Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Casey Powell headlines the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2017, as announced by US Lacrosse on Tuesday. Powell, one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport, retired from Major League Lacrosse last year and thus will be inducted in his first year eligible.
Tributes percolated on social media, the most revealing of which was perhaps this tweet by current Syracuse attackman Nate Solomon, a sophomore out of Alpharetta, Ga.
Congrats to @caseypowell22 for making the HOF pic.twitter.com/OE0qTxGbJa
— Nate Solomon (@nate_solomon3) May 23, 2017
Another electrifying player from the late 1990s, Virginia’s Doug Knight, will join Powell among those enshrined Sept. 23 at the Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md. As will Don Zimmerman, a three-time NCAA championship winning coach at Johns Hopkins whose reputation as the consummate teacher of the game followed him to UMBC, and Brooks Sweet, a two-time U.S. team attackman out of UMass.
Robin Nye Wood, one of just three Virginia women’s lacrosse players to have their jersey numbers retired, led the Cavaliers to the NCAA championship in 1991 as the IWLCA Defensive Player of the Year. She will be inducted alongside Jill Johnson Redfern and Leslie Blankin Lane. All three were collegiate stars that also earned their stripes playing for Team USA.
Jim McDonald and Laurette Payette will be inducted as truly great contributors.
2. Is Israel ready for the world? Seems so.
The Israel Lacrosse Association formally announced Tuesday it will host the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship in Netanya, a popular tourist destination on the Mediterranean. The event is expected to be the largest in international lacrosse history, with as many as 50 nations competing.
The ILA, which FIL president Stan Cockerton cited as a model for domestic growth, was founded in 2011. A team of primarily Israeli-born players finished seventh at the FIL U19 Men’s World Championship last summer in Canada. Scott Neiss, chairman of the ILA, expects the event to be “a lightning rod for us in development.”
3. NCAA championship weekend in Foxborough, Mass., is just two days away. Our colleague Patrick Stevens authored an A-to-Z guide on the Division I men’s final four. The USILA will host the 76th-annual North-South All-Star Games at nearby Providence, announcing the rosters Tuesday.
4. The latest Nike/US Lacrosse High School National Top 25 and Regional Top 10 rankings came out Tuesday. With McDonogh (Md.) and Landon (Md.) firmly entrenched as the No. 1-ranked teams in girls’ and boys’ lacrosse, respectively, the newsmakers Tuesday were found further down the charts. On the girls’ side, Bishop Ireton (Va.) took down St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes (Va.), resulting in a return to the top 10. On the boys’ side, the MIAA championship game Thursday will pit No. 9 McDonogh (Md.), the reigning champion of the rugged Baltimore-area private school conference, against No. 8 Calvert Hall (Md.).
5. Warrior Lacrosse released the Evo Warp Pro on Tuesday. The release comes three months after the New Balance-owned sports equipment manufacturer unveiled an Evo Warp Next for developing lacrosse players. Warrior is doubling down on the Warp stick technology.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Former Army and current Rochester Rattlers attackman Jeremy Boltus kept his stick skills sharp by throwing against a 20-foot concrete wall in Afghanistan. He’s a soldier by day, lacrosse star by night.
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Ohio State is playing in its first final four, and Towson has advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2001. If either team is nervous, it’s not showing. “We expect to be here,” Tigers attackman Joe Seider said Tuesday. Said Buckeyes coach Nick Myers: “There’s going to be lines on the field like there have been all year, and we’re excited to play between them.”
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Ohio Machine and two-time Team USA midfielder Kyle Harrison vouches for playing multiple sports and says it’s one of the reasons he has not burned out on lacrosse at age 34.
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Two years ago, Shawnee (N.J.) lacrosse standout Mike Shinske suffered a life-threatening brain injury when he fell during a pickup basketball game. Amazingly, the Penn State signee is thriving on the field once again.
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The last wave of Under Armour boys’ and girls’ lacrosse All-Americans have came out Tuesday.
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ESPN’s Anish Shroff says lacrosse has been his “gateway drug” into a multi-faceted broadcasting career. He’ll call his first NCAA semifinals and championship game this weekend.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
You may recall the story our colleague Sean Burns wrote on the old site and in the April edition of US Lacrosse Magazine on Graham Harden, the former All-American defenseman at North Carolina who was diagnosed with ALS last summer. Lax.com caught up with the Harden family and Tar Heels coach Joe Breschi during a recent alumni event in support of “G Force.”
WHAT’S ON TAP
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More NCAA championship content than you can shake a stick at, including A-to-Z analysis of the NCAA women’s final four and previews of the men’s and women’s matchups on tap in Foxborough.
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NLL Hall of Fame writer Neil Stevens takes his first look at the much-anticipated Champion’s Cup finals between the Georgia Swarm and Saskatchewan Rush.