Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse is under scrutiny for a video posted on social media that showed players singing a Lil Dicky song that included repetitive use of a racial slur as they celebrated a win over Elon on Saturday.
It’s the latest in a series of missteps that have called to attention the predominantly white sport’s lack of diversity and the image it perpetuates. Hokies coach John Sung issued a statement Monday apologizing for the incident, saying “the team will learn from this mistake and understand that these actions reflect poorly on our program.” In an interview with the Roanoke Times, Sung called it “a teachable moment,” adding “there was no malice involved” and that “they’re good kids that made a bad decision.”
Mainstream media — including Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Fox Sports, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, the Washington Post, the Daily Mail and Deadspin — picked up on the story Tuesday.
Ohio Machine midfielder Kyle Harrison and Official Lax Girl are among those in the lacrosse community speaking out about the subject on social media.
And once again, we make main stream media for the WRONG reasons. I’m not posting the link, but, it’s embarrassing to say the least. With that said, we won’t let this discussion fade. We WILL make this better for the next generation of players.
— Kyle Harrison (@KyleHarrison18) March 27, 2018
I’ve got a lot of thoughts about last weekends video, but my biggest concern without a doubt is how many people don’t seem to understand how/why it was offensive. There’s a MASSIVE disconnect.
— Kyle Harrison (@KyleHarrison18) March 27, 2018
This is a video of the Virginia Tech women's lacrosse team using insensitive language. In the past, there's been statements and apologies and forums discussing racial insensitivity in the sport. I believe that none of it is working, and we need to find a better solution. https://t.co/kpKUqUwcax
— Official Lax Girl™ (@officiallaxgirl) March 26, 2018
Change and "growing the game" goes beyond just saying you want lacrosse to be inclusive. Sometimes it includes calling out when bad things happen and demanding a long term shift in culture. pic.twitter.com/vxL1ygHud0
— Official Lax Girl™ (@officiallaxgirl) March 26, 2018
2. High school season hit full stride Tuesday. On the first day all five regions were active in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings — the Northeast got underway in earnest last week — several results either reinforced or rendered moot the established order.
Culver, the No. 1 team in the Nike/US Lacrosse High School Boys’ National Top 25, continued its searing start to the season by defeating No. 24 Gonzaga (D.C.) 12-8, while No. 3 Calvert Hall downed Garden City (N.Y.) in a defensive battle 5-2. No. 19 Yorktown (N.Y.) stymied No. 12 St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) in a 10-5 victory.
On the girls’ side, Syosset (N.Y.), unranked in the Nike/US Lacrosse High School Girls’ National Top 25, stunned No. 2 Garden City (N.Y.) 11-10. The Braves trailed 9-5 at halftime and came back to win on Kendall Hapern’s goal with seven seconds remaining. Notre Dame Prep (Md.), which had fallen out of the national rankings, took down No. 10 Glenelg 11-6. American Heritage-Delray (Fla.), the big newsmaker in this week’s rankings after taking down St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes (Va.) and Milton (Ga.), continued its ascent with a 15-13 win over No. 19 Glenelg Country (Md.)
3. Dartmouth aims to be more than a one-hit wonder after defeating Princeton in women’s lacrosse for the first time since 2014. The Big Green, who have won six straight games, have responded well to second-year coach Danielle Spencer ratcheting up the tough love in year two.
4. TCNJ, ranked No. 5 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20, scored seven second-half goals to take down No. 1 Middlebury 10-6 in a top-five showdown Tuesday.
Another No. 1, Florida Southern, escaped a similar undoing, surviving a furious late rally by Tampa to win 13-12 in Division II action.
PHOTO BY KEVIN P. TUCKER
Becky Gohsler had two goals and two assists in Delaware’s 11-10 win over visiting San Diego State on Tuesday.
In Division I women’s results, Delaware edged San Diego State 11-10 behind Becky Gohsler’s two goals and two assists, Yale eked past Marist 13-12 and Rutgers handled Niagara 13-8.
5. Cornell, whose 20-13 win over Penn on Saturday vaulted it into the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20, continued the offensive fireworks in a 23-5 drubbing of Air Force on Tuesday — the 750th win in program history.
It was an all-upstate New York kind of Tuesday, with Binghamton edging Siena 13-11 and Hobart defeating Canisius 19-9.
6. The National Lacrosse League inked another major digital media partnership, announcing Tuesday that Bleacher Report Live — Turner Sports’ new streaming service — will stream live and on-demand games during the 2018-19 season. This is the 16th partnership announcement from the league since the start of the 2016-17 season, including those with media partners such as Twitter, CBS Sports Digital and Facebook Watch.