GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here’s everything you need to know for June 22, 2018.

College Crosse News

Huge news as TD Irelan officially transferred to Yale yesterday. The Boy Chris did a great post on the story.

Former Albany Great Danes faceoff specialist TD Ierlan is headed to New Haven, Connecticut and will suit up for Andy Shay and the Yale Bulldogs for the next two seasons, confirmed by Inside Lacrosse’s Ty Xanders via text. The Daily Messenger’s Bob Chavez also confirmed with Ierlan.

News of Ierlan transferring first came out earlier in June, with Cornell and Syracuse as the two favorites to land the FOGO. Cornell was seen as the leader throughout the entire process, and it was confirmed that he would land there. However last week, Ierlan reportedly visited Yale and was finishing up his application for the university earlier in the week. A source close to Ierlan said he was admitted into the Ivy League university earlier this morning.

The Victor, NY native was a USILA second team All-American last season after recording a record-setting season with Albany. He won 359 face-offs for a 79.1% win percentage and recorded 254 ground balls, all of which are NCAA records. He also contributed on offense with six goals and five assists.

Now hold up before you make your TD & KD jokes, Dan Arestia is here to tell you that there were better options than Yale if TD really was solely focused on chasing a ring.

But let’s say TD was just looking to get a ring and say screw it to everything else. Would he still go to Yale?

COMMENCE HOT TAKES

Absolutely not. If all you’re after is a ring in the next two years, there are better places to go do that than Yale right now. Yale just graduated what might be it’s best senior class ever. Tewaaraton winner Ben Reeves. A top SSDM in the country in Tyler Warner, and his linemate and fellow freak athlete Jason Alessi. Two thirds of the close defense graduates in Chris Keating and Jerry O’Connor, which is tough to replace even with stud Chris Fake coming back. This team just sent SIX players to the MLL. Yes there is talent left there and the incoming class is strong (including an UA All American FOGO no less). Ierlan probably makes just about anyone a contender, but Yale has more than most to replace.

Grow the game: Would Alabama ever consider adding lacrosse?

Although across the board Alabama athletics seems to be doing well, particularly in football, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s track and field, the Crimson Tide has generally been rated as having only a middle-of-the-pack overall athletics program in the Southeastern Conference. To be sure, the SEC is very strong in athletics, but most believe Bama should be better than mediocre.

A recent BOL board discussion of the situation, brought up tangentially to a soccer story, suggested Alabama adding sports. Intercollegiate sports at The University (meaning not including club sports) are football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, men’s and women’s track and field (indoors, outdoors, and cross country), men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, and exclusive women’s sports softball, gymnastics, soccer, volleyball, and rowing.

Without getting into the ramifications of adding sports, including Title IX considerations that require equal opportunities in athletics for women relative to men, there was the suggestion of lacrosse. This has long been a popular sport in the East, particularly the Northeast. My first recollection of the sport dates from the 1950s when the great Syracuse running back Jim Brown (later at Cleveland) was revealed to be an All-America both in football and lacrosse.

Great podcast with Jamie Munro & BOSS Myers of Ohio State.

Troy Nunes is a Magician with a Syracuse women’s lacrosse 2019 preview post.

First off, a belated congrats to James Madison on winning their first women’s lacrosse title in program history with a thrilling 16-15 victory over Boston College on Memorial Day weekend (and thanks for knocking off the Eagles in the process...). It was certainly an exciting game to watch, coming down to the wire and looking like everything one wants to see in a championship final.

But on the Syracuse Orange front, SU finished the season 9-10 after an 11-10 OT loss to Princeton in the first round. It had the dubious distinction of being the first team in program history of finishing below the .500 mark. Given the amount of talent on the team and expectations, there’s no question that it was an overall disappointment despite some big wins.

Personnel Losses

As it stands right now, the Orange lost five major players this year. Riley Donahue is definitely the biggest loss on offense. The attacker finished 3rd on the team with 48 points (26g, 22a) as well as 13 ground balls. She had a knack for finding creases in opposing defenses and exploiting them accordingly but she was also equally adept at dishing off to a fellow player for a score. Neena Merola had an aggressive style that helped her on both ends of the field as well as lead the team in draw controls (52). The midfielder also had 23 points (20g, 3a) and 15 ground balls. Taylor Gaitalso played both ends of the field as a midfielder and finished fifth on the team in scoring with 31 points (18g, 13a) as well as 13 ground balls. Alie Jimerson finished the year with 20 points (7g, 13a), but was injured in the Maryland game and missed several games. On the defensive end, Mia DiBello ended her career with 15 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers (tied for 6th and tied for 4th respectively).

As you all know, we keep it (aggressively) apolitical here, but this is pretty funny: Fake Donald Trump spews a StuGotz lacrosse rant.

UAlbany picks Delmar’s Rowan to lead women’s lacrosse program.

Katie Rowan, a 2005 Bethlehem High School graduate, is the new University at Albany women’s lacrosse head coach.

The school announced Rowan’s hire Thursday in a press release. Rowan, a former UAlbany assistant coach, has spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Wagner.

“I am extremely honored for this opportunity,” Rowan said. “I would like to thank athletic director Mark Benson, associate athletic director Vic Cegles, and the entire search committee for giving me the privilege to return home to Albany and lead this program. I would also like to thank my athletic directors at Wagner College, Walt Hameline and Brendan Fahey, as well as all of my coaching mentors for their support and guidance over the years.”

Rowan replaces Jess Davos, who served as the Great Danes’ interim head coach for the 2018 season after John Battaglino resigned in January following seven seasons leading the program. With Davos leading UAlbany, the team posted a 9-9 mark and made an appearance in the America East championship game.

Great old school Syracuse video.

BOSS Mearns talks Bonnies lacrosse in this video.

Even the kids are doing hidden ball tricks now.

What’s Up, PhilaJersey?

The ultimate N.J. cheap eats guide: 35 places where you can eat like a king on a pauper’s budget.

New Jersey is an expensive state to live and eat in, but if you can’t find good cheap eats you’re not looking hard enough. I ate well on this latest statewide food excursion - the big bosses will love how little I spent - and sampled a globe-trotting array of cuisines. Indian. Middle Eastern. Soul food. Chinese. Colombian. Mexican. Greek. Thai. Peruvian. Vietnamese. And more. We were looking for lunches in the $7-$8 range, dinners about $10-$12. Hot dogs and subs were not considered; we were searching for complete meals, with sides. Our selections here are not just cheap eats; they’re good - often great - cheap eats. Enjoy. Your wallet/pocketbook will thank you very much.

World/National News

FINALLY, some good news: Study suggests Coffee can help the heart grow stronger and repair itself.

Pensioners should drink four cups of coffee a day to protect and repair their heart muscle, research suggests. Levels of caffeine, equivalent to drinking four cups of coffee, could help to protect healthy blood vessels and repair the heart after a heart attack, a study claims. The stimulant boosts a protein known to be important in regenerating heart cells, and which could also protect them from damage. Caffeine is thought to lower the risk for diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke, but the reasons for this are not well understood.

German researchers now think caffeine may make cells which line the arteries and veins healthier, improving their ability to resist or recover from damage. The scientists say their findings ‘should lead to better strategies for protecting heart muscle’, and another expert called the results ‘very interesting’. They suggest caffeine could particularly benefit elderly people, whose hearts may be naturally weaker and more at risk of damage.

Your GIF/Video for June 22, 2018

Someone throw this good boy a ball!!

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