Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Preseason scrimmages were held all over the country, with top teams in college lacrosse meeting up on the final weekend without lacrosse until June.
As is the case with preseason scrimmages, many stats and final scorelines were unavailable. But here's a glimpse at a busy weekend in college lacrosse.
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Defending champions Maryland met with Georgetown on Saturday. Connor Kelly, a U.S. national training team member, scored three goals in the Terps' 9-8 win, according to Christian Sweezey.
There’s no place like home. #BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/fF2HKBBSmE
— Maryland Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) January 28, 2018
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Syracuse swept two weekend games, beating Hofstra 11-4 before getting past Le Moyne 15-10 inside Ensley Athletic Center.
behind-the-back goals in a row has ‘Cuse up 11-5 at the break pic.twitter.com/E8iUkhJNpA
— Syracuse Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) January 28, 2018
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Penn State and Army played to a 6-6 tie in an exhibition meeting at Panzer Stadium on Saturday.
Sights from our scrimmage against Army yesterday. #WeAre #psumlax pic.twitter.com/Te7pfHmNm7
— Penn State Men’s Lacrosse (@PennStateMLAX) January 28, 2018
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Towson tied Hobart 9-9 and then beat host Bucknell 10-6.
Check out more sights and sounds from preseason scrimmages around the Division I world.
Great day for our final preseason scrimmage at Duke. #BOOM pic.twitter.com/4QxeTTbx0h
— Ohio State Men's LAX (@OhioState_MLAX) January 27, 2018
Thank you to @StonyBrookMLAX for the scrimmage today. Best of luck this season! #GoNova pic.twitter.com/On9RpfVxnG
— Villanova Men's Lax (@NovaLacrosse) January 27, 2018
Here is some footage from today’s scrimmage against Air Force pic.twitter.com/cai1MWaWAs
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) January 28, 2018
Actually a really nice Saturday in Baltimore for North Carolina-Loyola scrimmage. Feels good to be back. pic.twitter.com/TjPHlCvy67
— Dan Aburn (@Dan_Aburn) January 27, 2018
Preseason prep Season opener #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/BrqnnotiZG
— Mercer M-Lacrosse (@MercerLacrosse) January 28, 2018
Scenes from our final exhibition of the day, against Mercyhurst. Thanks to all who came out to Joe Walton Stadium Sunday, and we hope to see you Feb. 17 at 1:00 for the 2018 home opener vs. Georgetown! #ColonialPride pic.twitter.com/ACQTv3tGlK
— RMU Lacrosse (@RMUMLacrosse) January 29, 2018
2. Captain American, Tom Schreiber, showed this weekend why he took the NLL world by storm. Schreiber scored five goals and added seven assists to help the Toronto Rock beat the New England Black Wolves 21-9 and move into a tie for first place in the Eastern Division.
Check out the highlights from a huge day for the U.S. field national team member and indoor star, the first of which made it to No. 7 on #SCtop10.
@TomSchreiber26 flys across the crease for another @TorontoRockLax goal! Watch 4th quarter action at https://t.co/3WVrJk1l7d#NLL #NEvsTOR pic.twitter.com/TnrDsrvtcF
— NLL (@NLL) January 28, 2018
The skill that this takes! Wow! @TomSchreiber26 assists on his own goal! @SportsCenter @SportsCentre @BarDown #CaptainAmerica #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/ra1FswnRQs
— Toronto Rock (@TorontoRockLax) January 28, 2018
Elsewhere in the NLL world, Ben McIntosh’s goal in overtime helped the Saskatchewan Rush survive a furious second-half rally from the Calgary Roughnecks. Curtis Knight and Mark Matthews each had two goals and two assists to help the Rush win 13-12.
Lyle Thompson had three goals and three assists and Randy Staats had four goals to fuel a Georgia Swarm 16-12 victory over the Vancouver Stealth.
On Friday, Jeremy Noble scored two goals in the final two minutes to help the Colorado Mammoth escape the Stealth by a score of 14-13 in a back-and-forth battle.
Noble finished with three goals and five assists and Ryan Benesch dropped four goals to fuel the comeback victory.
3. Florida has been bit by the upset bug in the first round of the last two NCAA tournaments. It’s a trend that coach Amanda O’Leary knows the Gators need to reverse in 2018.
The Gators lost key players to graduation, including All-Americans Sammi Burgess and Mollie Stevens on offense and Caroline Fitzgerald and Taylor Bresnahan on defense. Florida will, however, welcome more than a few freshmen into the fold to help fill holes. Check out our preview of the No. 6 Gators.
4. Notre Dame, too, is trying to forget the end of the 2017 season, when Denver handed it a 16-4 defeat in the NCAA quarterfinals. The No. 6 Irish will have to do so without key contributors like Sergio Perkovic, Shane Doss and Garrett Epple.
But no fear, Notre Dame will return a talented attack with the likes of Mikey Wynne and Ryder Garnsey, who decided not transfer this offseason. Let’s not forget LSM John Sexton, who will be back to anchor the defense.
5. Jessica Berg of Colorado State was named the WCLA Division I Preseason Player of Year, while Denver’s Kaitlin Ball was named the Division II Player of the Year.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Scott Teeter and Louisville will begin the first season of a program rebuild after 12 players transferred in a tumultuous offseason.
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After missing the 2017 season while recovering from two surgeries, Syracuse’s Nick Mellen is excited to be back on the field.
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Duke’s Kyra Harney is adventurous, but she’s hoping to take it to another level by jumping out of a helicopter or plane.
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More than 250 people crammed into the US Lacrosse Chesapeake Chapter’s Hall of Fame ceremony, evidence that the chapter is making a comeback.
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Drexel announced that it has hired former Culver (Ind.) assistant Todd Hodgson as a volunteer assistant.
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Maurissa Woodring, a player for Reinhardt's women's lacrosse team, was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. Friends and family are raising money through YouCaring.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Ever heard of lacrosse snowboarding? Looks like a lot of fun. Not to mention, it gets us excited for the Winter Olympics, which start next month.
Lacrosse snowboarding? Yup @908_customs playing lax on the slopes (via @instagram) pic.twitter.com/wH9ighrGPC
— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) January 28, 2018
Ohio State's Colin Chell was miced up for a recent practice, encouraging his teammates throughout. Sounds like the Buckeyes are ready to go.
We mic'd up senior captain Colin Chell during a recent practice. Chell and his teammates start their 2018 regular season in just six days at Cleveland State. #BOOM #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/k1duxmg1cv
— Ohio State Men's LAX (@OhioState_MLAX) January 28, 2018
WHAT’S ON TAP
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We'll have the WCLA Preseason Top 20 coming today.
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We'll continue rolling through our men's and women's top 20 previews, profiling No. 5s Yale (men) and Syracuse (women).
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