Dialed In: Your Lacrosse Fix for Wednesday, March 8

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

1. Reunited.

Mac O’Keefe signed a two-year free agent contract with the Archers on Tuesday, pairing him with his former Penn State teammate Grant Ament.

“The opportunity to play with Grant again was always intriguing for me,” O’Keefe said, according to the Premier Lacrosse League website. “He knows what I’m going to do on the field more than anybody.”

O’Keefe scored an NCAA-record 213 goals during his college career. Here’s our PLL free agency tracker.

2. Dartmouth is 4-0 for first time since 2003.

Freshman Emmett Paradine, the son of Lenoir-Rhyne coach Greg Paradine, had seven goals and three assists in a 20-16 win over Hobart on Tuesday. The Big Green trailed 7-1 early in the second quarter but responded in a big way, scoring 19 goals over the game's final 42:38.

Coach Brendan Callahan was fired up in the visitors’ locker room at the Poole Family Dome.

Come back from down 7-1
Score 20 for the first time since 2008
Hand Hobart is first ever loss at the Poole Family Sports Dame
Improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2003

There’s reason to celebrate #TheWoods | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/4FeEDExWv9

— Dartmouth Men’s Lacrosse (@DartmouthMLax) March 7, 2023

3. No. 1 Virginia looks unstoppable.

Making his first career start in place of injured Payton Cormier, Patrick McIntosh scored six goals as the Cavaliers defeated No. 16 Johns Hopkins 18-13 at Homewood Field on Tuesday.

Xander Dickson also scored six goals, his second straight sock trick. Griffin Schutz contributed four goals and two assists, swimming through a sea of defenders after some breathtaking ball movement on one sequence.

That's a grown man's goal!#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/BG5JqohsfO

— Virginia Men's Lacrosse (@UVAMensLax) March 7, 2023

Virginia (5-0) jumped out to a 6-0 lead. The Blue Jays (4-3) pulled within three at one point in the third quarter but McIntosh scored three unanswered goals off feeds from Truitt Sunderland, Connor Shellenberger and Thomas McConvey as the Cavaliers pulled away.

Virginia’s top scorer coming into the game, Cormier was out with what the school classified as a lower body injury. He used crutches on the sideline.

In other notable Division I men’s lacrosse results Tuesday, Delaware got a boost from Mike Robinson’s return to the lineup in a 17-11 win over previously unbeaten UMBC, Lehigh held off Binghamton in a 14-13 nail biter, Bryant beat Fairfield 14-12 and UMass defeated Albany 9-6.

4. Through Unleashed, the PLL announced the 15-player women’s roster that will compete against the Cross Crosse All-Stars in Japan this weekend.

Among the headliners are U.S. women’s national team standouts Dempsey Arsenault, Lizzie Colson, Ally Mastroianni and Emma Trenchard.

OFFICIAL ROSTER

Introducing the squad for our match against the Cross Crosse All-Stars in Japan pic.twitter.com/7OoZ4nJawF

— Unleashed (@unleashedwlax) March 7, 2023

5. It’s high school season.

We launched our rollout of preseason content Tuesday with the release of the Nike/USA Lacrosse National Top 25 for boys’ lacrosse and girls’ lacrosse teams in the United States.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Jack Goods’ NLL power rankings, with the Buffalo Bandits ascending to the No. 1 spot.

• Why Mike Pressler was reinvigorated by the opportunity to coach in the PLL.

• From Inside Lacrosse, Kevin Brown’s story about John Armistead’s USC football experience and bid for a PLL roster spot.

• From Powell Lacrosse, Mike Powell’s tribute to his high school coach Kirk Ventiquattro. Powell is set to have his jersey raised to the rafters at JMA Wireless Dome when Syracuse hosts Johns Hopkins on Saturday.

WHAT’S ON TAP

Several nationally ranked women’s lacrosse teams in action as part of a 19-game Division I slate, including No. 5 Boston College (vs. Brown), No. 8 James Madison (at Liberty), No. 9 Maryland (vs. William and Mary), No. 12 Loyola (vs. Georgetown) and No. 20 Jacksonville (vs. UMass Lowell).

“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.