Good morning. Here’s the latest from the lacrosse world:
1. Reinforcements arrived for the U.S. indoor team, which celebrated the return of Premier Lacrosse League champions Matt Rambo (PLL regular season and championship MVP), Connor Kelly and Matt Dunn to its lineup with a 22-3 thrashing of England in its World Indoor Lacrosse Championship pool play finale Monday at Langley Events Centre in Langley, British Columbia.
The tournament now moves into championship mode. Team USA (2-2) has the day off and will meet the winner of a first-round game between the Netherlands (3-1) and the Czech Republic (4-0) in the quarterfinals Wednesday at 11 p.m. Eastern (Lax Sports Network).
Four-time defending world champion Canada is the top seed once again after completing an unbeaten run through preliminaries with a 19-12 victory over the Iroquois Nationals on Monday night. The Canadians, who improved to 27-0 all-time in WILC play, scored the last six goals to pull away.
2. Major League Lacrosse announced finalists for the six end-of-season awards that were eligible for fan voting. Mark Cockerton (Boston Cannons), Zach Currier (Denver Outlaws) and Lyle Thompson (Chesapeake Bayhawks) are up for MLL MVP honors. Winners will be announced Oct. 5 at a special ceremony in Denver.
3. Without Lyle Thompson, who is competing for the Iroquois Nationals in the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship and was injured in the first game of the tournament, the Chesapeake Bayhawks locked up MLL’s No. 1 playoff seed anyway.
Among other highlights of the last weekend of the regular season, as noted by US Lacrosse Magazine’s Phil Shore: an 80-yard bomb by New York Lizards goalie Austin Kaut and the first goal scored by a Japanese player in MLL history.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Lacrosse All Stars roundtable on the future of women’s lacrosse stick technology.
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A Louisville high school girls’ lacrosse player exemplifies courage and respect for her team through her fight against thyroid cancer.
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Sam Klingsporn’s journey from UMass Lowell lacrosse to the U.S. Army.
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Justin Guterding on PLL year one and the root of his passion for inclusion as it pertains to special needs athletes.
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Bryn Athn hired another very recognizable name to replace Tucker Durkin at the helm of its men’s lacrosse program in Jack Crawford.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
It’s called fall ball, not soft ball.
No easing back in on the first day of practice for the boys! #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/4prJA70U6x
— Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteMLax) September 23, 2019
U.S. forward Joe Resetarits put a frustrating shooting performance to bed with a one-handed wrap-around beauty to go with his seven assists.
After putting up 7 assists but being snakebitten with his shooting, @JoeResetarits throws down the highlight of the game with a diving 1-hand wraparound goal to cap off the scoring @USAMLax defeats @englacrosse 22-3 in final game of round robin play at @worldlaxsport @WILC2019 pic.twitter.com/kKSgIzicHJ
— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) September 24, 2019
Ally Carey on the fundamentals of cradling and dodging.
Part : The fundamentals of cradling and dodging
— US Lacrosse (@USLacrosse) September 23, 2019
: https://t.co/Z475TGt1Js
We've partnered with @swaxlaxball on a four-part video series highlighting lacrosse fundamentals. The videos feature @USAWLax world champion and @prowomenslax champion @AllysonCarey. pic.twitter.com/gZNDEgQ8zX
How NBC kicked off its broadcast of the PLL championship game Saturday.
How NBC kicked off the Championship Game pic.twitter.com/F99JJXhxs2
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) September 23, 2019
WHAT’S ON TAP
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Hall of Famers abound with a profile on Class of 2019 inductee Rachael Becker DeCecco and a conversation with Dom Starsia and Lars Tiffany.
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A look inside the recruiting funnel.