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

1. The Dallas Rattlers clinched a spot in the Major League Lacrosse playoffs Saturday with a 14-9 defeat of the visiting Charlotte Hounds.

The Rattlers became the league’s first playoff team after winning their sixth straight game and running their home record to 5-0. Randy Staats and Ned Crotty tallied hat tricks, while Team USA’s Jordan Wolf (two goals) and John Galloway (12 saves) played well in their final league action before Thursday’s start of the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship.

Dallas improved to 9-2, while Charlotte has erased a 6-2 start by losing four in a row.

Elsewhere, Chesapeake won its seventh straight game by defeating New York, 16-13, thanks in part to a hat trick from Colin Heacock. The Bayhawks moved to 8-2, while the Lizards fell to 5-6.

Defending champion Ohio, meanwhile, snapped its seven-game skid with a 13-11 win at Florida (4-7). The Machine (3-8) got three goals apiece from Frank Brown and Davy Emala.

League play resumes Thursday, July 19, with Boston traveling to New York.

2. The Women’s Professional Lacrosse League semifinals are set following a Saturday doubleheader at Goucher College in Towson, Md., as part of the Inside Lacrosse Women’s Committed Academy.

The Baltimore Brave (4-0) locked up with No. 1 seed with an 18-10 victory over the Upstate Pride (2-2). The Brave will play the New York Fight (1-3), which secured the final playoff spot with 19-10 win over winless Philadelphia.

New England (3-1), idle over the weekend, is the No. 2 seed and will draw against the Pride to begin the semifinal doubleheader at 3 p.m. Thursday at West Chester University (ticket info). The Brave-Fight matchup will follow.

US Lacrosse will host the WPLL championship game at 5 p.m. Saturday at Tierney Field in Sparks, Md.

3. The United Women’s Lacrosse League had a doubleheader of its own Saturday in Basking Ridge, N.J., as part of the Top Flight Tournament.

Four players scored two goals apiece to help the Boston Storm (2-0) hold off the Baltimore Ride (0-2), 13-9. Liz Hogan made 21 saves for Boston, nearly matched by Ride counterpart Kerry Stoothoff’s 19.

In the nightcap, the Philadelphia Force (2-0) rallied from a 5-0 deficit to defeat the Long Island Sound (0-2), 14-12. Michelle Tumolo and Molly Hendrick scored three goals each for the Force, offsetting a similar output by Long Island’s Cortney Fortunato.

4. Lauren Russell of Colorado Academy is the Brine/US Lacrosse West Region Girls’ Player of the Year after leading her team to a fourth consecutive state championship.

5. Evan Eagan of Torrey Pines (Calif.) is the Warrior/US Lacrosse West Region Boys’ Player of the Year after anchoring the Falcons’ CIF San Diego Open Division championship season.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• The Daily Record (N.J.) fired 20 questions at Atlanta Blaze attackman Christian Cuccinello, a product of the Garden State.

• The Cincinnati Enquirer profiled local high school coach Tom Nugent, who is battling cancer for a second time in four years.

• The Jerusalem Post highlighted the opportunity for host Israel, as nearly 50 countries send teams for the FIL World Championship.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Kylie Ohlmiller of the New York Fight fired a behind-the-head shot for a goal during her team’s 19-10 win over Philadelphia Saturday, which clinched a spot in the WPLL playoffs for the Fight.

Hey, @SportsCenter, check this out!@NY_Fight attacker @kyohlmiller scores this #btb goal as the Fight beat the @phillyfirelax 19-10 in the last regular season WPLL game! #SCTop10 @espn @espnW pic.twitter.com/7cV8Z4qOyU

— WPLL (@prowomenslax) July 7, 2018

And in case you missed it last week, here’s a highlight video of Team USA/MLL All-Star matchup.

WHAT’S ON TAP

• The Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship begins Thursday, and we’ll lead off with a look at current collegians traveling to Israel to compete in the tournament.

• We’ll have more from the July/August issue of US Lacrosse Magazine today, including a look at the man behind the scenes of the US Lacrosse National Teams Program.

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