Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Previews for teams ranked in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20 began rolling out yesterday with No. 20 Villanova on the men's wide and No. 20 Virginia Tech on the women's side.
For the Wildcats, there's optimism despite the graduation of two the their best scorers ever in Jake Frocarro, who made it to the last cut in Team USA tryouts, and Jack Curran. First-team All-Big East attackman Christian Cuccinello scored 33 goals and added 31 assists last season and will direct the offense again.
Meanwhile in Blacksburg, Va., coach John Sung begins year two of his culture-change project after a promising first season. The Hokies won two ACC games for the first time and enjoyed their first overall winning season since 2012. Most of the top scorers return, including Tristan McGinley, who set a school record by corraling 95 draw controls last season.
2. In a world that frequently covets instant gratification, goalie Jack Kelly embodied valuable lessons in patience and perseverance. The former backup on his high school team has earned a spot on the final 23-man roster that will represent the United States in the FIL World Championship July 12-21 in Netanya, Israel.
Kelly sat behind Kyle Turri, himself a U.S. teamer with the 2012 world champion U19 squad, for much of his career at West Islip (N.Y.). Lightly recruited as a result, Kelly went to Brown, earned an early start, and ultimately graduated in 2016 with the most saves in school history. But Kelly again would have to wait when the Major League Lacrosse draft rolled around.
3. More from the U.S. men's team, as photographer Scott McCall presents a gallery of images from the Team USA Spring Premiere Jan. 6 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.