Professional PLL
06:00 PM
Jul 19
Phi
Den
Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Chris Gray intends to leave Boston U, according to Inside Lacrosse. He has not yet entered the transfer portal.
One of the nation’s top players looks to be on the move. Gray recently finished his sophomore season with the Terriers, putting up 111 points on 49 goals and 62 assists. He was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year and an All-American in 2018 and followed it up with a Second Team All-American honor this season.
2. The PLL's inaugural season is just two days out and the league dropped a handful of news items Wednesday.
First, the league unveiled the names for the rest of its year-end awards. After naming the MVP trophy after Jim Brown, here is the list of remaining awards.
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Gait Brothers Midfielder of the Year
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Dave Pietramala Defensive Player of the Year
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Brodie Merrill Long Stick Midfielder of the Year
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Dick Edell Coach of the Year
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Paul Cantabene Face Off Athlete of the Year
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George Boiardi Hard Hat Award (SSDM)
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Welles Crowther Humanitarian Award
In addition, the league, along with NBC Sports, announced a series of new wrinkles that will be featured on broadcasts this summer. Highlighting the new features was Player-to-Commentator Communication, which will allow the commentators to talk with players (namely attack and goalies) during the games.
Also included in the PLL broadcasts, Mic’d Up, players as commentators for select games, SkyCam and real-time shot speed tracking.
The league also announced the additions of Ryan Conrad (Atlas), Ryder Garnsey (Redwoods), Greyson Torain (Chaos) and Chris Sabia (Chrome).
Then, to top it off, the league revealed its updated rules for gameplay, which includes a 100-yard field, 52-second shot clock, a two-point arc and tweaks to the faceoff.
3. Major League Lacrosse announced each team’s opening weekend rosters. The action gets started on Friday night, when the Denver Outlaws battle the New York Lizards.
4. Tonight, the men’s and women’s Tewaaraton awards will be given to the players of the year. Five men’s and women’s finalists will descend upon Washington D.C. tonight for the Tewaaraton ceremony.
Catch up on how each finalist fared in the NCAA tournament.
5. Cabrini broke through the likes of the elite in Division III and won its first national championship. As a result, the Cavaliers lead the year-end Nike/US Lacrosse Division III Men’s Top 20.
6. Likewise with Middlebury, which started the NCAA tournament at No. 1 in the rankings. It took down Salisbury 14-9 in the national championship and retains the top spot in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20.
7. Boston College coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein agreed to a new contract with the school, according to a release from the Eagles' athletic department. She brought BC to a third consecutive championship game — making Boston College the fifth program in women’s lacrosse history to do so.