Women’s lacrosse top 10 talk: Week Four

It’s hard to believe the 2026 women’s lacrosse season is nearly a month old. After a thrilling first four weeks of the year, March is here, and alongside March Madness comes a packed slate of matchups with many implications for the top 10 in the IWLCA coaches poll. Let’s take a look at how things shifted over the last week.

1. North Carolina (5-0, 3-0 ACC)

Movement: none

Last Week: 27-3 win over Florida State

This Week: at No. 11 Clemson, vs. No. 21 Pittsburgh

UNC did what last week?

Yes, you read that score correctly. Five days after tying a program record with 24 goals against Louisville, the Tar Heels smashed their own historic performance with 27 goals against Florida State, putting up a collective performance for the ages. UNC got goals from 12 different players, led by seven tallies from Chloe Humphrey, and the defense stifled FSU, holding the Seminoles to just five shots on goal.

Craziest of all? UNC did this on a season-low 34 shots, scoring 27 times on 28 shots on goal. Poor Florida State goalie Catrina Tobin played 41:33 in net and allowed 20 goals without recording a save, and Julia Ward wasn’t much better, with just one save and seven goals allowed in 18:27 of game time. FSU has stayed competitive in past games, but the Tar Heels embarrassed the Seminoles in every aspect of Friday’s affair. Once again, UNC has put the lacrosse world on notice in its pursuit of back-to-back titles.

2. Stanford (7-0, 4-0 ACC)

Movement: none

Last Week: 16-8 win over No. 20 Virginia, 16-6 win over Virginia Tech

This Week: vs. No. 22 Duke

The Cardinal kept rolling last week, adding a convincing ranked win over the Cavaliers to their impressive resume. Five players have scored double-digit goals for Stanford on the season, and against UVA, the Cardinal led 10-3 at halftime and won behind four goals from Aliya Polisky and three from Mallory Hasselbeck and Lindsey Devir. Tough matchups against Notre Dame, Boston College and North Carolina still loom, but for now, Stanford remains near the top of the rankings.

3. Maryland (5-0, 3-0 B1G)

Movement: none

Last Week: 16-12 win over No. 18 Princeton

This Week: at Hofstra, vs. James Madison

After Saturday’s victory over the Tigers and Georgetown’s ascension to No. 24 in the rankings, the Terrapins have four ranked wins on their resume. Maryland defeated Princeton behind a strong seven-goal first quarter, and the offense continued throughout, as Keeley Block and Kori Edmondson ended with four goals apiece to boost the Terps to victory. Maryland has yet to win a game against a team currently ranked higher than No. 15, but the Terrapins have held strong at every opportunity so far, with a couple of unranked matchups on tap for this upcoming week.

4. Northwestern (5-1, 0-0 B1G)

Movement: none

Last Week: 13-12 win over No. 18 Stony Brook

This Week: vs. No. 15 Syracuse, vs. Ohio State

The Wildcats nearly suffered a second massive upset loss on Saturday, needing three unanswered fourth-quarter goals to overcome the Seawolves on the road. Stony Brook outshot the ‘Cats 33-24 overall, but Northwestern managed just enough offense in the end, driven by four goals from Madison Taylor and three from Taylor Lapointe. Next, the Wildcats will face a battle-tested Syracuse squad. The Orange are 2-3, but their losses are against No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 Maryland, and they do have a win over No. 16 Loyola Maryland.

Not an easy matchup by any stretch.

5. Navy (5-0, 0-0 Patriot League)

Movement: up five spots

Last Week: 14-11 win over No. 7 Florida

This Week: at South Florida, vs. Jacksonville

Navy is officially in the top five! The Midshipmen remained undefeated last week thanks to a huge upset win over the Gators, led by a balanced scoring attack and an 11-4 scoring margin in the second and third quarters. Mikayla Williams and Ava Yovino had hat tricks for Navy, and the Midshipmen crushed Florida with an 18-9 margin in the draw control battle. With just two current ranked matchups left on its schedule, Navy absolutely had to have this win to secure its place among the country’s top teams. Following the victory, the possibility of an undefeated season remains alive.

6. Notre Dame (5-1, 2-1 ACC)

Movement: up two spots

Last Week: 12-9 win over No. 24 Pittsburgh

This Week: at No. 11 Clemson, at Elon

Notre Dame did just enough to vault up the rankings last week by picking up a big-time win over Pittsburgh. The Fighting Irish led this contest 12-7 after three quarters and held on from there, boosted by 20 Panther turnovers and four goals from the aptly named Maura Irish. Clemson on the road will be a tough out for the Fighting Irish, but if they can escape with a win, they should remain in the early Final Four conversation.

7. Florida (3-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Movement: none

Last Week: 24-8 win over Stetson, 14-11 loss to No. 5 Navy

This Week: vs. Mercer

The Gators handled Stetson as expected, but they did not manage to take down Navy, suffering their second top-10 loss as a result. Florida has had an inconsistent season against a tough early schedule, with big wins over Loyola Maryland and Clemson but difficult defeats at the hands of Michigan and the Midshipmen. If all goes well for Florida, Mercer should offer a welcome respite before a slightly tougher matchup against No. 25 Penn on March 11.

8. Michigan (3-2, 0-0 Big Ten)

Movement: down two spots

Last Week: 11-6 loss to No. 16 Yale

This Week: vs. Central Michigan, vs. No. 14 Colorado

Michigan tumbled a couple of spots after its woeful offensive performance against Yale, which featured just 11 shots on goal despite a 13-6 Wolverine draw control advantage. The Wolverines did not score in the first or third quarters of the contest, and aside from an Emma Bradbury hat trick, there were no multi-goal performances from the Maize and Blue. Michigan will likely take care of business against Central Michigan, but Colorado is no slouch, as the Buffaloes sport an elite defense that did not allow double-digit goals in any of its first five games.

9. Johns Hopkins (6-1, 0-0 Big Ten)

Movement: down four spots

Last Week: 23-7 win over Colgate, 12-10 win over James Madison

This Week: vs. No. 13 Stony Brook

The Blue Jays sank four spots due to their shocking Feb. 24 loss to Georgetown discussed in last week’s edition of top 10 talk. A 23-7 win over Colgate was a major bounce-back, but against JMU, Johns Hopkins nearly dropped another game, falling behind 10-6 after three quarters before a huge fourth-quarter surge. The Blue Jays are undoubtedly one of the best Big Ten teams, but they have looked shockingly weak lately despite facing easier competition. They’ll look to bounce back and secure their fourth ranked win of the season on Sunday against Stony Brook.

10. Boston College (2-3, 2-1 ACC)

Movement: up one spot

Last Week: 11-9 win over No. 9 Clemson

This Week: at No. 22 Duke, at California

The Eagles are back in the top 10 despite losses to Northwestern, Notre Dame and Michigan, as they picked up a signature win over the Tigers behind a four-goal performance from Kylee Colbert. Boston College trailed 6-5 at halftime but rode a five-goal third-quarter performance to victory for its first ranked victory of 2026. Up next, the Eagles will have one more ranked matchup against Duke before a trip west to face California.

Just missed the cut: Clemson (loss to No. 11 Boston College), Yale (win over No. 8 Michigan), Stony Brook (win over No. 15 Colorado, loss to No. 4 Northwestern)