College Crosse Prospectus: Deaths Shock Lacrosse Community

Good morning, College Crosse Nation! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here are your links for January 16, 2018.

What You Missed

We continued our schedule previews with Duke and Siena.

The MCLA’s Pac-12 Shootout is entering its 11th year in 2018.

Lacrosse The Nation

The lacrosse community is in mourning once again after the death of Colorado Buffaloes attacker Julia Sarcona, after she crashed her car into a tree near Boulder Saturday night. The school sent out a statement on the death:

“On behalf of all of us in the CU Athletic Department we are heartbroken at the loss of Julia,” CU Athletic Director Rick George said. “Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the Sarcona family, Julia’s friends and teammates. This is a very difficult loss for the Buff family and we are extremely saddened. Please keep Julia’s family in your thoughts and prayers.”

“The loss of Julia Sarcona is heartbreaking for our team and lacrosse family,” head coach Ann Elliott said. “Our thoughts and all our love is with her family as I cannot even imagine what they are going through. Her family has become our family over the years and we will look to support them in every way we can.

”Julia had an incredible heart, she was funny and caring, she could always make you laugh and smile, she was an integral part of this program and has impacted each of our lives in so many ways. There really aren’t words and there is no answer for how one deals with such a loss. As a team, we will go one step at a time as we try to find our way together and make sure everyone has all the resources and support they need. Again, our love and thoughts go out to Julia’s family. Her impact on our program and lives will never be forgotten.”

The Interim Dean of Students, Andrea Zelinko, issued the following statement on behalf of the entire CU community:

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of University of Colorado Boulder student Julia Sarcona. Julia was a senior and a student in the College of Media, Communications and Information. She also was a talented lacrosse player. We have been in touch with Julia’s family, and we will continue to outreach to those affected to offer campus support resources.”

Sarcona’s death is the fourth in the lacrosse community in as many days. Furman Paladins student assistant Jackson Roberts passed away on Friday, and we also learned of the deaths of Nassau Community College assistant Tom Brazel (the father of Hofstra assistant J.P. Brazel) and West Genesee lacrosse coach Joe Adams. Our thoughts go out to their families.

On a lighter note, more teams started their spring seasons yesterday:

Colgate got things started with their conditioning test:

Quick break from the college game and shifting to the pros. Former Syracuse Orange All-American and Atlanta resident Liam Banks has been tagged as the new head coach of the Atlanta Blaze:

“This is an incredible opportunity for me to challenge myself professionally at the highest level of coaching with many of the best players in the world. We hope to field a team for the Atlanta Blaze that embodies the same principles we strive to cultivate each day at Thunder LB3 with the goal of bringing home a Major League Lacrosse Championship in 2018. I love the city of Atlanta and I am humbled with the opportunity to be the Head Coach of the Atlanta Blaze,” said Liam Banks.

Atlanta Blaze Team President, Jim Pfeifer stated, “Our top two objectives for the 2018 MLL season are to compete for the Steinfeld Trophy and to build the Blaze fan base throughout Georgia, and Liam’s extensive lacrosse knowledge and experience, familiarity of the Atlanta market and boundless energy and drive make him the perfect head coach to lead the Blaze.”

Kyle Harrison discusses his trip to Hong Kong to Andrew McNichol of the South China Morning Post:

Now an “older guy”, Harrison feels it is his duty to also take up an ambassadorial role in a sport that provided him with so much.

“Lacrosse combines the best aspects of all other sports. If you like the physicality of [American] football, the offensive scheming of soccer, the athleticism needed for hockey, the hand-eye coordination of baseball ... this is one of the few sports that puts it into one,” he said.

“Once you start playing and being around people who can coach it, you gravitate towards it. The shooting and dodging is fun, and once the stick work starts to make sense, the more fun it becomes.

“The coolest part is that most people in my position feel tasked with getting more people involved in the game. We’re all just trying to push this thing along.”

Check out this Connor Fields piece from Matt Kinnear of Inside Lacrosse:

Each year, Fields has taken on a new role with the Albany offense.

He came into his freshman year as more of a pure crease finisher, scoring 66 goals (ninth in DI history for a freshman) and 22 assists playing alongside Lyle Thompson. His first game, he scored a hat trick in the snow at Drexel.

“I was just trying to find the open lanes for the guys on my team, for middie dodgers and for Lyle dodging. That was great. That was what the team needed at the time,” Fields says.

More was asked of him his sophomore year, in which he logged more minutes from the wing and worked on his dodging. He scored 44 goals and 29 assists while taking the reins as the leader of the offense alongside Seth Oakes.

Some teams had their pictures taken:

That wasn’t everything Notre Dame did. They spent time with members from OWLS Lacrosse on Martin Luther King Day.

Before scooping up ground balls, Virginia spent some time playing box lacrosse.

St. Joe’s senior Mike Rastivo was honored at last night’s Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Awards Dinner:

Manhattan had their second annual wing night. What kind of wings does Drew Kelleher like?:

On the women’s side, Louisville head coach Scott Teeter announced the arrival of four new transfers, including two from his old stomping grounds at Canisius.

Get to know Tyson Gibson of the Robert Morris Colonials:

It’s always fun to see new gear!

Edward Lee of The Baltimore Sun previewed the America East and the ACC. He’s back on his daily lacrosse grind!

US Lacrosse Magazine previewed Army and Hofstra on the men’s side as well as Cornell and Notre Dame on the women’s side.

Philly Jawns

Ben Simmons and Kyle Lowry may or may not have had an altercation after yesterday’s Sixers’ win over the Raptors.

World News

The Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan died at the age of 46.

Video of the Day

Had a hard time falling asleep last night? This could be why.

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