Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Everything is coming up Albany.
The Great Danes, fresh off their highest-ever preseason ranking (No. 2 in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Top 25) and already generating a ton of buzz with freshman sensation Tehoka Nanticoke joining Tewaaraton finalist Connor Fields on attack, will play their home games next season at Casey Stadium, the university’s football stadium.
Casey Stadium was the site of one of the most entertaining games of the 2017 season, Albany’s win over then-defending national champion North Carolina in a sold-out NCAA tournament first-round game played in torrential rain. Coach Scott Marr is not hiding from expectations. He told the Albany Times-Union he believes the Great Danes, who have advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals four times in the last 11 years but have yet to break through to the final four, are “capable of winning the whole thing.”
2. 2017 was Ohio’s year in lacrosse.
Between the NCAA finalist Buckeyes, the MLL champion Machine, the urban awakening in Cleveland, state sanctioning of the sport at the high school level and other developments, we’re witnessing the emergence of a new lacrosse hotbed.
3. Calgary defeated Vancouver 15-12 and Saskatchewan routed Toronto 17-9 in NLL Week 2 action Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Curtis Dickson, Holden Cattoni and Riley Loewen scored three goals apiece for the Roughnecks, who improved to 1-1 on the young season. Goalie Frank Scigliano made 51 saves.
The Rush very much looked the part of a team that has advanced to three straight Champion’s Cup finals. Ben McIntosh scored five goals and the duo of Ryan Keenan and Jeff Shattler combined for 15 points in the victory over the Rock, who are in an 0-2 hole to start the season.
In other NLL news, the Black Wolves inked Shawn Evans to a contract extension that will keep him in New England through the 2020 season. Evans, a two-time NLL MVP, is the only player in league history to record 100 points in five consecutive seasons.