College Fall Ball: HEADstrong Event, American Boy Fall Brawl Open Men's Slate

Division I men’s lacrosse gets its fall ball competition started this weekend, with a handful of events serving as the first course in what’s to be an autumn of adjustments.

According to our 2024-25 College Lacrosse Fall Ball Schedule, Loyola and UMBC kick things off on Friday.

Among those to watch:

• Not that records matter in the fall, but Loyola is 15-16 all time against UMBC, though the last competition between the Baltimore programs was Feb. 26, 2013. Loyola enters a season in which it’s trying to find itself after posting a 7-8 record in 2024 — the first time Charley Toomey’s Greyhounds were under .500 since that same 7-8 record in 2015. Similarly, UMBC was under .500 last season after showing signs of success the year prior, so the fall represents the steppingstones to improvement.
• Hofstra hosts its annual HEADstrong event in honor of former Pride lacrosse player Nick Colleluori, who died after a 14-month battle with Diffuse Large B-Cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma not long after his freshman season in 2005. The day begins with a presentation at 11:30 a.m. before scrimmages against Manhattan and St. Bonaventure. Hofstra recently awarded the prestigious No. 27 to redshirt senior midfielder Rory Jones in honor of Colleluori.
• Denver and Utah square off in Salt Lake City on Saturday, with the Utes carrying an 0-4 regular-season record against the Pios in their short history as a Division I program. But Utah is a program moving up the pecking order, evidenced by back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. Denver, too, is back on the climb after a semi-surprising NCAA semifinal run in May. Lacrosse west of the Mississippi River is doing just fine.
• Much like Hofstra’s HEADstrong event, Princeton and Colgate will play for a good cause on Sunday in the annual American Boy Fall Brawl. The event raises funds for addicts and families in memory of Matt Megale, who was just 26 when he died of a drug overdose in March 2017. Megale had always dreamed of playing lacrosse at Notre Dame, but his addiction derailed his aspirations. The website, americanboy.org, has operated since September 2019 and contains resources for addicts and their families.