GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation!! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here are your links for March 1, 2018.

College Crosse News.

NEW CROSSECAST!! Ryan’s post with timestamps is coming up later today, but you can listen to the last night’s show now by clicking this link or in the player below. #SaturdayNightLacrosse

Aggregation time! Here’s how the major polls look after nearly a month of lacrosse. If the Great Danes and Maryland win their games this weekend (Albany also plays at UMass on March 6th), their March 10th match-up could be one of the biggest #1 vs. #2 games in years.

North Carolina beat the (beloved!) Mercer Bears last night 14-7.

Behind a six-goal effort by senior attackman Chris Cloutier, the University of North Carolina men’s lacrosse team improved to 5-0 on the season with a 14-7 win over the Mercer Bears on Wednesday afternoon at Kenan Stadium. Cloutier led the Tar Heels with six goals while eight other Tar Heels each scored a single goal. The six goals by Cloutier were the second most he has ever had in a game in his career, topped only by the nine goals he scored against Loyola in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on May 28, 2016. The win was the 199th of Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi’s collegiate coaching career. He gets his first chance at win No. 200 Saturday when the Tar Heels host St. John’s.

Loyola beat Towson 12-8 in a tense midweek game last night.

Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse built a 4-1 lead early in Wednesday’s second quarter, and while the game tightened over the middle 50 percent, the Greyhounds never allowed Towson University to tie the score or lead during a 12-8 non-conference victory at Ridley Athletic Complex. The Tigers got within one on six occasions during the second, third and fourth quarters, but each time, Loyola (3-1 overall) had a scoring answer to keep the visitors at bay. The Greyhounds then scored the game’s last three goals to provide a final cushion. Pat Spencer led all players with seven points with game-highs of four goals and three assists, while Kevin Lindley tallied a career-best three goals for the Greyhounds. Jay Drapeau and Aidan Olmstead each had two goals and an assist, and John Duffy produced a goal and an assist.

Highlights of last night’s Towson vs. Loyola game.

Cornell is gearing up for their big game versus Albany this weekend.

With the first win of 2018 under its belt, Cornell men’s lacrosse will attempt to shock No. 1 Albany in potentially its toughest matchup of the young season. The upcoming contest this Saturday comes about a year after a resounding 17-6 loss to the Great Danes at home last season, which gave the Red its worst start since 1997. This time around, Albany (2-0) is the top team in the nation in the Inside Lacrosse poll while Cornell (1-1) has received no votes.But the Red will look to return the favor on Albany’s turf in the hopes of spoiling the home team’s No. 1 ranking. “Albany’s very confident; we need to go in with an edge as well,”said interim head coach Peter Milliman. “I think we need to go in that game knowing that we belong and doing a good job to execute our assignments.”

Speaking of Albany: No. 1 UAlbany men’s lacrosse more than a great offense.

Scott Marr is not really one for playing mind games with his players. So, when he says something, he means it. Which brings us to what the University at Albany men’s lacrosse head coach thinks about his defense’s play to this point in the season for the No. 1 Great Danes. “I’ll be honest with you,” Marr said. “I don’t think we’ve really been tested.” That should change at 1 p.m. Saturday at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium when UAlbany (2-0) takes on Cornell (1-1), which has scored 26 goals through its first two games and has one of the top offensive talents in the country in sophomore Jeff Teat, who leads the nation in points per game at 8.5. UAlbany, of course, is known for its own high-powered offense with senior Connor Fields and freshman Tehoka Nanticoke leading the way.

Just send Rutgers’ Casey Rose to the Winter Olympics next time.

Rose’s story doesn’t end there. Lacrosse might not even be his best sport. He was raised as a hardcore skier, and spent most of his free time growing up in the mountains of Utah. “I grew up in some of the best skiing in North America,” Rose said. “I grew up skiing with a very high level of kids. In middle school, I ended up competing on the North American Junior Big Mountain circuit.” Not only did he compete, but in 2010, he won the 12-14 age group. And his senior year of high school, despite being a student and varsity lacrosse player, he still managed to place fourth. Big mountain skiing is a different breed of winter sports, one that isn’t even in the Olympics, with Rose’s YouTube channel proving what a dangerous endeavor it can be.

Penn State Men’s Lacrosse Faltering Without Ament.

The Penn State men’s lacrosse team suffered its first loss days before it even played its first game of the season, and it was a season-changing one. The Nittany Lions lost junior attackman Grant Ament to a foot injury that occurred during practice, and the veteran will be missing for an indefinite period of time.

The team’s first loss that showed up in the standings came against Villanova, ultimately ending in heartbreaking 17-16 loss. The game was an adjustment — the first of many for the team.

Losing a player like Ament, someone who was listed on Inside Lacrosse’s Preseason All-Big Ten team, was never going to have an easy fix. Coach Jeff Tambroni began that mending process by sliding midfielder Nick Spillane into the attack corps. Spillane has had a solid season thus far, tallying five goals and six assists through four games, yet his production alone was never going to be enough to replace Penn State’s leading scorer from a year ago.

What’s Up, PhilaJersey?

AMEN!!: Traffic in Center City is a mess. Here’s why and what should be done.

Philadelphia’s roads are choking on the city’s success, and right now there isn’t the money or organization in place to effectively solve the problem, according to a report released Wednesday on traffic in Center City.

“Today’s fragmented and underfunded management is not sufficient for the task,” the report from the Center City District stated.

The city’s population and economy, employment, and development are growing. Greater Center City, from the Delaware River to the Schuylkill, and Girard to Tasker Avenues, accounts for nearly half of the city’s jobs and wage tax revenue, and almost a third of the real estate tax revenue.

For the most part, the report’s observations were nothing new, with many of them recently covered in public policy debates since Mayor Kenney made improving street safety an initiative of his administration: There’s a lack of traffic enforcement in the city. The increase in deliveries, in part because of the explosion of online retail, is leading to more trucks blocking travel lanes. Public transportation needs to be more efficient to entice people out of their cars and ride-hailing vehicles.

World/National News.

Black Panther is still crushing it at the box officee.

Moviegoers will continue to be transfixed by Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther in its third weekend shelling out between $61M-$67M. The Ryan Coogler-directed feature will easily stand tall over newcomers 20th Century Fox/Chernin Entertainment’s Red Sparrow and MGM’s Eli Roth reimagination of the 1974 classic Death Wish. Black Panther has continually been one about breaking records, and just as analysts estimate a certain level for the comic book adaptation, it sails past them. While too soon to tell, should Black Panther beat this industry range with $68.5M+, it could own the second best third weekend ever, beating Avatar, and ranking under Star Wars: Force Awakens ($90.2M).

Your GIF/Video for March 1, 2018.

When you sleep through your alarm.

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

Twitter: @College_Crosse

iTunes: College Crossecast

Facebook: College Crosse

Instagram: @College_Crosse

Managing Editors: Safe Fekadu, Chris Jastrzembski, Ryan McDonnell.