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

1. USA Lacrosse Magazine’s college preseason countdown this week previews teams ranked 16-20 in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Top 20s. Coming in at No. 19 on Tuesday were the Vermont men and UConn women.

2. Meet Brad Smith aka “The Stache.” Hero Ball at its finest, as writer Matt Hamilton and illustrator Alyssa March turned the mustachioed Whipsnakes midfielder into something out of a comic book.

3. The National Lacrosse League plans to play its six Week 6 games as scheduled after postponing three games last week due the surge of COVID-19 cases attributed to the highly transmissible Omicron variant. “All our indications are that our teams, players and broadcast partners are ready to go,” the league said in a statement.

In other NLL news:

• Ryan Benesch is on the move again. The Panther City Lacrosse Club traded the veteran forward after just three games, sending him to the Albany Firewolves in a trade announced Monday. Benesch ranks in the top 10 in NLL history for career goals, assists and points. He’s playing for his ninth franchise in 16 seasons.

• New York Riptide rookie Jeff Teat has been activated from the team’s COVID-19 list, according to The Lax Mag.

• Toronto Rock veteran Dan Dawson will play in his 300th career game, just the second player in NLL history to reach that mark. He’s also about to pass John Grant Jr. for the No. 2 spot among the league’s all-time leading scorers, NLL analyst Pat Gregoire noted.

• Each of the 12 teams playing this week will wear specially designed orange “Every Child Matters” warmup shirts in recognition of past injustices committed against Indigenous children at residential schools, the league announced Tuesday.

4. Drew Bezek was named the new head coach at Geneseo, the school announced Tuesday. Bezek was a three-time All-American defenseman and two-time USILA Division II Defensive Player of the Year at Le Moyne. He most recently coached at Oswego. Geneseo has advanced to the last two SUNYAC championship games.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Transfers, new coaches, rules, realignment — a comprehensive primer on all that transpired this offseason in college lacrosse by Inside Lacrosse’s Matt Kinnear.

• An ACC men’s lacrosse preview by Lacrosse Bucket’s Tanner Demling.

• Benesch can’t remember all the teams that he has played for. That’s partly why his upper arm is covered in tattoos of their logos, the Times Union reports.

• Lacrosse made The Onion.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Lax Sports Network’s conversation with former Siena faceoff specialist and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers long snapper Zach Triner, who still picks up his stick and recently took his licks in a box lacrosse league.

ICYMI: We had a great conversation with @zach_triner, former @SienaLacrosse F-O and now @Buccaneers long snapper on the #LacrosseNow podcast.

Full Podcast https://t.co/5dl1Pl7ITa https://t.co/pMJUJEgp2d OR https://t.co/r7kD3JrUOJ pic.twitter.com/eGJhrZUotg

— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) January 2, 2022

WHAT’S ON TAP

• Team previews of the No. 18 Cornell men and Jacksonville women.

• How to vote for Taylor Cummings for the IWGA’s Athlete of the Year honor.

• “Behind the Whistle,” the latest in an IWLCA series.

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