Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Ben Reeves, a Major League Lacrosse All-Star before playing in his first game, made his debut last week, and he led off this week’s MLL notebook.
The league named the 2018 Tewaaraton Award winner for NCAA champion Yale to its all-star squad, which will face Team USA June 28 at Harvard Stadium, before he stepped onto the field for the Dallas Rattlers. Last week he finally did the latter, scoring twice in a 17-16 home win over the Ohio Machine.
Connor Fields, an All-American out of national semifinalist Yale, also made his debut. Check out more on him, the Chesapeake Bayhawks’ five-game winning streak, and how Florida fought the [Eric] Law, and the Law won.
2. Meet Mr. Lopez, perhaps the best lacrosse player you’ve never heard of.
Described as a lacrosse star ahead of his time, Mario Lopez as a freshman in high school took a dare from a friend that he would never play lacrosse. Eight years later, he graduated from UMass as a two-time All-American long-stick midfielder. And he wasn’t done earning respect the old-fashioned way, by working for it.
3. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference has added St. Bonaventure as an associate member in men’s lacrosse.
That represents an important move for the Bonnies, who make their varsity debut next season. League membership affords St. Bonaventure a path to the NCAA tournament via the automatic bid given to the MAAC champion.
4. Canucks Sports & Entertainment has acquired the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Stealth, as announced by the league yesterday.
The parent company of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks will rename and rebrand its new lacrosse franchise and move its home games to Rogers Arena, which seats 18,910 for hockey. The Stealth had played at 5,200-seat Langley Events Centre about a 35-minute drive southeast of downtown Vancouver.
The announcement brings to a close the Stealth era for a franchise that originated as the Albany Attack in 2000. In 2004, the team moved to San Jose, Calif., and adopted the Stealth nickname. A 2010 move to Everett, Wash., brought with it a Champion’s Cup for the Washington Stealth, who lasted until a 2014 sale and move to Vancouver.
5. The Bonnies and the Stealth know where they’re going, but TD Ierlan does not yet know where he is going, as reported by Inside Lacrosse.
Ierlan, one of the college game’s great faceoff artists, was granted his release from Albany after an All-American season. The report indicated Ierlan will transfer to either Cornell or Yale. Ierlan confirmed Monday that he was still unsure of where he will end up.