Five Things to Watch This College Lacrosse Season: Schematic Trends

This series of articles is a summary of things I am thinking about heading into the 2025 college lacrosse season. I wrote about some trends last year, and I think most of them came to fruition.

While I certainly give up years of experience to others, I have been a fan of college lacrosse since the mid 2000’s, was lucky to compete for two incredible programs, and now have the opportunity to watch the next generation carry the sport forward. 

In doing so, I am always on the lookout for potential change. Yes, I believe that there are some ever-living truths when it comes to college lacrosse. Games are decided mostly by talent and by the work ethic of that talent. Teams that play hard, pick up loose balls and exhibit selfless characteristics will always be successful. Those that don’t, won’t. 

But there are always things that are shifting as well. The successful teams are the ones that marry the dynamic with the non-negotiable. So this article is a collection of some schematic trends I am monitoring around the country. 

Pios D. Trendy or Lucky? 

The most interesting schematic development I saw last season was the Denver Pioneers defence. Led by a Canadian defensive coordinator John Gallant, the Pioneers incorporated many classic principles of box lacrosse defence. They packed and protected the areas closest to the goal, refused to over-extend, and limited slides and movement. 

Also in box fashion, they loaded up and big, athletic, mean defenders who liked to beat up on offensive players. It was successful, as DU had the 4th best scoring defence of any team in the country. 

To understand the nuances of the Denver defence, let’s look at their final four contest against Notre Dame. The Irish had one of the best defences ever, and they played very traditional (exceptionally well-coached) defence. They are a great comparison for Denver because Notre Dame demonstrates how the more established defensive ideas are supposed to work. 

Let’s start with the most glaring difference between DU and everyone else, which is how and where they approach the ball. This is an early possession by Denver. Notice how Notre Dame extends and tries to guard the ball. All three of their midfielders are well outside the box approaching the boundary. The idea here is to try and get contact as early as possible. This disrupts the flow of the offence and allows time for slides if someone gets beat. 

When the ball swings, Notre Dame constantly presses to the edges of the box. 

Now, let’s look at DU. On this first possession, against the best midfield line in America, they sit back. Their SSDM barely gets his heels on the white, while their LSM’s sit well back of the restraining line. 

This is risky for a few reasons. If any of their players have a breakdown, there is no time to support. DU needs to play stout on-ball defence, and cannot get bulldodged. This is hard when sitting back so far because the defenders are basically flat footed. For this reason, the system requires big, strong defenders. 

DU had that in spades, led by Jack Dibenidetto and Jimmy Freehill, they were prepared and enthused about smashing heads for an afternoon. 

That’s where the advantages begin. By shrinking the field, Denver shortens the slides and the decision making time for opposing teams. In fact, they rarely slide at all, relying instead on three or four man fills to just squeeze the offence the back side. 

This possession is a good one. Denver waits for the midfielders to come to them, then have at least four players in the paint area at all times. Behind the net, they don’t play aggressively to the end line. Like up top, they want to offence to come to them. Notice how slow the offence is playing. They are not used to a defence sitting so far back.

There are risks to this strategy. Because they are allowing time and space for dodgers, they need to be perfect off-ball. Goals like this one are too easy. 

And playing so far back makes it hard to guard elite players. Notre Dame basically refused to put anyone in the low wing, which allowed for looks like this. Kleban makes a good save on this one, but that is a great look. Keep in mind, the shooter Eric Dobson was a first-round PLL draft pick last year.

That was against an all-time Notre Dame team. This example from Michigan shows a lot of the themes of the defence. They allow Michigan to waste clock by not chasing out, then they are so condensed (and not worried about matchups) that they get a free double. Again, when they do slide, it’s hard and mean. 

They held Michigan to 11 goals and stifled Syracuse to just 8 in the tournament and they return a lot of their talent. I am curious to see if they play this way again, how teams will try to beat it, and if others will try to copy it. 

Will the Riding Trends Continue? 

I wrote last season about the trends regarding rides and clears around the country. My thesis was essentially that teams had become so adept at beating the ten-man ride that the ride would become less successful and therefore deployed less. 

Well statistically, it proved to be a good idea. For the fourth straight season, national clearing percentage went up, albeit by a small amount. In 2024, teams cleared at an 86.36% clip, meaning that there were fewer turnovers and aggressive rides had less of an impact on the game. 

Below is a chart showing the rising trend in clearing percentage nationally. 

Season	National Average Clearing Percentage
2019	83.19%
2021	85.23%
2022	85.34%
2023	86.19%
2024	86.36%

Now I know what you’re thinking. This writer needs to go outside and touch grass instead of writing about national clearing average. Many of you will think that’s about as interesting as the average household income in Cleveland, or the price of corn futures ($55,028 and $4.56 respectively if you’re wondering). 

But lacrosse is eventually a game of math. Aggressive rides were a way to create turnovers and overcome math differentials in other aspects of the game, like faceoffs. 

As always in sports, the trends are cyclical. Someone will figure out the next evolution in riding. But if it doesn’t happen soon, these trends will continue. 

Speaking of Trends

Another thing I wrote about last year was my theory that the best ROPE unit in the country usually wins the national championship. There were a few no doubters on this list, 2022 Maryland and 2012 Loyola were good examples. 

But there were many others that fit the bill. For example, Jared Connors was the midfielder of the year when UVA won their titles. 

Last season was another affirmative for my theory. Notre Dame SSDM Ben Ramsay was a USILA first-team All-American and one of my favourite players to watch in the nation. He is a beast. 

LSM Will Donovan was a second-team USILA All-American while Carter Parlette was signed to the PLL Cannons. Nick Harris would play for every team in the country. 

Again, the best teams usually have the best players, but I am curious who can take this mantle this year. Donovan and Ramsay are still on campus. Can Donovan and Ramsey hold it down for Notre Dame, or will another group take the mantle? Or can a team win it with a slightly less than dominant unit? I’ll be watching to find out.