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If you thought world champs vs. national champs had a nice ring to it, how does USA vs. Canada sound? US Lacrosse is raising the stakes of the annual Team USA Fall Classic (Oct. 18-20), bringing the greatest rivalry in international lacrosse to Baltimore.
For the second straight year, both defending NCAA champions, Virginia and Maryland, will be in Baltimore to take on the U.S. men’s and women’s senior teams, respectively.
On top of that, however, Team Canada is coming south of the border for a pair of exhibition games against Team USA, the first time the two countries will clash since the U.S. women swept Canada in the 2017 World Cup and World Games and the U.S. men eked past Canada on a last-second goal in the 2018 World Championship final.
“We want to play USA more frequently than just once every four years,” said Jason Donville, director of high performance and international relations for the Canadian Lacrosse Association. “We want to get to an annual event. This is the first step.”
Add to that mix the debut of USA Select U15 and U17 boys’ and girls’ teams against Team Ontario, the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame induction ceremony and another round of U.S.-Canada games played under World Lacrosse’s Olympic trial rules, and it amounts to a massive weekend for US Lacrosse and the sport.
“The Fall Classic will be unprecedented,” said Skip Lichtfuss, director of national teams and high performance at US Lacrosse. “The inclusion of the NTDP competition is especially meaningful. The opportunity for our prospective U. S. team high-schoolers to get a sense of the experience and an up-close feel alongside our current senior team will be integral in their development and aspirations.”
ONE LAST HURRAH
In soccer, these games are called international friendlies.
But considering the opponent and the manner in which the U.S. defeated Canada in Israel — a result marred somewhat by a phantom offside and scoreboard clock inconsistency — the tenor of their Oct. 18 encounter might not be so chummy.
“Let me put it diplomatically,” Donville said. “Both teams are pushing each other as hard as they can, which is great for the sport.”
For U.S. coach John Danowski, however, this game represents an opportunity to turn the page on 2018 once and for all. Danowski gave the 23 players who traveled to Israel the first right of refusal and from there expected to dip into the 46-man training team.
“Some guys have already said no thanks, they’re moving on,” Danowski said. “Then we have that second group of guys that didn’t travel. That was the idea, to have them ready for the international experience.”
Come January, that’s when the process of identifying players with the potential to represent Team USA in 2022 in British Columbia begins in earnest. There are two pro leagues to scout now, twice as many players to evaluate, not to mention the current collegians likely to be in the mix.
Danowski also likes the initiative US Lacrosse has taken with the National Team Development Program, establishing a talent pipeline at the U15 and U17 levels in addition to the U19 teams. He emphasized the importance of continuity and chemistry.
“It’s the next evolution in developing this pride that we all have in representing our country,” Danowski said. “If the Olympics are going to happen, it’ll be an even greater emphasis one day that somebody has come through the program.”
EVERYONE TOGETHER
From the moment she took the reins of the U.S. women’s team, Jenny Levy has obsessed over two letters and four numbers.
LA 2028.
But for lacrosse to have any real chance of returning to the Olympics when the Games are in Los Angeles nine years from now, Levy argued, Baltimore 2021 must be spectacular.
And while US Lacrosse will host the 2021 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship at Towson University, it can’t just be the U.S. in the spotlight.
It’s why Levy gushed when she saw that the WPLL had players from nine different countries, including Japan’s first-ever women’s pro, on its rosters this summer. Why she welcomed the opportunity to play England last spring and Canada this fall. Why she hopes international rules will address stalling and simplify stick specifications to create a faster, simpler, more accessible and more marketable product. Why she keeps drawing comparisons to the 99ers and arranged for women’s soccer legends like Brandi Chastain and Abby Wambach to speak to the team.
For Levy and Team USA, LA 2028 is their why.
“Growing the game is not just U.S.-focused. It’s got to be everyone together,” Levy said. “How do we position the 2021 world games as a springboard for what we’re trying to do in 2028 with the Olympics?”
Using that same reasoning, Donville is particularly excited to see how the USA-Canada rivalry — men and women — translates to World Lacrosse’s 6-on-6 Olympic trial format.
“We haven’t had it run yet,” he said. “We haven’t had it played by the top two teams in the world.”
They’ll play by traditional international rules Oct. 18 and Oct. 19 and Olympic trial rules Oct. 20.
“The first cut looks great,” Donville said. “But there will be a whole bunch of unintended consequences that you will not see until you play it.”
REPEATEDLY UNREPEATED
Only two teams — Syracuse (2008-09) and Duke (2013-14) — have managed to repeat as NCAA Division men’s lacrosse champions since the turn of the millennium.
Virginia coach Lars Tiffany, ever the intellectual, wants to know why.
“How do we attack this?” pondered Tiffany, who in just his third year in Charlottesville led the Cavaliers to ACC and NCAA titles. “You look at college football, men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse over the last 20 years, and it’s rare to see a repeat champion. Why? We’re going to look at the controllables and uncontrollables and get them talking about what we can control.”
Think about that collection of offensive talent: Michael Kraus, Ian Laviano and Matt Moore are back on attack, and Dox Aitken will anchor the midfield — and that group should have the ball plenty thanks to faceoff man Petey LaSalla.
Two defensemen (Kyle Kology and Cade Saustad), first-team All-American long pole Jared Conners and goalie/championship weekend hero Alex Rode also return.
The Cavaliers have some holes to fill, such as resilient defenseman Logan Greco, high-IQ shooter Mikey Herring and do-everything midfielder Ryan Conrad, who turned in a brilliant final month as a dangerous offensive option and an exceptional faceoff wing.
“We’re incredibly fortunate to be able to play two elite international teams. This will certainly be an immediate eye-opener of where we and how much we need to work on,” Tiffany said of Fall Classic. “Some of our motivation will be that Virginia has never done this before. We’re also going to remind them of how it felt to win a championship. Having tasted that, can you imagine ending a season without it?”
ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET
The Team USA Fall Classic will be a big weekend for the red, white and blue.
But considering one-sixth (six of 36) of the U.S. women’s training team that participated in its June camp consisted of Maryland graduates and Terps coach Cathy Reese will be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame (see page 54), expect a bit more red in the crowd.
Maryland must replace an incredible senior class. Eight starters graduated, including Tewaaraton-winning goalie Megan Taylor and top three scorers Jen Giles, Erica Evans and Caroline Steele. Fans will be eager to see the new-look Terps.
Count Reese among them.
“We have lots of spaces to fill, no doubt about that,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to compete against the best in the world, and we’ll use it as a learning experience.”
“It will be so cool to have all the Terp alumni together to celebrate the Hall of Fame,” Reese added. “It’s going to be a very special weekend.”