Dialed In: Your Lacrosse Fix for Monday, Sept. 25

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

1. Captain America to the rescue again.

Premier Lacrosse League MVP Tom Schreiber scored the go-ahead goal with 1:37 remaining to lift Archers to a 15-14 win over Waterdogs in the PLL championship game Sunday at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa.

Archers led by as many as six goals and withheld a furious Waterdogs comeback thanks in part to championship game MVP Brett Dobson’s 18 saves.

Schreiber, whose history of late-game heroics includes a last-second goal in the 2018 world championship to give the United States the gold medal, pump-faked Ben Randall as the shot clock neared its expiration and beat the buzzer with a shot off his back foot.

THIS IS WHY HE'S MVP

Tom Schreiber gives @PLLArchers the lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter

(via ABC, @PremierLacrosse) pic.twitter.com/PCaY2z5L2m

— TLN (@LacrosseNetwork) September 24, 2023

After the game he celebrated with Archers coach Chris Bates, for whom he also played at Princeton, by dumping a Gatorade cooler upside-down over his head.

2. Notre Dame is enjoying its victory lap.

The Fighting Irish, fresh off winning their first NCAA men’s lacrosse championship in May, appeared in a segment on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show” live in South Bend on Friday. Tewaaraton finalist Pat Kavanagh wore a sling and revealed he suffered a torn labrum — in addition the infamous hamstring injury — during the final four. Chris Kavanagh, meanwhile, nailed several targets as part of an on-air shooting demo

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN..

The Kavanagh brothers and the Notre Dame lacrosse team #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Rdl5LG9BmS

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 22, 2023

McAfee, who hosted the Kavanagh brothers on his show remotely after Memorial Day, brandished their older brother Matt Kavanagh’s No. 40 jersey on set.

What a weekend for the boys!#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/FAM9Cw2Grc

— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) September 22, 2023

Earlier this month, Notre Dame got some time on the diamond with the South Bend Cubs, the Chicago Cubs’ High-A affiliate. NCAA championship MVP Liam Entenmann threw out the first pitch.

Big thanks to the @SBCubs for honoring our 2023 National Title Team last night and having tournament MVP Liam Entenmann throw out the first pitch!#GoIrish x #GoCubsGo pic.twitter.com/JRy6mhI3ke

— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) September 6, 2023

3. The National Lacrosse League last week issued an alert to media about “the most significant change to the league’s regular season competition format in its 36-year history.”

According to a report by the Albany Times-Union, the NLL is abandoning the two-division East and West format. All 15 teams will be in one division with the top eight making the playoffs.

The league plans to announce the new configuration and unveil the 2023-24 season schedule in its entirety Tuesday.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• About the tasty incentive Archers assistant Tony Resch used to motivate the league’s best defense.

• Why it’s better to hear “no” than nothing at all from college coaches during recruiting season.

• “Hurricane Garbage,” a story by Inside Lacrosse’s Kevin Brown on the first repeat champion in pro field lacrosse history, the 2006-07 Philadelphia Barrage — a rogue collection of players that remains close as ever today.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Your 2023 PLL champions, the Archers Lacrosse Club.

RAISE IT HIGH @ChrisBatesPLL | @PLLArchers pic.twitter.com/o5twJHOXNL

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) September 24, 2023

WHAT’S ON TAP

• Matt Hamilton reports from the U.S. men’s box team’s training camp in Utica, N.Y.

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