NCAA Lacrosse: The Battle for Baltimore and Other Week 1 Storylines to Watch

Lacrosse has spilled into suburbs all over the country, but the sport's two undeniable hotbeds remain in Long Island and Baltimore.

This weekend, two teams from Charm City—Johns Hopkins and UMBC—are set to square off.

Hopkins, the host team for this crosstown clash, is the more established of the two programs. The Blue Jays have been representing the city of Baltimore on the lacrosse field since 1883, while the Retrievers first fielded a team 85 years later in 1968 (and not until 1981 were they a Division I program).

The Jays are the clear big brother in this relationship. Hopkins has won nine Lacrosse Championships, not to mention the 11 Wingate Memorial Trophies the team claimed prior to 1971—and 19 USILA National Championships before that.

Year	Score	Runner-Up
1974	17-12	Maryland
1978	13-8	Cornell
1979	15-9	Maryland
1980	9-8 (2OT)	Virginia
1984	13-10	Syracuse
1985	11-4	Syracuse
1987	11-10	Cornell
2005	9-8	Duke
2007	12-11	Duke

UMBC, on the other hand, has just one Division II Lacrosse Championship (1980) and a NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal appearance (2007) to its name.

The history goes out the window Saturday, though. UMBC is the underdog, but an upset isn't totally out of the question. The Retrievers have a talented junior class featuring midfielder Pat Young and attackman Nate Lewnes, both of whom crossed the 30-goal threshold last season.

This is a game Hopkins must win, however, to keep its No. 5 ranking in the USILA Preseason Coaches Poll. Newcomers Shack Stanwick (attack) and Joel Tinney (midfield)—the top two freshmen in Inside Lacrosse's Power 100—should help the Blue Jays secure a victory Saturday.

You can watch the game online on ESPN3.com (1 p.m. EST).

An Early-Season Surprise

Many early-season matchups are hardly worth watching. Think there's any chance Duke loses to High Point Saturday or Air Force Sunday? How about the chances of a Furman upset of North Carolina?

The Blue Devils and Tar Heels may have scheduled these February cupcakes as a way to wean their way into the regular season, but their shared ACC rival, Virginia, has done just the opposite. 

Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Cavaliers will leap right into the lion's den to face Loyola opening weekend.

This is the only regular-season game of the weekend featuring two top-10 teams (although No. 8 Maryland will play No. 10 Cornell in an exhibition at College Park). The No. 7 Greyhounds edged out the No. 9 Cavs in the USILA Preseason Coaches Poll released last month.

Neither of these teams made it past the first round of the NCAA tournament last season, and Virginia is in danger of falling behind in the super competitive ACC. The Cavaliers can gain an early advantage on the No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Syracuse and No. 6 UNC by picking up some momentum with a valuable win over the 'Hounds this weekend.

Marquette Faces Immediate Test

Someone needs to step up and compete with Denver (ranked No. 1 in the USILA Preseason Coaches Poll) in Big East competition. Last year, Marquette surged to a surprising second-place finish in only its second season as a varsity program. Yet when the Golden Eagles faced the Pioneers, they were beaten soundly, 17-9.

Will they put up a fight this year?

Well, Marquette and Denver don't face off again until the last game of the season (this time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin), but we can at least gauge the Eagles' talent level this weekend when they face No. 18 Lehigh.

It's the second year in a row Marquette has opened the regular season against Lehigh. Last year, they lost, 13-6. Even so, head coach Joe Amplo's young team is not discouraged by playing a tough opponent so early in the season.

"We want to play the best," Amplo told the Marquette Wire's Jack Goods. "I can’t think of any better way (to start) than playing a team we are trying to catch. We want to be known as a top 15 team here sometime soon. If we want to talk like that, we’ve got to lineup and play them."

Can This Thompson Be Stopped?

Albany attackman and 2014 co-Tewaaraton Award recipient Lyle Thompson is back in action this weekend—sort of.

Steve Helber/Associated Press

The Great Danes will play in a three-way scrimmage with Princeton and Penn (at Princeton, New Jersey) Saturday. Like many other northern teams, Albany doesn't open up its regular season for another two weeks.

But lacrosse fans are getting antsy to see Thompson on the field again, even though his older brother, Miles, has moved on (and done well for himself with the MLL's Rochester Rattlers and the NLL's Minnesota Swarm). Last season, Lyle broke the Division I single-season scoring record with 128 points.

That's why even legendary Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala concedes that Thompson is the new "face of college lacrosse," per Edward Lee of The Baltimore Sun.

Hofstra To Play With Heavy Hearts

The regular season doesn't begin this weekend for Hofstra, but when the Pride take the field for the first time on Valentine's Day, it will do so with the late Joe Ferriso in mind.

Ferriso was a 19-year-old sophomore who died on Jan. 3 as the result of injuries sustained in a car accident on New Year's Day, according to Steven Marcus of Newsday.

"Joe would want us to keep pushing the pile forward," Hofstra senior long-stick midfielder Ryan Rielly told Marcus. "Our goal is to win our conference championship. It obviously isn't going to make up for anything, because Joe was part of that goal. I think it would be nice if we won that."

The Pride opens its season on Feb. 14 against Marquette.

Follow Kevin Boilard on Twitter: @KevinBoilard