AL’S FEARLESS 5IVE
Boston College
Michigan
Northwestern
Syracuse
Virginia
The hallmark of our Division I preseason coverage has always been a Fearless 5ive. But this season is likely to be all about the Terriffic 2wo.
I believe Boston College and Northwestern will have a duopoly over the national ratings, the national headlines, and, ultimately, the tournament. Fine margins in terms of defense, goalkeeping, and intangibles will separate who will be the national titleholder.
I think the B.C. Eagles are going to be the favorite only because the national semifinals and finals will be held in Foxboro, Mass. on Memorial Day Weekend. They also have top athletes on either end of the pitch in goalie Shea Dolce, and attackers Rachel Clark, Emma LoPinto, and McKenna Davis.
The big job for head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein will be fleshing out the rest of the lineup, especially the midfield. Three incoming players bear watching: Devon Russell, a midfielder from New Canaan (Conn.), Hanna Davis from Canandaigua (N.Y.) Academy, and Kelly Blake from Medfield (Mass.). Blake had 430 goals and 237 assists in her scholastic career, but what is equally impressive is her 688 draw controls. I’ll be interested to see her contribution to the team.
Last year’s rival for Boston College was Northwestern. The team is going to build its attack around Madison Taylor, an early contender for the Tewaaraton Trophy emblematic of the nation’s best collegiate player. The Wildcats also picked up goalie Delaney Sweitzer in the transfer portal. Sweitzer is a player who can make some of the most outrageous saves you will ever see, but last year let in 58.2 percent of the 512 shots she faced.
The Wildcats have a lot of turnover in all segments of the team, but there are some talented first-years to keep an eye on. One to keep an eye on is Hannah Rudolph, a midfielder out of Olney Good Counsel (Md.). She’ll have teammate Sammy White, voted as Defender of the Year by U.S. Lacrosse, to mentor her.
Many in the women’s lacrosse intelligentsia have Michigan as a disruptor this season. This is not surprising; the Wolverines have responded to the coaching of Hannah Nielsen, and have a collection of veterans and top incoming players to make a run at the national tournament. Leading scorers Jill Smith and Kaylee Dyer will return for Michigan. They will be bolstered by incoming freshman Remi Schaller, who has the tools to be a game-changing attacker.
But Michigan’s forte is its defense, which was the top-ranked defense in the country last year. Maya Rutherford, Jordyn Harrison, Taylor Cullen, and Grace Callahan will form a very tough gauntlet in front of goalie Erin O’Grady.
There is a rebuild going on at the University of Virginia, and it will all be around a player who has not a single collegiate start. Sophomore Jenna DiNardo is the Cavaliers’ leading returning goal-scorer, and she was a sub off the bench all 20 matches a year ago. She will be alongside Kate Miller, Kate Galica, and Madison Alaimo on an attacking unit which helped fashion important wins over both Boston College and North Carolina last season.
Virginia’s run in the ACC Tournament, however, was ended by Syracuse. The Orange are an enigma; we thought the team was a dead-on candidate to win a national title, especially after the change in head coach from Gary Gait to Kayla Treanor. But the Orangewomen had trouble with Boston College a year ago, losing all three times the two teams met, including a national semifinal.
Syracuse returns Emma Ward on the attack, and I think first-year forward Mileena Cotter is going to do some damage to opposing defenses. Why? Well, Cotter scored a record 216 goals last spring for her scholastic team, which was a national record. On defense, it will be anyone’s guess as to who will step into the goal crease to replace Sweitzer. I think, however, freshman Allie Hanlon from Camillus West Genesee (N.Y.), will be a prime candidate.
ELSEWHERE IN DIVISION I: Now, you might have noticed that last year was a year of transition in Division I women’s lacrosse. Those transitions will continue for a couple of blue-blood teams.
One of those is Maryland. The Terrapins, one year ago, suffered six losses at The Lacrosse & Field Hockey Complex. That is exactly half of the losses the Terps had in the previous 17 seasons under head coach Cathy Reese. The team has graduated a number of its best players from all aspects of the game, but will have some experience returning in Kori Edmonston and Chrissy Thomas, the team’s leading returning point-scorers.
Down the coast, North Carolina is coming off a season which really had no chance of getting going, as the Tar Heels suffered a number of season-ending injuries during fall-ball of 2023. The rebuild for Carolina surrounds the three Humphrey sisters — Chloe, Nicole, and Ashley. But it’s not only going to be these three that are going to have to get going. Incoming freshman Eliza Osburn was the No. 1 recruit in some publications. Also of note is going to be Tess Calabria, who had an awesome season last year for South Huntington St. Anthony (N.Y.). Kate Levy, the daughter of head coach Jenny Levy, will also be asked to do a lot.
Florida, the team that knocked the Tar Heels out of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, will return 18 players, but have some interesting transfers in the portal as well as incoming freshmen Clark Hamilton, Gabby Greene, Ryann Frechette, and goalie Susan Radebaugh. The Gators have been knocking on the door of ultimate success for some time: is this the group to kick it in?
Dark horse: Pittsburgh. The campus knows what it is like to have a top-ranked women’s sports program, as the women’s volleyball team had won its first 19 matches of the season, but lost to Louisville in the national semifinals last December.
The lacrosse Panthers did not have the best time last year in their third varsity season, losing all of its ACC games for the second year running. However, with the veteran defender Abby Thorne in the lineup, I have a feeling the team can try to build off its defense to ensure future success in a tough conference schedule.