Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world.
1. Abigail Rehfuss, the former All-American midfielder for Loyola, has been hired as the next head coach for Siena women’s lacrosse. Rehfuss, who graduated from Loyola in 2011 and plays for the UWLX’s Philadelphia Force, replaces former coach Bryana Borrelli.
Rehfuss was most recently leading the Shaker (N.Y.) girls' program, putting together a 23-10 record over the past two seasons. She also had experience coaching at Division III Roger Williams and the Albany Elite Lacrosse Club. In her college playing career, she had 177 career points and ranks fourth all-time in Loyola history with 153 draw controls.
“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to join the Siena family,” Rehfuss said in a press release. “Being from Latham [N.Y.], I’ve both followed and been a supporter of Siena athletics my entire life. I’m eager to get started.”
2. #BestofLax is back! Each year, we at US Lacrosse Magazine present the best coaches, players, games, performances, breakthroughs and moments for our annual “Best of Lacrosse” edition. Kicking things off Monday was the Best Men's Coach category, which imcludes the Ohio Machine's Bear Davis, Ohio State's Nick Myers, Towson's Shawn Nadelen and Maryland's John Tillman,
Davis led the Machine to the MLL title after falling in the championship game in 2016. Tillman cracked the list after finally breaking the Maryland title drought, beating Ohio State's Nick Myers in the national championship. Nadelen, however, led an underdog Towson squad to its first final four appearance since 2001.
Voting on Twitter opened Monday morning and continues this week. Make your picks now.
Vote #BestOfLax Men's Coach: @MachineMLL Davis, @OhioState_MLAX Myers, @Towson_MLAX Nadelen, @TerpsMLax Tillman | https://t.co/LzQyhUG04w
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) October 16, 2017
3. The lacrosse community lost two of its finest last week, as former Team USA defensemen Bob Vencak (Rutgers) and Tom Keigler (Washington and Lee) lost their battles with cancer.
Vencak, the three-time All-American at Rutgers, was an All-World selecton for Team USA during the 1986 World Championships. He will be entered posthumously into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony Friday.
Keigler was also a three-time All-American, at Washington and Lee. He was also a member of the 1978 and 1982 national teams and volunteered with US Lacrosse on multiple occasions. He was most recently the men’s chair for the Hall of Fame selection committee.
4. LaxCon Keynote Speaker Jon Gordon almost quit lacrosse. He started in ninth grade at Smithtown East (N.Y.), and was about to leave the sport for baseball before coach Tony Caiazza convinced him to stick around.
It’s a good thing he did, because Gordon blossomed late in high school and made it to Cornell, where he learned a lot about himself. After bouncing between careers after college, Gordon found another passion in writing and speaking.
He’s excited to give back to the lacrosse community that helped shape who he is today, and he’ll get the chance on Jan. 20 at 8 a.m.