We got another packed day ,with 34 games on the docket. It’s amazing that we’re a month away from Selection Sunday. I guess it is true, time really does fly when you’re having fun. Before we get started, make sure you check out the latest ReLAXin with Paul Carcaterra video with special guest Bryan Costabile.

Directly below is the Big Board for April 6, 2019. As usual, clicking on the team name will take you to that team’s homepage, while clicking on the Stream/TV cell will take you to the broadcast of that game. Additionally, clicking on the Live Stats cell will take you to the live stats of that particular game. All times Eastern Standard Time.

Collge Crossecast Week 9 Preview

Ryan & I previewed this weekend’s games on the Crossecast Week 9 Preview show.

Sure, your attention might be on the NCAA Final Four, especially if you’re a Virginia fan for the men or a Notre Dame fan for the women (or, if you’re a UConn women and Yale lacrosse combo, you might’ve become quite insufferable the past 10 months). Or maybe your favorite NHL team is in the midst of a playoff race with the final games this Saturday. Or you’re planning on sitting in front of your computer to watch an 8 hour WrestleMania. But folks, this is still the NCAA Lacrosse season. And things are getting important here.

Thankfully, Safe and I have a new College Crossecast episode to get you all prepared. First we recap Tuesday’s games (:50) that featured Syracuse keeping the Kraus-Simmons Trophy and Cleveland State flexing their muscle. Then we preview this weekend, including Notre Dame-Duke and Lehigh-Loyola in the early slate (8:50) and Rutgers-Johns Hopkins and Ohio State-Penn State highlighting the Big Ten’s schedule (26:05). We also do some pick em (45:20) of the weekend’s top matchups.

Week 9 Storylines

Chris’ Week 9 Storylines post is up. Spoiler alert, there are a ton of conference games.

Welcome to Week 9 of the 2019 college lacrosse season. We’re into April and a month away from Selection Sunday. Can you believe it? And with that comes more conference games and the importance of everyone’s season intensifies. One close win or loss could decide conference tournament seeding, tiebreakers, or perhaps whether a team makes or misses the NCAA Tournament. RPIs and SOSs will go up and down in the next few weeks and teams will heat up or cool down. For some teams, it’s do or die time. As always, make sure you get yourselves ready for the weekend or the season (if you’re team starts this weekend) with a bevy of College Crosse content.

Attachments

Chris also blessed us with a Bracketology update.

348 out of 503 games down with 155 to go. We’re done with 69.2% of the regular season. And we’re exactly one month away from Selection Sunday. Insane. In just five weeks, we’ll have May Mayhem in college lacrosse. And with every conference having their teams play at least one conference game so far, it’s definitely time to keep dissecting what we might see when th 17-team field is announced in a month. This season has been fun, exciting, weird, crazy, unusual, different, you name it. The field is wide open and the title is up for anyone to take. There’ll be some quality teams that won’t get seeded.

Villanova’s hoping take down Denver today as they travel to take on the Pioneers.

The game is not until Tuesday, but Syracuse vs. Cornell next week should be a good one.

The Syracuse lacrosse team is heading into the homestretch portion of its schedule, one that demands a balancing act of focus as much as anything else.

The No. 13 Orange (6-3) hosts No. 12 Cornell (6-3) on Tuesday in its final regular season home game, visits North Carolina for its ACC finale on April 13 and then closes out with a trip to Navy on April 20.

The games all pose different emotional and strategic challenges, none a greater blend than the visit from the Big Red. While Syracuse must lock in on the present, its perspective is also colored by last season. That’s when its rival from Ithaca knocked off SU twice, including in a NCAA Tournament game in the Carrier Dome.

Looks like PSU is pretty pumped for tomorrow’s OSU vs. PSU game.

Check out the newest On The Banks podcast with special guest Brian Brecht.

We are back with episode #36 of our On The Banks podcast as host Lance Glinn speaks with Rutgers men’s lacrosse head coach Brian Brecht. After upsetting then no. 4 Ohio State last weekend to begin Big Ten play, the no. 18/19 Scarlet Knights travel to Baltimore on Saturday to take on no. 20 Johns Hopkins.

Shut it down: Protected bird shuts down high school lacrosse field in California.

Parents and players alike hoped to have the last home game on this brand new field. “I’m going to be a senior next year, so I wanted to be able to get maybe one game in my junior year,” Aedan Shumway said. Just days before the gates were open a bird known as a killdeer flew in and made a nest. “Unfortunately they often pick not the greatest spots,” said JD Bergeron a bird enthusiast. He said the killdeer are protected by a 101-year-old treaty.

Looks like Brown is leveling up: Brown announces plans for new $25M lacrosse (and soccer) field.

Brown University announced plans to build a new Center for Lacrosse and Soccer at Stevenson-Pincince Field. The price tag -- $25 million. “The lacrosse and soccer programs at Brown have long and storied traditions, great student-athletes and outstanding coaches. And now we have the opportunity to make a significant advancement in these programs with this center, which is poised to be one of the nation’s premier facilities of its kind,” said Brown athletic director Jack Hayes. Brown expects the facility to be fully operational by the 2020-21 academic year.