Well here we are, bitches. Memorial Day Weekend is upon us and the 2017 NCAA DI Men’s Lacrosse season comes down to just 3 more games in Foxboro. Tomorrow we’ve got Towson vs Ohio State at noon. And then following that we’ve got Maryland vs Denver. Then we’ve got the national championship game on Monday and after that… well… well then I guess all we have to look forward to is fall ball next season. So make sure you take it all in this weekend. We’ve got 12 quarters left of college lacrosse this season. Maybe more if any of these fellas want to get into some overtime action. But 12 guaranteed quarters left. Feel like Good Riddance by Green Day is the most appropriate song of choice for the feelings that I’m feeling right now.

Anyway, let’s take a quick look at the teams that’ll be playing this weekend for all you boys and girls at home who haven’t quite followed along as closely as you should have all season.

Maryland (14-3, B1G Champs)

This is Maryland’s 4th straight Final Four appearance. In 2014 they lost in the semifinals. In 2015 they lost to Denver in the National Championship game. In 2016 they lost to UNC in the National Championship game. They’ve played on the final weekend of the season the past 3 years but have no hardware to show for it. So in regards to college lacrosse legacies, this is the biggest weekend of the Maryland seniors’ careers. Guys like Matt Rambo have a chance to make this 2017 Terps class be one of the most dominant classes in college lacrosse history if they cap the year off with a title. If they come up short again, well then they are known as the Dan Marinos of college lacrosse forever. That is going to be the driving force behind this team for this weekend.

Key Players

I just mentioned Matt Rambo. He is a thicc lefty attackmen. Was the #1 recruit in his class and is a Tewaaraton Finalist this year (lacrosse’s version of the Heisman). He’s got one of the best names in all of sports and he has a game that follows along with it. He’s a beast out there and we’ve seen him impose his dominance on teams already this tournament like he did against Albany last weekend. He’s playing like he’s on a mission right now and I don’t care how good your defensemen are. You’re not going to shut him down. Look for him to have at least 5 points tomorrow.

Also on attack is senior Colin Heacock. Rambo and Heacock’s jersey numbers match their status on the team. Heacock is fucking huge and he’s a Baltimore kid so his stick is A1 quality. Rambo draws so much attention from the other team’s defense whenever he has the ball which sucks everyone away from Heacock. If he has the ball with even half an inch of space to wind up, he’s letting the ball fly and most likely tearing down a corner.

Connor Kelly is their biggest threat at the midfield. He’s a junior so this isn’t his last crack at it but considering the senior class that he’s losing next year, he’ll be playing like it is. He’s 2nd on the team with 53 points and leads the team with 42 goals. Maryland probably won’t have the ball a ton tomorrow against Denver so during the possessions that they do get, look for Kelly to end at least 3 or 4 of them with a goal.

Denver (13-3, Big East)

The last time Denver played Maryland on Memorial Day Weekend was 2015 in Philly when they won their first National Championship in program history. The key to Denver’s game is their possession numbers. Trevor Baptiste is the best faceoff guy in college lacrosse history. Whenever he stops playing, he’ll most likely go down as the best faceoff guy in the history of the game. He’s won 75% of his draws this year including a 21-for-22 performance last weekend against Notre Dame. 3 out of every 4 faceoffs this kid wins and that’s good enough for him to be the first FOGO to be named a Tewaaraton Finalist. So Denver is always going to win the possession battle in every game that they play. As long as they can take good, long possessions on offense and finish most of them off with a goal, it’s almost impossible to lose.

Key Players

Baptiste is the biggest difference maker that college lacrosse has to offer. Not only has the junior won 75% of faceoffs this year, he also has 10 goals on the season. The thing with Baptiste is that he makes it so teams can’t go on runs against Denver. Even if Maryland scores a couple of quick goals in a row, they’re not going to score at will AND get the ball back afterwards. On the other side of that, Denver gets to play make-it-take-it when they are winning every faceoff. So yeah, he’s a decent guy to have on your squad.

Connor Cannizzaro will be a top 5 pick in the MLL draft this weekend. He hasn’t been quite as dominant this year but even on a slightly down year, Cannizzaro was a 2nd team All American and has 61 points. He’s the leader down on offense and like I said before, tomorrow’s game is going to come down to Denver’s offense taking good, long possessions and finishing half of them with a goal. The best defense is a great offense. If Denver can keep the ball out of Matt Rambo’s stick, they’ll have success. So as the QB of the Pios offense, it’ll be Cannizzaro having to manage that.

Ethan Walker is a freshman attackman out of Peterborough. He currently leads Denver with 66 points on the year. Denver’s top 5 point scorers this year are from Ontario, upstate-ish New York, California, Colorado and British Columbia. So their playing style is much different than Maryland’s who recruit from more tradition areas. But yeah, Walker leads the way for Denver with 36 goals and 30 assists. It’s a big stage for a freshman so we’ll see if he can keep up that production tomorrow.

Ohio State (15-4, B1G Runner-up)

Ohio State has already beaten the other 3 teams remaining this tournament earlier in the season. Granted, the tournament is a different beast than the regular season. But that has to be a confidence booster for them heading to Gillette. They beat Towson 6-3. They smoked Denver 16-7. And then they beat Maryland 11-10 in overtime before losing to them in the B1G championship game. Ohio State is a weird team in the sense that they can either win games by shooting faster than fuck and just murdering goalies. And then they can also just shut games down completely and win defensively. They’re as versatile as it gets and oh yeah, did I mention? They have team issued bleached hair.

Hard to bet against a team like that. They play with confidence and keep silencing the doubters (mainly talking about myself there). I know this is about as lukewarm of a take as they come, but it wouldn’t shock me to see them end up winning it all. Same as it wouldn’t shock me to see any of these teams win it all. But you know what I’m saying. Just gotta do my best Stephen A here.

Key Players

Ben Randall. Junior 1st team All American defenseman. Towson probably has the best defensive unit left in the tournament which means Ohio State’s offense probably isn’t going to be as productive as they were last weekend when they put up 16 against Duke. So it’s gonna come down to Ben Randall to keep Towson from having another huge start to the game like they did last week against Cuse.

Jake Withers is a 2nd team All American FOGO. So the only other faceoff guy left in the tournament better than him is Baptiste. Like I said before, Towson’s defense is great so Ohio State is going to need as many possessions as they can possibly get to crack through it. Withers is 66% on the season. He’s been at 58% so far in these last 2 tournament games, though, so he’s gonna need to turn it on tomorrow.

Tre LeClaire. Freshman attackman out of Surrey, BC. That bomb against Hopkins you see above? That’s what LeClaire does best. 46 goals and tied for the team lead with senior attackman Eric Fannell with 60 points. Kid ended up as a 3rd team All American. College lacrosse is filled with so many ridiculously talented attackmen so being anywhere on that All American list is huge.

Towson (12-4, CAA Champs)

I don’t think anybody in the world had Towson in their final four prediction at the beginning of the season. I don’t even think many people would have had them in their final four prediction when the tournament first started. But after taking down Penn State and cooking Syracuse last week, they’re back at Championship Weekend for the first time since 2001. And if they’re going to keep the Cinderella Story going, it’ll be on the back of their defense. Primarily their short stick d-middies.

Key Players

Jack Adams and Zach Goodrich are the best two SSDM combos in the country. Both of them were 2nd team All Americans this year. When you have not one but TWO All American d-mids, it allows your team to shut teams the fuck down 6v6. Because not only can they have 4 poles out there, but their poles aren’t even their best defenders. 6v6 I don’t think there’s an offense in the country who can put up numbers against this defense. So if Ohio State is going to beat Towson, it’ll have to come down to getting goals in transition and on man-up. 6v6 I think this Towson unit holds them to just a handful.

Ryan Drenner. Senior attackman. Captain. Leads the team with 55 points. He’s incredibly shifty when the ball is in his stick and as far as finding lanes for skip passes, he’s one of the best in the country. He draws the defense down from behind the net, skips it up top to a guy like Joe Seider and that’s how we get goals like the GIF you see above.

Picks

So I already kind of laid out the gameplan for each team. If Maryland is going to beat Denver, it’ll be because Matt Rambo and that senior class isn’t ending their career with a National Championship. If Denver is going to beat Maryland, it’ll be because Baptiste controlled the game from the faceoff X and their offense was able to take the air out of the game.

If Ohio State is going to beat Towson, it’ll be because their defense limit’s Towson’s opportunities and then the Buckeyes offense is able to capitalize in transition and man-up. If Towson is going to beat Ohio State, it’ll be because their defense was able to completely shutdown OSU’s offense 6v6 and then Drenner & Co. made the best of their opportunities. So with all that being said….

Ohio State vs Towson | Saturday @ 12 | ESPN2 | Line: OSU -2.5

I’ve got Towson covering but Ohio State winning. As far as the O/U being set at 19? I’m gonna go ahead and call a 10-9 Buckeye win. Calling green.

Towson +2.5 / Ohio State Wins.

Maryland vs Denver | Saturday @ 2:30pm | ESPN2 | Line: Maryland -1

You don’t get to 4 straight Final Four appearances and not come away with a title in at least one of them. Too much legacy on the line here for Maryland to lose.

Maryland -1/ Maryland Wins.

And lastly… an encore showing of Lacrosse For Dummies.

@BarstoolJordie