Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Team USA has landed in England. Members of the U.S. women's team will supply occasional blogs to chronicle their journeys to the World Cup. Check out the latest edition of "Mission Log," authored by attacker Alex Aust.
2. Fellow Team USA attacker Alyssa Murray finds herself in an interesting position. The former All-American at Syracuse is an alternate on the World Cup team and on the active roster for the International World Games in Wroclaw, Poland, which follows the FIL event this month.
3. Know your foe: Australia. And the Aussies represented a very formidable foe on several occasions, having won two World Cups and claiming the silver medal four times. But after a bronze in 2013 and no medal in the U19 women's championship two years later, the rebuilding program has an important litmus test in this year's World Cup.
4. Ready for some Major League Lacrosse nostalgia? As the league's all-star game hits Northern California Saturday, Phil Shore takes a look back at the franchise that once called SoCal home, the Los Angeles Riptide. The team reached the championship game in 2008, and cross-country flights to practices at sunset created a bond among players. And a note: if you're a US Lacrosse member, you can purchase discounted tickets to the MLL All-Star Game. Enter offer code USLLAX17.
5. We continued our high school wrap-up with the Northeast Region girls. Garden City (N.Y.) finished atop the Nike/US Lacrosse Northeast Region Top 10, winning its 14th state championship in 22 years. Skaneateles (N.Y.) senior midfielder Kyla Sears battled through injuries to lead the No. 6 Lakers to the state Class D title as the Epoch/US Lacrosse Northeast Region Girls' Player of the Year.