As the semester zooms towards its end, so too are the playoff chases heating up in the Ivy League’s spring sports. Ancient Eight lacrosse is gearing up for its first-ever conference tournament, and with only two or three games left on each team’s schedule, the competition for the last few spots is fierce.
Over on the diamonds, the close of non-divisional play has heralded the emergence of some frontrunners. Oh, and did we mention Rachel Brown threw another no-hitter? Let’s take a look around the Ivies.
MEN’S LACROSSE
Though Princeton fell hard to No. 2 Syracuse in its only contest of the week, the Tigers appear to be a lock for a spot in the inaugural Ivy Tournament. Princeton remains the only undefeated team in the league at 3-0, and will host Dartmouth (3-5, 1-2 Ivy) on Saturday.
Cornell got itself back on the right track on Saturday by grinding out a tight 13-12 win over Harvard—a loss that puts the Crimson in fifth place and looking up at the four tournament teams. But luckily for Harvard, it gets to travel to Philadelphia this weekend to take on hapless Penn, the only squad who remains winless in the Ancient Eight.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
Harvard hasn’t played a game since last Monday, but while the Crimson was resting, the playoff picture became much clearer. And judging by the way things look now, Harvard won’t be playing come tournament time.
Dartmouth has continued its meteoric rise in women’s lacrosse, and now sits seventh nationally with a 9-1 overall record (4-0 Ivy). But in the biggest game of the regular season, the Big Green and No. 6 Penn will meet in Hanover on Saturday to determine, in all likelihood, which squad will grab the tournament’s top seed.
3-1 Princeton seems to have assured its place among the top four as well, while a pair of 2-3 teams—Brown, Yale, and Cornell—will duke it out for the final spot.
BASEBALL
Ladies and gentlemen, meet your frontrunners—Columbia and Brown.
The Lions asserted themselves with a 24-1 demolition of Harvard on Sunday afternoon and sit atop the Gehrig Division with a 6-2 league record after taking three of four games on the weekend. Meanwhile, the Bears swept Princeton and Cornell and are riding a six-game win streak into the beginning of divisional play.
The Crimson sits within striking distance at 4-4, having swept Penn on Saturday before being swept by Columbia on Sunday. Harvard hosts Brown in the first weekend of Rolfe Division play.
SOFTBALL
Though sophomore Rachel Brown may have delivered the top individual performance of the weekend—hurling her second no-hitter in as many weeks as part of 14 scoreless innings of work—Cornell gets the nod as the weekend’s best team. The defending Ivy champions stuck it to Yale and Brown to open up a one-game lead over Penn in the South Division. The Big Red and the Quakers will meet in Philly for a big four-game series this weekend.
Harvard’s three wins put the squad at 6-2 in the Ancient Eight and a game ahead of Dartmouth heading into divisional play, and the Crimson gets to open the North Division slate against its bottom-dweller. Though Brown did manage to take a game from reeling Princeton on Saturday, the Bears will arrive in Cambridge on Saturday riding a three-game Ivy losing streak.
