Professional PLL
06:00 PM
Jul 19
Phi
Den
Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Maryland women’s lacrosse picked up another statement win on Thursday afternoon, using four goals from Megan Whittle to beat Penn 13-7 — the Quakers’ first loss of the season.
Whittle had two goals to help the Terps jump out to a 5-0 lead early in the first half. Freshman Zoe Belodeau led a Penn run that cut the deficit to 6-4 with five minutes left in the half.
Maryland answered with six straight goals to pull clear of Penn and seal the victory. Three different Quakers had multiple goals on the day, but Terps goalie Megan Taylor had 13 saves to help the cause.
Also in women's action, No. 17 Penn State got a game-winning goal from Katie O'Donnell to down No. 19 Johns Hopkins 13-12 in overtime. The win marks No. 100 for Missy Doherty at Penn State.
KO!!!! Penn State wins it in overtime!! 13-12!! #WeAre #PSUWLAX pic.twitter.com/vd0Ia5t6H1
— Penn State Women’s Lacrosse (@PennStateWLAX) March 23, 2018
The Nittany Lions scored four straight goals to pull out to a 7-3 lead in the first half and led by three goals at the break. Penn State continued its strong offensive showing, pushing the lead to 10-6 on a goal from O'Donnell. Maggie Schneidereith keyed a Hopkins run that tied the game at 10-10 with 20:10 left.
The teams went back-and-forth throughout the final 20 minutes, with regulation ending on a shot clock violation by the Blue Jays. O'Donnell won the game with 2:35 left in overtime.
More Thursday Women's Scores
No. 3 Maryland 13, No. 7 Penn 7
No. 17 Penn State 13, No. 19 Johns Hopkins 12 (OT)
UMass 22, Harvard 17
Vermont 11, Sacred Heart 6
Winthrop 20, Wofford 7
No. 18 NYIT 12, No. 17 St. Leo 6 (WD2)
2. The Tewaaraton Foundation announced 18 first-round additions to its Watch List. Among the new additions to the watch list are 10 underclassmen.
Albany phenom Tehoka Nanticoke leads a men’s group that includes Penn State’s Gerard Arceri, Loyola’s Foster Huggins and Virginia’s Michael Kraus.
USC’s Kerrigan Miller headlines the women’s additions, which feature seven underclassmen. Freshmen Zoe Belodeau (Penn) and Charlotte North (Duke) are also included.
3. North Carolina is in the midst of a three-game skid after starting the year at 6-0. The culprit? The recent run could be due in part to poor shooting.
In those three losses (Denver, Hofstra, Richmond), the Tar Heels shot 23.4 percent on 94 shot attempts and put only 51 shots on goal. Coach Joe Breschi’s squad will look to turn it around this weekend at the Pacific Coast LAX Shootout against Maryland.
4. Innovation has now allowed more children with cerebral palsy to play the game of lacrosse. Thank PennAir engineer Mike Johnson, who developed a mechanism that allows these children to throw and catch.
Johnson’s company works to help companies improve business operations through innovation and technology. In search of ideas, he reached out to partner company VLinc, which told him about a mother that wanted to find an automated stick for her son, David, an adaptive player with cerebral palsy.
From the #innovation edition, an automated stick allows athletes with cerebral palsy to play lacrosse.
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) March 22, 2018
Parkville Adaptive Lacrosse
https://t.co/oP7vS19k0H pic.twitter.com/rkYi3tW72R
What started as a project became a passion for Johnson, who made regular trips to Parkville Adaptive Lacrosse. He developed an automated goalie stick that has benefited the lacrosse experiences of David and two other adaptive players.
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Also in our innovation edition content, follow along with the evolution of the lacrosse stick and the innovation that brought it to what it is today.
5. Sam Apuzzo is being asked to step up for Boston College this season — not only with her production on the field, but her vocal presence within the program.
Apuzzo is quiet in nature, and that could have hurt her chances of making the 2015 U.S. U19 team. Now, she's one of the best players in the country and settling into her role as a leader for the Eagles.
6. The Philadelphia Wings have made it clear — Coach Paul Day and his team are preparing to win in the NLL next year. With two new teams entering the league in late 2018 (San Diego Seals the other), Day believes he can build a strong team immediately.
“The word competitive, I don’t like it,” Day said. “It almost means you’re happy to just compete and that’s it. I think we can put a team on the floor that is going to entertain and play to win every night.”
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Michigan and Denver continue to hold the top spots in the Division I and Division II WCLA polls.
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Inside Lacrosse reveals its Division I Player of the Year Top 10.
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Johns Hopkins’ trip to Charlottesville to face Virginia will have extra meaning for Blue Jays SSDM Danny Jones, who grew up idolizing former Cavaliers great Will Barrow.
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Meet the contenders for the New Jersey girls' lacrosse state title in 2018.
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Jeremy Thompson stopped by Riverside Community School to talk about the power of lacrosse.
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For Albany’s dominant faceoff man TD Ierlan, wearing eye black is more than just a look. It helps him get ready on gameday.
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Arizona State men's club lacrosse coach Todd MacRobbie has resigned from his position. Assistant Ben Prepchuk will take over the helms.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Snow day in Lynchburg? Members of the Hornets’ men’s lacrosse made the best of the late-spring storm, getting together for an intense snowball fight.
#SnowDaysOff for @LynchburgMLAX #SnowballFight pic.twitter.com/QOEkvMPcJZ
— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) March 22, 2018
With NFL pro days in full force this spring (including one at USC with quarterback Sam Darnold), the Trojans women's lacrosse team decided to try out some drills for themselves.
WHAT’S ON TAP
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No. 13 USC, No. 15 Colorado and No. 20 Stanford all in action Friday night in Pac-12 play. No. 12 Northwestern hosts Michigan.
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We'll have plenty more content from our innovation edition.
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Catch our mens and women's weekend watch stories to get you ready for the weekend slate.