College Crosse Prospectus: Team Canada Finalizes World Championship Coaching Staff

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation!! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here are your links for October 5, 2017.

What You Missed

The Virginia Cavaliers named Ryan Conrad and Scott Hooper their two captains for 2018.

Lacrosse The Nation

Team Canada announced the rest of their coaching staff for the 2018 FIL World Championships:

Returning to the senior national team after leading them to gold in 2014 are offensive coordinator Matt Brown, defensive coordinator Taylor Wray, and assistant coach (box) Jason Levesque.

Merrick Thompson, assistant coach (offence), makes the jump to the senior coaching ranks for the first time, while Mark Miyashita, assistant coach (defense), will make his debut on the international stage.

“I feel incredibly honoured to work with a group of passionate, dedicated and knowledgeable professionals” said head coach Randy Mearns. “To be successful, this journey will, without a doubt, be a collective effort and I am confident that with this staff all the pieces of the puzzle are in place.”

Speaking of Canada, Notre Dame’s heading close to the northern border to take on Team Canada this weekend as part of the team’s lax experience!

Matt Kinnear of Inside Lacrosse traveled to Delaware to check in on what Ben DeLuca and company are doing in their first year in the post-Bob Shillinglaw era:

It’s a common refrain among lacrosse industry folks and fans: “Delaware should be a power.” It has a desirable location, driving distance to multiple lacrosse hotbeds, a loyal alumni base, thriving campus life and recent upgrades to facilities, along with a lacrosse tradition. But in recent seasons, there hasn’t been a standard of success. In 2011, Delaware won the CAA Tournament, earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. However in the next six seasons, the Hens won six CAA games total, last year going winless in the conference for the first time since 2003.

“All the pieces are in place for us to be a major player in college lacrosse,” says DeLuca. “We just have to activate them and utilize what we have here to our greatest ability.”

Overall, there’s an air of change throughout Delaware athletics. Athletic Director Chrissi Rawak was hired in May of 2016, and since then there have been several high-profile changes. She hired a new men’s basketball coach, and fired the previous football coach six games into the 2016 season. The university also won a field hockey national championship last fall. The success of field hockey, which recruits athletes from a similar geographic footprint as lacrosse with many of the top athletes from the Mid-Atlantic, is another piece of evidence that begs the question: Why not Delaware lacrosse?

In the Delaware Field House across from historic Delaware Stadium — which has new turf — DeLuca and the staff were in the process of moving into their new office on the first floor. It’s a Spartan space, nothing fancy. But it’s the spot in which DeLuca gets to be in close contact with his staff, including [Noah] Fossner, Matt Rewkowski and volunteer assistant Trey Wilkes. Student-athletes need to pass by his office to get anywhere in the facility, and a chess set sits on his desk, so athletes can come in and play and “think of things a few steps ahead and in a different way.” A photo of George Boiardi is a fixture wherever he goes, and there is Blue Hens-centric art drawn by his kids. A mini statue of the iconic Raising the Flag photo from the Battle of Iwo Jima sits above his desk.

“It’s a great responsibility,” DeLuca says of the opportunity to coach at Delaware. “There are a lot of people who expect a lot out of the Delaware lacrosse program. There are tremendously supportive alumni, guys who have walked these halls and worn this jersey. Coaches who have come before me, like Bob Shillinglaw, a legend in the game.”

Shoutout to Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Joe Amplo and Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Brian Brecht on being inducted into the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its Class of 2017.

A Shenandoah Valley man wants to add lacrosse at public schools in Augusta County, as well as in the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro, pens Patrick Hite of the News Leader in Virginia:

"We have enough kids right now that we'll be able to have a club at Draft in the spring," [Nicholas] Mihailoff said. "The year after that then we'll have, hopefully, varsity."

Stuarts Draft isn't ready to commit to that plan. The school's athletic director, Steve Hartley, responded to an email about adding lacrosse by writing that, at this time, the school will have nothing to do with the lacrosse teams.

"As far as we are concerned," Hartley wrote, "this spring that organization will be a club sport run by a different organization and on a separate piece of property in Stuarts Draft and not under VHSL regulations."

Hartley did say that school administration is planning on meeting with someone from Mihailoff's group, Wolves Lacrosse, in November.

Phil Buttafuoco of Gillette Stadium discusses Championship Weekend this past year and what he wants to do in 2018:

The Providence Friars held their team banquet last Saturday, and it included their season highlights:

A former Ohio high school coach was indicted for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his local organization while serving as their president.

BOSS Peter Milliman had some fun at practice last night!

New Wednesday Warriors at Sacred Heart:

Freshman time!

Philly Jawns

The Philadelphia Flyers beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3, in their season opener. Wayne Simmonds led the way with a hat-trick. They play the LA Kings tonight.

World News

This year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees have been announced.

O.J. Simpson is signing autographs again!

Video of the Day

Julia Roberts acts out her career:

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

Instagram: @College_Crosse

Twitter: @College_Crosse

Facebook: College Crosse

Managing Editors: Safe Fekadu, Chris Jastrzembski, Ryan McDonnell