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Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:

1. Michigan fired both of its lacrosse coaches Tuesday, an unexpected development that, given the desirability of both positions, could jumpstart the coaching carousel.

John Paul, a Michigan alum who spearheaded the men's lacrosse team's transition from club to varsity in 2012-13, led the Wolverines to an 8-1 start this season, which included their first-ever win over a nationally ranked opponent (then-No. 10 Penn on March 11). But they finished with five straight losses, all to Big Ten opponents. Michigan is 1-14 in the conference since lacrosse became a Big Ten sport in 2015.

Paul was named Lacrosse Magazine's 2011 Person of the Year after leading the effort to elevate the Wolverines to Division I. Michigan, which won three MCLA championships in Paul's 14 years as the club coach preceding the move, became the first major FBS university to add men's lacrosse since Notre Dame did so in 1981. The addition also was the impetus for the Big Ten adding the sport. Paul's supporters took to Twitter to express their gratitude.

Jenny Ulehla, previously an assistant at Florida and the head coach at Temple and James Madison, led the Wolverines women to an upset win over rival Ohio State this season. They finished 5-12, their fourth consecutive losing season.

2. Landon (Md.) and McDonogh (Md.) further entrenched themselves as the nation's No. 1 teams in high school boys' and girls' lacrosse, respectively. Both had big weeks, with the Bears sweeping D.C.-area rivals Georgetown Prep (Md.) and Gonzaga (D.C.) and the Eagles thwarting Notre Dame Prep (Md.) to extend their remarkable winning streak to 172 games.

3. Boston College's Kenzie Kent might make it look easy, but transitioning from a six-month ice hockey season into the throes of a lacrosse playoff race is anything but simple. Our colleague Mark Macyk profiles the Eagles' two-sport star.

4. The ACC and Big Ten are set up to snag all eight at-large bids to the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament, according to Patrick Stevens, who checked in with the first of three Bracketology installments this week as we make our way to Selection Sunday.

5. In Tuesday action, Boston University and Lehigh advanced in the Patriot League tournament with quarterfinal wins over Lafayette and Bucknell, respectively. In Division II, Indiana (Pa.) and Mercyhurst ousted Slippery Rock and Seton Hill, respectively in the PSAC quarterfinals.

Notable results on the men's side included a win for Division II No. 1 Merrimack over Southern New Hampshire and Pace's overtime triumph against Saint Anselm in the Northeast 10 quarterfinals. In Division III, Hampden-Sydney and Lynchburg advanced in the ODAC tournament with victories over Shenandoah and Randolph-Macon, respectively.

What We're Reading

  • Late UMass Dartmouth men's lacrosse player Sean Peters is remembered as "an outstanding young man with great integrity and character." Peters, 22, died Saturday of complications related to Type 1 diabetes. The senior attackmen had 23 goals and 14 assists this season for the Corsairs.

  • The ACC and Big Ten announced their individual award winners for men's lacrosse. Syracuse's Sergio Salcido (Offensive Player of the Year) and North Carolina's Austin Pifani (Defensive Player of the Year) highlighted ACC postseason honors. Maryland's Matt Rambo (Offensive Player of the Year) and Tim Muller (Defensive Player of the Year) were among Big Ten honorees.. The Southern Conference also announced its awards, with Air Force's Chris Walsch (Offensive Player of the Year) and Richmond's Benny Pugh (Defensive Player of the Year) taking the top honors.

  • What's happened to Cornell? The young Big Red have had consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the 1990s.

  • David DiPiazza Jr., founder of the club team at Southeastern Louisiana University, was born without a left hand, but never let that stop him from excelling at sports.

  • The American Athletic Conference is considering adding women's lacrosse as one way to beef up its portfolio and gain equal footing with the five power conferences. A vestige of the former Big East, the AAC already has four full member institutions that sponsor women's lacrosse: Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina and Temple. San Diego State and Navy are associate members in rowing and football, respectively.

  • For the first time since 2013, Syracuse did not lead NCAA lacrosse in attendance. That distinction belonged this season to Maryland, which drew more than 14,000 fans to College Park for its game last week against rival Johns Hopkins to push its average attendance to 5,248 fans per game.

What We're Watching

"Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation" is a documentary on the Iroquois Nationals, who hosted the 2015 FIL World Indoor Championship in its sovereign territory, blending history, politics and culture. The film will be in select theaters May 26 and available on Video On Demand and iTunes on June 20.

 

What's On Tap

  • We'll have the first installment of women's Bracketology, our first attempt at sorting out the 26-team Division I field.

  • Today is the seventh anniversary of the death of Virginia women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend and Virginia men's lacrosse player George Huguely. The One Love Foundation, formed to educate 16- to 24-year-olds about relationship abuse, has organized One Love Giving Day (#OneLoveGivingDay) as a fundraising initiative to fuel its mission.
     

  • Small conference tournaments continue with ECC (Division II), SUNYAC (Division III) and Centennial (Division III) men's games and Northeast-10 (Division II) women's action featuring several nationally ranked teams.

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