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 The blue and yellow of Michigan
will always clash with the crimson and white of Ohio
State. North
Carolina’s baby blue will forever be forbidden from
the Duke campus. And don’t expect to see anyone wearing orange and red USC gear
around UCLA in the near future either.
College sports thrive on rivalry games, whether it’s a
basketball game at Cameron Indoor or a swim meet at SUNY Potsdam. At every
level, every team has that one game circled on their calendar every single
year. It’s what drives college sports and makes it all so exciting to be a part
of.
While basketball has the Duke-UNC rivalry and football has
the dotting of the “I” when Ohio State
and Michigan battle or the
history of the Auburn and Alabama
games, lacrosse has been generating its own fierce battles that bring the fans
out in fill force for over 100 years. Without the press of the major college
sports, lacrosse flies under the radar for the most part, but the rivalries are
still engrained into the game just like any other sport.
Since 1992, four schools have won the Division I lacrosse
championship—Princeton six times, Syracuse
five times, Virginia three times and
Johns Hopkins twice. On top of that, only seven different teams have won the
championship since 1971 with Cornell, North
Carolina and Maryland
added to the list. Not surprisingly, most of the top lacrosse match ups and
rivalries exist among these seven teams. So without further ado, here’s a look
at the top six rivalries in college lacrosse today.
1. Johns
Hopkins-Maryland:
These two schools have arguably the most storied lacrosse
programs in history. Hopkins has
won the most NCAA championships in history with nine while Maryland
has hoisted the trophy twice and played in seven other finals. On Saturday, the
two Maryland-based schools will match up for the 104th time since the rivalry
began in 1895 and as usual, both teams are ranked and looking to make deep runs
into the playoffs this year. With Maryland
considered one of the best lacrosse regions in the country, the recruiting battles
between the schools only increase the rivalry even more.
2. Johns
Hopkins-Syracuse:
Here’s the flip side of the two schools with arguably the
most storied lacrosse programs in history. While Hopkins
has been winning championships since the early 1900’s, Syracuse
has been charging hard since the induction of lacrosse as a Division I sport in
1971. The Orange have actually won as many championships (nine) as Hopkins, but
only eight count because their 1990 trophy was taken away for violating rules.
Both schools are independent of a conference and their yearly battle is one of
the fiercest in the land. Oftentimes, it’s a preview of a semifinal or
championship game later in the year. The two teams have met 45 times head-to-head.
3.Army-Navy:
Guess what? The rivalry extends beyond the football field
and onto the lacrosse field. On Saturday, the two academies will square off for
the 86th time in history since they first met in 1924. With Navy’s move into
the Patriot League in 2004 the two teams are now guaranteed to battle every
year in the regular season, and in the last three years have also met in the
conference championship with Navy winning all three times. Navy holds the
all-time lead in the series 56-23-3 and has reached the NCAA finals twice
without Army playing in the championship, but any Army-Navy lacrosse game draws
crowds the football players are used to seeing.
4. Cornell-Princeton:
It is almost a foregone conclusion that the lacrosse Ivy
League title will come down to these two teams. Either the Big Red or the
Tigers have won at least a share of the Ivy League title for the last 13 years
and have combined to win 42 conference titles. Princeton
has won six NCAA titles and Cornell has three national championships. Clearly,
this match up is the highlight of the conference schedule. Head-to-head,
Cornell and Princeton have been battling since 1922 with
Princeton holding a slight 35-30-2 advantage all-time.
5. Virginia-Maryland:
Not only do the Cavaliers and the Terps have a history as
conference rivals in the ACC, they are often battling for ranks among the
nation’s best. Typically, the two teams are jockeying for position in the top
10 rankings and this year was no different. On March 29, Maryland
handed Virginia their only loss
of the year thus far with a 13-7 upset of the Cavaliers. All-time the schools
have met 74 times with Maryland
holding a 44-30 series lead. Virginia
has the edge in national championships won with four compared to Maryland’s
two.
6. Syracuse-Hobart
In recent years, this rivalry has started to diminish
because of Syracuse’s success, but
this central New York battle is
considered the oldest rivalry in lacrosse. The two teams have meet head-to-head
a startling 94 times and Hobart was
the Orange’s first ever lacrosse
opponent in 1916. The two teams battle every year for the coveted Kraus-Simmons
trophy. Syracuse has held the
trophy for 21 of the last 22 years, with their only loss coming to Hobart
in 2006. With central New York’s
hotbed of lacrosse talent, Hobart
and Syracuse continue to be the top
two destinations for high school graduates. Even with the dominate performances
by Syracuse in recent years this
rivalry continues to take center stage every year.
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