GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here’s everything you need to know for November 20, 2018.

College Crosse News

Can Vermont repeat their strong performance from 2018? Chris takes a look at what 2019 has in store for the Catamounts.

The Vermont Catamounts are the 25th team in our 2019 schedule preview series and the first team from the America East. The Catamounts finished 12-4 in 2018 and 4-2 in America East play. Vermont won the most games in a season in program history, but lost to Albany in the America East championship.

Circle These Dates

2/1 (at Utah): The Catamounts will be the first to experience a brand new team, one that should be better than most first-year programs. Add to that the unusual elevation of Salt Lake City and what should be an exciting atmosphere, and it could be a surprisingly tight game. The good news is that Vermont returns Nick Washuta, one of the best goalies from a year ago.

2/9 (at Navy): Vermont takes on three teams for the first time in program history. The Mids are the second brand new team the Catamounts face. It would not be a huge shock if it turns into a low-scoring game with Washuta and Ryan Kern manning the nets.

3/2 (vs. Boston University): BU has found their groove under Ryan Polley. It’s something that Chris Feifs will look to mimic as well. No Ian MacKay on the Catamounts, but Dawes Milchling, Ben French, and Braiden Davis are notable returners on the offense. On paper, it’s definitely a battle of top 30 teams.

Newsday with another piece on head injuries in lacrosse.

If the sport of lacrosse causes brain damage, Long Island, with the highest concentration of youth and high school players in the nation, would be the epicenter of the problem. Does lacrosse cause brain damage? It’s too early to say for certain, but there is reason for worry, and an urgent need for more study.

In lacrosse, as in football, there has been an increasing awareness over the past 20 years of the fact that concussions are extremely dangerous. It takes a long time to recover from a concussion, it’s terribly risky to return to the field too soon after suffering one, and the damage from multiple concussions seems to be cumulative.

SPECIAL DELIVERY!

Lehigh announced team captains for 2019.

With the 2019 season opener now less than three months away, Lehigh head men’s lacrosse coach Kevin Cassese announced the Mountain Hawks’ 2019 captains on Monday. Seniors Craig Chick, Andrew Pettit and Chris Kiernan will all serve as captains, with Eddie Bouhall and Lucas Spence holding the role of assistant captains.

“I am excited about the five young men who were selected to serve as captains for the 2019 season,” said Cassese. “We have had success with this leadership structure in previous years (including last year) and I believe it will serve the team well this season. Having five seniors serve as captains makes a great deal of sense for this team. This senior class has been instrumental in the program’s development over the past three years. It is a group with tremendous influence that has many individuals with outstanding leadership qualities, even beyond the five that were selected as captains. I look forward to working with these captains, this senior class and this team to accomplish our mission and achieve our goals.”

Great HEADstrong Foundation video by Babson men’s lacrosse.

Danowski, Myers will return as Team USA head coaches.

A pair of coaches that led the United States to Federation of International Lacrosse world championships in dramatic fashion will return for a second term coaching in the U.S. National Team Program.

John Danowski, who led the U.S. men’s senior team to a 9-8 victory over Canada in the FIL Men’s World Championship in Israel this past July, will return as the head coach of the U.S. men’s team for the 2022 FIL championship in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Nick Myers, who led the U.S. men’s U19 team to a come-from-behind 13-12 victory over the host Canadian team in the 2016 FIL U19 World Championship, will be back as the head coach for the U.S. men’s U19 team for the 2020 FIL U19 world championship in Limerick, Ireland.

Here is the extended all-access video of Merrimack College men’s lacrosse’s 2018 championship run.

Running of the Balls Returns for 2018 Lake Placid World Cup.

It’s time once again for the Running of the Balls! Pandemonium will follow when more than 1,000 lacrosse balls are released from the start gate and speed down the Olympic Sports Complex luge track. This unique and fun initiative was created to help support the athletes and programs of USA Luge and has raised over $10,000 in each of the previous three editions.

The event will take place Saturday, Dec. 15, shortly upon conclusion of the Viessmann World Cup luge men’s and doubles events in Lake Placid. The women’s and sprint events will take place the following day. This marks the fourth ROTB, with the last edition a year ago seeing over 1,000 lacrosse balls negotiating the nearly one-mile course down Mount Van Hoevenberg. The lacrosse balls were donated by Summit Lacrosse, based in the Lake Placid/Saranac Lake region.

That’s a pretty good arm right there.

Blessed: Blue Star moms & @FURMANMLAX team up to pack care boxes for overseas troops.

Once filled, the care packages are seals and stacked nicely for the postal service to pick up and ship out to deployed service men and women all around the world. “Some are going to go to South Carolina National Guard units that are stationed in Poland. We have some National Guard unit out of Hodges, some are going to go to Afghanistan.” With the holidays right around the corner, the group realizes many soldiers won’t be spending it with their families. So the organization recruited help from the Furman Lacrosse team to stuff the care packages and get them shipped out on time. “Hopefully a care package can help, even if it’s just a small way to help,” said Furman Lacrosse player Parker Widhelm. “They are getting a box of goodies from strangers and it lets them know that they are cared for and remembered,” said Fitzsimmons.

UMBC putting in that early morning work.

Trevor Baptiste talks about teaming up with New Balance & Yes Theory for new video challenge.

We got a chance to speak with Major League Lacrosse Midfielder, Trevor Baptiste about his experience with the video challenge and much more.

RESPECT: How did you feel when New Balance reached out for the video challenge partnership?

Trevor: I was pumped! Obviously Yes Theory does some pretty incredible videos so the opportunity to be a part of something that would allow me to have a lifetime experience, and on a platform like Yes Theory I thought it was too good to be true.

How nervous were you to switch places with Matt from Yes Theory?

I was a little nervous after watching some of Yes Theory’s videos. Obviously they really know how to take people out of their comfort zones, but I figured it would be an amazing experience either way.

How was the experience of doing the Yes Theory challenges?

Amazing. Going in, I didn’t think the challenges would bring so much empowerment. After every challenge you feel so alive. I never thought street performing in NYC would ever give me that feeling.

Here’s a video of a lacrosse player and a surfer removing a dugite from the West Coast Highway in Australia (a dugite is a venomous snake, native to western Australia).

Have you heard of Hurlacrosse? The new sport which combines hurling and lacrosse.

The initiative aims to spread awareness of hurling in the US and of lacrosse in Ireland. Now we’ve seen everything! The very first US-based hurling versus lacrosse match, dubbed “Hurlacross,” was played on November 3, 2018, between the OC Wild Geese and Team Eire Lacrosse in Los Angeles and we’re not sure why it’s taken this long to happen.

“This event was initially suggested to me in 2015 by Tony Devine, who is a director of Ireland Lacrosse,” organizer and founder of Play Hurling, David Wogan, told IrishCentral. “And it has been at the back of my mind ever since, so I’m excited to finally put our plans into action!

What’s Up, PhilaJersey?

YES!!: Christmas Village in Love Park officially opens on Thursday.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas Village will officially open in LOVE park on Thanksgiving Day. The beloved winter market was in business for a preview weekend this past Saturday and Sunday, and let us just say: We’re ready.

There’s a lot to look forward to at the Christmas Village this year. For starters, the market is looking much better than it did last year, when construction on the remodeled LOVE Park had yet to wrap up. Now, there are no fenced enclosures or other eyesores. Instead, the market has more decorations, an upgraded layout, and more space to shop and stroll.

World/National News

Thanksgiving is going to be frigid in the northeast.

Another blast of cold air is expected to bring one of the coldest Thanksgivings on record for some Northeast cities. A strong area of high pressure from the Arctic Circle will descend southward across Canada and into the Northeast, sending temperatures plummeting toward levels more common on New Year’s Day, not Thanksgiving Day.

For some Northeast cities, high temperatures on Thanksgiving could be close to the coldest on record no matter what day of the month the holiday was celebrated (e.g. Nov. 22, Nov. 24, Nov. 26, etc.). The official U.S. Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated the last Thursday of November from 1863 to 1938, the next-to-last Thursday from 1939 to 1941 and the fourth Thursday from 1942 to the present.

Your GIF/Video for November 20, 2018

This is me after 8:30 P.M. on a weekday.

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