Dialed In: Your Lacrosse Fix for Wednesday, Aug. 23

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

1. The USA Lacrosse Fall Classic is back.

The gold medal-winning U.S. Men’s National Team will host rival Canada and NCAA semifinalist Penn State, the U.S. Women’s U20 Training Team will host reigning NCAA champion Northwestern and the USA Select U16 and U18 teams will compete against teams from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Ontario for the Brogden Cup.

Tickets went on sale Tuesday. Join us at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md. from Oct. 13-15 for an unforgettable weekend of lacrosse. 

2. The Premier Lacrosse League trade deadline was Tuesday. The last-place Chrome (1-8) sent top scorer Jackson Morrill and a third-round pick to the Whipsnakes (4-5) for second- and third-round picks in the 2024 PLL College Draft.

3. The Canadian box lacrosse championships are heating up.

In Major Series Lacrosse, the Six Nations Chiefs hold a 3-0 series lead with a chance to clinch the MSL title tonight in Peterborough, Ontario.

In the Western Lacrosse Association, the Langley Thunder evened the series with the New Westminster Salmonbellies with a 6-5 win in overtime Tuesday in Langley, British Columbia. Chase Scanlan scored the game-winning goal.

The winners of the series will meet for the Mann Cup, Canada’s senior box lacrosse crown.

At the junior level, day three of the Minto Cup saw the Burlington Blaze advance to the finals with a 10-8 win over the Coquitlam Adanacs. In the second game Tuesday, the host Edmonton Miners eliminated the Calgary Mountaineers with a 12-10 victory.

Coquitlam and Edmonton play tonight. The winner advancing to the finals, a best-of-three series that starts Friday.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Way-early 2024 rankings: No. 20 Princeton, No. 19 UMass, No. 18 Virginia, No. 17 USC and No. 16 Penn in our Division I women’s countdown; No. 20 Richmond, No. 19 BU, No. 18 North Carolina, No. 17 Penn and No. 16 Princeton in our Division I men’s countdown.

• Two-time MLL MVP Tom Schreiber has yet to earn a PLL MVP nod. Here’s his case in 2023.

• With Sixes and the new PLL rules marginalizing faceoffs, ESPN analyst Quint Kessenich sounds the death knell for specialists in his latest column for Lacrosse All Stars.

• How former Delaware lacrosse player Evan Washburn approaches his role as an NFL sideline reporter for CBS Sports like an athlete.

• Blue Hen Built: Why Denver women’s lacrosse coach Liza Kelly attributes much of her success to playing for Denise Wescott at Delaware.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Scenes from inside the U.S. Women’s U20 Training Team training camp happening this week at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md.

BRING WHO YOU ARE.

players with unique identities, coming together for one goal.

Day of the U20 Training Camp brings us just a little closer to Hong Kong. pic.twitter.com/vcNOaI350k

— U.S. Women's National Team (@USAWLax) August 22, 2023

WHAT’S ON TAP

We’re down to the top 15 in our way-early rankings countdown. See who comes in at Nos. 15-11 in our premature assessment of the 2024 Division I men’s and women’s lacrosse landscape.

“DIALED IN” IS POSTED DAILY MONDAY-FRIDAY AT 8 A.M. EASTERN ON USALAXMAGAZINE.COM. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR A WEEKLY DIGEST DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX.<