Skip to main content

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

1. Virginia coach Lars Tiffany is not recruiting freshmen and he’s committed to it.

Tiffany, the former Brown coach serving in his first season with the Cavaliers, said he can remember when he was an underdeveloped freshman out of Lafayette (N.Y). He said if his career would have been based on what college coaches saw of him as a high school freshman, there probably wouldn’t have been much of a future.

Now, he’s allowing time for his recruits to grow. He’s even selective about the sophomores at which he looks.

“We’ve lost some good freshman prospects and we’ve told them, it’s just not time,” Tiffany said. “We need more time to get to know them – what kind of student they are, what kind of player they are, and what kind of young man they are.”

Not much happened on Thursday in men’s lacrosse, but here are your notable results:

On the women's side:

  • Virginia broke away after a tight first half with a 10-0 run to cruise to a 17-9 win over William & Mary.

2. The March edition of US Lacrosse Magazine dropped Thursday. The edition centers on the issue of early recruiting and the impending NCAA legislation that could save the sport from itself.

The cover feature dives into the NCAA legislation, which would ban all forms of contact, even those initiated by the student-athlete, between college lacrosse coaches and prospects before Sept. 1 of their junior year. The NCAA Division I Council will review the proposal in April.

US Lacrosse Magazine spoke with current Team USA players who also work as coaches, as well as recent and current recruits affected by the process.

Also featured is Maryland’s Megan Whittle, who has assumed a new leadership role with Taylor Cummings gone, and Ohio State’s Eric Fannell, who still has unbridled love of the game his estranged father taught him.

3. The NLL playoff push has begun. Can anyone stop the Saskatchewan Rush and Georgia Swarm from meeting in the Champion’s Cup?

Neil Stevens previews Week 10 of the NLL season, including two matchups between the Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks in a matter of 18 hours. Both teams have struggled to this point, but it could be a big weekend to get back into contention.

The 7-1 Swarm will take the best record in the league to Calgary on Saturday to face the Roughnecks.

PHOTO BY BRIAN WESTERHOLT

4. UCLA holds the top spot in the WCLA Division I Coaches Poll, which was released on Thursday. 

UCLA is 6-0 with wins over No. 2 Georgia, No. 6 Texas and No. 7 San Diego State. The No. 1 Bruins will put its ranking to a test this week with games against No. 4 Santa Clara and No. 16 Colorado.

"It's an honor to be recognized, but it's too early in the season for this to hold too much meaning," UCLA coach Paige Lin said. "We have two huge games this weekend that we need to focus on and not be too concerned with rankings."

In the MCLA the February Players of the Month are California’s Max McKone and Appalachian State’s Mikey Fifield.

WHAT WE’RE READING

  • Good news for the Orangemen and their fans. Faceoff specialist Ben Williams should be back for Syracuse's matchup with Virginia on Sunday, according to coach John Desko. Williams suffered an undisclosed injury in the loss to Army last weekend.

  • Penn State freshman and U.S. U19 team member Mac O'Keefe continues to impress in his first collegiate games. He has 24 goals in his first four goals could get to 30 this weekend against Penn.

  • Is this the year Tufts gets dethroned in the always competitive NESCAC? Ken Stockmann dives into the NESCAC and previews the weekend ahead for Division III Men.

  • Syracuse's Riley Donahue is carrying the weight of her family name and a lacrosse dynasty that is yet to win a national championship. Her father, brothers and uncles all played at Syracuse and none won a national title.

  • UMBC players are finding the ball in their sticks at the right time thanks to Max Maxwell, who is climbing up the school's all-time assist list. If nothing else, he's got a great name.

  • ESPN's Quint Kessenich explains why the long-stick midfielder position is so important in lacrosse, and lists his top LSMs in college lacrosse today.

  • Navy hopes that the absence of its offense in an 8-7 loss to Boston University last weekend was just a fluke. 

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Former Team USA player, Princeton star and Cal coach Theresa Sherry is helping to empower young girls through lacrosse with the Tenacity Project. Check out more from Tenacity's US Lacrosse Stick Stories here.

WHAT’S ON TAP

  • Boy, do we have some good matchups in women's lacrosse Friday. First, defending champion No. 2 North Carolina looks to bounce back from the loss to Maryland when it faces Albany at US Lacrosse Headquarters at 3 p.m in the first of two games this weekend for the Tar Heels. At the same time, No. 10 Colorado battles No. 14 Denver in an in-state rivalry now with national implications. Later, No. 4 Syracuse hosts No. 11 Northwestern in its first real test of the young season. Listen to the game here.

  • Friday also opens a stacked weekend of college men's lacrosse. The premier matchup comes at 3 p.m., when Johns Hopkins travels to Princeton. Also worth watching: Ohio State men at Marquette at 8 p.m. Check out our TV listings for links to all streamed games this weekend.

  • Now, to Saturday and Sunday. For the men, watch out for these matchups. On Saturday, No. 1 Maryland battles No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 2 Denver hosts No. 6 North Carolina and No. 7 Penn travels to No. 5 Penn State. On Sunday, No. 16 Syracuse faces off with No. 9 Virginia and No. 10 Richmond battles Duke. Check our TV listings for more.

  • The women's lacrosse weekend might be a little less stacked, but there are still a few good matchups. Saturday: No. 19 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Duke meet in ACC action, as do No. 12 Notre Dame and Louisville. Loyola hosts No. 6 Penn State. Sunday: No. 5 Stony Brook hosts Northwestern, No. 16 Towson gets a shot at No. 3 Florida and No. 4 Syracuse meets Virginia.

“DIALED IN” IS POSTED DAILY MONDAY-FRIDAY AT 8 A.M. EASTERN ON USLAXMAGAZINE.COM.