As field Lacrosse has kept growing and improving over the last few years in Europe, more and more players are also getting interested in the indoor version of lacrosse; box lacrosse. Due to venue limitations, and a lack in knowledge of the game, only a few box teams are reported in Europe, but the recent development work points to an increase over the coming years.

The Aleš Hřebeský Memorial, with its 20th anniversary event, was a pure demonstration of how good European box can become when hard and relentless work of the athletes are combined with a long tradition and great organization. Not only was the 20th AHM one of the most outstanding tournaments box lacrosse Europe has ever seen, it also marks the beginning of a new European box era.

The AHM 2013

One week after the AHM, Europe’s second biggest box tournament, the Lax in the Box tourney, took place in Dresden, Germany. As this year’s focus was on the AHM, the Dresden Braves, who organize the Lax in the Box decided to use the second edition of the LitB as a development tournament for teams who are new to box lacrosse.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with new programs, three teams dropped out last minute to leave a total of 9 teams competing for the most outstanding trophy the world of lacrosse will ever see, EVER.

The teams were:

1. Dresden Braves (Germany)
2. Victoria Berlin (Germany)
3. LCC Wolves (Czech Republic)
4. TJ Malesice (Czech Republic)
5. Bundeswehr Lacrosse (Germany)
6. MarBroRo Marburg/Rostock (Germany)
7. Deutschland Adler (Germany)
8. Vienna Monarchs (Austria)
9. Karlsruhe Storm (Germany)

Besides the 9 men‘s box lacrosse teams the Braves also invited 6 women’s teams to compete in the indoor women‘s tournament. Having a women’s and men’s tournament at the same time in the same arena complex did not only support the idea of a development tournament but also created a unique and attractive atmosphere for players and spectators.

Both tournaments started Saturday morning, May 4th, with games being played in a two-15 minute halves style. The level of refereeing was very good and consistent over the whole weekend to provide ideal conditions for a great tournament. Up front the favorites for the men’s tournament were the two teams from the Czech Republic, LCC Wolves and TJ Malesice and the German team, Deutschland Adler. The round robin was played in two groups with five and four teams.

After the first games were played the favored teams Wolves, Malesice and Adler did not disappoint and came out with big wins. Group A consisted of three teams, Deutschland Adler, Vienna Monarchs and LCC Wolves known to be able to handle the floor on both ends. As expected Adler came out strong on day one finishing first in their group beating second seated Wolves in an exciting game 6-3. Monarchs showed highlights in defense but were not able to get enough scoring power to beat Wolves in a tough game finishing 3-1 in favor of the Wolves.

Is that traditional? Way to roll Artjom!

In Group B Malesice cleared their way through round robin beating home team Dresden, Karlsruhe, Bundeswehr and Marbroro in exciting but dominant games. In the fight for the second place the home team Dresden Braves could work up their way with beating third seated Karlsruhe in an exciting game 4-1 finishing second place behind Wolves to qualify for the semifinal on Sunday.

White on white.

With round robin games finished on day 1 Adler were facing Dresden and Wolves their fellow Czech team Malesice in the semifinals on Sunday. In the first game Adler showed high offensive potential scoring 7 goals without letting one in to proceed to the final with a strong 7-0 victory over the home team Dresden. In the second semifinal Malesice showed strong nerves beating Wolves in one of the most exciting games of the tournament 3-2 to proceeding to the final with Deutschland Adler already waiting for them.

The first half of the final game showed a lot of highlights in defense and offense with the Malesice goalie keeping Adler of the score board for most of the time. After the first half the 400 spectators were caught up in a close game with Adler having a slight 2-1 advantage going in the second half.

This looks like it hurt… someone.

To the surprise of everyone Malesice could not show enough defensive power in the second half to keep Adler from scoring and were not able to create goals on the other end of the floor which lead to a clear 6-2 victory of the Deutschland Adler team to be named the 2nd Lax in the Box champion.

All statistics about the games are available here.

Besides the men’s tournament, the six invited German women teams competed on a high level as well, showing great games and development over the whole weekend.

Teams taking part in the women’s Lax in the Box tournament:

1. Latschis Marburg
2. Neckarnixen
3. Leipzig Miwoks
4. Dresden Braves Gold
5. Dresden Braves Black
6. Victoria Berlin

In the final Marburg was facing the Neckarnixen and over 300 spectators could see a high level women’s indoor game with Marburg taking home the title, becoming winner of the trophy Adam and being named the first Lax in the Box women’s tournament champion.

Congrats, ladies!

Trophy first, handshake second!

Fans, players, refs and coaches were able to watch great games in an outstanding atmosphere and a great venue over two days. The combination of the women’s and men’s tournament created a unique experience and truly contributed to Growing the Game of indoor lacrosse in Germany.

The organizers Dresden Braves did a great job having all games on time, providing a great venue, separate locker rooms for each team over the whole weekend, and a high level of refereeing.

GREAT work by the Dresden Braves for LitB!

The players’ party on Saturday night helped everyone “relaxing” after a great first day. Off the field players and spectators had the chance to take part in the fastest shot competition and win prizes provided by our sponsors Captain Lax and East Coast Dyes. The Cheerleaders got everyone cheering before the two final games and during the halftime and maybe distracted some of the male player a little too much.

At this point we want to thank everyone that contributed to this great event and hope everyone involved in this event enjoyed it as much as the home team Dresden Braves. This tournament was a huge step towards Growing and improving the game of lacrosse over in Europe and Germany.

Because of the great success of the tournament this year we can already promise the third Lax in the Box 2014 and information about this event will be updated soon on our webpage.

Stay tuned for more media material uploaded in the next week, and thank you for reading!

- Simon

________________________________________________________________________________

Given the dramatic progress of the NCAA Tournament that everyone is buzzing about, I saw it fit to bring you some tracks from a bunch of college (or at least college-aged) kids that are making big sounds in the music world. We’ve got one new artist and one Music Monday double-dipper, both of which should be able to get you pumped for the next lax game or simply pick up your Monday.

Coyote Kisses – “This Is How You Know”

Let me introduce another newcomer to both my music library and Music Mondays…Coyote Kisses! Yes, it’s an incredible band name but beyond that, these kids can jam. The group is just two college kids who have been pumping out tunes in the genre that, according to their Facebook, they call “Space Punk.” Whatever you want to call it, this song is a hit that is just right to get the summer moving, as is the rest of their new Thunder Color EP (link below!).

Download the full album here.

Logic – “Nasty” [Explicit language]

We featured Logic with the first single off of Welcome to Forever back on March 4th in Music Monday: Walking West and it is now my pleasure to bring you the full mixtape. This is the first rap mixtape that I have enjoyed thoroughly, from beginning to end, in a long while. Choosing just one track for our post was nearly impossible, so I urge you to go out and listen to the rest (link below). Especially check out “Roll Call,” Logic’s ridiculous freestyle over the beat of Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson.” At just 23, Logic is proving himself as a flat out amazing lyricist (when you have rappers like Nas praising your work, you know you’re into something good).

Download the full album here.

As an MCLA product myself, I really appreciate the opportunities that the league has given me. I’ve been a player, coach, captain, treasurer, VP, team president, and at the end of the day I’ve been able to see many of the different facets of the MCLA, and what it takes to run a team and a league. I have never had the opportunity to go to Nationals though, so I was very excited to add another notch to the belt in being a commentator at the tournament.

When I wasn’t commentating (and even while I was), I tried to soak up every part of the experience that I could. How I would feel as a player, coach, fan, etc., and I was well aware of the criticism coming from the peanut gallery via Twitter and other social media outlets.

What it comes down to is this:

It’s easy to pick something apart when you can only see it at face value, or sometimes when you can’t see it at all. Knowing that a current MCLA coach at the tournament also had a few things to say caught my attention though, and really compelled me to share my own feelings on the tournament.

Below you will find my opinions on the tournament, and some responses to things that have been said about the league. Please read the entire article before jumping to any conclusions on what my feelings may be about the tourney or league. To give full disclosure, the MCLA is reimbursing me for my trip down to Greenville. In commentating, I was working for them, but in no way, shape, or form does that obligate me to defend the MCLA.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have heard me mention writing something about ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Future of the MCLA‘, but the more I read around online, the more I became frustrated with what was being said, and I decided to change my tune.

First let’s start with some questions that I have:

If you weren’t AT the tournament, or coaching a team involved in the tournament, why would you spend all week publicly chastising the league you are a part of?

What good does that do for the league?

How does that help promote the league, or encourage people to be a part of it?

As part of the media, we are absolutely responsible for shedding light on both the good and bad in the lacrosse world, but as MCLA proponents, and even more importantly, ambassadors of this sport, we are also responsible for helping to spur on growth in the league and offer our hand in making it a better experience for all of those involved – NOT to simply tear it down with every chance we get.

But the live-streaming was terrible!

There was only one game that was completely lost due to issues with the live-streaming. I was actually set to commentate that game it and let me say this: you didn’t miss much. Portions of 3-5 other games were lost as well due to bandwidth and tower sharing issues. I think the biggest issues with the live-streaming was during the very intense Chapman vs. Oregon 4 OT thriller when the stream went out in the 2nd OT, and then the issues during the semifinal game between CSU and BYU.

This absolutely stinks, there is no question about it, but to let this ruin the tournament for yourself is just plain old dumb. Live streams of games cut out all the time. That’s part of the fun when relying on the internet to broadcast a game. One of the D3 Playoff games cutout this past weekend, as did one of the MLL games. It happens at all levels, so why was there such a stink about the MCLA operation? Heck, I could even mention how the lights at the Super Bowl went out this past year. Things go wrong all the time.

At the WOU/SJU game that was not broadcast, we had a dad come up to us asking for updates throughout the game. He wasn’t mad, nor were the parents back home. They understood that things like that happen and were really out of the control of the MCLA at that point.

I’ve heard several people ask about why TLN didn’t get the bid and how crazy it was that they didn’t. Before I caught wind of this, I inquired about it myself as both Samir and Colin are former MCLA guys themselves and have been killing it on the live-streaming front. It is not my place to say why they weren’t chosen but I can assuredly say that after hearing more, I completely understand why the MCLA didn’t go that direction.

Well they could’ve just paid for the TV presence and not had to deal with this.

True, but how many people got the Fox Sports channels on their TV in the past years when they went that route? I sure didn’t. One of the phrases I heard stated several times by key MCLA’ers throughout the weekend was that, “the MCLA should own their own product.” In that, they mean press releases, scores, and coverage of the MCLA should be BY the MCLA and released on the MCLA website. The league is trying to grow and increase their offering to new teams, and not trying to compete at the NCAA level.

To further grow, it makes complete sense to offer coverage of the games to as many people as possible. As TLN has shown through their own coverage and growth, more and more people are tuning in to the web to find and watch live lacrosse. To offer up all 30 games on one website so everyone can tune in and watch was a great idea.

Did it work our perfectly? No. Did it ruin the event? Don’t make me laugh. That is ridiculous.

Not having an official MCLA Twitter at the event is inexcusable.

The other big issue everyone seemed to have with the tournament was the social media coverage. The MCLA twitter was quiet on day one, but after hearing all the people voice their frustration over it, the MCLA became very active with in-game updates and was actually double-timing it between fields two and three on the second day to keep tabs of both games and update those not able to watch the live stream.

The Twitter presence of the MCLA went from eight tweets on Monday to 80+ tweets on Tuesday and continued to post in-game updates as the week progressed. So the MCLA listened and stepped it up? Why harp on day one for the rest of the week, Twitterati?

Sirrine Stadium was a letdown.

It’s a field, in a stadium, so let’s call it a small victory. I watched all the semifinal games and both championships and not once did it look like the players were impacted by any of the “sand traps” on the field. I can’t help but think of something I tell my players all the time, worry about what you can control. Can the MCLA control whether or not Greenville keeps the field in top shape? Maybe? Odds are they can’t.

There was a lot of good at the tournament.

The player experience, the fan experience, the vendor village, help by those on-hand. All of these were very positive factors in the tournament.

This is a player’s league, and for the majority of the players there, it really sounded like everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves – no matter win or lose. As it is a player’s league, the MCLA should make their first priority to give the players the best experience possible. I felt they did a wonderful job at that. The fields were fantastic and had all the proper accommodations, there was no ‘off limits’ for teams and any players not playing a game were able to wander around and check out all the action. The vendor village in the center of the tournament was great and was heavily trafficked for the first two days.

The tournament experience as a whole for people in attendance was also great. I spoke with several parents and heard from several more, about how well the tournament was run and how much fun it was to watch. No one I heard from complained about their seating, the clocks, or anything of the sort. People really just enjoyed being able to watch great lacrosse for the entirety each day while in Greenville.

As the week progressed, in-game and post-game interviews were conducted, All-American honors were announced, and the players were able to gain some solid recognition for all of their hardwork and perseverance.

The future of the MCLA is bright.

The MCLA showed throughout the entirety of the tournament that they are listening and they want to better their offering to all the fans, players, and coaches of the league. As Paul Brown said, “You learn a line from a win, and a book from a defeat.”

Why pick a part every little thing that goes wrong with the tournament? Instead, why not celebrate the growth of the league in the Coast Guard Academy’s first trip to the national tournament? In Liberty’s semifinal appearance? In Colorado State’s undefeated season and back-to-back championship wins?

There was a lot of good at the MCLA Tournament this year. When people only focus on the negative of the league and pick apart every little thing they can find, they are doing a disservice to the league, everyone involved in it, and really the future of this sport with the MCLA.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for some good ole fashioned constructive criticism, but very rarely did I see any mention of a resolution or of someone trying to understand why these issues may have been occurring. The best part about all of these issues (yes, there is one), is that they were all preventable. Everyone involved can keep these in the front of their mind when planning for next year.

What I notice most though, is the MCLA’s reaction and response to all of these issues. They hear you, they’re listening, and it was clearly evident that changes were being made. I guarantee the MCLA enjoys having these issues hanging over their head as much as everyone else does having to experience them. I can’t help but think of something I tell my own players when something goes wrong on the field, don’t get pissed, just fix it.

And check out the post from Saturday for some amazing photos.

Attendance:

Yes, attendance was down in Baltimore, and the crowd paled in comparison to even the presale numbers for the quarterfinals in Indianapolis. A big crowd in Indy is great news, as we always love to see the sport spreading and thriving throughout non-traditional hotbeds. However, comparing the two, and slighting Maryland as a result, is apples & oranges.

No Maryland or Virginia representation means Yale is the closest team to the venue. Are there a lot of diehard Yale and Ohio State lacrosse fans in the DC metro area? If you’re a Hopkins fan, are you going to drive over to College Park and sit in the rain to watch these games?

Maybe you’ll just watch from home, especially since you already went to a sold-out Homewood field a few weeks back, sat in M & T Bank Stadium earlier this season for the Face-Off Classic in March, and get to watch NCAA tournament games on one level or another pretty much every season.

The Indy quarterfinals are the first ones to come to the region. These games have EVENT status. Add a weather-proof environment and an in-state team in the mix, and the two settings couldn’t be any more different. I’m not saying Maryland residents should take any NCAA tourney games for granted, but I have to assume many of them did.

When you look at the Boston Cannons’ attendance on Saturday night, which was just over 11,000 people, you see how strong that home team attendance pull can be. Also, that the MLL seems to be gaining some serious traction. Ok, back to college.

The Atmosphere:

If you chose to stay home, you missed out on a great scene created by these fanbases. I’m sure your couch is lovely, but there’s nothing like being there in person.

While Cornell dominated every aspect of their matchup, most elements of the game will soon be forgotten. Here’s what I’ll remember: the Cornell bench getting big-game playing time, and the starters pumping them up and cheering them on like it was a one-goal game. The legendary Richie Moran appearing out of nowhere, walking down to the sideline and hugging Matt Donovan late in the game.  A swarm of young fans running to the rails to yell to Cornell’s starters once they’d been pulled from the game, and the players responding in kind by tossing some lacrosse balls their way.

The Yale Faithful:

I don’t care if you have a dog in the fight or not; there is nothing like being in the building for a potential upset. Yale fans were constantly on their feet, and with every goal it seemed like more and more blue shirts appeared on their half of the stands. The bulldogs brought a tremendous crowd down to Maryland with them, and their go-ahead goal was the loudest pop I’d heard all day by far.

And no matter how many times you see it, there’s nothing quite like that moment when the fans stand and applaud their sons in defeat. If you’re in the crowd, you can geniunely feel the pride and support.

The Venue:

For such a big event, the game was noticeably non-corporate. No gaudy product placement, no “Show your flow on the jumBROtron (not sure that’s an actual term, but if not, I bet it will be soon)” contest… this was old school. There’s plenty of time for the glitz and glamour next weekend; this was a plain old college stadium, with no bells or whistles, and a refreshing departure from what we’ve come to expect.

Steve Mock:

This year’s nominee for the Eric Lusby “Maybe we should name the Tewaaraton finalists after the tournament, considering we factor in the tournament and all” award put on an absolute clinic in putting yourself in the right spot to score. Did you know Mock moved up to eighth all-time in Ivy League goals during this game? Well, he did for about ten minutes, then he fell to ninth, since he was tied with…

Rob Pannell:

Oh my goodness. Mr. Pannell. The man was downright surgical with his play on Saturday. Forget about the two “I’m running to the goal and you’re just going to have to get over it” goals in the second half; as a feeder, the Buckeye zone was easier to crack than the “RAIL PABUL” name scramble they put on the jumbotron between quarters. Marasco still has the ability to pad his resume, but as of now the Tewaaraton presentation’s going to consist of a guy walking to the stage, saying “Welp, here ya go” and handing it straight to Rob.

Two tickets already punched, two spots decided Sunday, and now it’s Final Four time. Thanks to Tommy Gilligan for the incredible shots of Saturday’s action and we’ll see you next weekend in Philly.

- He’s not the biggest guy.

- He’s not the fastest guy.

- He still gets it done in a big way.

- He shows an interest in traditional stringing.

- He’s from a nontraditional area (The Shire).

- He scores totally ridiculous goals for Duke. Like this one:

Of course, Dionne has done that before.

Nothing new!

Photo Credit: Craig Chase

Thanks to LaxKingsTV for the clip!

The first photo just looks fake it’s so cool. No photoshop whatsoever though. Well done Tommy!

Just to show you what happens next…

That’s a pretty amazing shot too. Well done Tommy… AGAIN! Guy is absolutely killing it right now. Newton, Massachusetts’ finest!

We’d like to apologize to Hakeem Lecky for posting this. We know, you guys won the game, and that is where the focus should be… but this is too good a set of photos not to publish. Use it as motivation for your next game. Ok, now we have to apologize to Denver. It’s not like Cuse needs extra motivation here.

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

Pretty nifty! If you were surprised by this play, then you clearly don’t know RIT, D3 lacrosse, and you weren’t watching the game. Earlier in the contest, RIT’s goalie dodged from X and registered an assists. I don’t know why I can’t find that online as well… but Payton Danko did!

Click here to see longer game highlights, which include that sweet goalie assist.

Here is a little added RIT coverage against Tufts last week.

Yup, the Tigers are legit.

Their game against Stevenson on Sunday, in Philly, for the D3 title? It will be pure magic.

One thing is for certain already though… D3 is getting a brand new champion!

Tommy Gilligan is down in Maryland shooting the D1 Quarterfinals. Chris Rosenthall is in the house as well, and will be reporting back on what he sees.

Did you see Steve Mock just doing work out there for the Big Red? Goals on goals on goals. Seven in the first half for Steve Mock? Wow. Pannell is now taking aim at the #1 all-time NCAA scoring record of 353 points. Pannell has 347 right now. Maybe more. I am losing count of all those assists. 2 goals and 6 assists? Isnae. Matt Danowski is the points record holder. Maybe not for long. Cornell coming out HOT!

You want some Game Photos WHILE THE GAME IS GOING ON? Okay, no need to yell.

Tommy Gilligan delivering in a MAJOR way, eh?

Think he’s done after Quarter 1? How about some Quarter 2 action?

And here are a couple more shots from the second half:

Cornell dominated. Another impressive win for the Big Red.

In other news…

Yale starting out slow, again, and this time it’s against Syracuse. Can they come back?

They do come back! Leading 6-4 at one point, Yale looked in control.

Then it was 6-5.

Then it was 6-6.

And then Cuse won the game 7-6 with :13 seconds left on a great feed to the crease. Wow. Low scoring, but amazing, game.

In other, other news…

The fine fellows at 24 Seven Lax will be taking in the Stevenson – Salisbury game, snapping photos, and giving you their $.02 on what should be an incredible game.

If you didn’t catch the Hamilton Nationals – Charlotte Hounds thriller on Friday, make sure you check out some of the other MLL games this weekend. Hamilton won a tight one, and it was good to see a decent crowd in attendance, especially when you consider that the game started at 11am outside of Toronto!

Well be back as the day wears on, updating this post with some photos and other fun bits. What a day!

Video by Brandon Helgeson, Bishop Kelly High School ’13

To enter our final giveaway of the 2013 college lacrosse season, all you have to do is become a member of LaxAllStars.com. Boom, that’s it! You’ll be entered to win the coolest carbon fiber lacrosse shaft in the world from our friends and advertising partner, C-12 Lacrosse. Plus, 5 second prize winners win a C-12 Prize Pack!

Not an LAS Member yet? Signing up is easy! Just fill out the form below. Already an LAS Member? You’re name is already in the hat!

Here’s a quick look at some of perks that come with a C-12 Lacrosse shaft:

Note: The video states most carbon fiber lacrosse shafts are not hollow. This is incorrect. Most carbon fiber shafts are hollow in the center, but the shaft’s shell is made up of hundreds of thin layers of carbon fiber. The solid state of the C-12 shafts are what make them the strongest and most advanced carbon fiber lacrosse shafts on the market.

TO ENTER, BECOME A MEMBER OF LAXALLSTARS.COM:

Just fill out the form below!

* = RP picked correctly

Denver 19, Albany 14
*Cornell 16, Maryland 8
*Le Moyne 9, LIU Post 8
*Limestone 16, Seton Hill 13
*Tufts 14, Stevens 9
*Stevenson 17, WAC 13
*OCC 18, Essex 7
Nassau 16, Genesee 6
Regis Jesuit 7, Mullen 6
*Brighton 16, Olympus 7

RP’s Score: 7/10

Only TWO members beat RP this week.

• Matthew Hawkins (8/10)
  
• Krieg Shaw (8/10)

LAS strikes again, nice job Krieg!

Stay tuned for another round of Rhino Pick ‘Em!

—

Originally published on May 9th, 2013

Hey LAS nation, you ready for round 6? Lots of good games to choose from this week, and I think I’ve got you beat!

If you’re new to Rhino Pick ‘Em, make sure you watch this video. Each week I’ll select 10 games to highlight. I’ll predict the winners and tell you why I think they’ll win the game. Then, you get a chance to go straight up against me in a one-on-one pick ‘em battle. Get more right than I do, and my company, Rhino Lacrosse, will hit you up with a free sticker pack in the mail.
*Week 5 results can be found here.

Alright, you ready for this? Hit me with your best shot.

NCAA D1

Denver vs. Albany

The battle of slick sticks and box moves has arrived. Each team has plenty of fans and believers, but who has the horses? Really like how Albany is playing the game right now! Danes 14-12.

Maryland vs. Cornell

UMD vs Cornell is the battle of #1 Poll teams. For much of the season the Terps and Big Red were the easy #1s, now they play each other early in a lower seeded game. Who wins this parity fest game? Cornell 12-11 (OT).

NCAA D2

Le Moyne vs. LIU Post

Upstate Vs Long Island? One State……… UpState! Dolphins 13-11.

Limestone vs. Seton Hill

Limestone is the sole true Southern team left. Seton Hill is looking to go to uncharted territory. Who wins, the newbie, or the veteran squad? Limestone wins 15-8.

NCAA D3

Tufts vs. Stevens Inst.

A rematch of the March decision that went in favor of Tufts 18-14. These two high powered offenses will square off in the second round of the NCAA D3 Tournament. Tufts wins 12-9.

WAC vs. Stevenson

Washington College has shown it can hang with the top teams this year, beating Salisbury 7-6 and Washington & Lee 8-4. Will the Shoremen be able to upset another big name though? Not so fast… Stevenson wins 13-9.

NJCAA

OCC vs. Essex

These two played a tight game, can Essex take it to the next level and actually knock off OCC? Again, One State……… UpState! OCC 16-13.

Genesee vs. Nassau

This could be the JuCo game of the year! Up and comer in Genesee against an established dynasty. Who’s trending higher? I do think that Nassau is the better team, however, each week I need to have an upset pick and this is mine this week. Genesee wins 10-9.

High School

Regis Jesuit vs. Mullen (CO)

Regis took the earlier game 9-8 in OT, will they pull it out again or will Mullen come back with a vengeance? I can’t guess Regis when I spent a season at the helm for Mullen. Mullen wins 10-8 this time around.

Olympus vs. Brighton (UT)

12-3 Brighton takes on 12-6 Olympus. Brighton took a comfortable 9-5 win earlier this month but Olympus is on a three game winning streak, averaging 12.6 goals for and only 6.3 against. Brighton will prove to be a bit too much again, 12-10 final.

Now it’s your turn. Think you can beat me? Submit your picks below. But remember, you have sign in as an LAS member first.

Hey there, before you can enter the contest, you need to sign up or log in. Becoming an LAS Member is 100% free. Just click that blue button above to sign up or the blue button at the top right to log in.

Maybe this gear infatuation doesn’t go as far as we thought though…

Back on April 29th, we showcased some game photos from the Cornell vs. Princeton match-up, how many of you noticed Cornell’s goalie was sporting brand new STX gloves?

STX tweeted out some teasers about watching for some new gear. Would you have noticed the different Cornell gloves if they hadn’t? Do you care anymore?

I saw them, but only after STX tweeted about it…

Bryan Bendig was wearing some sick new Under Armour gloves in Prague, did you see those?

I’ve always been a proponent of the phrase, “Look good, feel good, play good”, and I love new gear just as much as the next guy, but is that what should be blasted all over the headlines? In the past, teams have given exclusive gear rights to certain media outlets, but is this really helping them now that everyone is showing off their gear? Should a lacrosse team be known for what they wear? Or what they do on the field?

Maryland was set to get new gloves this year from Under Armour, but got knocked out of the tournament before they even received them. Hopkins had a very similar thing happen to them in the past when they got some flashy new helmet wraps. Syracuse sported faded volt and orange gear and lost the quarterfinals to Maryland a few years back.

We get gear thrown in our faces each and every day, which makes some sense. But that we see it about as much as we get ads shown to us makes less sense. When it comes down to tournament time, how important is it really that your team is wearing the coolest gear on the market?

Would you rather be remembered as the Alabama team, who have won three out of the last four BCS Title games and have two uniform combinations? Or the Oregon team, who have zero Titles but thousands of uniform combinations? (Oregon uniform combos on Wired.com).

Now it’s your turn. You tell us, has lacrosse become oversaturated with the newest piece of equipment? Do people need to start worrying about HOW they are playing instead of WHAT they are wearing?

We know a simple poll won’t do your answers justice either, so after you vote, hit up the LAS forums and let us know what you really think. We’ve made a post in the forums exclusively for this article!

This week, lax nation is all about discussing the 2013 MCLA Championships – both good and bad:

Editor’s Note: This forum post started out a little differently, but we like the direction where this user as taken it. Constructive discussion on what is going on in Greenville. SoCalLax2 is making great points and offering some real solutions.

SoCalLax2 posted the following:

I am going to play devil’s advocate here for a minute and respond to some things.

A: With all due respect to the nice facilities that have been used in the past, given the nature of the MCLA (and the niceness of the fields used in the first round games) I don’t think Greenville is a problem. A city welcomed our league in, for free, and really was/is it so bad? Do we need to pay 100k or whatever for a nice stadium full of empty seats? That just makes us look like a joke. I watched St Thomas vs Liberty with a buddy of mine at my house and his first response was “dude why are the stands so empty?” We had that at Greenville too, why pay for a nice park when the fan turnout is going to be what it is?

B: I once had an argument about the TV stuff with JP and he actually said that it was really too expensive to be putting the games on cable and when I talked about the advertising revenue etc. he explained how negligible those really are and how much money the league loses for airing the games. Why not increase your website’s traffic while saving money? For that matter why not get LAS and the other online venues involved to push traffic to the MCLA site for the streams? Do a liveblog during the games like we used to do in the past. Get everybody involved.

C: Agree the social media wasn’t used well enough to garner more fanfare but to be honest given all of the glitches in the matrix with what the MCLA had for the streams and stuff, probably better not to spam FB/twitter/etc only for those people to bitch about the feeds and what not. I had my laptop set up with an HDMI cord into my big screen HDTV and my brother walked into the room wondering which tournament this was (he played lax in HS and likes to watch the NCAA stuff) and when I told him he goes “Oh no wonder the quality sucks and it sounds like shit. Let me know when the NCAA games are on.”

I don’t think that its necessarily the venue or the decisions made that are the problem but rather the execution of it that should be harped on. What the MCLA should do is take some of that money, and do a “game of the week” every few weeks, with the staff responsible for the games at nationals as the crew, and use that as a means to get the glitches out of the way with streams and tournament facilities type stuff if their plan is to staff and stream the games themselves instead of outsourcing. (not to mention it gives us pollsters some actual video content to use in our deliberations rather than just going on resumes and banter, am I right guys?) Do the SELC tournament at Greenville, have the MCLA host it, stream the games, and use that as a test run for everything, or have the MCLA guys at the conference championships of a few conferences and do it there, whatever is most convenient for the league without shelling out too much dough and still having a chance to make sure everything is a go before just doing the tournament blind. There is plenty of time leading up to the next tournament, no need to use the DII morning games as the test pig for it.

Also, since we have live video coverage and what not, we should be doing all of these games live on the MCLA site (whats the point of even having that available if nobody uses it) with the stats and stuff so there is a fallback in the event any video cuts out. Between live video, blogging options, and the live mcla.us backend option, we have so many ways to attack this with innovation and instead we get less than standard content.

What do YOU think? Is it really as bad as everyone is making it out to be? Want to add something to the conversation? Click here.

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Not happening.

That’s it, blow the team up. Trade everybody. And just like that, we’ve got a full-fledged meltdown on our hands. Is this rational? Not in the least. Reasonable? It sure ain’t… But we’re sports fans, and that’s just how we roll.

Photo Credit: 24 Seven Lax

Charlotte Hounds (1-2) vs. Hamilton Nationals (2-0)

Note: This game takes place today at 11:00 a.m., so there’s a chance you may be reading this preview after this particular section is relevant. If that’s the case, feel free to assume everything I wrote was dead-on and just move ahead to the next game, thanks.

After starting their season 2-0 (by beating two of last year’s playoff teams), the Nationals now welcome Joe Walters (team-high 28 assists in 2012), Stephen Keogh (team-high 26 goals in 2012), and Cody Jamieson (good at lacrosse as well) back to their squad.

Re-introducing talent like that to your roster will either make the team much better or much worse, and it all depends on team chemistry. They’ll need to get used to working with new contributors such as Roy Lang and Martin Cahill, but if they can, Hamilton’s offense could make the leap from “impressive” to “scary,” just like that. Add in that Jammer, Keough, and Walters ALL played for Rochester in the NLL, and this is the way you have to lean.

Meanwhile, the (probably exhausted) Charlotte Hounds are playing their third game in 13 days. Only this one is at 11:00 in the morning, and in a different country, and none of that helps them out one bit. Unless this team thrives on total chaos. It might.

Aside from potential fatigue, the big story from Charlotte is the arrival of Loyola’s Mike Sawyer this weekend. Eric Lusby plays on the opposite side, and Ryan Young scored seven goals last week, so where does this leave Sawyer? According to head coach Mike Cerino, there’s a chance we’ll see him coming out of the box as a midfielder. Depending on his transition to the pro game, Sawyer could be a big offensive presence for a midfield that combined to score only one point last weekend.

In other news, the Nationals announced that they activated defensemen Reid Acton (Loyola) and Tucker Durkin (Hopkins), just in time for the latter to get payback on a) the Charlotte Hounds for trading him and b) Mike Sawyer for dropping three goals and beating him at Homewood last month. I can’t say for sure which, if either, will play in today’s game, but chances are good that at least one of them will since week 4 starter Solomon Bliss has been assigned to the practice squad.

Chesapeake Bayhawks (3-0) vs. Boston Cannons (0-3)

The Cannons are 0-2 at home this season (which already ties their 2012 and 2011 home-loss totals), and although it’s still early, the term “must-win” is being thrown around quite a bit. Of course, they don’t have to win this game, but look at it this way: last season, the Lizards earned the fourth playoff seed with an 8-6 record. If that’s the case this year, and the Cannons drop this one, they’d need to win eight of their final ten games to even make it to championship weekend. Maybe it is a must win?

As we discussed in last week’s recap, the Bayhawks absolutely love opponents who slide early. I’m not sure how they feel about teams that don’t slide at all, but I’m guessing they’re cool with that too. Unless the Cannons made some defensive adjustments in the past week, guys like Matt Mackrides and Kyle Dixon are going to be a serious problem if they get a step or space. On the other hand, John Grant Jr absolutely bullied his Cannons defenders in their matchups last season, so it may be Junior’s turn to run the offense.

The Cannons face a defense that a) has held their past two opponents to single-digit scoring, and b) held Ryan Boyle without a point in their last meeting, which means they could really go for some power plays. Nothing sparks a stagnant offense like an EMO, and nobody knows that better than the Cannons, your back-to-back league leader in man-up opportunities.

In their last regular-season contest (a 16-13 Cannons victory), Chesapeake racked up a grand total of 11 penalty minutes. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against, you can’t give someone that many chances and expect to win, especially if you’re playing a team with Boyle, Poskay, and Rabil. If the Bayhawks stay out of the box, they’ll have a much better shot at keeping Boston winless.

New York Lizards (1-2) vs. Ohio Machine (0-2)

I know you started your season against Denver and Chesapeake, and I know you only got to play three quarters of a game against the Bayhawks, but still: 6.5 goals per game isn’t going to cut it, Ohio Machine. Someone needs to generate their own shot there. The question, of course, is who, especially from the midfield, will start to get this done?

Steele Stanwick can always seem to find Joe Cummings for a goal or two, and Kevin Kaminski (nine goals in eight games last season for Charlotte) was just picked up from the player pool, but Connor Martin’s been placed on the IR for at least two games. Unless Kyle Hartzell starts coming down and chucking twos from 20 yards out again (and I really hope he does, because that was great), Ohio’s rookie midfielders have to step up and prove they can carry their share of the offense.

The Lizards are coming off of an absolute heartbreaker to Hamilton, but Matt Gibson and Mark Matthews were extremely impressive in their first game together. So impressive, in fact, that they’re already second and third, respectively, on the team in scoring, a stat that means the LI midfield probably needs to step up as well. Head coach Joe Spallina has said that he’d like to see David Earl be more assertive when he gets the ball, which is particularly important since Stephen Berger’s currently shooting 2-26 (.077%).

You wouldn’t expect it, but look for a good battle to take place at the faceoff x. While it’s a battle between 2013’s best (Greg Gurenlian – 67%) and worst (Eric O’Brien – 37%) faceoff percentages, these two won 19 draws each when they went head-to-head last season. It’s a match up thing.

Rochester Rattlers (1-2) vs. Denver Outlaws (3-0)

The Denver Outlaws haven’t played a home game since July 14, 2012, which amounts to a total of nine games since their last game at Invesco field. They won eight of those games (that ninth, of course, being a loss in last year’s championship game), but if you believe in home-field advantage, getting back to thousands of lacrosse-starved fans after a delay like that is bound to help the team.

This game already marks the second time this season where the reigning offensive and defensive players of the week (in this case Ned Crotty and Jesse Schwartzman, respectively) square off against each other. Granted he was dealing with injuries, but Crotty was held to a total of two points (both assists) in Rochester and Denver’s two matchups last season (Lee Zink tends to have that effect on people, no matter if they’re healthy or not). Crotty will need backup if he runs into a problem like that again, and unfortunately, Mike Leveille won’t be making the trip. Look for both Mark Millon and Stephen Boyle to take those other attack spots.

Chris Bocklet and Jeremy Boltus must have enjoyed watching Ryan Young go off last week, because now it’s their turn to face Rochester’s second and third-best defenders. Boltus hasn’t shown signs of rust after this injury-shortened 2012 season, and has been great off-ball in the Denver offense. Since Zack Greer’s out of the lineup this week, look for Boltus to cash in often if Brendan Mundorf consistently draws a double team.

Week 4 is a big one, and it gets started extremely early. Can the Bayhawks help crush the Cannons’ postseason dreams? Will the Lizards get back to even ground or will the Machine get their first win? Enjoy the games this weekend and be sure to check back next week for the recap.

David literally only has one hand, his right, but that has not stopped him from becoming a pretty incredible lacrosse player. And no, I don’t mean he’s become an incredible lacrosse player considering he only has one hand, I just mean that he’s become an incredible lacrosse player.

Via that video you can see what I mean! He may only have a right, but he’ll dodge to his left as well. He is great at finessing the ball into the net in tight, finishes lefty AND righty, and delivers crisp and accurate passes. What’s not to love about David’s play on the field?

HUGE props go out to David, and his teammates at Mandeville. Awesome stuff from The Sportsman’s Paradise!

Photo Credit goes to Jonathan Rossi, and you can see more of his work here, at www.JonathanRossi.com. Here are three shots of David tearing it up this past year.

For another truly inspiring lacrosse story, check out Miles Moscato’s Playing the Hand You’re Dealt.

Billy Bitter is DJing the event, and professional players like Max Seibald will be in attendance, and looking to mingle a bit. Want to get up close and personal with some stars? Tell Max how to beat Denver? Well, here’s your chance!

There will also be some giveaways, prizes (lacrosse related and not), and a very good time had by all. You could win a gift certificate to a top NYC restaurant, a duffel bag from Hudson Sutler, or a number of other memorabilia pieces. In the end, this event serves to connect the NYC lacrosse community, and will help fund future efforts by CityLax to Grow The Game in the five boroughs.

Tickets are still available for purchase, and if you’re looking to have a great Wednesday night in the City, this could be your key to kicking it off right! If you’re a first time UBER user, you can also get a $20 discount. Not too shabby!

It’s going to be a great night of lacrosse in NYC, so get involved and help out CityLax, all while treating yourself just a bit.