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

1. Becoming Liz Hogan

Despite being cut in the last phase of tryouts for the U.S. women’s national team in both 2013 and 2017, Hogan maintains the sunny disposition of a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie. She didn’t always have such a positive outlook. On the field, she’s never played better.

“Since Liz was in college, her overall happiness and joy for life and her confidence and self-assurance have gone up so much,” said Maggie Koch, Hogan’s goalie coach at Syracuse. “Just to see her evolve and to see this fully confident person in who she is has been wonderful to watch.”

Digital Content Editor Kenny DeJohn details in our December cover story how Hogan became one of the best goalkeepers in the world while also growing more comfortable in her own skin.

2. Foreign Fall

Few teams have encountered more upheaval in the wake of the COVID-19 canceled 2020 season than the Princeton women. Back in September, Chris Sailer told US Lacrosse Magazine that 19 players had taken leave from the university, opting out of the 2021 season due to the ongoing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This week, Inside Lacrosse checked in with Sailer about how the team is grappling with its new reality and the uncertainty surrounding the spring season. Of note, Sailer mentioned the Tigers have added five players from the university’s club team, including a goalie, to bring the team’s current number up to 18. She declined to provide the players’ names or any more information.

3. “Gender shouldn’t matter”

Former UMass and U.S. U19 goalie Rachel Vallarelli penned an important thread on Twitter in response to some of the comments recently directed at Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller, who became the first woman to play in a Power 5 football game on Saturday.

Vallarelli — the first woman to be invited to participate in the National Lacrosse League & IMLCA US Elite Combine — earned a tryout with the National Lacrosse League’s New York Riptide. The NLL published a video last fall detailing more of her story.

WHAT WE’RE READING

  • Syracuse.com’s Lindsay Kramer writes about why Brackton Bowler, a 2021 long-stick midfielder from Christian Brothers Academy (N.Y.), thinks he found the right fit in Johns Hopkins.

  • Jacksonville women’s head coach Mindy McCord discusses the unique obstacles she’s faced leading the program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Add Owen Hiltz to the number of weapons Pat March and the Syracuse offense will have at their disposal this spring. Inside Lacrosse has more on their No. 2 ranked incoming freshman from Culver Academy.

  • Lacrosse Bucket takes a look at 10 players primed for breakout seasons in 2021.

  • The Daily Pennsylvanian profiles junior attacker Taylyn Stadler, who registered hat-tricks in three of the Quakers’ five games last spring.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Brad Keel and his two-month old son Jack prove it’s never too early to learn the fundamentals of shooting.

Long before Dox Aitken took his talents to the gridiron, Jon Reese captained the 1989 Yale football team to an Ivy League Title. Enjoy this footage that Lacrosse Film Study dug up of the do-it-all midfielder who held the Elis career points record for over 25 years.

WHAT’S ON TAP

  • Life After Lax with Hulu VP Executive Creative Director and former Tar Heel Brandon Pierce.

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