#9 Syracuse vs #2 Virginia:
- Virginia will come into this game 3-0 so far with wins against Air Force, High Point, & Towson, but will have their toughest test on Saturday at home vs Syracuse.
- Syracuse is 1-1 and coming off a 14-10 loss at the carrier dome to a talented Maryland team. Tucker Dordevic was shined in the loss with 5 goals and 1 helper.
- Key Matchup: Bobby Gavin (SYR) vs Matt Nunes: Bobby Gavin was a member of UVA in the fall and was beat out by current starter Matt Nunes, The sought-after freshman from Woodlands TX. Both goalies have shown star potential in the young season and could very well be deciding factors in their team’s success this weekend.
#3 Georgetown vs #4 Notre Dame
- Georgetown has taken care of two top 20 teams so far this season, beating Johns Hopkins 16-8 in their opener and outlasting UPENN 10-8 last weekend. With a plethora of talent on both sides of the ball, this team has the looks of the best hoya team in the recent memory
- Notre Dame showed a mix of offensive firepower and lock down defense in a rout of Detroit Mercy 24-2. Both of the Kavanaughs, Pat (Jr.) and Chris (Fr.), punched in 4 goals while combining for 14 points as the brothers looked like an extremely dangerous duo at attack.
- Key Matchup: Georgetown returned their star defenseman Gibson Smith and added Will Bowen, who was 2021 first team All-American at UNC last year. They will be tagged with covering the Kavanaugh brothers all game and trying to neutralize two of the top attackman in the country.
#1 Maryland vs #20 Princeton
- Maryland has looked the part of a number 1 team in the nation as their talent and depth of talent has been too much to handle for all three teams they have faced this year (High point, Loyola, Syracuse)
- Princeton might not have had a season last year, but the Tigers return Eric Peters, their experienced senior goalie, and a loaded offense that has struck for 22 goals in both of their first 2 games.
- Faceoffs: Tyler Sandoval (PTON) and Luke Wierman (UMD) are both facing off above 60% this season and if Princeton wants to be able to pull off the upset, Sandoval needs to dominate the X and turn the field the Tiger’s way, something he is very capable of doing.
#16 Denver vs #13 Jacksonville
- Jacksonville has been the highlight of the young season upsetting Duke in a very characteristic February Duke loss. Tufts transfer Max Waldbaum has been on fire in his first season in division 1 leading the team with 21 points through 4 games.
- Denver comes into this matchup with a few question marks surrounding them after escaping a talented Utah team in the opener 14-13 and then a blowout loss to Duke last weekend with another win over Air Force Sandwiched between those games. This will be a good test for the pioneers with a chance to go down to sunny Florida and steal a win
- Key Matchup: Both teams have star attackmen in JJ Sillstrop (DEN) and Max Waldbaum(JAX) that have been unstoppable this year. It will be interesting to see which star shines in this game and carries their team to victory.
Best Bets (All Lines according to DraftKings):
Cornell -2.5 over Lehigh
- Cornell had no trouble with Albany in their first game where Lehigh struggled, only beating a bad NJIT team by 5 and losing by 1 to Hobart. Cornell will need to make the faceoff X a battle against 1st team all american Mike Sisselberger, but even if he can dominate, I see it very hard for Lehigh to keep up with Cornell. Lay the points with the big red.
Duke vs. UPenn OVER 25.5 goals
- Duke has scored 19 goals in each of the last two games and will challenge the quakers in this matchup. This game should be a high scoring affair with both teams having high powered offenses that will need to keep pace with the other team. Take the Over and enjoy two great offenses punch the ball in the cage.
DOG of the Weekend:
- Who better to be the dog of the weekend than the Great Danes of Albany. A Slim dog at +110, Albany played a strong Cornell team in the opener, but will have a much easier opponent in this one against an 0-2 Drexel team fresh off a midweek loss to Lafayette. Scott Marr is a phenomenal coach and should be able to get his first win of the season against a sluggish Drexel team.
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