Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The No. 18 Ohio State men's team yesterday continued its best start since 1966. In a game postponed Tuesday by inclement weather in Towson, Md., the Buckeyes improved to 8-0 with 6-3 defeat of the No. 11 Tigers. The game started at noon with temperatures in the 20s and considerable winds, perhaps leading to an unremarkable display of offense in a nevertheless-competitive 3-3 contest through three quarters.
The Buckeyes controlled much of the action, however, as Jake Withers won 11 of 13 faceoffs and Ohio State holding a 34-27 advantage in shots and 25-20 edge in ground balls. Eric Fennell, John Kelly and Jack Jasinski scored in the final frame to give the Buckeyes their best mark since their famed 14-0 campaign 51 years ago. They'll wrap a stretch of three games in nine days Sunday by hosting No. 2 Denver in a 5 p.m. tilt on ESPNU. More from Wednesday:
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It wasn't all bad for the brave souls at Johnny Unitas Stadium. Those who stayed for the 4 p.m. women's game were treated to an upset win for the No. 18 Tigers, who pounded out a 14-11 victory over No. 11 Notre Dame. Natalie Sulmonte scored five goals and added one assist to lead Towson to perhaps their best win, rankings-wise, since a 2014 defeat of coaches' No. 10 Georgetown. Towson overcame a 5-0 Notre Dame run that sandwiched halftime to notch the W.
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Speaking of brave souls, frigid weather didn't keep everyone away from High Point Solutions Stadium last night, where No. 5 Rutgers hosted No. 9 Princeton for their 95th battle for New Jersey bragging rights and the Meistrell Cup, named for National Hall of Famer Harland Meistrell. He helped both schools re-start lacrosse in the 1920s. The Scarlet Knights improved to 7-0 by claiming the cup for the first time since 2005, 16-11. Kieran Mullins led the way with four goals.
Bringing this trophy back home into the #RUMLax locker room! #MeistrellCup pic.twitter.com/pc6tzwVyt8
— Rutgers Men's LAX (@RUmlax) March 16, 2017
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Kelly Reese scored four of her five goals in the second half to help the Virginia women keep Loyola winless, 11-7, in Charlottesville, Va. The Cavaliers draw the aforementioned Fighting Irish Saturday.
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The storm's wake thwarted one of two Division III women's games pitting ranked teams, No. 16 Amherst at No. 3 TCNJ. But No. 9 Catholic and No. 18 Cortland did get their game in, moving it to American University in Washington, D.C. Hannah Elmer scored four goals and the Red Dragons scored six straight to extend a 5-4 second-half lead and hand the Cardinals their first loss of the season.
2. The US Lacrosse WCLA coaches released their polls for Division I and Division II Wednesday. There wasn't a ton of movement in D-I, though BYU made a strong surge thanks to a 9-8 win over then-No. 4 Colorado State. Grand Canyon (bonus points if you can name its mascot without looking) beat two ranked teams to jump from No. 6 to No. 2 in D-II.
3. The National Lacrosse League has reached a deal with Twitter on a free, live-stream package for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The package includes a regular-season game of the week and selected playoff games.
4. Want more NLL? You've got it in Neil Stevens' ever-informative notebook.
5. And a final bit of indoor lacrosse news, in case you missed it. US Lacrosse has named the assistant coaches and support staff for the 2019 U.S. men's indoor team.
What We’re Reading
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Life apparently has gotten easier for Jamie Blassingame, a girls' lacrosse coach in the Houston area. KPRC-TV reported on her battle with Tourette Syndrome, which causes involuntary movements and noises, but she recently got relief thanks to an interesting new procedure.
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The B1G is the best, opines Paddy Cotter of The Daily Collegian in State College, Pa. Tough to argue based on results thus far.
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The Kennesaw State women's team showed tremendous respect to their counterparts from Army following their Tuesday night game, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
What We’re Watching
Don't try this at home? Guess not.
What’s on Tap
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US Lacrosse has worked with several colleges to provide members with discounts on tickets to selected games, and Saturday's schedule features several great matchups that happen to have special offers in place.
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Looking ahead, Indiana's MCLA team will host "Stick It to Stigma" March 24-26 to raise awareness of mental health and illnesses that can affect it.
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The Warrior TV/Streaming Schedule has more games you can catch.