I believe that lacrosse is the best game on the planet, and the 2025 NCAA lacrosse quarterfinals are a good example of why. From massive crowds to incredible comebacks, this weekend will go down as a special one for lacrosse fans and hopefully one that will help further propel the sport forward.
We now know that the Final Four will include Cornell, Syracuse, Penn State and Maryland. We know that there will be a new champion in 2025, and we know that the names of CJ Kirst, Joey Spallina, Matt Traynor and Eric Spanos will be etched in history at their respective institutions. We know that Memorial Day weekend will be one to remember.
Let’s get right into the biggest takeaways from the NCAA lacrosse quarterfinals!
1. A Major Win for the Sport
Let’s start with the big picture: this was a major win for the sport. Sunday’s games at Navy had a quarterfinal record 17,721 in attendance, with close to 10,000 more in Hempstead on Friday. There is lots of discussion online about the supremacy of Navy as a lacrosse venue and I couldn’t agree more. I believe that to be the best neutral site in the nation, and I would be more than OK for the quarterfinals to be there every year.
It’s a beautiful stadium in the middle of basically three major lacrosse communities. What are the three you may ask? Baltimore, DC and… Annapolis. I’m not sure if most people realize just how many Annapolis-based players are competing in Division I. When I looked at the numbers last year, Annapolis was the number one most common hometown in the entire country. With dominant prep schools St. Mary’s and Archbishop Spalding, the Annapolis community is worthy of their own distinction alongside the other two lacrosse powerhouses.
I hope the PLL finds their way back to Marine Corps Stadium at some point.
But let’s go further, the four games on the weekend had a combined scoring margin of just 7 goals, including two one-goal games on Saturday. They had absolutely everything. Maryland’s defence dominated, Cornell found a way to win despite the tough Richmond D, Syracuse continued their incredible run through the tournament, and Penn State pulled off one of the great comebacks in memory.
Dynasties are great, but fresh blood will get the fans coming in. With four major collegiate brands heading to Boston, expect another great weekend of attendance.
2. The Maryland Terrapins Are Making History, For Better or Worse
It won’t get many headlines, but Maryland is putting together a historic tournament, in some good ways and some bad. Through two games, they have scored 22 goals and allowed just 11. I spent some time this morning looking through NCAA tournaments from the past decade to see who else advanced to Championship Weekend with that kind of differential.
You have to go all the way back to 2010 to find a team that allowed fewer than 11 goals in the first two games. That was the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who gave up just 10 goals in their first two. That group was led by goaltender Scott Rodgers, who was also the last player to win the tournament MOP on the losing team. For Maryland to start the tournament like this in the shot-clock era is borderline remarkable.
Offensively, few have advanced scoring that few. Some were close, with 2018 Yale, 2017 Ohio State and 2016 UNC all scoring 23 goals through the first two games. The 2015 Maryland Terrapins tied this year with 22. The last team to advance with fewer goals was the 2013 Syracuse Orange, who scored just 19 goals in the first two rounds.
Once again in May, the trio of Tillman, Bernhardt, and McNaney have proven stingy. Syracuse will be the next batter up to see if they can solve this puzzle.
3. ‘Cuse is Back… And So is 22
Syracuse is back to the Final Four for the first time since that 2013 team I just mentioned. They got there in a completely different manner, with back-to-back dramatic one-goal games. With 30 goals against, they have given up nearly three times as many goals as their upcoming opponent this weekend.
But this group feels like they have slayed some dragons that have haunted them. Joey Spallina and others have gained a reputation, fair or otherwise, for not delivering in the biggest moments. That couldn’t have been further from the truth this weekend, with a monster performance of 4 goals and 4 assists and a signature moment.
"Unbelievable."
— Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) May 17, 2025
Believe it, Orange Nation! 🍊 pic.twitter.com/mMCaMsD0i4
The Syracuse offence was remarkably deep, with nine different goal scorers. They also survived a bad faceoff game and a sub-50% game in the cage, something virtually impossible to do this time of year. If you had told me that Princeton would win 56% of the draws, I would have thought ‘Cuse had no shot.
But they persevered, kept fighting and their best players came through in the biggest moments. They have a long way to go yet… but Syracuse is back.
4. Richmond Took Cornell to the Brink… But No Further
The Spiders played like champions on Saturday, giving the Big Red everything they could handle. What stuck out to me was the quality of the individual talent for the Spiders. This was not a plucky team with a gimmicky style, they had the athletes to hang with the Big Red.
The problems for Richmond started at the X, where Jack Cascadden was dominant for Cornell. Even when they weren’t scoring, the Big Red used long possessions like a boxer uses body blows. That was in combination with incredible ground ball play and a dominant ride from Cornell. For a team that has used a 6v6 offence all season, Cornell effectively used defensive personnel and ride backs to find enough goals to win.
But for Richmond, Hunter Smith was incredible, going toe-to-toe with the best player in the country for two hours. Zach Vigue was incredible, keeping the Spiders in the game early, while Mitchell Dunham was a force as well. Their defensive midfield was as good as anyone against Cornell this year.
Up front, the Spiders shot well again, showing an incredible ability to score from distance. Creo, Merklinger, Olsson and Sheridan were all incredible. The sky’s the limit for the Spiders going forward.
For Cornell, it was an incredibly tough, incredibly gutsy effort. Richmond played incredibly hard and incredibly tough. Cornell was just a little bit better at the end of the game.
Kirst had 3 CTOs and 10 loose balls in an incredible display of selflessness, effort, and conditioning. In his quietest statistical game of the year, he was still dominant. I was struck by this exchange in the post-game press conference, when a reporter asked if Cornell felt Richmond was getting tired. Check out the smile on Kirst’s face.
What a warrior. What a battle. Cornell is back to the Final Four.
5. Penn State Showed Incredible Character
Penn State pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks in recent memory, ripping off 8 straight goals in the second-half to dethrone one of the great dynasties in lacrosse history.
They did just about everything you can’t do against Notre Dame. They let Jake Taylor get open inside. They failed clears. They fouled. They let Chris Kavanagh score in the unsettled AND THEN FOULED HIM AFTER THE GOAL. I capitalized that because it is the single biggest thing you can never do against that Irish team. They never lose after those juice goals.*
(*Never until now).
At the start of the second half, the broadcast was discussing the legacy of the Kavanagh brothers and the Irish team. When it got to 12-6, many thought the game was over.
The TSN turning point for me came with the score at 12-6 and that famous knockout punch coming from the Irish. With Notre Dame on the man-up, Alex Ross knocked down a pass and collected the loose ball. That stopped the bleeding.
But PSU failed the clear, and had to get another stop. Jack Fracyon came up with a good one on McLane.
Penn State scored on the ensuing offensive possession. 12-7.
Then on the next defensive possession, Ross got his stick in the lane again for his second interception in the span of a minute or two. PSU cleared it and scored again, 12-8.
You often hear teams discuss “next play mentality,” and this was a textbook example from Ross. Notre Dame never scored another goal, haunted once again by the scoring droughts that have plagued them all year.
Ross got it started then Matt Traynor took it from there, in one of the best tournament performances I have ever seen. In the biggest moments, Penn State relied on their seniors to pull them through, and their leaders did just that.
6. An Ode to One of the Greatest Teams Ever
After last year’s NCAA tournament, I wrote the following about the Kavanagh brothers and the Irish team.
“The 2024 Irish were a spear. Entenmann and the defensive group formed the shaft of the spear. Without the stability they provided, the whole operation wouldn’t have worked.
Will Lynch and the Rope unit provided the connective materials that joined the metal to the wood.
The ridiculous depth of the offensive midfield formed the head of the weapon. They were so deep, and had so many diverse skill sets. Faison was the lightning, Dobson was the thunder. McLane out-scored both. The second line was aggressive and efficient. The third line scored twice in the national championship game.
But the Kavanagh’s (and running-mate Jake Taylor) were the tip of the spear. On Monday, they were sharp. Pat ended with 5 assists. Chris had 6 goals. Everything they did was decisive, aggressive, and precise.
Without this sharpness, the weapon wouldn’t have worked at peak efficiency. With it, the Irish were lethal.”
I will remember the Kavanagh era, along with Jake Taylor, Ben Ramsay and others, exactly this way. Notre Dame lacrosse has been a weapon decades in the making. While brutal, it lacked lethality on championship weekends. The Kavanagh brothers took the torch from Matt and became the tip of one of the greatest spears we have ever seen.
Coach Corrigan will surely re-load, but this is undoubtedly the end of an era. They fell short of the three-peat, but will go down as a legendary group in lacrosse history.