Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The Air Force Academy suspended several members of the men’s lacrosse team during an on-going investigation for alleged misconduct. News Channel 13 reported Oct. 16 that the allegations dealt with hazing.
According to an Inside Lacrosse report Wednesday, those suspensions included the entire coaching staff, seniors and juniors. Freshmen and sophomores are not suspended and can practice informally.
“Based on preliminary indications, some members of the team and coaches have been put into an inactive status and will not participate in group lacrosse activities or inter-collegiate competition, until further notice,” an athletic department spokesman told Inside Lacrosse. “These actions are effective today and may be revisited as the investigation progresses. Because that investigation is ongoing, we cannot disclose any further information.”
2. The tension between Canada players and the Canada Lacrosse Association continues.
Cam Holding, who tore his ACL in October during Team Canada tryouts for the 2018 World Championship, found out his costs will not be covered by insurance. Because the injury did not occur with his NLL team, the Colorado Mammoth, he will not be paid while he is on the NLL physically unable to perform list during the 2017-18 season.
“I lose about half my income for the year,” Holding told Inside Lacrosse after he and his wife recently closed on a house.
3. Former Louisville player Madeline Beck, now 20, filed suit against coach Kellie Young and others on Aug. 29, 2016, accusing them of failing to provide proper medical care during an incident that occurred in August 2015 when she was a freshman.
The pending lawsuit surfaced Wednesday, the Courier-Journal reported, as it contradicted a statement released Tuesday by fired athletic director Tom Jurich’s attorneys claiming there were “no allegations of wrongdoing in a sport other than men’s basketball.”
Beck alleges she was hospitalized due to being overworked by the lacrosse staff during a conditioning activity and then not being properly treated.
Also out of Louisville, a total of 16 players have transferred or left the program in the past year. Most recently, juniors Elise Koehl, Casey Cummo, Allison Ferrara and sophomore Katie Caddigan reportedly left the team on Oct. 24, according to The Louisville Cardinal.
4. Villanova senior captain Kathleen O’Connor returns to the field full time this fall after battling cancer for 13 months. With aggressive treatments, the rare type of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma went into remission in November of 2016 and she earned a spot in the starting lineup this spring as a defender.
US Lacrosse Magazine’s Justin Feil spoke with O’Connor to share her inspirational story.
“Being on a team made this whole journey easy, if that’s a word you can use to describe it,” O’Connor said. “They made it better. They gave me incentive to come back to campus. That was a huge factor.”
5. Our #BestOfLax finalists for Best Men’s Breakthrough of 2017 are Josh Byrne (Chesapeake Bayhawks), Tom Schreiber (Toronto Rock), Michael Sowers (Princeton) and Jeff Teat (Cornell).
Byrne set an MLL rookie record before becoming the No. 1 overall NLL draft pick, while Schreiber became the NLL Rookie of the Year, setting a league assist record. Sowers set Princeton’s single-season scoring record and Teat set Cornell’s freshman single-season points record.
Read more about the candidates and vote for your favorite on Twitter today.
VOTE #BestOfLax Men's Breakthrough: Byrne (@TheBayhawks), Schreiber (@TorontoRockLax), Sowers (@TigerLacrosse) or Teat (@CornellLacrosse)
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) October 25, 2017
6. The Lacrosse Breakfast Club is the place to be Wednesday mornings in lower Manhattan.
Trilogy vice president of sales and marketing Mitch Belisle, also a defenseman for MLL’s Boston Cannons, NLL’s Georgia Swarm and the 2014 U.S. national team, still gets excited when his alarm goes off each Wednesday despite getting older.
“I get to work out with the Lax Breakfast Club and stay one 'Cornell conditioning test' ahead of the demon,” Belisle wrote in his first-person account.
7. Check out photos from the IWLCA ceremony honoring 11 women’s lacrosse trailblazers of the pre-Title IX era at US Lacrosse on Saturday.
What We’re Reading
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The Baltimore Sun breaks down Navy’s 2018 season by the numbers.
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The University of Denver profiles the four seniors on the women's lacrosse team for the 2018 season.
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Lakewood Ranch High (Fla.) becomes the second Manatee County public school to get lacrosse.
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Green Mountain College names its new men’s lacrosse coach, Paul Reif, who also takes over as the athletic department’s Director of Facilities.
What We’re Watching
KPBS News shares exclusive footage from NLL expansion team San Diego’s announcement that it will be known as the Seals.
“It’s fast. It’s exciting. Take the action of the NHL and the hard passion of the NFL, the hitting, and you’ve got the National Lacrosse League,” said NLL COO Dave Rowan, explaining the sport to new fans on the West Coast.
In case you missed it, Lax Sports Network also breaks down the news.
ICYMI: San Diego Seals announced as new name and logo of the @SanDiegoLax @NLL expansion team | https://t.co/oJkK8D7Df4 pic.twitter.com/UosfWojzgZ
— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) October 25, 2017
What’s On Tap
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Our #BestOfLax voting continues today with Best Women’s Breakthrough. Check back later this afternoon to read about our four finalists.
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Take a sneak peak inside our November edition of US Lacrosse Magazine, featuring our annual gym rats content.
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