Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Nine lacrosse legends — Kevin Cassese, Leigh Buck Friedman, AJ Haugen, Alex Kahoe, Phyllis Kilgour, Dave Morrow, Ryan Powell, Denise Wescott and Tami Worley Kirby — were inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in a ceremony Saturday at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md. It was a star-studded affair, with 40 current Hall of Famers in attendance to welcome the Class of 2018.
Four highlights, from this master of ceremonies’ point of view:
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Powell joined his brother, Casey, in the Hall of Fame. Casey Powell was inducted last year. Will Michael Powell make it a three-peat in 2019? “MP, we’ve got a spot waiting for you, buddy,” Ryan Powell said near the end of his speech.
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Wescott’s speech may have been the longest, but also the most entertaining, regaling the black-tie crowd with stories about her presenter, Liza Kelly, who boldly declared in her interview with Wescott as a Delaware prospect that she wanted to play for the U.S. team, and her mentors like Hall of Fame coach Sue Tyler, who one year at Maryland dressed up in scuba gear and flippers for the first practice and asked the freshmen if they knew where the pool was on campus.
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Morrow, the former Princeton great and also the founder of Warrior Sports, brought a couple hundred Evo Warp Mini Sticks to distribute to all of the attendees on one condition — that they find a kid who has never played lacrosse before and give him or her a stick.
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Kirby’s speech included a tribute to her former Penn State teammates, more than a few of whom were in attendance. When she reached that part of her speech and said, “We are,” they answered in unison and unprompted, “Penn State.”
Read more on the four men and five women enshrined in exclusive coverage by US Lacrosse’s Paul Ohanian.
2. The U.S. indoor team acquitted itself well in the Lax All Stars North American Invitational. Thirty-nine players, vying for 23 spots on the 2019 U.S. team that will compete at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, were split into two squads in Onondaga, N.Y. U.S. White advanced to the semifinals and U.S. Blue to the championship game, both falling to Thompson Brothers Lacrosse — the repeat LASNAI champion comprised largely of players that will represent the Iroquois Nationals next year in Langley, British Columbia.
Two-time U.S. forward Kevin Buchanan, one of several American veterans who sat out due to injury, was encouraged by what he saw. “The Iroquois and Canadians are going to have to prep hard for us,” Buchanan said. “We might write some history in a year.”
3. “Fall Ball Focus,” a series of stories checking in on various teams in Division I men’s and women’s lacrosse and providing snapshots of their conferences, launched last week with articles on the Kent State and Vanderbilt women and the Michigan men.