Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Six of the nine first-round picks from the Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft didn’t suit up last weekend, but rookies are already making an impact, including Charlotte’s John Crawley, a fourth-round pick out of Johns Hopkins, pouring in six goals in his pro debut, an 19-18 loss to Atlanta that was the Hounds third one-goal loss of the season. Crawley is wearing uniform number 19 for the Hounds, in honor of his late Johns Hopkins teammate Jeremy Huber.
Top 5 @MLL_Lacrosse Rookie Performances of Week 7: #1 @CharlotteMLL @jcrawley44 - 6 G's, 1 in debut against @AtlantaBlaze pic.twitter.com/qX2ZjoJNzP
— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) June 5, 2017
Crawley was named the Cascade Rookie of the Week for his efforts. Atlanta's James Pannell was named the Warrior Offensive Player of the Week for his four-goal, two-assist effort, including a two-point goal, in the win over Charlotte. Florida goalie Austin Kaut was named the Warrior Defensive Player of the Week after making 21 saves in a 13-10 win over New York.
2. Saskatchewan’s bid for a third straight National Lacrosse League title took a detour with an opening-game loss to Georgia in the best-of-three series. Our resident NLL expert Neil Stevens checks in with game one thoughts.
3. We kicked off of way early 2018 preseason college rankings with a look at the No. 21-25 teams in men’s and women’s Division I.
What We’re Reading
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The IWLCA issued a statement on Monday morning clarifying a potential loophole in the the new legislation banning recruiting contact between college coaches and propsective student-athletes before September 1 of the athlete's junior year of high school.
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Jamie Ortega set the New York Public High School Athletic Association’s state scoring record in Middle Country’s win over Massapequa in the state quarterfinals on Sunday. The North Carolina recruit has 574 points heading into Friday’s Class A semifinal. Former Florida star Shannon Gilroy held the old record at 570.
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Illinois will hold its first sanctioned state high school championships next year, but Brennan Dwyer made sure Loyola went out on top of the Illinois High School Women’s Lacrosse Association, scoring seven goals to lead the Ramblers to their ninth straight state title. Dwyer, the state’s all-time leading scorer, led Loyola to the win on the campus of the school where she’ll play next year – Northwestern.
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High Point recruit Elizabeth Fahey had some family inspiration driving her towards a 100-goal season for Saint James School in Western Maryland.
What We’re Watching
Former Virginia star Steele Stanwick shows his “Paint the Pipes” drill to help shooters work on their precision.
What’s on Tap
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The high school lacrosse season is coming down to crunch time in a few states and we’ll check in with our latest Nike/US Lacrosse rankings today.
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We’ll continue our preseason men’s and women’s NCAA Division I rankings for 2018 with slots 16 through 20.