Two games today to decide the final two slots for Philadelphia. Yesterday was a pretty hectic afternoon with two overtime thrillers on Long Island. It will be tough for today’s games to live up to the drama, controversy, & theater of Saturday’s games.

Nevertheless, today’s games should also be very entertaining. Penn State vs. Loyola gives us the match-up we’ve all asked for this year between Pat Spencer & Grant Ament. Getting to see two of the best players in all of college lacrosse on the same field with a trip the Final Four in Philadelphia on the line is a real blessing.

Moreover, Penn vs. Yale is shaping up to be a great battle between two very talented and hungry squads. Yale is the defending champ, but Penn won the two previous meetings earlier this year. Yale vs. Penn parts I & II were fun games, decided by a single goal, with one of them ending in triple overtime; given the stakes involved today, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get another one-goal game this afternoon.

Directly below is the Big Board for the weekend with links to today’s games. 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. You can also find links to the box scores & recaps from yesterday’s games as well.

Team Game Day Previews

Penn State Game Day Preview

The No. 1 Penn State men’s lacrosse takes on No. 8 Loyola – Maryland on Sunday, May 19 at 12 p.m. at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut in the NCAA Quarterfinal game. VS. LOYOLA Penn State has a 27-24-1 record over Loyola since their first meeting in 4/26/1946, where Penn State won, 17-3. This marks the first time these two teams will meet on a neutral site, and just the second time they will meet in the month of May. The only other meeting in May came on 5/15/1965, and the two teams tied, 13-13. Loyola is currently on a 6-0 streak from 2006-2015.

Loyola Game Day Preview

Quick Hits About The ‘Hounds

Loyola University Maryland makes its third appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals in the last four years on Sunday when it takes on Penn State University at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

Faceoff is set for 12:00 p.m. on ESPNU

Dating back to March 23, 2016, Loyola is averaging 12.72 goals over its last 60 games. It has scored less than 10 only eight times in that span.

Pat Spencer set the NCAA record for career assists (226) in the Greyhounds’ first-round game against Syracuse, recording six to pass Lyle Thompson’s 225. He also moved into second in career points (369) behind Thompson’s 400.

Jacob Stover has 626 career saves, sixth on the NCAA’s active leader board. Stover is second in NCAA Division I this year with a .594 saves percentage.

Pat Spencer has recorded two or more points in all but four of the 67 games to start his collegiate career, and he has 41 multi-goal and 54 multi-assist games. He has scored a point in all 67 outings.

Chase Scanlan leads all NCAA Division I midfielders with 42 goals.

Kevin Lindley is second in the NCAA in goals per game (3.69).

Penn Game Day Preview

On To The Quarterfinals! The No. 4 seed University of Pennsylvania men’s lacrosse team is one of eight teams remaining in the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship and is set for a quarterfinal showdown with a familiar foe as the Quakers will take on No. 5 Yale on Sunday (2:30 p.m.) at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

THE PENN-YALE SERIES

*The Quakers are 29-56 all-time against Yale, including a 13-12 win in 3OTs this season at Franklin Field in the regular season and a 12-11 win in the Ivy League Tournament title game two weeks ago.

* Penn’s win in March snapped a seven game losing streak to the Bulldogs.

* The Quakers needed a Tyler Dunn goal with 0:01 left in regulation to force overtime in March, and Reed Junkin made four saves during the first two extra periods before Sam Handley scored the game-winner.

Yale Game Day Preview

For the first time in the history of the Yale Men’s Lacrosse Team, the Bulldogs play an opponent three times in one season. The Elis played the Quakers in the regular season and the Ivy League Championship Game, and now they meet in the 2019 NCAA Quarterfinals. No. 5 seed Yale (13-3) and No. 4 Penn (12-3) square off at 2:30 on the real grass of Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, Conn., Sunday on ESPNU. It’s the second game of a double-header that also includes No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 8 Loyola at noon.

The Bulldogs had an hour on the field at Pratt& Whitney Stadium on Saturday as the last of the four practices. They seemed impressed with the quality of the real grass surface, which included a pair of Fairfield University (host school) logos. Venue officials said that nearly 7,000 tickets had been sold and they were expecting a big walk-up with great weather expected.

College Crossecast NCAA Quarterfinals Preview

Jake, Ryan, & I previewed all the games today on our College Crossecast NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals preview show.

It’s time for the quarterfinals of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament, and that means another edition of College Crossecast to get you set for it!

I’m joined by Safe and Jake as we take a look at what’s to come this weekend at Hofstra and in East Hartford. We start off with discussing Stony Brook parting ways with Jim Nagle and leading to another opening for a head coach (:30). Then it’s onto previewing the games, which you can find the timecodes as follows:

45:36- Loyola-Penn State

1:00:20- Yale-Penn

Then we wrap up with our predictions on how the weekend will play out (1:14:30).

2019 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Quarterfinals Previews: What you need to know

Chris wrote a fantastic post with everything you need to know about this weekend’s games

We’re onto the quarterfinals!

The Men’s Division I Tournament got started last weekend with all the seeded teams but Towson advancing in the first round. All games are on ESPNU and each day’s doubleheader of games begin at noon.

For some, it could be the final games of competitive lacrosse ever. For others, it’s a chance to extend their college lacrosse seasons and time with their teammates.

While reading, check out our quarterfinal NCAA Tournament preview edition of the College Crossecast. And get caught up with all the first round games from last week here.

Attachments

Penn State is ready to go.

Survive and then dance.

Is instant replay on the horizon in college lacrosse? I don’t think we’ll get it on a wide-scale anytime soon, but we could maybe convince enough decision-makers to get it for the NCAA Tournament.

The Maryland versus Virginia game will reignite the debate over whether college lacrosse should have instant replay. It’s tough not to argue that games shouldn’t be decided by a referee’s questionable whistle when we have the technology to fix bad calls.

However, while we have the capability to implement some form of instant replay, agreeing on what it would look like and/or making it happen on a wide-scale will not be an easy task. At the end of the day time, costs, & getting a consensus might prove too difficult to overcome in the immediate future. However, getting it for the NCAA Tournament might be something you could get a majority of decision-makers to agree is worth pursuing.

The first obstacle to instant replay in Division I college lacrosse is time. The earliest we could get it is 2021 as the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Committee would have to recommend the idea. The Committee meets every two years and last met in the summer of 2018 when they voted to implement an 80-second shot and other new rules. There’s a good chance that the emotions from the call in the MD vs. UVA game will dissipate by the time the Committee meets. Obviously another call could happen in next year’s NCAA Tournament that could revive the issue, but that’s not something you can count on if you are pro-instant replay.

Here’s an article from the Baltimore Sun on instant replay in college lacrosse.

Duke needed overtime but the Blue Devils return to lacrosse Final Four.

Defenseman Cade Van Raaphorst couldn’t help but to grin as Duke’s NCAA quarterfinal against Notre Dame unfolded Saturday. Just imagine how happy the senior is now after the Blue Devils edged Notre Dame 14-13 in overtime before 8,017 at Shuart Stadium. Van Raaphorst collected a key ground ball at the start of the extra session and Joe Robertson scored the game-winner with 2:33 left in overtime as second-seeded Duke advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive year with a rollicking victory over its ACC rival.

Here’s a great article on Penn State’s Jeff Tambroni.

Jeff Tambroni was driving home from the 2010 men’s lacrosse final four with his family when he got a call that would change the course of his life. Tambroni starred at West Genesee and Hobart before beginning a coaching career that culminated with the top job at Cornell. He guided his Big Red to two straight final fours, stamping an imprint on a tradition-rich program located in fertile recruiting territory. But now, the Penn State athletic director was on the phone. Would Tambroni be interested in the vacant position in Happy Valley?

John Tillman is all class.

Round Three: Yale facing a Penn squad looking for payback in NCAA lacrosse tournament quarterfinals.

Penn may have already beaten Yale twice this season, in the process claiming Ivy League men’s lacrosse regular season and tournament championships. But the Quakers are still searching for the ultimate payback at today’s NCAA men’s lacrosse quarterfinals at Rentschler Field (2:30 p.m. ESPNU). For Penn, victory isn’t just a chance to reach the national semifinals in its home city of Philadelphia. It will also send Yale, the defending national champs, home for the summer, something the Bulldogs accomplished the previous three seasons by beating Penn in the Ivy tournament.

Penn State men’s lacrosse prepares for Pat Spencer and Loyola in second round of NCAA Tournament

With a Final Four appearance and the Tewaaraton Award hanging in the balance, Penn State’s second round game against Loyola Maryland is a dream match up for lacrosse fans. Two high-powered offenses collide, and two of the five finalists for the sport’s most prestigious individual award will lead their units into battle on Sunday, May 19 at noon. The Greyhounds are coming off of a strong season that saw them hold the No. 1 ranking in the USILA Coaches Poll for two weeks before falling to Towson. They lost just twice for the rest of the regular season, once to Duke eight days after losing to the Tigers, and again to Boston University in April. The run all but locked up a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but Loyola still had its conference tournament to go.

Is Loyola gonna shock the world today?