College Crosse Prospectus - February 3, 2018: Opening Weekend; Cleveland St. vs. Ohio State Sell Out.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation!! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here are your links for February 3, 2018.

Opening Weekend Big Board!

Hello friends.

We made it! Vermont and Furman kicked everything off on Thursday, but there’s nothing like the first Saturday of a new college lacrosse season. You can find our Game Day post with all the links, betting lines Skittles Scale, our games to watch, and everything else you need for this afternoon here.

Directly below is today’s Big Board. Clicking on the team name will take you to that team’s homepage. Clicking on the Stream cell will take you to the broadcast of that game, while the Live Stats cell will take you to the live stats of that game. Unfortunately, not every game is going to be streamed, but the overwhelming number of contests today will be available. $$ signs indicate a paywall. Let’s go to the Big Board!!

You know what, before we get to the links, let’s do this PROPERLY and give today the respect it deserves. Bless us, Whitney!!

College Crosse News.

If you are trying to see Cleveland St. vs. OSU live, you better find a scalper, as the game is SOLD OUT!

Ohio State is ready for their season opener at Cleveland State.

Spirits are high and confidence is soaring as the No. 8 Ohio State men’s lacrosse team gears up for its season opener on the road against Cleveland State at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Buckeyes are looking to prove they still have what it takes to get to the national championship following an exodus of impact players, including Major League Lacrosse draftees midfielder Jake Withers and top-scoring attacker Eric Fannell. Sophomore attack/midfielder Tre Leclaire, last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year, will be counted on to remain healthy and take an even larger role on offense.

While the team has big shoes to fill on offense, defensemen Erik Evans, Ben Randall and Matt Borges are all returning starters and should help stabilize the backend of last season’s team.

Players are also eager to show off the new talent the team added in the offseason.

“We gained Jackson Reid, he’s a freshman from Canada – slick, great hands,” senior long-stick midfielder Freddy Freibott said. “We’ve got Justin Inacio up on the faceoff X, he’s been a major impact player. Evan Riss has been a fantastic force at [long-stick midfielder].”

Robert Morris is locked in for their B1G weekend.

Great article from the GAWD Edward Lee of the Baltimore sun: Ryan Kern one of few Navy men’s lacrosse players scrambling to watch Super Bowl.

Sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Kern’s top priority is making enough saves to help the Navy men’s lacrosse team win its season opener Sunday against Jacksonville. His next objective is finding a way to watch the Philadelphia Eagles play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII later that evening. Faceoff between the Midshipmen and the Dolphins at D.B. Milne Field in Jacksonville is set for noon. But the Southwest Airlines flight carrying the players and coaches back to Annapolis is not scheduled to depart until 7:15 p.m. and land until 9:05 p.m.

The timing of the plane ride has left Kern, a Middletown, Del., resident and senior long-stick midfielder George Uhrich, an Ambler, Pa., resident scrambling to watch the game.

“I will have my Eagles jersey in my bag, and me and George Uhrich found out that it’s Southwest Airlines,” Kern said Thursday. “So they should have the game up [via WiFi]. I have the NFL Network on my phone, so that I’ll be ready to load it up and watch it as soon as we get on the plane. I have it figured out. But I’m still more focused on the Jacksonville game.”

Shout out to Lynchburg men’s lacrosse. This video is hilarious.

“Can Rutgers men’s lacrosse get over hump in 2018? ‘We make our own destiny’.”

Like every other team in history, Rutgers’ men’s lacrosse program wants to take it one game at a time this season. But the Scarlet Knights can also admit that’s easier said than done given their history, and what is at stake this spring.

After back-to-back NCAA Tournament near-misses and last season’s collapse from a No. 1 ranking, and with 13 seniors on the roster, Rutgers’ 2018 season, which starts Saturday at home against Robert Morris at 1 p.m., will either be the year it finally gets over the hump and returns to the national tournament for the first time since 2004, or the most profound heartbreak yet.

“It is hard to take week by week, because we have a lot of goals that are set for us, like later in the season with postseason and playing in May,” senior goalkeeper Max Edelmann said. “Last year, we had a few hiccups (in the regular season) where we were trying to focus on preseason. Our issue came when we started looking ahead too much and we lost focus of the little things we need to focus on.”

Soft hands!!

Speaking of the intersection of lacrosse and football: Patriots’ Belichick has maintained his Maryland and lacrosse roots.

The Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse players were starstruck.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was visiting their practice in Baltimore for the first time in the spring of 2007, and most of the players choked up when saying hello to one of the best-ever NFL coaches.

Since then, the players who have rotated through the program have become comfortable around Belichick. Belichick started visiting Johns Hopkins’ practices and games about three times per year after developing a friendship with coach Dave Pietramala in 2006, learning all of the players’ names and chatting with them individually.

An Annapolis, Maryland, native, Belichick played lacrosse and football at Wesleyan University. While he’s paved a legacy in coaching football and will try for his sixth Super Bowl on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. against the Philadelphia Eagles, Belichick has maintained his connection to lacrosse throughout his 42-year coaching career.

“There is a great passion that he has for the sport,” Pietramala told Capital News Service. “He’s very, very knowledgeable of the game.”

BEWARE OF BEARS!!!

Sounds like one of them good problems: Loyola Maryland men’s lacrosse trying to find balance with new indoor facility.

Loyola Maryland became the first college program in the state to have access to a lacrosse-specific indoor facility. Lugano Field, one of the practice fields at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore, is covered by an inflatable dome. Use of an indoor structure is invaluable in January and February, but the Greyhounds have gone inside only three times for practice this preseason as coach Charley Toomey and his staff have debated the merits of practicing outdoors in inclement or cold weather.

“We’re still finding that balance of what’s enough and what’s too much time in there and how tough you want them with the weather,” he said. “You definitely want a balance because the guys are going to be playing in 25-, 30-degree weather with a wind chill against UVA [on Feb. 10] and Hopkins [on Feb. 17]. So you don’t want to spend your entire time in there and come outside and be freezing for four quarters.”

What’s Up, PhilaJersey?

It’s SUUUUUUUUPER BOWL WEEKEND in Philly! Everyone is super excited here in the city. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the people of Minneapolis: Security at Mall of America threatening to kick Eagles fans out over chants.

E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

Those six letters, that one word, echo throughout the halls of the largest mall in America every few minutes or so, but security has been clamping down on Eagles fans, who have completely taken over the city of Minneapolis and the Mall of America.

After a particularly raucous moment and loud Eagles cheer on Friday afternoon, security was on the case looking for who started the chant. We were told by mall security that fans starting the Eagles cheer would be given a warning before eventually being removed from the establishment for starting the chant.

Seriously.

Additionally, fans at the Mall of America, which has become Super Bowl central this week, are not permitted to wear dog masks while on the premises. These four masked men, who we asked for a photo, indicated that security was watching them to make sure they did not wear the masks anymore in the mall.

World/National News.

Hahahahaha: Only 16% of Americans are rooting for the Patriots.

“New England vs. Everybody” is more than just a shirt – it’s reality, according to a new poll. A survey from Monmouth University finds that 37 percent of Americans are rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl LII, compared to just 16 percent who want another Patriots championship.

Furthermore, 39 percent said they are actively cheering for the Patriots to lose, while only 12 percent are explicitly against the Eagles. When sampling just the northeast, the Eagles are still favored over the Patriots by 45 percent to 28 percent. Overall, 39 percent of Americans say they will be watching on Sunday. But many don’t even care who lifts the trophy, as 49 percent say the commercials will be the most interest part.

Your GIF/Video for February 3, 2018.

I am VERY happy that there might be a Martin reboot!

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.