College Crosse Prospectus: Air Force Men’s Lacrosse Under Investigation

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation!! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here are your links for October 17, 2017.

What You Missed

The Penn State Nittany Lions unveiled their 2018 schedule, which is very similar to last year’s slate of games.

Tehoka Nanticoke went viral with a sick goal. You might be hearing that a ton throughout the next four years.

Lacrosse The Nation

Shocking news out of Colorado: The Air Force Falcons are under investigation for hazing, bullying, abusive sexual contact, and drug use, according to NewsChannel 13 in Colorado Springs:

According to the email, the Air Force has opened a criminal investigation into the allegations with 15 agents focusing on the issue. It also states that some of the investigators' interviews corroborate with the allegations.

"I can confirm that there is an ongoing investigation into the conduct of several players on the team. Because that investigation is ongoing, I cannot disclose any further information," Lt. Col. Allen Herritage, Director of Air Force Academy Public Affairs, said in a statement to KRDO NewsChannel 13.

Herritage also confirmed the second investigation outlined in the e-mail notification. It dives into claims of cheating amongst 13 freshman cadets on basic, periodic knowledge tests. The tests don't count toward cadet's GPA but are apart of their graduation requirements.

The memo said an internal investigation has been launched to look into the accusations.

According to The Gazette, both of these problems aren’t new to the academy:

In 2007, 36 freshmen cadets including 24 athletes were accused of cheating on the freshman knowledge exam. In 2004, the school's 4,000 cadets were restricted to the campus for a weekend after leaders found that 26 freshmen had cheated on the knowledge test.

The knowledge test is a low-stakes endeavor that's designed to give the freshman class an introduction to the military. No formal grades are given, but the freshmen are expected to know most of the facts before spring.

Cheating on that test, though, brings huge consequences at the academy. Cadets are expected to adhere to the honor code, which forbids lying, cheating, stealing and tolerating those who break the oath.

First-time cheaters are generally given a stiff probation. The second offense almost always results in expulsion.

We’ll update you with any developments.

CORRECTION: The cheating incident does not involve members of the lacrosse team.

Redshirt senior goaltender Brian Corrigan will wear No. 34 for the Marist Red Foxes this season to honor the legacy of Eddie Coombs:

The recipient of Eddie Coombs' no. 34 jersey each year is the Marist men's lacrosse senior who best represents the outstanding characteristics that Coombs showed every day: passion, determination, energy, and a great teammate and member of the community. Eddie passed away in a car accident in 2011 just before the start of his sophomore year at Marist and was a well-respected member of the college community by staff and students.

Corrigan proved to be one of the best goalies in the country, as he ended up in the top 10 in three statistical categories. He was second with a .627 save percentage, third with a 7.45 goals against average and seventh averaging 12.31 saves per game. Corrigan was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and has earned a spot on the conference's All-Academic Team the past three seasons.

In 2018 Corrigan will become the second Marist goalie to wear no. 34, the other being Dave Scarcello when the tradition began prior to the 2015 season. Joseph Radin '16 and Jimmy Murphy '17 were the other two recipients of the jersey.

The Utah Utes released their 2018 MCLA schedule, their final year of club lacrosse play before moving to the NCAA level in 2019.

Let’s go Patrick!

In Wisconsin, club sports, especially lacrosse, are still finding difficulty being sponsored by the state’s sports governing body, pens Scott Venci of the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

When Neenah lacrosse coach Paul Zielski started his program in 2003, he had 18 players on varsity. It became a varsity club sport in 2007. The team has averaged 50 players per year the past four or five years, and a few years ago started its own youth program that has 50 to 60 kids starting in third grade.

The high school players follow the same code of conduct and academic requirements as the student-athletes participating in WIAA sports, and they also can earn varsity letters. They are part of the same strength and conditioning program and have played almost all their home games at Rocket Stadium, which is behind the high school.

“I see both pros and cons to becoming a WIAA sport,” Zielski said. “From the outside looking in, I’ve had plenty of other coaches from other teams say, ‘Oh, you are just a club sport. You’re not even state-sanctioned.’ In some ways, it feels like we don’t garner the same respect as a WIAA sport just because of four letters. … we have a state association that has done a nice job organizing us and helping us stay set.

“Does it make a big difference to me? In some respects, it would be nice to take some of the power and shift it away from some influential parent groups that run our state association right now. Having an impartial athletic director would probably help us and help our sport grow.”

Some very sad news out of New Jersey: Rumson-Fair Haven junior defenseman and long stick midfielder Pierce Jarck died after he committed suicide at his home in Monmouth County.

In other news, former Loyola Greyhound standout Abigail Rehfuss, who some might argue is better than Stephen Rehfuss, is the new head coach of the Siena Saints’ women’s program:

"We welcome Abigail to the Siena family," said [John] D'Argenio. "She brings an outstanding lacrosse background to Siena that includes national honors as a student athlete, and success as a coach. She is a great addition to the Siena community and the athletic department."

Rehfuss amassed a 23-10 overall record at Shaker and was named the 2016 Times Union Coach of the Year after guiding the Blue Bison to the Section II Class A Championship in just her first season at the helm. Shaker achieved a 14-3 overall record in 2016 and advanced to the Class A State Quarterfinals after ousting top seed and defending champion Guilderland in the Section II Class A Championship Game.

"I'm really excited to have the opportunity to join the Siena family," noted Rehfuss. "Being from Latham, I've both followed and been a supporter of Siena athletics my entire life. I'm eager to get started."

The Georgetown Hoyas finally held their first official practice yesterday!

5:30 in the morning is never too early to practice!

He’s probably getting ready for the Seawolves’ scrimmages on Sunday, which now includes Harvard:

Inside Lacrosse recapped the HEADStrong Baltimore events featuring Albany and Richmond, as well as Army West Point and Johns Hopkins. They also recapped the Navy-Villanova scrimmage.

Will Hopkins or Lafayette be able to top Cuse’s alumni weekend? (Ed. note: nope)

But Hobart had a nice alumni celebration:

US Lacrosse Magazine profiles LaxCon Keynote speaker Jon Gordon and his journey through lacrosse.

Penn’s team room got renovated:

Vote for Coach of the Year!

Women’s news: Halley Quillinan Griggs interviews Duke Blue Devils head coach Kerstin Kimel:

“We’re in the people business, right?” says the Duke women’s lacrosse coach, who enters her 23rd year at the helm of the program in 2018. “You spend a lot of time with people, and you’re reading people’s body language, and I think you develop some intuition. Once I kind of started to get into this process of being diagnosed, I kind of had a sense of what the news was going to be. So, when the phone call came — and certainly the time of day it came, too — I was not surprised.”

After undergoing a biopsy the day prior, Kimel received a diagnosis of early stage breast cancer. The news came on the second day of the Blue Devils’ preseason. On the heels of an 11-8 campaign in 2014, Kimel immediately thought of the team that stood in front of her, and a talented senior class she felt could lead Duke back into national contention.

“We’d worked really hard throughout the fall to kind of put ourselves in a position, I think, to compete for a national championship. I was, at first, very overwhelmed at the thought of how am I going to endure this?”

In the days and weeks that followed, Kimel heeded her doctor’s advice to not tell the team of her diagnosis until a treatment plan was firmly in place. She recalls his message: “You just want to speak with them with as much certainty as you possibly can during an uncertain time.” Though she understood, the silence wore heavily on her.

Helmet alert!

Glove alert!

The Sacred Heart Pioneers also got some new gear thanks to Adidas:

Philly Jawns

Senator John McCain received the Liberty Medal last night.

World News

Looks like Raqqa has been liberated from ISIS!

Video of the Day

Spider Man in 10,000 dominoes:

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