Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Chris Hogan, the Carolina Panthers and former New England Patriots wide receiver whose embrace of his lacrosse roots in NFL life has endeared him to fans of both sports, sat down with ESPN analyst Paul Carcaterra to share his story in the latest episode of “Overtime,” the US Lacrosse Magazine-produced podcast.
Hogan discusses falling in love with lacrosse, choosing Penn State, chasing his football dream at Monmouth, his commitment to training and nutrition, getting nicknamed 7-11 (always open) by Reggie Bush and maybe, just maybe playing professional lacrosse in his post-football life.
2. Speaking of Penn State, the Nittany Lions looks like a lock for the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, according to Patrick Stevens’ latest projections.
Stevens has Syracuse, Cornell and Towson as the last three teams in the field at the moment, with Johns Hopkins, Ohio State and North Carolina on the wrong side of the bubble. The Blue Jays, of course, could help their cause by beating Maryland again in the Big Ten semifinals.
3. Army and Boston University advanced to the Patriot League men’s lacrosse semifinals with wins over Holy Cross and Bucknell, respectively.
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Brendan Nichtern continued his superb freshman season with two goals and six assists’ in the Black Knights’ 14-5 victory over visiting Holy Cross on Tuesday. Nichtern now has 45 assists on the season, tying an Army record. The Black Knights blew the game open with a nine-goal run, during which they held the Crusaders scoreless for nearly 40 minutes.
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The Terriers are in the semifinals for the third straight season after handling Bucknell 14-8. BU was dominant on both ends of the field, allowing just one goal in the first 32-plus minutes while building a 10-1 lead. Chris Gray (five goals, four assists) and James Burr (four goals, one assist) combined for 14 points.
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Semifinal matchups Friday in Baltimore: (4) Army at (1) Loyola – 5 p.m.; (3) Boston University vs. (2) Loyola – 8 p.m. Both games will be televised by CBS Sports Network.
4. Dylan Molloy, recently featured in the Premier Lacrosse League’s “Island Bred” video series, was a surprise roster casualty Tuesday, when Redwoods LC and the league’s head of lacrosse, Josh Sims, tweeted that he was released to the player pool.
Molloy, the 2016 Tewaaraton Award-winning attackman at Brown, played in Major League Lacrosse last season and scored a team-high 41 goals for the now-defunct Florida Launch.
5. James Madison will field a vastly different team in the upcoming CAA women’s lacrosse tournament than the one that used it as a springboard to its first NCAA championship last year. Hanna Haven and company are heating up, however, having won seven straight games entering its semifinal matchup Friday against Elon.
6. The Whittier men’s lacrosse team’s roster represents a tapestry of perspectives, with a quarter of the Poets’ roster consisting of black, Asian and Hispanic players. Diversity is more than a buzz word at Whittier.
