Virginia Tops NCAA Lacrosse Rankings After Win at Maryland

After taking a week off from the burden of sitting in first place, the Cavaliers are back on top of both the Coaches and Media Polls this week, after defeating Maryland at College Park this past weekend, 12-8. The Cavaliers are 9-1 overall and 1-0 in the ACC as the only team in the conference without an ACC loss.

Johns Hopkins fell to North Carolina this weekend, causing them to fall to No. 3 in the polls, despite defeating Virginia last week in the waning seconds of the first overtime. UMass takes over at No. 2.

Virginia received 11 of 20 first place votes in the media poll and four of 10 in the coaches poll. For the media poll, UMass received five, Hopkins one, and Loyola three. In the coaches poll, UMass received two, while Hopkins received four.

Virginia's senior stud Steele Stanwick tied a career high eight points in Saturday's contest, with three goals and five assists. Chris Bocklet also joined the hat trick party and added an assist of his own. Other scorers included Colin Briggs, Rob Emery, and Matt White, each with two goals a piece. Briggs and Owen Van Arsdale each added an assist as well.

Though Virginia jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter, the rest of the game was a tight battle, with both teams locked in a tie at the half and following the third quarter. The Hoos used an offensive barrage in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Terps 5-1, to pull away with the four-goal victory.

The Cavs continue their ACC campaign next weekend at Chapel Hill where they'll take on No. 9 North Carolina. Faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN.