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

1. It’s championship season.

The fifth and final weekend of the inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse commences tonight with a pair of matchups. Team Cummings faces Team Ohlmiller at 5 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network, followed by Team Glynn vs. Team Waters at 8 p.m. on FS2. 

Check out the rosters for the final six games of Championship weekend here.

2. The Premier Lacrosse League playoffs also get underway with the first quarterfinal matchup in Salt Lake City between the Archers and Chaos at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on NBCSN and Peacock. The third and sixth seeds, respectively, split the season series after the Chaos topped the Archers last weekend at Albany. 

Full quarterfinal schedule and TV listings here. 

3. The PLL also rolled out its nominees for year-end awards ranging from MVP, to positional players of the year, to the Welles Crowther Humanitarian Award.

Grant Ament (Archers), Zach Currier (Waterdogs), Blaze Riorden (Chaos), Jeff Teat (Atlas) and Lyle Thompson (Cannons) are up for MVP. Whipsnakes teammates Matt Rambo and Zed Williams, who won the MVP in the league’s first two years, did not make the final list.  

The Jim Brown MVP Award nominees for 2021

@GrantAment
@CachZurrier
@BRiorden10
Jeff Teat
@lyle4thompson pic.twitter.com/i24sjtFTyH

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) August 19, 2021

4. There will be a new home for men’s and women’s Buckeye lacrosse in 2022. The Ohio State Board of Trustees approved a lacrosse-specific stadium yesterday, with construction planned to start in November. The $21.5 million project, covered entirely through philanthropic support, has an anticipated completion date of November 2022.

More on the plans for the new facility here. 

Soon pic.twitter.com/yyJFL5nlsa

— Nick Myers (@MyersJMZ) August 19, 2021

5. The Towson men’s lacrosse team announced its schedule in a unique fashion via a Spotify playlist. The Tigers hold their first regular season game at home against Johns Hopkins on February 11, 2022.

Who's ready for 2022 on @Spotify?

- https://t.co/8IZXDPCNDQ#UnitedWeRoar x #NCAALAX pic.twitter.com/AiGNaKbUW5

— TU Men's Lacrosse (@Towson_MLAX) August 18, 2021

6. Katie Hoeg continues to rake in awards, even after her collegiate career has ended.

Earlier this week, the all-time points leader for UNC women’s lacrosse was one of three Tar Heel athletes to receive the Patterson medal — the highest athletic achievement award given by the university. Yesterday, Hoeg, who is attending UNC’s Adams School of Dentistry and plans to pursue an advanced degree in oral surgery, was announced as the winner of the Chi Alpha Sigma honorary society’s postgraduate scholarship. 

More on the honor here.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• “Meg Decker is a powder keg of what could happen in women’s lacrosse,” said Jen Adams. Kenny DeJohn details Decker’s foundations as a player and a coach and why she’s ready to build a winner at Xavier. 

• Connor Buczek introduced the Cornell men’s lacrosse class of 2025. 

• From the only-in-Florida category: A large alligator got entangled in a lacrosse net in a Seminole County backyard. 

• Lacrosse is growing in popularity as a youth sport option in Washington state’s Gig Harbor, according to The News Tribune.  

• A film study of tonight’s Grant Ament vs. Jack Rowlett matchup from the PLL’s Joe Keegan. 

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

A nifty fake BTB to backhand dive at the NTDP Combine on Tierney Field. 

Today was a highlight reel.

The NTDP National Combine capped with an intense scrimmage, featuring more than a few #SCTop10 plays. pic.twitter.com/KSWVd4YsDx

— USA Lacrosse (@USA_Lacrosse) August 19, 2021

Is it spring yet? The High Point men’s lacrosse social media team is in midseason form.

""#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/VkLC7igipX

— High Point Lacrosse (@HPUMensLax) August 19, 2021

WHAT'S ON TAP

• Mira Shane — aka DJ MIRAcle — has been a driving force for positivity at Athletes Unlimited. We feature her later today.

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