UMBC's Don Zimmerman has been a head coach for 22 years, and he can't remember the last time there were so many one-goal or overtime games.
Neither can Virginia coach Dom Starsia.
In regards to college lacrosse, the word "parity" has been repeated so many times that it has become a cliche more than reality.
Not anymore. Not when No. 8 Johns Hopkins loses two overtime games in a row, one of them to Hofstra. Not when No. 7 Syracuse plays three overtime games in a row.
And then there is No. 18 UMBC (3-3). The Retrievers were supposed to be rebuilding this season, but after a two-goal loss to Hopkins, UMBC upset Maryland, 9-8, on Friday night.
That game went three overtimes.
"I think the phenomena of one-goal games is here to stay," Starsia said. "We've often talked about parity in lacrosse, but I don't think we'll see true parity in my lifetime, not on the final weekend of lacrosse. Those teams will continue to be there for a while.
"But where you see parity now is that those teams ranked anywhere from No. 15 to 35 are now more capable of playing with or beating the big boys on a normal day."
Starsia is right. It will be a while before Syracuse, Hopkins or Virginia doesn't make the Final Four field on Memorial Day weekend.
But if the goal of college lacrosse is to close the gap between the haves and have-nots, then it is on target.
In the past, UMBC wasn't able to sustain a high level of play over an extended period after a big season, but it has done so this season after going to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2007.
In the past few years or so, we've seen the emergence of such teams as Notre Dame, Albany, Stony Brook, Siena and Providence.
Those teams don't win every game, but that's not important. They are competitive.
"Those overtime games and one-goal games mean the two teams are close as far as ability," Zimmerman said. "You don't see as many blowouts as you've seen in the past. On any given day, if you don't play well and work hard, the other team can win."
Schools have been able to narrow the talent gap between themselves and the traditional powers because of the growth of lacrosse and influx of Canadian players into the American game.
More and more rosters have players from California, Florida and Colorado. There is even a sprinkling of players from Texas and Arizona.
Most college teams have limited recruiting budgets, so scouts usually don't go to isolated games. Most scouts go to various camps where they can see 200 or 300 players during one weekend.
More and more of the players at these camps are Canadian. In the past, the top offensive players in the United States usually went to Syracuse, Virginia, Maryland, Hopkins and Princeton.
The other teams got the leftovers. The top U.S. stars are still going to those schools, but other colleges have compensated by signing Canadian players, who are just as gifted offensively as their American counterparts.
Albany has made a run at Canadian players, and so has Delaware. Drexel has one, and so does Denver. Stony Brook has three, with more to come.
"That area [British Columbia] has treated me well so far," Stony Brook coach Ricky Sowell said. "Some of the Canadians are caught up in a name, some aren't. But money talks, and more and more administrations are committing to the sport of lacrosse. We have some kids there who are excited about what we've done with their players, and they want to be a part of it."
The Canadians, because of their box lacrosse style, have become the great offensive equalizers in American lacrosse. And if you can get some athletes at midfield and then find a gem or two on defense, you can be competitive.
It's all about parity. Right now, college lacrosse is as competitive as it has ever been, with the exception of the Duke Redshirts, who have separated themselves from the rest of the field.
But that might not last long, either.
"Right now, we're all working to see if we can close that gap between all of us and Duke," Starsia said. "For the rest of us, anything can happen on any given day."
mike.preston@baltsun.com
