Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. US Lacrosse crowned national champions at the 13U and 14U age levels for boys’ and girls’ lacrosse Sunday in Downingtown, Pa.
The Texas Mustangs and Igloo Black Diamond (N.Y.) won the 13U and 14U boys’ titles, respectively, while Yellow Jackets 2024 Wiener and Yellow Jackets 2023 Thorn swept the girls’ titles.
2. The Premier Lacrosse League All-Star Game in Los Angeles had a little bit of everything, including:
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Adidas tie-dye jerseys featuring players’ Instagram handles. According to Front Office Sports, which cited data from CrowdTangle, the PLL had more interactions (likes and comments) on Instagram than 113 of 123 teams in the big four sports.
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Red-carpet treatment for the players, with a party Saturday and plenty of regaling as they arrived at Banc of California Stadium for the game Sunday.
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A big spread in Sunday’s edition of The New York Times.
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Experimental rules that rankled some members of the faceoff community, but immediately made good on one of the components of a partnership with World Lacrosse announced Sunday, “testing and evaluation of new rules and game formats.”
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An appearance by living legend Jim Brown, special guest judge of the PLL Skills Competition.
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And go figure, another one-goal game littered with terrific highlights. Goalie Jack Concannon made 13 saves in the second half to earn PLL All-Star Game MVP honors and lead Team Baptiste to a 17-16 win over Team Rambo. Will Manny, who scored the game-winning goal against Team USA in last year’s MLL All-Star Game, again came through with the clincher with 55 seconds remaining.
PLL co-founder Paul Rabil of Team Baptiste and namesake Matt Rambo of Team Rambo provided the brightest flare with an around-the-world assist and Air Gait goal, respectively.
ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS ASSIST @PaulRabil pic.twitter.com/Mpd6kR1wDw
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) July 22, 2019
AIR RAMBO!
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) July 22, 2019
How's this @garygait? pic.twitter.com/YZ852n0gSn
3. Road teams ruled the weekend in Major League Lacrosse, as the Atlanta Blaze, New York Lizards and Dallas Rattlers all prevailed away from home.
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The previously winless and last-place Rattlers snapped the Denver Outlaws’ five-game winning streak. Rookie goalie Sean Sconone made 20 saves on 28 shots in an 11-8 win Sunday.
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The Lizards won their second straight game Saturday, defeating the Chesapeake Bayhawks 14-10 behind hat tricks by Rob Pannell, Ryan Walsh and Justin Reh.
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The Blaze and Boston Cannons combined for 100 shots, with 16 different players scoring in what amounted to a 15-12 victory for Atlanta on Saturday. Randy Staats set a Blaze single-game record with six assists to go with two goals.
Cannons midfielder Zed Williams scored on a between-the-legs shot with his back to the goal — a highlight that made “SportsCenter” as the No. 2 play.
"Zeddy Ballgame" pic.twitter.com/y5iusxMVav
— Major League Lacrosse (@MLL_Lacrosse) July 21, 2019
4. Calgary Roughnecks forward Dane Dobbie became the fourth player in National Lacrosse League history to win championship and league MVP honors in the same season.
5. The Women’s Professional Lacrosse League cancelled a season-ending doubleheader Saturday at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium due to excessive heat, with temperatures reaching 112 degrees on the turf.
The playoff matchups had already been determined. The Fight will play the Fire and the Brave will play the Pride in semifinals Friday at Yale.
The championship game is Sunday (2 p.m., ESPNU) at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Tim Troutner, whose High Point team narrowly missed the NCAA tournament, came into PLL training camp with something to prove. On Sunday, he was a starter in the PLL All-Star Game, the only rookie to make it to the showcase.
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Lessons learned in 2016 are helping to shape the 2020 U.S. U19 men’s training team.
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WPLL veterans Dana Dobbie, Katrina Dowd and Hannah Nielsen have shown they still got it, starring for their teams this summer.
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A former NASA engineer envisions lacrosse taking off in Tampa.
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A summer after hosting the 2018 Men’s World Lacrosse Championships composed of 46 countries and 2,000 athletes, the Israel Lacrosse Association is hosting the 2019 ELF Women’s European Lacrosse Championship, made up of 20 countries and 500 players.
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When your library card gets you a lacrosse stick.
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Former Lindenwood goalie Caitlin Erickson just finished her ninth season playing for the St. Louis Slam of the Women’s Football Alliance. She’s also the coach of a new women’s lacrosse program at Culver-Stockton College.
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How lacrosse is empowering young women in Kenya — and how the government is trying to stop it.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
A powerful message of inclusion from Army men’s lacrosse coach Joe Alberici.
“It’s right to be inclusive. Kids that don’t look like you, don’t talk like you, don’t have all the nice things that you do, maybe can’t think as well as you do — don’t exclude them. That doesn’t take any toughness at all. That’s just a sign of weakness.” pic.twitter.com/KSSq947YM3
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) July 20, 2019
WHAT’S ON TAP
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More pro lacrosse coverage, as the PLL sets its sights on Denver, MLL enters its All-Star Game preparations and the WPLL races toward its finish.
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