, Towson’s Alex Roussel (Toronto, Ontario) had 4 goals and 3 assists. Those 7 points were good for almost a quarter of his total points on the year (31). What an incredible end to the year. That included this assist.
Out in Denver, the Pioneers put in a dominant performance. Maple Ridge BC’s Cody Malawsky had 3 goals for Denver, while Victoria native Casey Wilson had 2 goals from the SSDM position. Fellow Victoria boy Noah Manning had an assist.
Here is Malawsky:
Alongside Cormier, Virginia’s Jack Boyden (Toronto, Ontario) had a goal and two assists for the Hoos.
On the other side of the ball, several Canadians starred for St. Joe’s. Peterborough’s Carter Page had 3 goals and an assist, while Toron Eccleston (Calgary, Alberta) had 2 goals and an assist. Calgary’s Levi Anderson scored 7 goals for the Hawks in the conference tournament championship game, and added another goal and assist against Virginia. Mark Watters added a goal. Defensively, Levi Verch completed a ridiculous season, finishing the game with 4 loosies and a caused turnover.
In DC, freshman sensation Ty Banks (Coquitlam, BC) scored his first goal of his career, and added 3 loose balls and 4 caused turnovers for the Hoyas. He now looks forward to a matchup against Pat Kavanagh. Banks held Kavanagh to just one goal in their overtime victory earlier this season. The Hoyas were the only team to defeat the Irish this season.
And lastly, the Albany Great Danes were led by the play of Silas Richmond (Delta, BC), who capped an incredible season. He finished with 46 goals and 27 assists, including a goal and 3 assists against the Irish.
He also had 4 goals and a helper in the play-in game against Sacred Heart, including this one…
Also chipping in for the Danes was Whitby’s Graydon Hogg, who added a goal and assist.
Flipping to the women’s side, Georgetown Ontario’s Jami MacDonald finished off a nice campaign for the Princeton Tigers. She had 4 points in a losing effort against Boston College, but had 2 goals and an assist two days earlier against Drexel. She also had 6 points against Penn the week prior.
Denver’s Lauren Black (New Westminster, BC) finished the season with 59 points and had 6 points this weekend, including a goal and assist in their loss to Northwestern.
Whitby Ontario native Maddy Baxter had a goal and assist as Syracuse closed out Stony Brook, and she’s now one tally away from 30 on the year.
At the conclusion of the season, I will provide a season recap. Until then enjoy the rest of the action!