Moving ahead:

Johns Hopkins scored eight goals to start its meeting with Princeton at M&T Bank Stadium. That's hard to do to a Bill Tierney-coached team. The Blue Jays' midfield is as good as advertised, and a defense featuring Matt Drenan, Matt Bocklet and Michael Evans is superb. It's already safe to say the game of the year is April 5 when the Hop visits Duke.

One of the teams poking into the rankings this week was Army, which handled Air Force to move to 2-1. The Patriot League could be wide open this year; Navy is replacing some key parts, Bucknell is solid and Colgate has struggled early. That could be an opening for the Black Knights, who put a scare into Syracuse at the Dome two weeks ago.

It's tough to ask much more from the ACC, which is 11-0 against nonconference opponents entering Maryland's game with Providence today. Both Virginia (vs. Syracuse) and North Carolina (at home against Cornell) picked up significant victories this weekend. It's not a stretch to think four of the nation's top five teams are in the ACC. The league tournament in Charlottesville in late April is looking better by the day.

Looking to regroup:

Massachusetts absorbed a stinging 7-4 loss to Yale on Sunday and plummeted out of the rankings as a result. The Minutemen have a chance to make some noise in the ECAC, especially without an obvious No. 2 team behind Georgetown. But they'll need to sort out their offense, and quick.

Everybody in the Ivy League has a loss, including Cornell. The Big Red nearly lost their opener to Navy and then were handled easily enough in Chapel Hill. They lost a lot from last year's final four team, but have still struggled a bit more than anticipated. This week's visit from Army should be an upstate New York treat.

The America East had a great 2007, putting Albany and UMBC into the quarterfinals and raising expectations for the future. Yet the league's six teams are a combined 1-11 early on, with UMBC getting into the win column on Saturday against Denver. The record could get worse in the middle of this week; UMBC visits Hopkins, while Vermont (at Siena) and Hartford (vs. Holy Cross) play tossup games tomorrow.

And here's one ballot in this week's Inside Lacrosse poll:

1. Johns Hopkins (2-0)
2. Duke (3-0)
3. Virginia (4-0)
4. North Carolina (3-0)
5. Maryland (2-1)
6. Notre Dame (3-0)
7. Cornell (1-1)
8. Syracuse (1-1)
9. Georgetown (1-1)
10. Princeton (1-1)
11. Navy (3-1)
12. Delaware (4-0)
13. Loyola (2-1)
14. Towson (1-1)
15. Albany (0-2)
16. Drexel (3-1)
17. Army (2-1)
18. Bucknell (2-1)
19. Hofstra (1-1)
20. Fairfield (2-0)

--- Patrick Stevens