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:
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Michigan moved to 5-1 with an 11-6 win over Mercer, aided by three goals from Brent Noseworthy and 11 saves from Tommy Heidt.
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Adam Weidemann’s three goals and three assists led No. 13 Belmont Abbey past No. 19 Queens (N.C.) by a 14-6 margin in Division II play.
On the women's side:
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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.