Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Loyola got its elusive signature win Thursday, defeating No. 9 Georgetown 11-9. Kevin Lindley tied Gary Hanley as the school’s all-time leading goal scorer and Sam Shafer made a season-high 13 saves, as the Greyhounds became the first team to hold the Hoyas to single-digit scoring this season.
2. The Big Ten women’s lacrosse quarterfinals weren’t boring. Rutgers pulled away from Ohio State in a shootout, while Maryland and Hopkins survived spirited second-half rallies by Michigan and host Penn State, respectively, to advance to today’s semifinals at Panzer Stadium. It will be top-seeded Northwestern versus fourth-seeded Rutgers (5 p.m. ET on BTN), followed by second-seeded Maryland and third-seeded Johns Hopkins (8 p.m. ET on BTN), with the winners advancing to Sunday’s championship game.
3. The MCLA announced the eight-team field for the 2021 MCLA Invitational. The event, being staged in lieu of a national championship due to institutional and regional restrictions that have limited the number of teams eligible to play a full schedule this spring, will have an East vs. West vibe.
4. Megan Carney is the second Syracuse women’s lacrosse star to suffer a season-ending ACL injury this spring. Carney opened up about the injury and Emily Hawryschuk’s leadership on “The Stick Drop” with Sheehan Stanwick Burch, then issued a statement on Syracuse social media that ended with, “#22 will be back in 2022.”
5. An unexpectedly early start to the college coach carousel, as Virginia Commonwealth cut ties with Jen O’Brien, the 2018 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. VCU was 7-9 this season and did not qualify for the conference playoffs.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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The latest in the Chase Scanlan saga, including comments by Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack about his meeting with the men’s lacrosse team captains and a Syracuse Post-Standard story about the photo of a damaged wall that’s part of the police’s investigation of a “domestic incident.”
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“Scenes from A Season on the Fly,” Nelson Rice’s cover story from our April edition documenting this most unusual college lacrosse season.
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About Indiana Tech’s Bodley brothers, the latest subjects of our content partnership series with Blaxers Blog.
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Georgetown assistant and pro women’s laxer Katrina Geiger penned a first-person piece on being “the always-injured athlete,” reflecting on a college career derailed by numerous knee injuries.
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Penn coach Mike Murphy’s refreshing candor on why he wanted Adam Goldner to get the school’s single-game scoring record, what his fifth-year senior gave up to come back for this otherwise lost season and how it just felt good to play lacrosse.
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Kenny DeJohn, columnist. What our digital content editor learned by reviewing the roster bios of every NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse player.
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Lacrosse All Stars’ five crucial tips for new coaches.
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Norwood News on Bronx Lacrosse providing “a break from the norm” in an underserved community.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Dr. Miles Harrison: member of Morgan State’s famed “Ten Bears” lacrosse team, father of all-time great Kyle Harrison and unassuming cutter of rugs.
Entire family typically plays Just Dance during weekly family dinners. My niece & daughter went in, the OGs moves took me out. pic.twitter.com/nLwxiXK17A
— Kyle Harrison (@KyleHarrison18) April 29, 2021
Another fatherly feature, this one a “Knight Vision” story about Colin and Connor Kirst carrying on their late father’s legacy as transfers at Rutgers.
Connor and Colin Kirst joined #RUMLax this season to play for their late father's alma matter. The brothers have excelled this season while following the family legacy in a place that has always felt like home
— Rutgers Men's LAX (@RUmlax) April 27, 2021
Feature story from this week's episode of Knightlife: pic.twitter.com/qu7gAIYe6w
WHAT’S ON TAP
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The aforementioned Big Ten women’s semifinals, plus a couple of marquee CAA men’s matchups (UMass at Delaware and Fairfield at Hofstra) are your Friday appetizer for the college lacrosse weekend. Gameday Guides to come later today.
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Nelson on Nelson: Nelson Rice’s story on Pfeiffer’s Jared Nelson, who is within striking distance of the NCAA’s all-time scoring record (all divisions).