With teams jockeying for postseason positioning, the rankings are starting to look like musical chairs.
With only a week or so left in the regular season, the rankings are in constant flux. In the latest IWLCA coaches poll, only four teams in the top 25 (Northwestern, Stanford, Clemson and Drexel) hold the same ranking as last week. Every other team is in a different slot. Most of the movement has just been teams playing musical chairs and switching spots, but the standings being in flux proves most of the tiers of teams are basically dead even. Let’s get into it!
1. North Carolina (12-0, 7-0 ACC)
Movement: up one spot
Last Week: W vs. No. 1 Boston College 12-11, W at East Carolina
This Week: vs. Cal
North Carolina finally dethroned the Eagles! The Tar Heels’ 12-11 victory was the first loss for Boston College since last April 13, and all it took was a goalie swap, a massive advantage in the turnover battle, and erasing a 4-0 deficit. In the fourth quarter, North Carolina held the defending champions to two goals and forced five turnovers. Chloe Humphrey had a poor game for her standards (two goals on six shots, four turnovers), but the Tar Heels were able to overcome it thanks to a hat trick off the bench from Caroline Godine. Boston College is still the reigning champion, but North Carolina is now the team to beat.
2. Boston College (13-1, 6-1 ACC)
Movement: down one spot
Last Week: L at No. 2 North Carolina 11-12
This Week: vs. No. 11 Virginia
Speaking of the defending champs…blowing a four-goal lead on the road is not ideal. Shea Dolce had one of the worst halves of her career, giving up six goals on seven shots on frame from the Tar Heels in the second half. To make matters worse, the Eagles’ offense never found a consistent flow in the second half, garnering just six draw controls against six turnovers. I still trust this team, especially when Mia Mascone is providing hat tricks off the bench, but there’s a blueprint to beat Boston College now. The question is, can any team aside from UNC execute it properly?
3. Northwestern (11-2, 5-0 B1G)
Movement: none
Last Week: W at No. 4 Johns Hopkins 18-5, W at Rutgers 15-6
This Week: vs. Oregon
Hello, defense. After allowing just 19 goals in their last three games, the Wildcats are now ranked third nationally in scoring defense, behind only North Carolina and Boston College. The offense isn’t necessarily reaching the ceiling it did when Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall wore purple and white, but it hasn’t really had to. Both Sammy White (33 ground balls, 23 caused turnovers) and Jane Hansen (25 ground balls, 30 caused turnovers) are putting up All-American level seasons, and Delaney Sweitzer has started to as well. Her save percentage of .519 is now seventh in the country.
4. Florida (10-2, 2-0 Big 12)
Movement: up one spot
Last Week: W vs. San Diego State 21-9, W at Jacksonville
This Week: at Colorado, vs. Stetson
The Gators have won eight games in a row, including road victories over Clemson and Penn. This is not a team to be taken lightly, even if the strength of schedule to close the season has been lacking. Besides, a schedule without any challenging foes (which says more about the Big 12 than it does about Florida) is the perfect time for the nation’s 44th-ranked defense to get right. The San Diego State win is encouraging — the Gators leapt out to a 16-3 halftime lead, but kept the intensity up for basically the entire game. Five of SDSU’s nine goals came after Florida had already hit 19 goals. If the Gators can keep that level of defensive focus up, they’ll be a tough team to beat in May.
5. Johns Hopkins (9-3, 3-1 B1G)
Movement: down one spot
Last Week: L vs. No. 3 Northwestern 5-18
This Week: at Ohio State, at No. 17 Michigan
Great heavens. Northwestern held the Blue Jays to five goals, their lowest total since March 23, 2023 — which also came at home against the Wildcats. In a game that would decide the Big Ten leader, Northwestern simply stuffed the Hopkins offense in a locker. The Blue Jays tallied just seven draw controls, four free position attempts, and did not score in the second half despite nine shots on goal. Ashley Mackin was held to a single point, her lowest total since Northwestern kept her off the board entirely last March. In a week where a battle for the ACC was the headliner, Johns Hopkins was shown just how much farther it has to go if the Blue Jays want to take the Big Ten.
6. Princeton (10-1, 3-0 Ivy)
Movement: up two spots
Last Week: W at Cornell 12-11, W vs. No. 19 Stony Brook 19-13
This Week: vs. Columbia, at No. 13 Penn
The Tigers still haven’t lost since February 15. Admittedly, some games have been a little close for comfort, but Princeton always seems to end up on the right side of the ledger. Against Cornell, the Tigers jumped out to a 9-1 halftime lead before giving up five goals in the final 3:15 to make the game much closer than it should have been. McKenzie Blake keeps scoring in bunches (she now leads the nation in goals per game after an EIGHT-goal performance against Stony Brook), and the offense has risen to seventh in the nation in scoring. Beware of the Tigers, who are third in the nation in RPI. They’re also my top 10 Team of the Week.
7. Syracuse (9-5, 5-2 ACC)
Movement: down one spot
Last Week: W at Cal 18-6
This Week: at Virginia Tech
After a loss at Yale snapped their four-game losing streak, the Orange got back on track with an easy win over somehow fellow confernece member Cal. The defense allowed just 19 shots, and the offense took 41. That’s Syracuse’s recipe for success, and it’s embodied by Alexa Vogelman, who had a hat trick and two draw controls in the victory. I’d keep the Orange out of any contender discussions for now (even with the dominant performance against Cal, their defense isn’t in the top 50), but they’ll soon have a chance to prove me wrong. Boston College looms as the season finale.
8. Yale (9-3, 2-2 Ivy)
Movement: up four spots
Last Week: W vs. Dartmouth 12-6
This Week: at No. 16 Penn
The Bulldogs are back! Yale never trailed against Syracuse last Wednesday, and Fallon Vaughn had five goals in the victory after going three straight games (all losses) without a hat trick. Against Dartmouth, she added five more, making this the fourth consecutive season she’s scored at least 30 goals. But the Bulldogs win because of their defense. They’re ranked fourth nationally at just 7.67 goals allowed per game, behind only the top three in the latest rankings. A 59.4% draw control is a big reason why.
9. Maryland (9-4, 4-1 B1G)
Movement: down two spots
Last Week: W at No. 18 USC 16-8, L vs. No. 11 Virginia 9-13
This Week: vs. Ohio State, at Rutgers
It’s safe to say that Maryland is officially in a rut. After the Terrapins beat then-No. 11 Michigan on March 16 to move to 6-1, they’ve gone just 3-3, including a blowout loss to Northwestern. Getting held to nine goals against Virginia (only the 36th-best scoring defense in the country) is not a great look. Kori Edmondson is on a bit of a cold streak — she’s failed to crack even three points in three of Maryland’s last six games. If the offense keeps sputtering like this, the Terrapins will be in trouble in the postseason.
10. Stanford (11-3, 5-2 ACC)
Movement: none
Last Week: W at No. 21 Notre Dame 8-7
This Week: vs. No. 15 Clemson, vs. Denver
The defense out in California continues to impress. Stanford’s just outside the top 10 in scoring defense, meaning that even when the 27th-ranked offense isn’t having a great day, the Cardinal can still find success. They certainly did in South Bend, coming back from a 6-3 deficit in the third quarter to stun Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish scored just one goal in the final 29 minutes of the game. Lucy Pearson is working on a five-game streak with at least five saves, including three games with double-digit saves. If Stanford is able to take down Clemson this afternoon, they could creep up to third in the ACC.
Just missed the cut: Virginia (beat Maryland last night), Duke (five wins in a row, but only one over a ranked opponent), Penn (lost to Harvard on Saturday)