Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Jared Bernhardt sparkled in his college football debut Thursday night.
The former Maryland attackman and reigning Tewaaraton Award winner started at quarterback for Division II Ferris State, accounting for seven touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 54-14 season-opening win over Findlay.
Commanding the triple-option offense seemingly with the same ease he did as a high school standout at Lake Brantley (Fla.), Bernhardt completed 12 of 14 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for another 120 yards and four touchdowns, routinely making tacklers miss the way he did lacrosse defenders — with explosive speed.
Bernhardt made his lacrosse coach proud.
Jared Bernhardt doing Jared Bernhardt things. If you know @Jared_bernhardt this doesn’t surprise you. He’s always been a winner. #bethebest #1 pic.twitter.com/E6Mn74m1VB
— John Tillman (@CoachTillman1) September 3, 2021
2. Michelle Tumolo has hired an all-star staff at Army.
Tumolo tabbed fellow Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse pros Katrina Dowd and Ella Simkins as assistant coaches, the academy announced Thursday.
Dowd, a three-time NCAA champion as a player at Northwestern and two-time NCAA champion as an assistant at North Carolina, coached Tumolo at Syracuse in 2012 and has played with her in the U.S. national teams program.
3. Hartford won’t compete in the America East in 2022.
Numerous men’s lacrosse players left the school or transferred after Hartford announced in May its plans to transition all sports from Division I to Division III. The team does not have a sufficient number of players to meet minimum America East conference requirements, the university announced Thursday, adding that coach Ryan Martin and his staff would remain on board to restock the roster for 2023.
The Hawks could still practice and scrimmage other teams this spring.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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About the 2021 PALA Sixes Cup, a Pan-American Lacrosse Association event drawing 10 teams from seven nations to Florida this weekend.
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Why USA Lacrosse is embracing the new World Lacrosse Sixes discipline and what opportunities lie ahead, a blog by director of national teams and high performance Skip Lichtfuss.
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How PLL Defensive Player of the Year finalist and caused turnovers leader Liam Byrnes inspires confidence wherever he goes — regardless of his hairstyle.
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About Chris Garland’s inspiring journey, the latest in our content partnership series with Blaxers Blog.
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How a pair of highly-touted freshmen are raising expectations at James Madison.
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On Wayne Gretzky, John Tavares and other NHL players with lacrosse backgrounds.
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The Athletic (requires subscription) on Princeton lacrosse player turned Broadway actor Sam Gravitte.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Kyle Harrison’s undeniable impact on lacrosse, the “Weekly Watch” with Mikey Diggs on The Lacrosse Network.
WHAT’S ON TAP
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Lacrosse’s favorite Paralympian, Noelle Lambert, runs the 100-meter T63 (single through or above-knee deficiency) race in Tokyo, with prelims tonight and the finals tomorrow morning.
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Nelson Rice’s primer on Sunday’s PLL semifinals in Chester, Pa. The Atlas play the Chaos (11 a.m. ET) and the two-time defending league champion Whipsnakes meet the Waterdogs (1:30 p.m. ET) at Subaru Park. Both games will be televised by NBC Sports.