Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Confirmed: Taylor Cummings is the best women’s lacrosse player in the world.
The only three-time Tewaaraton Award winner in college lacrosse history cemented that status Sunday when she took home the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse championship.
After five weeks of play, the race to the top of the leaderboard came down to the final game at Maureen Hendricks Field at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md. Team Cummings defeated Team Waters, captained by runner-up Caylee Waters, 7-5. Sam Apuzzo’s 2-point goal in the fourth quarter proved pivotal in the victory, which catapulted Cummings to the title.
Cummings finished the 15-game season No. 1 overall with 1,943 points, including 1,170 points for team wins. Statistically, she ranked first in draw controls (79), second in caused turnovers (17), fourth in goals (26), and seventh in assists (11) and ground balls (31).
Waters (1,753 points), Apuzzo (1,685) and Kady Glynn (1,601) also medaled. Becca Block was named the GEICO Defensive Player of the Year.
2. The Premier Lacrosse League semifinals are set.
The two-time defending PLL champion Whipsnakes will face the top-seeded Waterdogs, with the sixth-seeded Chaos and second-seeded Atlas also squaring off Sept. 5 in Chester, Pa.
The Whipsnakes advanced once again at the expense of the Redwoods, as Matt Rambo scored the go-ahead goal with 55 seconds left and Matt Abbott got the ground ball on the ensuing faceoff to clinch a 14-13 victory Saturday in Sandy, Utah. The Whips have now eliminated the Woods in all three PLL playoffs, all one-goal wins, including an overtime triumph in the inaugural championship game in 2019.
The Atlas defeated the Cannons 13-9 in Saturday’s other quarterfinal, while the Chaos upset the Archers 13-10 on Friday.
3. Former players and colleagues are paying tribute to Jack Kaley, the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame coach who died Thursday of cancer. Kaley was 83.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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About two goalies who became household names this summer in Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse — “Soul Flower” Mira Shane and breakthrough star Kady Glynn.
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How running out of the midfield made converted attackman Stephen Rehfuss a PLL Rookie of the Year candidate while igniting the Cannons this summer, and how Chaos goalie and PLL MVP candidate Blaze Riorden brought the butterfly to lacrosse.
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The NLL’s announcement that the Aug. 28 draft will be held virtually and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be postponed due to continued travel restrictions at the Canadian-American border during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Former Syracuse great Katie Rowan Thomson, a two-time gold medalist (2009 and 2013) with the U.S. national team, will be one of the first three women to have their jerseys retired to the rafters of the Carrier Dome, according to a report by the Daily Gazette.
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A Foreign Policy feature on the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s case for sovereignty and inclusion in the Olympic Games, should lacrosse get added in 2028.
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The Boston Globe on Noelle Lambert’s journey from amputee to elite Paralympian.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Who else would it be?
MATT RAMBO GIVES @PLLWHIPSNAKES THE LEAD WITH SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME pic.twitter.com/CuriNx0l5h
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) August 21, 2021
Women’s lacrosse has officially taken over Major League Baseball.
The team recognized today at the St. Louis Cardinals game for the NCAA National Championship! @Cardinals pic.twitter.com/Uu6PQvTgxc
— Lindenwood W Lacrosse (@LUwomensLax) August 22, 2021
WHAT’S ON TAP
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More Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse insights from Sunday’s finale.
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Jack Good’s weekly PLL notebook.