Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Will Manny had a big night at Harvard Stadium on Thursday. Manny, one of the final cuts for the U.S. national team world championship roster, capped a hat trick with a game-winning goal in overtime to give the MLL All-Stars a shocking 15-14 win over Team USA.
WILL MANNY FOR THE WIN. @WillManny_1 scores in OT to cap an epic comeback and give @MLL_Lacrosse a 15-14 win over @USAMLax. He had 3G. pic.twitter.com/dKm8rigrIl
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) June 29, 2018
In addition to the game-winner, Manny brought us back a few decades with his Air Gait-esque goal (see below) to give the All-Stars an 8-7 halftime lead.
The U.S. national team, led by John Haus (three goals), scored the first seven goals of the second half, storming out to a 14-8 lead late in the fourth quarter. Mike Manley broke the MLL scoring drought and Connor Buczek made it 14-10 with 5:21 left.
Mike Chanenchuk then scored a two-pointer, and Kevin Rice made it a one-goal game with less than three minutes left. Buczek tied the game with 13.1 seconds left.
2. The New England Command moved to 3-1 in the WPLL's inaugural season after a thrilling 12-11 victory over the Philly Fire in Thursday’s opening game at Harvard.
Ela Hazar highlighted the Command performance, tallying a couple highlight-reel goals, including one that gave her team a 7-3 lead at the half.
Hazar strikes again! Scores in an empty net, @NE_Command lead 7-3 with 1.5 minutes remaining in the half https://t.co/1FmjoozUq3 pic.twitter.com/VYLYR373iH
— WPLL (@prowomenslax) June 28, 2018
The Fire fought back, eventually pulling the game to a 10-10 tie late in the second half. However, Hazar scored twice down the stretch to pull the Command ahead for good.
3. Mike Schambach, the Montclair State coach that passed away last week after a yearlong battle with colon cancer, will be remembered as a man that gave everything he had for the people in his life.
“His thing was, ‘Good people come before good players,’ and that was kind of how he started to build the program at Montclair,” said Shane Carmody, Schambach’s assistant at MSU.
Hear from those that knew Schambach best, from his high school days at Bridgewater-Raritan (N.J.) to his final seasons at Montclair State, in an emotional piece from Nathan Maciborski.
4. The July/August edition of the magazine drops in the coming days, featuring the NCAA champion Yale Bulldogs on the cover and the James Madison Dukes in the 15-page spread. Read up on all six NCAA champions and the stories we’ll remember from 2018.
Also in the magazine, a step-by-step recounting of arguably the greatest lacrosse game ever played. Twenty years later, players, coaches and media members look back at the 1998 world championship final.
5. Paul Rabil and Rob Pannell are two of the six players on the U.S. national team, dubbed the “Redeem Team”, that will look to erase the memories of the 2014 world championship final loss to Canada.
“It haunts me every day,” Rabil said of the loss. “I was in a dark depression because of it.”
Despite a labor dispute that left Canada’s standing in the world championship in jeopardy, Pannell and others still hoped they could exact revenge against their rivals.
“If they’re not there, we’ll be stopping in Canada on the way home to play ’em,” Pannell said on Lax Sports Network. “We’re the underdogs going into these world games. … To get that gold medal back to the United States, we want to make sure it’s Canada we’re having to play.”
6. The Vail Lacrosse Shootout continued Thursday with the Supermasters, Grandmasters and Zenmasters opening play. Leading the way in the Supermasters pool play were the Elder Statesman (8-4 win over Princeton BCLF, 12-2 win over Team 8) and WLF/Magic Wands (12-2 win over Charlotte's Web, 12-4 win over Navy Old Goats).
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Scott Marr is still in the midst of finding a replacement for former assistant Liam Gleason, who left to take the head coaching job at Siena. He also hinted at a future matchup with Rutgers.
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Stanford women’s lacrosse’s Kia Ora recaps a fun day as the Cardinal continues its overseas trip in New Zealand. Safe to say they’re having fun down under.
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Katie Smolensky watched her older sister win a Section V lacrosse title at Brighton (N.Y.), and now she joins the club, leading the Barons to another title.
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Paul McNulty, a 72-year-old coach at Staples High School (Conn.), stepped down after his 50th season citing a parental conflict.
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In Part 2 of a series on St. Bonaventure and its steps to Division I lacrosse, Randy Mearns checks in after a rather odd recruiting experience.
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Dartmouth hired former Bucknell associate head coach Joe Conner as the program's offensive coordinator.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Ela Hazar with a quick back-handed goal off a feed from Kara Mupo in the Command’s victory.
.@NE_Command up 5-1! @messinwithmupo finds an open Ela Hazar! Live stream: https://t.co/1FmjoozUq3 pic.twitter.com/8EUP1Ha1Bm
— WPLL (@prowomenslax) June 28, 2018
The lacrosse community is still talking about this goal. Will Manny goes airborne for an #SCTop10-worthy goal. What a night for the former Cannons star.
CHANNELING HIS INNER AIR GAIT. @WillManny_1 helps @MLL_Lacrosse All-Stars take an 8-7 lead into halftime. Should be a fun finish at Harvard. pic.twitter.com/tqCfWuc8oy
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) June 29, 2018
Scott Ratliff with the long pole, BTB beauty. Just watch and enjoy.
Long pole BTB from @Srat2 Watch the @MLL_Lacrosse lax All Stars Game in ESPNEWS, FREE postgame coverage on the LSN app and https://t.co/oJkK8CQ2nw pic.twitter.com/DmWN3Y3TMW
— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) June 29, 2018
Get your tissues out for this one. Binghamton seniors recite their thank you letters to the game of lacrosse as their careers come to an end.
"Dear lacrosse, first off, thank you." pic.twitter.com/Jlfw1FVRo3
— Binghamton WLacrosse (@BinghamtonWLAX) June 28, 2018
WHAT’S ON TAP
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We'll have more coverage on the WPLL and its first season today.
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We've got a Saturday doubleheader in the MLL, with the Ohio Machine and New York Lizards battling and the Atlanta Blaze visiting the Charlotte Hounds.
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