US Lacrosse College Notebook
April 4, 2003

Surprise Battle
Bill Gorrow has won a national championship before in his coaching career, but you've got to think he's going to be pretty excited when his Franklin & Marshall Diplomats host Washington College in a big Centennial Conference battle on Saturday.

The Diplomats come into the game a perfect 8-0 this season, including a 3-0 mark in the league. Since starting the season 0-2, Washington College has won five in a row, including last Saturday's 9-8 victory over Centennial Conference favorite Gettysburg, snapping the Bullets 36-game conference winning streak.

Gorrow, a former head coach at Georgetown, won a national championship at Anne Arundel Community College and is in his second season at F&M. Last year the Diplomats went 9-7, gave Gettysburg a scare before losing 7-6 in the CC semifinals, and defeated Scranton to win the ECAC South championship.

It's shaping up to be another wild year in the CC with four teams ranked in the Top 15 in Division III. In addition to Gettysburg (No. 4), Washington (No. 6) and F&M (No. 10), McDaniel has gotten off to a 7-0 start under first-year head coach Jim Townsend.

Around the Country
The Rivalry Continues
One of the best rivalries in women's lacrosse continues this weekend when top-ranked Middlebury is scheduled to host second-ranked Amherst (due to inclement weather, the game was postponed for Saturday. A site was trying to be determined for Sunday as of 4:30 p.m. on Friday). Both teams enter the contest with perfect 5-0 records. Middlebury will put two 40-game winning streaks on the line in the contest. The Panthers have not lost a regular season game since 2000, when Amherst won 11-10. Overall, the Panthers have also won 40 in a row, including the 2001 NCAA championship over Amherst.

Sole Survivor
Georgetown's national ranking is only No. 3, but the Hoyas are the last undefeated men's Division I team. The last two victories haven't been easy. The Hoyas beat Duke 6-5 in overtime on March 23 and then nipped Navy 4-3 in overtime on March 30. Georgetown heads to Brown this Saturday in its attempt to keep the streak alive.

Clicker Tracker
Ten men's Division I games have drawn crowds exceeding 3,000 thus far this season. Surprising no one, Syracuse has boasted the top three and four of the top six home crowds, including the season-high 10,536 for its game against Virginia March 1. The Cavaliers may be ready for playing before NCAA-size crowds as they have been the visiting team in three of the top five attended games. Johns Hopkins and Princeton also have drawn top crowds.

NCAA first-round games will be played on campus sites. Syracuse is hosting one quarterfinal doubleheader at the Carrier Dome May 17, while Towson is hosting the other at its newly-renovated stadium May 18.

Early Leaders
The NCAA issued its first statistics report of the season this week (through games of March 30) and Princeton's Ryan Boyle topped the men's Division I scoring chart with an average of 5.20 points per game. Villanova freshman goalie Joseph Canuso led the country with a 4.43 goals against average. In women's Division I, Central Connecticut freshman Tracy Uellendahl is averaging 5.50 points per game with 11 points in her first two college games. Loyola goalies Cindy Nicolaus (5.10) and Kim Lawton (5.50), who are splitting the position, ranked 1-2 in goals against average.

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The Games

• Laxpower Scoreboard

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The Polls

• IWLCA (Women's)

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• US Lacrosse MDIA

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• Lacrosse Magazine 2003 Preseason Rankings

Previous Notebooks

• March 28, 2003

• March 21, 2003

• March 14, 2003

• March 7, 2003

• Feb. 28, 2003

• Feb. 21, 2003

• Feb. 14, 2003