Revisiting My 10 Predictions for the 2025 NCAA Lacrosse Season

With the NCAA season officially over, it's time to see how my "10 Predictions for the 2025 NCAA Season" went.

❌ prediction #1: the preseason top four teams will make the final four (notre dame, syracuse, cornell and princeton) 

What Actually Happened: Cornell, Maryland, Syracuse and Penn State made the Final Four

Not including Maryland was a big miss, but I went 2 for 4 by having Syracuse and eventual champion Cornell in the Final Four.

Notre Dame was oh-so-close to making it as well before giving up eight straight goals to Penn State in the quarterfinals.

✅ Prediction #2: duke's offense will be more efficient without brennan o'neill 

In 2024, Duke’s assisted goal rate was 52.7%.

In 2025, it went up to 58.3%.

So while technically the offense was more efficient, Duke had less total goals than 2024, and it never felt like the Blue Devils truly clicked.

❌ prediction #3: ben wayer will be a tewaaraton finalist

What Actually Happened: CJ Kirst, Jackson Eicher, Sam King, Coulter Mackesy and Chris Kavanagh were the finalists

Looks like we'll have to wait at least another year to see a pole as a Tewaaraton finalist.

Ben Wayer didn't have a great year by his standards, but Virginia was also not great this season.

I think Wayer should have a good rookie season in the PLL.

❌ prediction #4: Benn johnston will be a first team all-american

What Actually Happened: Benn Johnston was a 2nd/3rd Team All-American

Again, it looks like we might have to wait another year to see this prediction realized.

Having Andrew McAdorey, who was a consensus First Team All-American, on the same midfield line definitely doesn't help, but next year Johnston will be the unanimous top option on this line. I'll probably run it back with this prediction next year.

✅ prediction #5: virginia will miss the ncaa tournament

If you've been following me throughout this season, you would know I was always concerned about the Cavaliers.

I just didn't think they had enough firepower from the midfield and replacing Connor Shellenberger and Payton Cormier is not as easy as it seems.

❌ prediction #6: four ivy league teams make the ncaa tournament

What Actually Happened: Only three Ivy League teams made the NCAA Tournament (Cornell, Princeton, Harvard)

I also had Yale making the tournament, and they did not.

✅ prediction #7: colgate will win the patriot league

I know Army was the heavy favorite coming into the season, but I really liked what I saw from Rory Connor and Hunter Drouin offensively last season.

It was cool to see Liam Connor burst onto the scene in 2025, and the Raiders got it done in the end in the Patriot League with a go-go-go offense and 10-man ride. They even almost upset Penn State in the NCAA first round! 

❌ prediction #8: albany advances to the ncaa quarterfinals

What Actually Happened: Albany lost to #1 Cornell 15-6

I made this prediction because in 2024, Albany gave #1 seed Notre Dame arguably its toughest test in the NCAA Tournament.

While they kept it close with #1 seed Cornell in 2025 for a little, the Great Danes ultimately didn't have enough firepower to pull off a massive upset.

In my defense, I was hoping Albany would have played a #2 seed or #3 seed instead of the #1 seed, but it still would've taken an amazing effort to knock off Maryland or Princeton.

❌ prediction #9: sam king will win the tewaaraton

What Actually Happened: CJ Kirst won the Tewaaraton

In hindsight, this was always CJ Kirst's award to lose, but it was good to see King be recognized as a Tewaaraton finalist after a 66 point (37G, 29A) senior season.

✅ prediction #10: cornell or princeton wins it all

I tweeted on October 15, 2024 that Cornell would win it all, and while I hedged a little bit when I made this prediction on January 24 to include Princeton, I'm still happy to see that Cornell won.

The reason I was so high on Cornell was their attack line of Kirst, Ryan Goldstein and Michael Long, and that's what carried them to the 2025 title.

Stay tuned for next years predictions!

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