Weekend lacrosse primer (March 8): Players and Games of the Week, top 20 polls

Games of the Week

Men

No. 1 Towson (4-0) vs. No. 2 Cornell (3-0)

Sunday, 1 p.m.

Outlook: Both teams have first-round opponents in the Crown Lacrosse Event to worry about (the Tigers against Jacksonville and the Big Red against No. 4 Penn State), but a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup is a juicy proposition. Cornell has won both meetings with Towson.

Women

No. 4 Syracuse (6-1) @ No. 2 Maryland (5-0)

Saturday, noon

Outlook: The Terps have dominated this series, winning 22 of 23 games. The Orange’s lone victory came March 10, 2012, when that squad won, 10-9.

Players of the Week

Men

Brendan Gleason, Notre Dame

Essex, Vt., attackman, senior

The Atlantic Coast Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week racked up five points on a season-high four goals and one assist in the No. 17 Fighting Irish’s 14-13 overtime upset of then-No. 2 Maryland on Sunday. Gleason, who also added three ground balls and one caused turnover, leads Notre Dame in points (10) and is tied for the team lead in goals (eight).

Brendan Gleason, a senior attackman for the No. 10 Notre Dame men's lacrosse team. (Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics)

Women

Ali Baiocco, Stanford

Harding, N.J., attacker, sophomore

The Brine/US Lacrosse Player of the Week totaled 13 points on 11 goals and two assists in the No. 16 Cardinal’s victories over Albany on Friday and Stony Brook on Sunday. The 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year scored a career-high six goals on eight shots and picked up four ground balls in the 15-12 upset of the then-No. 10 Seawolves.

Stanford sophomore Ali Baiocco, left. (Hector Garcia-Molina / Stanford Athletics)

Inside Lacrosse Top 20 polls

Men

1. Towson (25 first-place votes), 4-0

2. Cornell (3), 3-0

3. Loyola Maryland, 4-1

4. Penn State, 4-1

4. Yale, 2-1

6. Duke, 5-1

7. Maryland, 5-1

8. Denver, 4-1

9. Ohio State, 5-0

10. Notre Dame, 2-1

11. Villanova, 3-1

12. High Point, 5-1

13. Virginia, 3-2

14. Syracuse, 2-2

15. Richmond, 3-2

16. Georgetown, 4-1

17. Army, 4-1

18. Johns Hopkins, 2-2

19. Navy, 3-1

20. Rutgers, 3-2

Women

1. Boston College (21 first-place votes), 6-0

2. Maryland (2), 5-0

3. North Carolina, 4-1

4. Syracuse, 6-1

5. Virginia, 5-1

6. Penn, 5-0

7. James Madison, 4-1

8. Princeton, 3-1

9. Northwestern, 5-2

10. Johns Hopkins, 4-1

11. Loyola Maryland, 2-2

12. Michigan, 7-0

13. Denver, 4-1

14. Navy, 4-1

15. Duke, 5-1

16. Stanford, 4-1

17. Stony Brook, 2-2

18. USC, 4-1

19. Penn State, 3-2

20. Georgetown, 5-1

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Duke's Nakeie Montgomery (15) celebrates after scoring on Maryland's Dan Morris, seated left, during the first half in the semifinals of the NCAA Division 1 college lacrosse tournament in Foxborough, Mass., Saturday, May 26, 2018. (Michael Dwyer / AP)