Syracuse

ESPN analyst Paul Carcaterra participated in a Q&A on Monday. The former Syracuse All-American midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter via @paulcarcaterra, also addressed a few questions about No. 5 Maryland, No. 12 Johns Hopkins and No. 15 Loyola. How worried should Maryland be after Saturday's 10-8 loss to No. 4 North Carolina? Not at all. I think Maryland has great senior leadership. I think they're a team that has played in the last two national championship games.

Rob Pannell had two goals and an assist to become No. 2 host Cornell men's lacrosse program's all-time leading scorer in a 10-5 victory over No. 9 Penn on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field. With the win, the No. 2 Big Red improve to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League, while the No. 9 Quakers fall to 5-2 on the season and 1-1 in the conference. Pannell got the record-breaking point on his assist of a Steve Mock (four goals) strike just 51 seconds into the fourth quarter, giving the Big Red a 7-2 lead.

The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team took all the mystery out of the program's 85th meeting with Virginia. Scoring 11 of the game's first 12 goals, the No. 12 Blue Jays dominated the Cavaliers in a 15-8 victory that wasn't nearly as close as the final score suggested during the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday. Johns Hopkins' impressive performance came after a 13-8 loss to No. 6 Syracuse on March 16. Both of the Blue Jays' losses this season have been to ranked opponents - against the Orange and to No. 11 Princeton, 11-8, on March 1. For at least one day, the Blue Jays (6-2)

Under coach Dave Pietramala, Johns Hopkins has built a reputation for fielding imposing defenses that made life difficult for opposing offenses. That tradition may continue after this season, but the unit's play in the No. 12 Blue Jays' two losses have suddenly given cause for concern. In the team's five wins, opponents have averaged just 7.2 goals, 31.6 shots and 18.4 shots on goal. In the two setbacks, opposing offenses averaged 12 goals, 36 shots and 21 shots on cage. The 24 goals that No. 6 Syracuse and No. 11 Princeton combined to score is a number that doesn't sit well with senior defenseman Tucker Durkin.

Virginia senior midfielder and solo captain Chris LaPierre will forgo the rest of the season, Virginia coach Dom Starsia said Wednesday. "You feel for a kid in that situation," Starsia said. "He came in with this class, feels responsible to this class, but obviously he's been struggling with an ailment. " LaPierre injured his posterior cruciate ligament in the Cavaliers' first practice of the season, then appeared in games against Drexel, Syracuse and Vermont, but has not played the past two weeks.

Maryland sophomore attackman Jay Carlson (St. Paul's) was named Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Carlson set a career high with five goals to lead the No. 1 Terps to a 10-7 win at Villanova on Saturday night. He is the first Maryland player to account for at least 50 percent of the team's goals in a victory in which the Terrapins scored 10 or more since April 15, 2006, when Joe Walters had six goals in an 11-4 win at Johns Hopkins.

The first assignment for Sean Young, a transfer from Towson in his first game with Syracuse, wasn't easy. He needed to shut down the leading scorer for one of the nation's top offenses and the winningest program in the history of lacrosse. But that's exactly what he did in the No. 10 Orange's 13-8 win over No. 9 Johns Hopkins, limiting the Blue Jays' Brandon Benn to one goal and seemingly providing a long-term answer to who would replace the injured Brandon Mullins in the Syracuse (4-1)

No. 9 Johns Hopkins has enjoyed a 5-1 start in which the team has outscored its opponents by an average of 8.0 goals in the wins; the only hiccup was an 11-8 loss to Princeton on March 1. Saturday's road contest against No. 10 Syracuse (3-1) will be a measuring stick of the Blue Jays' development since that setback to the Tigers, coach Dave Pietramala said. “I would say that this is an opportunity to see how we've grown since we've kind of started this,” he said Wednesday.

It was preparation night for both UMBC and Johns Hopkins on Friday at Homewood Field. The outcome went as expected, as No. 10 Hopkins controlled the game from start to finish in a 13-7 victory, but both coaches seemed more concerned about upcoming games. Up next for the Blue Jays (5-1) is Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, while the Retrievers (1-4) continue to prepare for their conference schedule in the American East. The Blue Jays had too much firepower for UMBC, as attackman Zach Palmer scored three goals and fellow attackmen Wells Stanwick, Ryan Brown and midfielder John Ranagan each added two. Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala was also impressed with his short stick midfielders on defense and goalie Pierce Bassett, who finished with 11 saves.