With spring break over, here's how Eric Rueb ranks RI's top girls lacrosse teams

There’s less than one month left in the season.

You read that correctly. The middle of this week is the official unofficial middle of the season and while many teams have made their mark on their respective divisions, there are plenty who are still trying to. Time is running out so this week should be a big on in Rhode Island girls lacrosse.

The Providence Journal wants to continue to bright light to the big games – and the no-so-big ones – because the kids who work so hard on the field deserve the recognition. We try to be everywhere, but when we can’t we still want to get the stories of what’s going on on a daily basis.

This is where we need help from the coaches. We’re continuing to ask the state’s lacrosse coaches to send in results. As a whole lacrosse is doing patently average with getting results in, so it needs to be better. This week, offending parties that do no send in results will be identified.

How do you report results? It’s easy.

The home team coach – or, if the coaches agree prior to the game, the winning coach – can call information in to the Journal before 10 p.m. the night of the game at 401-277-7340, or email them to PJSports@ProvidenceJournal.com

Lacrosse info is simple. We need the final score, the top three players – usually the goal scorers – from the winning team and at least one from the losing team. If there’s a game-winning goal or big stretch that helped decide the final outcome, include that as well.

We wanted to do player of the week for lacrosse, but the low percentage of reported scores made it impossible and, with the midway point of the season here, it’s not going to happen. Would have been fun, but we’ll try again next year.

But we still have enough information to put together weekly rankings, as we have all season. Here’s how we see the top four teams in each division – and these could be changing in a hurry with the big games we have on tap.

Journal Division I Girls Lacrosse Power Ranks – Division I

1. Moses Brown (5-0 Division I)

Is there someone in D-I who can put a scare into the Quakers? So far, the answer is a resounding no. Moses Brown isn’t going to let that knowledge slow them down. The program didn’t win titles by listening to hype. The Quakers get back to action this week at East Greenwich Monday before taking on rival Barrington Thursday at home.

2. La Salle (4-2 Division I)

Winners of three of their last four – with the loss being to Moses Brown – it’s time to slide the Rams up to the No. 2 spot. La Salle narrowly beat Lincoln School to close last week, but that scare might have been what it needed. If the Rams want to be a challenger, this week will be a chance to prove it with a road game Monday at Barrington before hosting Portsmouth on Thursday.

3. Prout (3-2 Division I)

Vacation did not treat the Crusaders well, as they lost to East Greenwich and dropped right back into the thick of D-I. Prout has an interesting next 20 days, with only two games to close April but four in the first 10 days of may. The Crusaders need to gain momentum and they’ll try to start Monday when they host South Kingstown.

4. Portsmouth (3-2 Division I)

The Patriots have some pretty impressive wins on their resume and getting the job done against South Kingstown certainly helps their cause. If you want to be in the finals, you need to be a No. 2 or 3 seed, so Portsmouth needs to pile on wins quick. The Patriots will have a chance to get two this week at home against Lincoln School Monday and at La Salle on Thursday.

Simmering: Barrington (2-2 Division I), East Greenwich (1-3 Division I)

Journal Division I Girls Lacrosse Power Ranks – Division II

1. Chariho (5-0 Division II)

Low scoring, high scoring, the type of game doesn’t matter to the Chargers. They beat Burrillville in a 7-4 dogfight on Monday, then came out and dropped 19 on Cranston West. If Chariho isn’t your favorite, it will have a change your mind this week when it travels to take on Mt. Hope Monday and undefeated, defending D-II champ North Kingstown on Friday.

2. North Kingstown (2-0 Division II)

With only two games under their belt, it’s hard to get an idea of who the Skippers truly are. After winning D-II last year, they should win it again this year but it won’t come easy. NK will have a couple prove-it games this week, traveling to play a tough Cumberland team Wednesday before hosting Chariho Friday in what may very well be a preview of the D-II title game.

3. Burrillville (2-1 Division II)

There isn’t a tougher team in D-II than the Broncos, who took an L to Chariho but made the Chargers work for every single goal. Burrillville isn’t what they were last year, but its defense will make teams uncomfortable for the rest of the spring. The Broncos have two games this week, traveling to take on Pilgrim Tuesday and then hosting Toll Gate on Friday.

4. Cumberland (4-1 Division II)

Here come the Clippers. Cumberland’s lone loss came to undefeated Chariho and it followed that with two wins last week, giving it some much needed momentum into what could be a season-definining week. The Clippers have a big one Wednesday at home against North Kingstown before traveling to take on Smithfield on Friday.

Simmering: Toll Gate (2-1 Division II)

Journal Division I Girls Lacrosse Power Ranks – Division III

1. Westerly (6-0 Division III)

The Bulldogs announced, loud and clear, who the top dog in D-III is last week when it took apart Bay View. With that test passed, Westerly can go on and continue building to what it hopes will be a championship season. There won’t be room to rest though as the Bulldogs must take care of business this week when it hosts Cranston East on Monday and on the road Friday vs. East Providence.

2. Bay View (3-1 Division III)

If there’s a team than can handled getting its doors blown off in the regular season, it’s the Bengals. Last year they struggled early, learned from it, then became the best team in the division. Expect the same this spring, but there won’t be room for error. Bay View has one game this week to get it back on track, hosting East Providence on Tuesday.

3. Narragansett (4-1 Division III)

After beating Providence Country Day for their fourth straight win, there’s probably a case to be made to put the Mariners ahead of Bay View. Narragansett will have time to make that case next week, but first it has to handle business this week. The Mariners are on the road Tuesday at Ponaganset and then host Rogers Friday and two wins would give them the momentum they’ll need.

4. Mount St. Charles (1-2 Division III)

The Mounties didn’t play last week and no one else stepped up to take this spot, so they’ll remain here until someone does. Mount hasn’t played a game since April 11 and will need to use Tuesday’s game at Rogers to shake off the rust. The Mounties will need it all off, because they’ll host undefeated Westerly Saturday before hosting Cranston East on Sunday afternoon.

Simmering: Ponaganset (2-2 Division III).

Journal Division I Girls Lacrosse Power Ranks – Division IV

1. North Smithfield (2-0 Division IV)

Kind of hard to rank someone over the Northmen when they haven’t played a game in almost 20 days, but until they lose this should be their spot. North Smithfield has a busy week ahead, playing three games this week – hosting Scituate Monday, then traveling to play Classical Wednesday and Lincoln Thursday. When the games are over, we’ll have an idea of who the real favorite in D-IV is.

2. Classical (3-0 Division IV)

How does a Purple team that was 2-1 last week improve to 3-0 without playing a game? I have no idea, but clearly someone wasn’t paying attention to how they entered results, read last week’s column and make the proper adjustments. Classical – which is allegedly undefeated now – has three games this week, traveling to play North Providence Tuesday before hosting North Smithfield Wednesday and Tiverton on Thursday.

3. Lincoln (5-1 Division IV)

The Lions were undefeated until the aforementioned score change, but even with one loss its still a contender for the D-IV crown. Lincoln had two good wins last week and won’t have to jam in the rest of its schedule into the final month of regular-season play. The Lions have one game this week, hosting North Smithfield on Thursday.

4. Tiverton (3-1 Division IV)

All the Tigers do is win. Tiverton isn’t winning big, but it is winning, with all three of its victories in games that easily could have ended in Ls. Those victories should give the Tigers and edge and if they want to compete in D-IV, they’ll need it. They’ve got two big games this week, traveling to play Classical on Thursday and hosting Johnston on Saturday.

Simmering: Scituate (0-2 Division IV)

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island girls lacrosse power rankings in RIIL play after week 3