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

1. Joey Sankey, the former three-time All-American attackman at North Carolina and 2015 MLL Rookie of the Year with the Charlotte Hounds, has testicular cancer.

Sankey shared the news on Instagram on Thursday along with an upbeat photo of him receiving chemotherapy treatment at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. “I am lucky that testicular cancer is a very curable disease, and I will beat this and move on,” Sankey wrote.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Three weeks ago, I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. I have started my first round of chemo this week. I am lucky that testicular cancer is a very curable disease, and I will beat this and move on. I have always believed that 10% of life is what happens to you, and 90% is how you react. I’m determined to make this negative obstacle a positive experience in my life and others! I appreciate any support in my efforts to raise awareness/ funding for Testicular Cancer, Prostate Cancer, and Mental Health through the Movember Foundation! My Family and I will also be hosting a 5K event at Penn Charter on Saturday, November 3rd. More details on 5K coming soon!! #beatcancer THANK YOU to my family and friends who have been supporting me through this!

A post shared by Joey Sankey (@jsankey11) on

 

Sankey, a three-time MLL All-Star, amassed 124 points in three seasons with the Hounds from 2015-2017. He was sidelined this summer after undergoing two knee surgeries. Sankey is organizing a 5K race at Penn Charter (Pa.), his alma mater where he’s an assistant boys’ lacrosse coach, on Nov. 3. The proceeds will benefit the Movember Foundation.

2. Best of Lacrosse voting continued Thursday with Kristen Gaudian (James Madison), Katie Hoeg (North Carolina), Julia Lisella (Colorado) and Paige Petty (Virginia Tech) being named finalists for Best Women’s Breakthrough.

3. Ryan Conrad played 11 minutes too many before blowing out his knee, thus denying him a medical redshirt and likely making this his last season with Virginia.  Urgency is the word.

4. Jared Bernhardt will wear the No. 1 jersey for Maryland. The two-time All-American junior attackman inherits the number from Tewaaraton Award finalist Connor Kelly, who succeeded 2017 Tewaaraton winner Matt Rambo in the honor.

5. Major League Lacrosse has launched a rebranding initiative that will include a new logo for the 2019 season. Also in MLL news, Lax Sports Network and Chesapeake Bayhawks coach and general manager Dave Cottle clarified some elements of the 51-percent salary cap increase.

WHAT WE’RE READING

  • For the Morgan State men’s lacrosse team of “Ten Bears” fame, a stunning upset of Washington & Lee in 1975 still resonates decades later. The team will be honored at an event on campus Friday.

  • “Brampton’s Own,” a feature film written and directed by former Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse player Michael Doneger, opens in theaters and various digital platforms today. The plot, about a struggling minor league baseball player who returns to his small hometown and is confronted by the girl that got away, comes from a personal place, Doneger told Hollywood Outbreak.

  • Denver announced the all-star alumni team that will play the current Pioneers on Saturday — a group that includes seven former All-Americans.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

MLL MVP and two-time All-World attackman Rob Pannell hones both his fundamentals and his creativity with this wall-ball routine.

WHAT’S ON TAP

  • Our Fall Ball Focus and Best of Lacrosse series continue with a glimpse at Marquette women’s lacrosse and finalists for Best Men’s Breakthrough, respectively.

  • Another big weekend of fall ball includes two high-level games US Lacrosse’s Tierney Field, with a first look at the Utah men as a Division I outfit Sunday against UMBC. Among other events: the St. Louis Lacrosse Classic, the University City Classic in Philadelphia, the Eddie Coombs Tournament at Marist and women’s play days at Maryland, Penn and Princeton.

  • Check the college fall ball calendar for these and other exhibitions across the country.

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