Professional PLL
06:00 PM
Jul 19
Phi
Den
Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The NCAA Division I men’s championship weekend welcomes new and old.
Rutgers is headed to its first NCAA championship weekend, joining past NCAA champions Cornell, Maryland and Princeton. Here’s how they got there:
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Tempo helped key Rutgers 11-9 victory over Ivy League champion Penn.
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Princeton beat Yale 14-10 to return to championship weekend for the first time since 2014.
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Defense and the ride keyed Cornell’s back-and-forth 10-8 win over Delaware.
2. The University of Indianapolis brought home a national title to the Midwest.
Peyton Romig scored twice and had 16 draw controls as the University of Indianapolis downed East Stroudsburg 11-9 to win the NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse Championship.
3. A new champion is coming to the NCAA Division II men’s lacrosse.
LeMoyne and Limestone have combined for 11 nationals championships, but they were bested by two upstarts on Sunday. Mercy beat LeMoyne 12-11 in double overtime and Tampa, led by first-year head coach J.B. Clarke, rolled past his old team, Limestone, 19-8. Mercy and Tampa are both in the final for the first time ever.
4. It’s an all Liberty League final in NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse.
RIT and Union knocked off Tufts and York, respectively, to reach the NCAA Division III championship game. RIT scored a season-high 26 goals and Union scored the first six goals of the game. RIT won the Division III championship last year. Union’s last title? How about 1929 when it shared the USILA title with Navy.
5. The NCAA Division III women’s semifinals will feature a pair of NESCAC teams — Middlebury and Tufts — alongside perennial powers Gettysburg and TCNJ.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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An 18-save effort to lead your school to its first NCAA championship weekend appearance would be special in its own right. For Rutgers Colin Kirst, doing it at the alma mater of his later father takes it to a new level.
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Bubba Fairman came in to Maryland full of fanfare as an offensive player. He’s filled a need as a short-stick d-middie for the Terps this year.
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George Baughan and Princeton took full advantage of their “upgrade season” after missing the Ivy League tournament.
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There will be no third NCAA championship for Virginia’s Matt Moore, but a great look from Patrick Stevens at the future PLL player.
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Mitch Bartolo found a home right away after transferring from Penn to Rutgers for his final season of college lacrosse.
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Tre Leclaire is doing it all for the San Diego Seals, who extended their season with a win over Colorado on Saturday night.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Dane Dobbie. Legend. This goal kept San Diego’s season alive, evening the NLL West Conference series with Colorado at 1-1.
We have no words for this goal...
— NLL (@NLL) May 22, 2022
A playoff legend does it again! pic.twitter.com/plbqKAFqqr
Penn’s Patrick Burkinshaw had the save of the weekend.
Let’s play a game of
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) May 21, 2022
AMAZING SAVE OR GOAL?
Either way, Burkinshaw is unreal with saves for @PennMensLax. pic.twitter.com/Qts8RWRbx3
East Stroudsburg made it to the NCAA championship game thanks to this beautiful fast break goal and finish by Sophia Graffeo.
SOPHIA GRAFFEO WINNER
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) May 21, 2022
The freshman comes up big after a McKenzie Gaghan save, winning it for @ESUWarriors in overtime against Queens in the Women’s D-II semis. pic.twitter.com/bKYFxyBykP
WHAT’S ON TAP
For the first time in a long time, we have no college lacrosse for a few days. But coming Friday is the start of lacrosse nirvana with the NCAA Division I women’s semifinals starting things off.