D1 Men's Lax picks 4/12

Now that the college basketball season is over and we are waiting for the muddle of the NBA early entries to clear, its time to get into the stretch drive of the college lacrosse season. Here are my picks for games involving ranked teams this Saturday

1 Duke at 3 Virginia- The two most explosive teams meet in a battle to decide the #1 seed in the ACC tourney and perhaps the NCAA tourney as well. Though Duke may be the more talented team, I will take UVA at home, 13-11

2 Syracuse at Rutgers- The Orange will have too much talent in this one, theyll win big, 16-5 Cuse

4 Georgetown at 19 Loyola- A must win game for the Hounds, who are still unbeaten in the ECAC. But with Scott Kocis expected to return for the Hoyas, expect Georgetown to win a close game, 10-8

Dartmouth at 5 Cornell- Cornell wins this one big, bouncing back from the big loss at Syracuse. 15-6 Big Red over Big Green

6 Navy at 13 Army- The best West Point team in a few years has a real chance to end a 13 game losing streak to their archrivals from Annapolis. My upset of the week, the Cadets win 7-6.

7 Maryland at 15 Johns Hopkins- A must win for Hopkins, who is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time ever. I don't think that these players will let themselves be the ones to ruin the streak, and they'll pull this one out over the Baby Terps, who start 3 freshmen at attack. 11-8 Hopkins

Albany at 11 UMBC- Albany has hit its stride after an 0-5 start, and has confidence coming into this game, but UMBC wont let them take the America East title on the Retreivers home field. 9-7 UMBC

12 Drexel at Towson- Drexel has been slipping since a 7-1 start. Will it continue in this CAA contest? I don't think so. The Dragons pull it out, 11-6.

14 Brown at Penn- Brown has had a nice season and has surprised many, but Franklin Field is always a tough place for Ivy opponents to win. Quakers in a close one, 10-9.

17 Princeton at Harvard- Harvard probably has more talent, especially on offense, but they have yet to put it together. 8-5 Tigers in typical Princeton style.

Delaware at 20 Hofstra- A very important CAA game for both teams. Hofstra is tough to beat at home, but hasn't been playing as well lately. Theyll still take this one to stay in the hunt for the CAA title. Flying Dutchmen 12-11