Sign up for the latest news & updates

© 2024 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.

Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:

1. Major League Lacrosse drew criticism for its inconsistent promotion of the MLL All-Star Game, but the product on the field did not disappoint.

Chesapeake Bayhawks midfielder Myles Jones scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift Team Stripes to a thrilling 21-20 victory over Team Stars at Papa Murphy’s Park in Sacramento. It was Jones’ fourth goal of the game, as the second-year pro earned MVP honors and the surprise $10,000 bonus from New Balance. (Previous MLL All-Star Game MVPs received a $1,000 bonus.) Jones reportedly split the winnings evenly with the rest of the team.

(Jones also had a great hair day.)

By most measures, the 16th MLL All-Star Game was a success. An announced crowd of 7,761 bore witness to a high-scoring and fan-friendly but still competitive game, which was televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Leading up to the game, however, some players, fans and media members took to Twitter to complain about the 10 p.m. Eastern start time, late roster withdrawals and additions, sparse and sometimes conflicting updates from the league’s official social media accounts and inadequate promotion of the popular MLL Skills Competition.

ESPN college lacrosse analyst and New York Lizards defenseman Ryan Flanagan, a member of the MLL Players Council, was among the sharpest critics.

Flanagan was not the only one grumbling about the league.

Leave it up to John Grant Jr., the recently retired MLL legend and the league’s all-time leading scorer, to put an end to the kerfuffle.

2. The New England Patriots’ well-documented love affair with lacrosse just got a little juicier. Chris Mattes, an assistant coach at Maryland, announced Friday on Instagram that he is leaving College Park to work for the Patriots in football operations and player development.

Mattes, widely lauded for his management of faceoff men Austin Henningsen and Jon Garino during the Terps run to the NCAA championship, joins head coach Bill Belichick (Wesleyan), safeties coach Stephen Belichick (Rutgers), offensive assistant Brian Belichick (Trinity) and defensive assistant Mike Pellegrino (Johns Hopkins) as Patriots staff members with lacrosse backgrounds.

New England wide receiver Chris Hogan, hero of the AFC championship game, played lacrosse at Penn State.

3. The FIL Women’s World Cup opener is just two days away, and the anticipation continues to build. The U.S. team arrived for training camp last Wednesday, practiced with Scotland on Friday, went sightseeing Saturday and scrimmaged Japan on Sunday.

It’s reassuring to know the best players in the world get just as excited about new gear as you do.

And that Team USA attacker Kayla Treanor loves Harry Potter as much as you do.

WHAT WE’RE READING

  • Jen Adams, widely regarded as the greatest player in women’s lacrosse history, officially has retired. The one-time Aussie sensation tore her ACL before the 2013 World Cup and intended at the time to make a comeback, she told The Baltimore Sun, but she opted not to stand for selection during team trials in December. Adams is the head coach at Loyola.

  • Georgetown men’s lacrosse lost two assistants in the span of a week, with Matt Rewkowski leaving to reunite with Ben DeLuca at Delaware and Justin Ward posting on social media that he has taken a job at Army. Inside Lacrosse rounded up the latest movement among Division I assistant coaches.

  • Zed Williams got married and it turned into a Virginia men’s lacrosse reunion of players and coaches past and present.

  • Why Mike Vailas, All-NEC Rookie Team defenseman for Bryant in 2016, gave up his lacrosse scholarship to play football at New Hampshire.

  • The European Box Lacrosse Championships are underway in Finland, with a Canadian coaching trio fueling the growth of the host country’s program.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Atlanta Blaze long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff continues to turn heads in Major League Lacrosse — winning the freestyle contest in the MLL Skills Competition on Friday and then finishing a behind-the-back feed from Will Manny on a picturesque give-and-go during the MLL All-Star Game on Saturday.

Manny was the winner of the accuracy contest while Connor Buczek clocked the fastest shot at 112 mph.

WHAT’S ON TAP

  • Tryouts for the 2018 U.S. men’s national team commence today at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md. The first round will feature more than 70 players (the original invitees plus those added after the college season) who will compete in several sessions over three days. Additional tryouts and training camps will be held Sept. 1-4 and Oct. 6-9 in preparation for next summer’s FIL World Championship.

“DIALED IN” IS POSTED DAILY MONDAY-FRIDAY AT 8 A.M. EASTERN ON USLAXMAGAZINE.COM. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR A WEEKLY DIGEST DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX.