Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The National Lacrosse League named Georgia forward Lyle Thompson MVP. Thompson, also the Champion's Cup MVP after leading the Swarm to the league championship, topped all players with 116 points on 45 goals and 71 assists. He shot 19.4 percent from the floor, best among players with at least 200 shots. But as the Gwinnett (Ga.) Daily Post notes, Thompson was perhaps the most active forward in the league, contributing 126 loose balls and causing 15 turnovers. He beat out Mark Matthews of Saskatchewan and Corey Small of Vancouver to win the award, giving Georgia its fourth player honoree for the season (Defensive Player of the Year Jason Noble, Teammate of the Year Mike Poulin, and Sportsmanship Award Jordan Hall).
M V P
— Georgia Swarm (@GeorgiaSwarmLAX) June 28, 2017
Lyle Thompson has been named the '17 @NLL MVP, becomes first-ever Swarm player to earn MVP honors.
READ https://t.co/IpLCbFW7Hc pic.twitter.com/Qdm8JYbAHd
2. Maryland has been on top of college women's lacrosse lately. Young girls' lacrosse players have grown up accustomed to seeing the Terps win national championships. But it wasn't all that long ago that Maryland nearly played its way out of relevancy, reaching just one national semifinal in a five-year stretch. How did Cathy Reese restore Maryland's dynasty? Megan Schneider explores that in a feature from our July/August print edition.
3. Also from the print edition, the glorious purging of one of the more befuddling streaks in college sports: Maryland won its first men's championship since 1975. Current Terps, alumni and fans were too happy to put to rest 42 years of frustration and to be the best, writes Matt Hamilton.
4. We continued our high school wrap-up with the West Region girls. Torrey Pines (Calif.) finished atop the Nike/US Lacrosse West Region Top 10, while junior Charlie Rudy led Novato (Calif.) to the No. 2 spot as the Epoch/US Lacrosse West Region Girls' Player of the Year.
5. It's not just transfer season for players. A number of assistant men's coaches are on the move, reports Terry Foy of Inside Lacrosse. Temple hired Devon Schneider as an assistant after she spent last season at Kennesaw State.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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The Baltimore Sun's Glenn Graham has a Q-and-A with recently graduated St. Paul's (Md.) goalie Alex Rode, ahead of the Virginia recruit's appearance in Saturday's Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic at Minnegan Field in Towson, Md.
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It's not uncommon for high schools to charge a fee for athletes playing interscholastic sports. At least Attleboro (Mass.) High is reducing its lacrosse fee for next season, reports the Sun-Chronicle.
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WTNH-TV takes a look at the progress of Quinnipiac's new stadium for its lacrosse and soccer teams.
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The Vail (Colo.) Daily has more on the popularity of the Vail Lacrosse Shootout, which continues this week.
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WCCO-TV explores the possiblity of the University of Minnesota adding varsity lacrosse. It's by no means new, having aired in April. But in light of the University of Utah's recent decision to add varsity men's lacrosse, it's interesting to see where another football-playing, state flagship institution stands in the process.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
History will be made next month as women's lacrosse joins the lineup of the North American Indigenous Games for the first time in the event's 25-year history. The National, a program produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, profiles some of the girls that will play and the significance of their participation. Good stuff.
WHAT’S ON TAP
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The West continues our wrap-up of the 2017 high school lacrosse season, releasing the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 10 and Epoch/US Lacrosse Player of the Year for boys’ lacrosse in the region. Find all the rankings here.
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