Plenty of action at Face-Off Classic
We're all over like the Face-Off Classic previews, but we didn't want you to think we won't be bringing plenty of other coverage from around the lacrosse world this fine weekend in March. Here's a rundown of some of the marquee events across the spectrum this weekend.
Follow the full weekend action on IL's all-new scoreboard: Friday | Saturday | Sunday.
FRIDAY
DI Men
UMass at Yale
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Two undefeated teams playing at night in New England in March. What's not to love!
DI Women
Virginia at Maryland
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Maryland absolutely LIT up Duke a week ago, making fans of the women's game (or at least me) wonder … Are the Terps on that plateau above the rest of the women's game that Northwestern seems to have owned (and Penn has just barely failed to attain) in recent seasons? Was Duke a touch overrated and exposed against a good but not great Maryland squad?
Virginia may not be the best litmus test (a loss to Loyola under its belt) but if Maryland wins big again in this one, its another indication that they might have made a big step this spring.
Dave Vatz will be on hand to tell us how things are flowing from the land of US 1.
SATURDAY
DI Men
Face-Off Classic: No. 10 Loyola at No. 4 Notre Dame
When: Saturday, 4 p.m. ET
This first-time matchup for the Face-Off Classic pits a Greyhound team that is perched as high as it's been in the rankings in a long time against a Notre Dame squad that put down the biggest early-season win so far in 2010 by topping Duke two weeks ago.
Face-Off Classic: No. 6 Princeton at No. 5 Johns Hopkins
When: Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
An original Face-Off Classic matchup that was part of IL publisher Bob Carpenter's original 'harebrained idea' to get this whole thing off the ground, the Tigers and Blue Jays have played in all three of the previous events and will get started having a net tie score of 29-29 in the previous matchups at M&T.
Both are still unbeaten on the new season, with Princeton's Chris Bates earning his first win with the Tigers last week against Hofstra and Hopkins and Dave Pietramala taking two wide wins over Manhattan and Delaware before needing everything it had to dispatch pesky Siena on Sunday, 8-7. Both programs boast historical numbers that rival the best schools in any sport, but the interesting story is more what's different than what's the same.
No. 9 Duke vs. No. 7 Maryland
When: Saturday, 11 a.m.
An early start time greets the first ACC game of 2010 when the Terps and Blue Devils kick off the FOC at 11AM, with Maryland hoping to keep its record unblemished and Duke looking to silence doubters that have only intensified since it debuted as the No. 1 team in Face-Off Yearbook.
In the lengthy history between the two teams, the pendulum has swung mostly in Maryland favor, as the Terrapins have won 55 of the 72 times the schools have faced off -- the most against any opponent in their lengthy history. But in recent years things have been much more in the Blue Devils' favor, as the overwhelming majority of those 17 Duke wins have come since the arrival in the 1990s of former Duke coach Mike Pressler.
UNC at UMBC
When: Saturday, Noon
IL intern Eric Gurnsey will be live-blogging this tilt from just south of Baltimore, but I'll let Dixey do the actual preview heavy lifting for this non-conference showdown.
Albany at Delaware
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
IL intern Eric Cobb will be covering this one live for us, and it's a very intriguing matchup. Delaware's opening win over UMBC has depreciated somewhat and the Blue Hens couldn't keep up with Johns Hopkins and nearly were upset by Hartford. Albany is 0-2 with a loss to Denver and another to crosstown foe Siena, which had never beaten the Danes since they moved to DI.
Brown at Hofstra
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Man, it's a busy weekend. This one kicks off Brown's season and gives Hofstra a chance to bounce back after an opening loss to Princeton. The Pride definitely showed their scoring touch against the Tigers, but you can't give up 17 goals and expect to be an elite team, so they'll have to tighten up. Chris Vaccaro will be live from Long Island with the coverage.
Bucknell at Navy
When: Saturday, 3 p.m.
A big-time early Patriot League matchup, this one is a chance for Frank Fedorjaka's squad to really take the drivers seat in what appears to be a slightly down league this year. Navy already has two losses and top attacker Tim Paul is done, but it's a good bet that Richie Meade still has a few tricks up his sleeve, so the Mids are far from done despite a rocky start.
IL columnist Christian Swezey will be at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for the in-game updating and don't forget to check back on Sunday for his weekend wrap column, where he's hoping to check in on Lafayette -- another PL squad that has shown it might make a move on the league.
Army at Cornell
When: Saturday, 3 p.m.
Freelancer and Cornell Student Dan Freshman will be out in Ithaca for us as the Big Red try to continue their run through an early slate of upstate foes. Army has struggled to get going in the early season, but Cornell certainly wasn't dominant in its win over Canisius this week, so this could be more interesting of a matchup than appears on paper.
For the complete weekend preview, check out Inside Lacrosse.
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