Good Morning. Here's the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Cornell men's lacrosse coach Matt Kerwick resigned Monday, with offensive coordinator Peter Milliman taking over as the interim coach through the 2018 season. Kerwick is one of only a handful of coaches to lead three different Division I teams (Hobart and Jacksonville being his previous stops) to NCAA tournaments. The Big Red, however, have had two consecutive losing seasons, the first time that has happened since the 1990s.
2. Bracket breakdowns featuring in-depth analysis and committee rationale of all six NCAA lacrosse tournaments — Division I, II and III men and women — came out Monday. Find them here:
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
3. The Nike/US Lacrosse college rankings come out today, a day later than usual to accommodate coverage of the NCAA tournament selections. These will be the last updates until after Memorial Day. If the media and coaches polls provide any indication, the Maryland men will be No. 1, matching their tournament seeding, with bumps for conference champs Monmouth, Air Force, Marquette and Yale. And look for Ivy League champ Princeton to rise on the women's side. In small college, there will be a new No. 1 in the Divisions II and III men's rankings after Merrimack and Bates, respectively, lost in their conference tournaments. Same for Division II women, with Lindenwood falling in the RMAC final.
Maverik/IL Media Polls
MD1 | WD1
USILA Polls
MD1 | MD2 | MD3
IWLCA Polls
WD1 | WD2 | WD3
4. The Toronto Rock and Colorado Mammoth advanced to NLL East and West Division finals, respectively, in similar fashion. Now both teams are riding a wave of confidence that could spell trouble for the Georgia Swarm and Saskatchewan Rush, respectively.
5. Chesapeake Bayhawks midfielder Myles Jones enjoyed his best game as a pro, leading the team to a 19-18 comeback win over the Boston Cannons that could loom large if another razor-thin playoff race materializes this year.
WHAT WE'RE READING
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Incarcerated minors at a Delaware correctional institution discover a new outlet in lacrosse, thanks in part to US Lacrosse and Wilmington Friends School.
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ESPN analyst Paul Carcaterra says the geographic restrictions of the NCAA tournament unduly affect bracket integrity, while Syracuse coach John Desko offers that this is the most competitive field he has ever seen.
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The WCLA national championships begin Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Utah. The growth in quality non-varsity teams made this edition of the US Lacrosse-hosted event particularly difficult to seed.
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Members of the Western New England women's lacrosse team are in hot water over Cinco de Mayo party photos that surfaced on Instagram.
What We're Watching
A couple of awesome videos from our friends at The Lacrosse Network.
First, a highlight from the April 28 MCLA matchup between Arizona State and Chapman.
Broken Ankles. pic.twitter.com/CM9ZHYXGAn
— The Lacrosse Network (@LacrosseNetwork) May 8, 2017
Next, TLN's latest edition of "Drive" goes behind the scenes at IMG Academy. Ever wonder what it's like train in state-of-the-art facilities with world-class coaches and have a high school experience centered around sports? Get a good look, especially at the IMG "Mind Gym" at around the five-minute mark.
Lenoir-Rhyne will host Tampa in its first-ever NCAA Division II men's lacrosse tournament game. Think the Bears are excited?
That feeling when you make the first NCAA tournament in program history... #FAMILY #BearsOnTop #BetweenTheBricks #CommandEveryMoment pic.twitter.com/ybdDpBcJBm
— LR Mens Lacrosse (@LRMensLacrosse) May 8, 2017
What's On Tap
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The MCLA national championships are underway in California. Follow @MCLA on Twitter and visit mcla.us for score updates, live stream links and more from the best non-varsity college men's lacrosse teams in the country.
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In addition to the new Nike/US Lacrosse college rankings, we'll have updates of the Nike/US Lacrosse National High School Top 25 and Regional Top 10s for boys' and girls' lacrosse. Find all of the rankings here.
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The NCAA Division III men's lacrosse tournament opens today with two first-round games that feed into the round of 32 tomorrow. Lasell plays Misericordia and John Carroll meets Albion at Salisbury and RIT, respectively, with the winners advancing to play the respective host institutions.