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

1. He did it.

Jared Bernhardt capped an incredible — dare we say, historic — college sports campaign by leading Ferris State to the NCAA Division II football championship in convincing fashion Saturday.

Just seven months after he was named the Tewaaraton Award winner as the best player in college lacrosse, Bernhardt, a triple-option quarterback, ran for three first-half touchdowns — including a 56-yard scamper on the first play from scrimmage — as the Bulldogs defeated Valdosta State 58-17 in the championship game.

Bernhardt’s growing list of accolades now includes a U19 world championship and MVP honor (2016) and Tewaaraton Award (2021) in lacrosse and NCAA championships in both lacrosse (2017) and football (2021). He’s the all-time leading scorer in Maryland lacrosse history and, according to this story by USA Lacrosse Magazine’s Justin Feil, has received advice from famous lacrosse-football crossover pro Chris Hogan on how he could try out for an NFL team if undrafted.

2. The Premier Lacrosse League made official the news first brought to light by Inside Lacrosse last week, announcing Friday the advent of free agency and a new player compensation structure offering more latitude for coaches to pay premium players. The new system will be implemented starting in the 2023 offseason.

3. Blaze Riorden earned the No. 1 spot in the PLL Players Top 50. Riorden, who won both league and championship MVP honors while leading the Chaos to their first title, jumped five spots from last year to take top billing. He’s a three-time PLL Goalie of the Year. Tom Schreiber, Lyle Thompson, Grant Ament and Zach Currier rounded out the top five.

4. Week 3 of the National Lacrosse League season saw Colorado, San Diego, Saskatchewan, Toronto and Rochester all come away with wins. In brief:

• Colorado defeated Panther City 8-7, the 300th win in Mammoth franchise history Friday. Dillon Ward made 55 saves, while Ryan Lee led the offense with two goals and three assists.

• San Diego forward Dane Dobbie scored a franchise single-game record seven goals against his former team, as the Seals beat Calgary 17-12 on Friday. Dobbie, the 2019 NLL MVP, spent 13 seasons in Calgary and is the Roughnecks’ all-time leading scorer.

• After losing a couple of one-goal games to start the season, Saskatchewan found itself on the winning side of a nail biter Friday, defeating Vancouver 10-9.

• Minus top scorer Tom Schreiber, who was placed in the league’s COVID-19 protocol, Toronto got the lift it needed out of Rob Hellyer, who had three goals and three assists in a 12-9 win over Philadelphia on Saturday. Faceoff ace TD Ierlan made his NLL debut in the game, going 11-for-24 against Trevor Baptiste.

• Holden Cattoni scored four goals and added five assists to lead Rochester to a 16-7 win over Albany — a game that went viral when Knighthawks goalie Rylan Hartley and Firewolves backup Ethan Woods stripped off their jerseys and threw punches.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• About our Best of Lax finalists for Best Inspiration, acknowledging those who led by the example of their character in 2021.

• The Daily Gazette on the return of professional indoor lacrosse to Albany.

• The Capital Gazette on the restoration of the historic Johns Hopkins-Navy men’s lacrosse rivalry in 2022.

• Inside Lacrosse on the ouster of Florida Tech men’s lacrosse coach Mark Penn — and a community campaign to have him reinstated.

• Jamie Munro’s “A Lacrosse Weekend” blog, remembering the late Dave Huntley on the fourth anniversary of the Hall of Famer’s death.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Goalies and Fisticuffs, presented by “SportsCenter.”

Goalkeepers from the Rochester Knighthawks and the Albany FireWolves let the punches fly during this heated exchange

(via @NLL) pic.twitter.com/NqwFvN5o2e

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 20, 2021

WHAT’S ON TAP

• USA Lacrosse Magazine unveils its Preseason All-Americans for NCAA Division I men’s and women’s lacrosse as well as the cover of its January edition.

• Jack Goods recaps all the NLL action in his weekly notebook.

• Best of Lax finalists for Best Comeback in 2021.

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