College Crosse Prospectus: More Mannequin Challenges; Election Day Results

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD (?) MORNING, College Crosse Nation!! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Let’s hit the links!

WHAT YOU MISSED

Some teams got in the #MannequinChallenge frenzy.

LACROSSE THE NATION

More challenges.

If only he ran...”#DeskoEmbiid2016: Slide in our DMs or just @ me!”

How former top Maryland prospect and former Episcopal Academy stud Curtis Zappala walked away from the sport at a D1 level, from Matt Chandik of NXTsports.com (which was just picked up by USLacrosse Magazine).

“Curtis was a special player. He was so freaking good,” former EA head coach Andy Hayes said. “Outside of his innate talent to shoot, dodge and pass, his lacrosse IQ was through the roof. He saw things that coaches would see, and he was incredibly patient with his teammates. He saw things that nobody else saw.”

One phone call changed it all, though. A decision that was months in the making came to a head a few weeks before Zappala was expected in College Park. A seemingly ironclad plan concocted three years earlier came to a halt in an almost unprecedented move.

“I just kind of abruptly told my mom (Suzanne), ‘I don’t think this is for me,’” Zappala said. “I think it’s something that I would have come to eventually down the road, but I knew I had to figure it out on my own. After that, I told my dad (Brian) and I figured he’d be a lot more upset than he was, but he was pretty cool with it.”

“Then I had to call (Maryland head coach John Tillman) Coach Tills,” Zappala continued. “I set up a time to meet with him and drove down to Maryland, sat down with him and was honest with him. I didn’t want to waste his time or take up scholarship money that he could have given to another player. It was never a Maryland or Coach Tillman thing. I love Coach Tills and I love Maryland, but I just didn’t think that Division I lacrosse was something I wanted to do. I thought about staying at the school, but I just didn’t feel comfortable going to Maryland not playing lacrosse. I didn’t want that constant reminder.”

Navy is on the road back to national prominence, writes Christian Swezey of Inside Lacrosse.

Into this arena step two teams in 2017: Towson and Navy. With an ironclad defense and goalie, the Tigers reached the Quarterfinals last year for the first time since 2003. Meanwhile, the Midshipmen made the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2008; before a sellout crowd at Brown Stadium, Navy took host Brown into the final seconds before falling, 11-10.

Towson faces the tall order of replacing its close defense and goalie.

For the Midshipmen, the goal is twofold. They must balance the attempt to reproduce or exceed last season’s success while basking in the knowledge that some thought Navy’s days of ever making the Quarterfinals were over following the ouster of a popular coach in 2011 and a two-year stretch in 2013 and 2014 where it went 7-20.

“Obviously there’s going to be a little negativity when a program like the Naval Academy isn’t performing up to the alumni’s standards and our standards and the fans’ standards,” says senior Chris Fennell, a returning second-team All-American defenseman. “But inside the program there was a lot of positivity. Coach Sowell knew it wasn’t going to be a one-year deal. It was a process. He stuck with it and kept the guys in the locker room together and leadership was established … where the core values in coming years would give our team success.”

Michigan showing the Twitterverse their inner Rugrats by playing in sand.

SWAG ALERT!

Former UMass coaches Ted Garber and Cari Nickerson Lovejoy were inducted into the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame!

After visiting multiple fall ball practices, Inside Lacrosse’s Matt Kinnear put together what he learned from his visits.

Former NHLer (and Atlanta Thrasher) Rob Schremp scores a lacrosse-style hockey goal.

PHILLY JAWNS

Since literally Election Day dominated the news, a woman in South Philadelphia voted in a dinosaur costume.

Wayne Simmonds killed a man last night.

WORLD NEWS

Donald Trump wins the Presidential Election. He will become the 45th President of the United States of America.

Amazon unveiled their Black Friday deals site.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Yet another #MannequinChallenge. This time from the Syracuse Women’s Team. Featuring an actual mannequin. The guys better be doing this like soon (hint hint wink wink @ Cuse captains).

Today is the start of the signing period of 2017 commits. We’ll be on the lookout for dudes signing their NLIs.

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Managing Editors: Safe Fekadu, Chris Jastrzembski, Ryan McDonnell