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

1. The Georgia Swarm are the 2017 National Lacrosse League champions after a bizarre finish to the clincher to the best-of-three Champion’s Cup series Saturday in Saskatoon.

It looked like the two-time defending Saskatchewan Rush would force Game 3. Leading 14-13 with nine seconds remaining, the Rush called timeout in their defensive end and then pulled goalie Aaron Bold to have as many runners on the floor as the Swarm, who had pulled their goalie Mike Poulin 33 seconds earlier. The move backfired when Saskatchewan turned the ball over on the restart, Joel White caught the ball on a fortunate carom and White scored to tie it with two seconds left.

Seventy-seven seconds into overtime, Miles Thompson ended it, converting a feed from his brother Lyle Thompson to lift Georgia to a 15-14 victory in front of a stunned crowd of 14,262 at SaskTel Centre.

“It was the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Swarm captain Jordan MacIntosh said.

Saskatchewan assistant Jeff McComb said the decision to pull Bold is consistent with how the Rush have played such end-of-game scenarios this season. “If Corbeil catches that pass, the game is over,” McComb said. “It’s the way we always play it, and it’s the first time it’s come back to bite us.”

2. Three of four Major League Lacrosse games Saturday went to overtime, demonstrating once again just how razor-thin the margin is in the nine-team professional outdoor league.

Dylan Molloy reminded everyone why he won the Tewaaraton Award two seasons ago, scoring three goals and assisting on the game-winning goal (scored by former Brown teammate and long pole Alec Tulett) in his Florida Launch debut, a 15-14 OT victory over the visiting New York Lizards.

The Ohio Machine have won three straight after dispatching the Boston Cannons 13-12 in OT. Veteran midfielder Kyle Harrison returned to the lineup after missing the Machine’s first six games. Harrison, who had ankle surgery April 3, scored two goals in the home win.

The Rochester Rattlers also won in OT, with rookie Zed Williams netting the game-winner in a 17-16 victory over the visiting Chesapeake Bayhawks. Jeremy Boltus led the Rattlers with five goals, while Bayhawks rookie Josh Byrne sparkled with seven goals in his professional debut.

In the only MLL game that did not go down to the wire, the host Charlotte Hounds defeated the Atlanta Blaze 18-12.  The big story there was Kevin Rice’s return. The Blaze attackman had four goals and four assists in his first game back from a broken hand.

3. Johns Hopkins’ Dave Pietramala and Marquette’s Joe Amplo — two coaches rumored to be connected to Michigan’s search for a new men’s lacrosse coach —disavowed the rumors and said they are committed to their current teams.

Pietramala told the Baltimore Sun he had not had any contact with Michigan. “I am going nowhere,” he said. “My players, I believe, know my heart. They know how much I love Hopkins. How could I expect them to give that if I’m not willing to give that myself?”

Amplo, who turned down overtures from Princeton last summer and was in discussions with the university about a contract extension, likewise will stay put. Marquette announced that Amplo “has reaffirmed his commitment” to the school “amid recent speculation.”

The nature of these announcements suggests Michigan will aim high in its search for founder John Paul’s successor.

“It’s a wonderful job. It’s a Big Ten job,” Pietramala told the Sun. “But I have a great job at Johns Hopkins.”

4. Ward Melville (N.Y.) scored four straight goals in the final 1:01 to force overtime, and Matt Grillo scored the winner with one second remaining in OT, as the Patriots stunned Pittsford (N.Y.) 10-9 Saturday in the New York Class A boys’ lacrosse state championship game at St. John Fisher. It’s the ninth state title for the Patriots, and their first under coach Jay Negus.

In other boys’ finals:

  • Victor (N.Y.) clinched its third straight Class B state title with a 9-3 win over Yorktown (N.Y.).

  • Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.) edged Jamesville-DeWitt (N.Y.) 11-9 to take home the Class C state championship. The Seahawks are the first Long Island team to win three straight state titles.

  • Christian Brothers Academy (N.Y.) defeated Westlake (N.Y.) 12-5 to claim the Class D crown, its first-ever state title.

5. Pittsford (N.Y.) became the first Section V (Rochester area) team since 2005 to win the New York Class A girls’ lacrosse state title, defeating Middle Country (N.Y.) 10-9 in the final Saturday at Cortland. Ellie Mooney scored on a free position in overtime to clinch it.

In other girls’ finals:

6. The American Lacrosse League championship game will pit Gray Conference representative Ryleigh’s Oyster, which came back from a five-goal deficit in the second half to defeat Magerk’s 11-10 at US Lacrosse’s Tierney Field on Sunday, against reigning ALL champion Duke/Tobay, which edged GMH Philadelphia 11-10 in double overtime in the Blue Conference final Sunday in Pelham Manor, N.Y. The ALL is the nation’s largest post-collegiate club lacrosse league.

WHAT WE’RE READING

  • About that Class D boys’ final: Westlake was without its head coach, Hunter Burnard, whose wedding was Saturday in Beach Lake, Pa. That’s love.

  • It never gets old reading these missives on the incomparable Thompson brothers. The National Post takes the latest spin on the bandwagon. Perhaps the most revealing element of the story: Jeremy and Lyle Thompson opening up about Jeremy’s past struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. Jeremy Thompson is seven years clean.

  • Peterborough’s problem is lacrosse’s problem, writes Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famer Don Barrie, who examines the Ontario city’s push to evict the proud Major Series Lacrosse franchise.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Too many acrobatic goals and wild finishes to capture here.

First, the final last-second stunner in Saskatoon, followed by the Thompson connection for the game-winner:
 

Then, the Ward Melville comeback for the ages:

And finally, the most marvelous of Josh Byrne’s seven goals in his MLL and Chesapeake Bayhawks debut:

WHAT’S ON TAP

  • More from a busy weekend in the pro ranks, with Phil Shore’s MLL notebook.

  • Way-early 2018 NCAA rankings for Division III men’s lacrosse.

  • Dom Starsia on Doug Knight’s unlikely path to the Hall of Fame.

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