After spending the last two weeks hanging onto the final spot in the rankings, the success of the first road trip of the season for the
Grand Canyon University Men's Lacrosse team helped the Lopes jump five spots in the latest 2022 New Balance Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) Division I Coaches Poll. The Lopes are ranked No. 20 this week, which is the highest national ranking GCU has enjoyed since April 2019. The Lopes have now been ranked in four of the five MCLA Polls in 2022, and it's the 88
th time in the 91 MCLA Polls (dating back to Week 7 of the 2013 season) that GCU is among the 25 best teams in men's lacrosse. The Lopes are still one of six Southwestern Lacrosse Conference teams ranked in the MCLA Top 25 (Concordia University Irvine is 2
nd, the University of Southern California rises to 11
th, Arizona State University is 12
th, the University of Arizona is right behind them at 13
th and Chapman University remains 17
th).
The Lopes strengthened their position with an impressive split of the first California road swing of the season, coming from behind to top the 17
th-ranked Panthers, 10-8, last Thursday night, then taking 2
nd-ranked CUI to overtime in Irvine before falling, 14-13, Saturday. The Lopes will finally get a reprieve from facing nationally ranked opponents as they kick off a five-game homestand this Saturday, March 19 by hosting the University of Nevada. Kickoff between the Lopes and Wolfpack is scheduled for 1PM Saturday at
Prescott Field on the GCU campus. Admission is FREE.
The entire New Balance MCLA Coaches' Poll is listed below:
| Rank |
School |
Points |
1st-place votes |
Prev Rank |
| 1 |
Brigham Young |
663 |
18 |
2 |
| 2 |
Concordia-Irvine (CA) |
631 |
4 |
3 |
| 3 |
Clemson (SC) |
621 |
3 |
4 |
| 4 |
Liberty (VA) |
606 |
2 |
1 |
| 5 |
Florida |
551 |
x |
5 |
| 6 |
Santa Clara |
512 |
x |
8 |
| 7 |
California |
481 |
x |
6 |
| 8 |
Virginia Tech |
478 |
x |
9 |
| 9 |
Georgia Tech |
460 |
x |
7 |
| 10 |
South Carolina |
384 |
x |
11 |
| 11 |
Southern California |
349 |
x |
14 |
| 12 |
Arizona State |
334 |
x |
10 |
| 13 |
Arizona |
332 |
x |
13 |
| 14 |
Boston College |
296 |
x |
12 |
| 15 |
Minnesota |
291 |
x |
15 |
| 16 |
Utah Valley |
281 |
x |
19 |
| 17 |
Chapman (CA) |
241 |
x |
17 |
| 18 |
Georgia |
205 |
x |
18 |
| 19 |
Northeastern |
198 |
x |
22 |
| 20 |
Grand Canyon |
180 |
x |
25 |
| 21 |
Colorado State |
147 |
x |
16 |
| 22 |
Florida State |
140 |
x |
20 |
| 23 |
Texas |
84 |
x |
NR |
| 24 |
Auburn |
70 |
x |
24 |
| 25 |
Cal Poly |
45 |
x |
21 |
