Which girls lacrosse teams are the best in RI? Here's how we rank the four divisions

As I was enjoying Southern hospitality and being a patron at Augusta National, you know what message was sent to me via text, email and direct message the most?

What happened to the win-loss standings on the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s website?

With the RIIL using RPI instead of wins and losses to determine playoff seeding — a decision that remains No. 1 on the most overthought and unnecessary things in the history of RI high school sports, as seen by this little lawsuit — it made the traditional win-loss standings page completely irrelevant.

The RIIL did everyone a favor in the fall and kept the page active on its website. While there was an RPI tab, the large majority of people used traditional standings to figure out how things worked. It was the same story in the winter season.

Things have since changed. The RIIL’s traditional win-loss standings are no longer being updated by their website provider, which has caused panic by those looking to find out how teams are doing — present company included.

If you are one of the panicked, I have a solution.

My dumb brain remembered I was using the RPI Standings at the end of basketball season. While it might seem scary and confusing, trust me — it’s not.

So how do you navigate the RIIL’s standing pages now?

Go to the website, pick your sport, then click the giant blue “standings” button or the RPI Standings in the left tab. That’s the easy part.

When you see the standings, it provides information that’s unnecessary. There’s no explanation for what any of the letters or numbers mean, so here’s my advice — don’t worry about it.

The columns on the right tell you who teams have won and lost against and what teams are coming up on the schedule. But it’s presented in a way that makes me want to throw my laptop across a room. Ignore this stuff, too.

There is a simple solution to all of this. When you’re on the RPI Standings page, just click the name of the team whose information you’re after. Once you do, it brings up everything you need to know — when and where it was played, what the score was, and whether or not it’s considered a league game or nonleague, plus the future schedule.

Not every game is updated, but that’s on coaches for not doing their jobs in a timely fashion. You can cross-reference missing games on MaxPreps, provided you love pop-up ads and videos that play at an absurd volume.

Do I like this change? I’m a Rhode Islander so of course not. Is this change good? No, but only because RPI is inherently stupid and unnecessary for a state this small.

Is the website functional and the information easy to find? Yes.

And that’s what matters, at least for this column.

Now let’s get on to the rankings.

RIIL DIVISION I GIRLS LACROSSE RANKINGS

1. Moses Brown (1-0)

It can be hard to get ranked first with only one game in two weeks, but when that game comes against a top-five team and you win by two touchdowns, it makes things easier. The Quakers beat Prout on April 9, but won’t play another RIIL team until April 21 when it hosts Portsmouth. This week, MB will stay sharp with a nonleague game against St. George’s on Monday and a league game against out-of-state Bishop Feehan on Thursday.

2. East Greenwich (3-0)

The Avengers have come into the 2025 season ready to go and haven’t slowed down a step. Dominant wins over North Kingstown and Chariho got Week 1 going, and last week, EG took care of a tough Portsmouth team. If the Avengers have the same kind of success at Prout on Tuesday, it might be time to sound the alarm on this team’s chances of reaching the state final.

3. La Salle (5-0)

Five games into the season and the Rams have won in every possible way — blowouts, close and not-so close. La Salle has the potential to be a contender and just needs the consistency that comes with playing more games. This week, the Rams only have one game, hosting Barrington on Tuesday night.

4. Portsmouth (2-2)

The Patriots have to feel pretty good about their start so far. They could have easily beaten La Salle in the first week, and while getting beaten, 13-6, by East Greenwich last week didn’t feel good, it is only going to help this young Portsmouth roster in the long run. We’ll see how the Patriots react to the loss on Tuesday when they host North Kingstown, followed by a road game at Chariho on Saturday morning.

ON THE BUBBLE: Prout (2-1)

RIIL DIVISION II GIRLS LACROSSE RANKINGS

1. Cumberland (4-1)

The Clippers have wasted little time in establishing their presence as a D-II favorite. Their four wins have all been impressive, either in score or opponent, and the one loss was a battle against a D-I Portsmouth team that could play for a state title. Cumberland is legit and while it won’t play during vacation, it will be back to proving it can win a championship when it gets back on the field on April 21.

2. Westerly (2-2)

Expectations were high coming into the season and right now the Bulldogs are living up to them. Westerly doubled up South Kingstown in its opener and bounced back from two losses — one to D-I Prout, the other to Stonington (Conn.) — with a nice win over D-I Chariho. The Bulldogs have some tests against out-of-state Harrison on Monday and at Ledyard on Thursday as it gets ready to boost its resumé in D-II.

3. Lincoln School (1-0)

There’s a very good chance the Lynx end up winning it all, but with one only game played this season it’s hard to rank them higher than this. Lincoln School will have a tough challenge against D-I North Kingstown on Thursday. After that, the schedule is going to get busy, but we should have a read on this team by the end of the month.

4. Burrillville (3-0)

Are the Broncos going to be the underrated team in D-II this spring? With wins in its first three games, Burrillville should probably be ranked higher, but it’s tough to gauge how good its opponents were at this point of the year. Wins are wins, and if the Broncos can have two more good showings this week — at Mt. Hope on Monday and hosting D-I Prout on Thursday — they might start to gain more attention.

ON THE BUBBLE: South Kingstown (2-3)

RIIL DIVISION III GIRLS LACROSSE RANKINGS

1. East Providence (2-0)

It’s been a very interesting start to the season for the Townies, who pulled off a one-goal win over Smithfield to start the season before beating up on North Smithfield last week. EP won’t have to travel much this week, hosting neighboring Providence Country Day on Monday before traveling to city rival Bay View on Tuesday.

2. Smithfield (1-1)

Weather postponements haven’t allowed teams to build resumés, so the Sentinels are here almost by default. Smithfield has some talented players and after opening with a win over Pilgrim, the one-goal loss to EP that followed will look better as the season goes on. The Sentinels didn’t play last week because of the weather, but have two games this week with a noon start at home against D-IV Scituate on Wednesday and a matinee on the road against Toll Gate on Thursday.

3. Ponaganset (2-1)

The first week of the season led to two tough games and a .500 record. But last week’s commanding win over Bay View got the Chieftains back to where it wants to be. Ponaganset has a tough road game this week at Mt. Hope, but needs to continue to build off its last win. The schedule gets tougher after the break, and if this team wants to win a title, it needs to have some momentum once the weather gets warm.

4. Cranston East (3-3)

Six games in and nobody’s been through more battles than the Thunderbolts, who have three one-goal games under their belt already this spring. Going 2-1 in those types of games this time of the season is laying a foundation that could make Cranston East tough later in the season. They’ll look for a second win over Toll Gate this spring when the teams meet in Warwick on Tuesday.

ON THE BUBBLE: Toll Gate

RIIL DIVISION IV GIRLS LACROSSE RANKINGS

1. Classical (5-1)

The preseason favorite have left little doubt about their standing and while it hasn’t been perfect, it’s exactly what the Purple needed. Classical went 2-1 last week, with a tough win over Lincoln, a one-goal revenge win over Tiverton and a loss to D-III Toll Gate, which might have come at a perfect time of the season. The Purple get to hit the refresh button after Friday’s loss, with no games on the schedule until next week.

2. Rogers (1-1)

While there’s a clear No. 1, there isn’t a clear No. 2 and right now the Vikings have the best case. They opened with a tough win over Tiverton, which was followed by a one-goal loss to D-II Narragansett. Weather kept the Vikings off the field last week and with no games on the schedule, it looks like they won’t return until April 21. They’ll have to make the most of their practice time and see if they can keep this thing going.

3. Coventry (1-0)

There’s really not a lot to go on with any of these teams, so let’s give the Oakers some credit for pulling out a win in their season opener. The game took place on April 1, but the only joke is that they haven’t had a chance to take the field since. Coventry will have a good test on Friday at D-III Toll Gate before playing teams in D-IV the following week.

4. Scituate (0-0)

According to the RIIL website and MaxPreps, the Spartans haven’t played a game yet this season, which means they still have a perfect record so they earn this spot here. While it’s a late start, it’s not a bad deal for Scituate, which hosts Lincoln on Monday and plays an afternoon game at D-III Smithfield on Wednesday. If they grab a win in the first week of their season, expect to see the Spartans ranked again next week.

ON THE BUBBLE: North Providence (2-1)