College Crosse Prospectus: Conference Realignment in Women’s Lacrosse

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation!! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here are your links for October 12, 2017.

What You Missed

We dropped a new episode of the College Crossecast this morning featuring Marist Red Foxes head coach Keegan Wilkinson. We discussed his coaching background, as well as got some news regarding their 2018 schedule and a new coach for the season.

Lacrosse The Nation

Some big news regarding the outlook of women’s lacrosse in 2019. First, Old Dominion Monarchs announced their move from the A-Sun to the Big East as an affiliate member.

That’s big because the American Athletic Conference will sponsor women’s lacrosse as their 22nd sport beginning in the 2019 season.

“We are extremely pleased to be adding women’s lacrosse as a conference sport,” [Mike] Aresco said. “The development of the sport has been impressive over the last decade and its popularity continues to grow. Our decision to sponsor women’s lacrosse will be of great benefit to our membership and will provide our student-athletes with additional competitive opportunities and will enhance our conference’s brand. I also want to take this opportunity to welcome Florida and Vanderbilt as affiliate members. These are two programs which have been highly successful at the national level. I look forward to watching our women’s lacrosse league develop and achieve great success over the next several years.”

The AAC will comprise of current members Cincinnati, UConn, Temple, and East Carolina, which begins their inaugural season in 2018, along with affiliate members Florida and Vanderbilt.

The Princeton Tigers have hired former Bellarmine standout Steve Soriano as their new assistant coach:

"Steve Soriano has already been a great addition to the coaching staff and the program," said head coach Matt Madalon. "He's clearly a very knowledgeable, very motivated, very hard-working young coach, and the guys have responded well to him already. We're always looking for the right people in every aspect of the program, and we clearly have found someone who fits really well with Steve."

Recruited by the late Hall of Fame coach Jack McGetrick, Soriano was a four-year letterwinner as a face-off specialist and defensive midfielder at Bellarmine University, the only Division I lacrosse playing school in Kentucky. While Soriano was there, the Knights made their first-ever Top 20 appearance, in 2013, his junior year.

Soriano is working with the face-off men at Princeton, and he will also run the box on game days. In addition, he will assist Pat March with the offense.

"I am extremely excited to be a part of Princeton lacrosse," Soriano said. "Growing up in New Jersey, I was always a Princeton lacrosse fan. I am appreciate of Coach Madalon and the entire staff for having the opportunity to work with an elite program like this."

The rosters for the Syracuse Orange Alumni Classic were released.

Inside Lacrosse took trips to Johns Hopkins and Binghamton on their Fall Ball tour:

Redshirt senior Sean Gilroy looked the part. He had nine points last season, and he seems poised for much more. On a restart and a short clock, he brought the ball out and showed right, then quickly sped left and scored. He’s got size at 6-2. Running with him quite a bit were junior Griffin Konen and junior Ryan Winkoff. Winkoff, operating from the wing much of the day, had the shot of the day — a small hitch, then clanking the inside of the far pipe for a goal. Freshman Sam Brown (Long Beach, N.Y.) is another big guy, and he made smart decisions.

Thomas McAndrew, last year’s No. 2 scorer, operated a lot from outside. He had an upper-90 rip, dodging with purpose and going into high-traffic areas without fear. Freshman Jackson Rieger (John Jay, N.J.) had a really nice top-down feed and seemed to do several things well.

The defense looked sharp, as expected with the returns on that end. Sophomore Noah Madgwick had an angry vibe all practice; there were probably a few players he would have gotten called for a penalty, but he added energy and a hard edge to drills. In a few groundball drills, he was one of those guys who consistently ended up with the ball. Dan Mottes, a starter last year, was a consistent, steady presence. On a 3-on-2 drill, he forced the O to reset by smartly taking away their angle, then threw a good check and got the groundball.

Hustle plays: There always seems to be a guy who’s at another gear faster than everyone else. In this practice, it was sophomore Mike DeMarco, a one-man clear with tons of speed. Freshman Salvatore Ienna (Massapequa, N.Y.) ran in full speed to a drill, getting into space and forcing his man down the outside.

Also from Kinnear, Syracuse is now at the beginning of their schedule, while Cornell is now an actual game.

Tehoka Nanticoke and Connor Fields are going to be a filthy duo to watch this season, writes Matt White of US Lacrosse Magazine:

Meanwhile, as Nanticoke's legend grew, Fields was putting up an historic year of scoring for the Great Danes with 117 points (55 goals, 62 assists), the highest non-Thompson total in NCAA history.

This season, playing next to a freshman star, will represent a reversal of roles for Fields. As a freshman at Albany, he played with and learned from Lyle Thompson, then a senior. With Nanticoke's arrival, he says, he finds himself on the other side of a similar relationship.

“It’s crazy to go full circle now,” said Fields. “Lyle was a mentor to me and a great friend and great teammate. Obviously as a freshman, you look up to the seniors and you know they’ll always have your back,” he said. “I’m the senior now with Tehoka coming in. We’re great friends and I try to give him as much as advice as I can.

“Lyle’s biggest thing was telling me to always play with confidence,” said Fields. But that role of a mentor, he said, only goes so far with a player like Nanticoke. “He knows so much about the game and he’s so skilled that I’m learning a lot from him."

Inside Lacrosse’s Halley Quillinan Griggs profiles UMass Lowell River Hawks junior attacker Noelle Lambert:

Currently, Lambert rotates between using three prosthetics: her “everyday” leg, her running leg and her waterproof leg, all of which, of course, have taken some time to get used to.

It was trial and error when she first started using her everyday leg, which boasts a chip that senses movement and when to bend.

“They were just like, ‘We can’t really tell you what to do.’ It kind of has to be like, something that you’re just going to do,” she says. “When I first started walking, I was like, ‘This is going to be tough.’ They gave me a cane, and I remember me and Kelly [Moran] going to practice one day and I was just like, ‘This is going to keep locking up. I don’t know how I’m going to get used to it.’ Within a week, I didn’t have the cane anymore.”

Following her initial adjustments with her everyday leg came the introduction of Lambert’s running leg five months later. “It was a whole different process. It was the blade, so the knee was much different,” she says.

“You had to be very careful of every one of your steps. On my everyday [leg], if I tripped or if I kind of stumbled, I could catch myself. On the running leg, if I stepped on it wrong — I’m on the ground. You have to be on the ground. You have to learn what it is to fall.

Add the High Point Panthers to the teams that are using box lacrosse to enhance their fall season:

BU hosted Harlem Lacrosse yesterday!

Some sad news: Former Rutgers Scarlet Knight All-American Bob Vencak has passed away at the age of 57.

Creighton Prep’s Leo Dunlap is the first player from Nebraska to commit to play college lacrosse at a Division I school, as he decided on playing for the Cleveland State Vikings, notes Mike Sautter of the Omaha World-Herald:

"I loved the campus and the city of Cleveland when I visited," Dunlap said. "I hope to make the most of my opportunity there."

The Cleveland State connection almost didn't happen for Dunlap.

Vikings coach Dylan Sheridan first saw Dunlap play for Nebraska Prime — his travel team — at a tournament in Aurora, Colorado, in July. Sheridan then reached out with an email.

It went to Dunlap’s spam folder.

Fortunately, the family found it — about four weeks later.

Notre Dame has some new gear:

Wow.

Get to know another Drexel Dragons freshman:

Philly Jawns

Joel Embiid made his return to the basketball court last night in the Sixers’ 133-114 win over the Brooklyn Nets. He finished with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, a block, and 18 free throw attempts in 14 minutes. Trust The Process.

Also, the Eagles take on the Panthers tonight.

World News

We just missed an asteroid hitting Earth last night!

Video of the Day

Miley Cyrus Carpool Karaoke!

That’s it for today!! I’ll see you out there!! Make sure you follow us on social media!

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Managing Editors: Safe Fekadu, Chris Jastrzembski, Ryan McDonnell