SorayaFrench's blog

We call it the offseason, but is it really an offseason? Just because a champion is crowned after the NLL Finals doesn’t mean that players are putting their feet up and hanging out for the summer. I don’t think it’s breaking news to say that lacrosse players love lacrosse. They want to be around the game as much as they can, wherever they can. It’s not a job to them – it’s a passion. Whether coaching or playing (sometimes both), you can find lacrosse players lacrossing throughout North America all summer long. Here are some of the main places you can find some of the top-tier NLL players doing lacrosse this summer.

The Western Lacrosse Association is the Sr. A league of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. For nearly 100 years, it has been a league where many of the best lacrosse players in the world have chosen to hone their skills in the summertime. And, for almost four decades, it has been the league of choice for many NLL players to keep playing box lacrosse during the NLL’s offseason.

The league consists of seven teams (New Westminster Salmonbellies, Burnaby Lakers, Victoria Shamrocks, Coquitlam Adanacs, Nanaimo Timbermen, Langley Thunder and Maple Ridge  Burrards). All of these teams currently have at least a couple of NLL players on them. This is a league so packed with NLL talent. Here are some familiar names that you will know.Players on the Shamrocks include the likes of the Calgary Roughnecks’ captain and one of the league’s best facilitators, Jesse King. They also have the Halifax Thunderbirds’ newest star, Clarke Petterson, and NLL Goaltender of the Year finalist from the San Diego Seals’ Chris Origlieri, among so many others.

The Salmonbellies, who represented the WLA in last summer’s Mann Cup (the Sr. A Canadian box lacrosse championship), are also loaded with NLL talent. Some of their featured players include Panther City’s leading point-getter, Will Malcom – his brother, and PCLC teammate, Tony, is also on the team – the Vancouver Warriors’ Kevin Crowley and the San Diego Seals’ Drew Belgrave among so many other great players.The Nanaimo Timbermen are another team with a handful of the NLL’s younger and newer-to-the-league potential stars, including the likes of the Rush’s Zach Manns (25), PCLC’s Jason Knox (23) and Ryan Sheridan (23), the Ottawa Black Bears Taggart Clark (24) and the Albany FireWolves Will Johansen (25).

A few of the other notable players on the other WLA teams include the Rush’s Robert Church and Colorado Mammoth’s Connor Robinson, who play for the Thunder, and the Rush’s Bobby Kidd III and Seals Jacob Dunbar, who play for the Lakers.All of these NLL guys, and the far too many more that were not mentioned, will be playing their regular season through July with the playoffs starting and ending in August. The winner of the WLA final will go on to represent the West in the Mann Cup to play the best in the East’s MSL this September.

Eastern Canadians love their summer lacrosse, and they get treated to a very high level of action on most nights, as their seven teams (Peterborough Lakers, Six Nations Chiefs, Brooklin L.C., Oakville Rock, Cobourg Kodiaks, Brampton Excelsiors and Owen Sound North Stars) are full of NLL stars just like WLA. If you look at the rosters of teams like the Six Nations Chiefs, their roster is so stacked with NLL studs that if they were an NLL team, they would very likely win the NLL Cup.

The Chiefs roster is a who’s who of NLL stars. From Bandits’ superstar Dhane Smith, the Seals’ dynamic scorer, Austin Staats, his brother, Thunderbirds’ elite forward, Randy Staats, the Bandits’ captain and Steve Priolo, NLL Goaltender of the Year finalist Doug Jamieson from the FireWolves, to NLL Defenseman of the Year finalist Brad Kri from the Rock. The list goes on and on. It is clear that this team is built to win a championship.

They are so stacked that they don’t just have Jamieson as a goalie option, they have the Thunderbirds’ Warren Hill, too. In addition, they don’t just have face-off man and defenseman Tim Edwards of the Colorado Mammoth, they have the Georgia Swarm’s Jeremy Thompson to take draws and play D/transition, as well.

Then, there’s the Peterborough Lakers. They have the Thunderbirds’ Jake Withers, who won the 2024 NLL Transition Player of the Year, the Colorado Mammoth’s Joey Cupido and Robert Hope, the Philadelphia Wings’ Joe Resetarits, Knighthawks star transition player, Matt Gilray, to name a few of their most talented players.

But wait, there are more stacked MSL teams. The Oakville Rock are headlined by 2024 NLL Goaltender of the Year, Nick Rose, the Knighthawks’ breakout star, Ryan Lanchbury, One of the Swarm’s leading finishers, Andrew Kew, the Rock’s Nick Rose and Black Bears’ rookie defensive star, Callum Jones, among others. There’s also the loaded Brooklin L.C. who have Black Bears Connor Kearnan, Thunderbirds’ Austin Shanks, the Wings’ Zach Higgins and many more.

Some of the other notables around the MSL include the Swarm’s Adam Weidemann and PCLC’s stout defender Josh Medeiros, who play on the Excelsiors, while the Wings’ Tanner Buck and FireWolves’ Jackson Reid play for the North Stars.

The East’s chase for MSL bragging rights and the privilege to compete in the Mann Cup is going to be a good one all summer long. The Chiefs, last year’s Mann Cup winners, are the favorites to represent the East in the Mann Cup this summer, but the rest of the MSL, and especially the other top teams will be looking to change that over the next two months.Pro players don’t limit themselves to where they’ll play over the summer. Every summer, handfuls of players chose to suit up in the Sr. B leagues of North America.

Take the Ladner Pioneers of the West Coast Senior Lacrosse League in British Columbia, Canada. Their team has a few very very talented Roughnecks in former NLL Goaltender of the Year, Christian Del Bianco, as well as gifted players Tyler Pace and Haiden Dickson. The Pioneers also have the Wings’ Mitch Jones and the Thunderbirds’ Ryan Benesch. This team is poised to compete for the President’s Cup (the Sr. B national championship), which will be hosted by the Pioneers in August.

Then you have the Allegany Arrows of the Can-Am Lacrosse League, which is under the umbrella of the CLA MA First Nations Lacrosse Association. Newly crowned NLL champions from the Bandits’, Chase Fraser and Chris Cloutier, will be part of the team this summer, as well as the Black Bears’ Jay Thorimbert and FireWolves’ Leo Storous.

Out in the prairies, you have more guys that are playing Sr. B. Aside from the recently retired (as of the last few years) Jeff Shattler and Shawn Evans, the Rush’s Frank Scigliano and Desert Dogs’ Brandon Clelland are all playing for the Standing Buffalo Fighting Sioux in the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League.

The Sr. players shouldn’t get all of the love this summer. Believe it or not, some of the NLL’s brightest future stars are still playing in Jr. A, whether in the British Columbia Jr. A Lacrosse Association (BCJALL) or the Ontario Jr. A Lacrosse League (OJLL). And it’s not NLL guys that are playing in these leagues, a handful of pro box players are coaching in these leagues as well. Here are some notable guys you know from the NLL.

The Warriors’ blossoming rookie defenseman, Brayden Laity, is playing alongside the Thunderbirds’ Caelan Mander with the Port Coquitlam Saints. They are being coached by the Cornwall brothers, Travis and Jeff, the latter of whom is a member of the Roughnecks. Also out West, when Kevin Crowley isn’t playing for his hometown Sr. A Salmonbellies in New Westminster, he’s coaching the Salmonbellies Jr. A squad.

Out East, you have several more NLL players still playing Jr. A ball including the Rush’s Thomas Kiazyk, who plays for the Toronto Beaches, the Wings’ Mitch Armstrong, who plays for the St. Catharines Athletics, and the FireWolves’ Nicholas Volkov, who plays for the Burlington Blaze, to name a few.

As for OJLL coaches, the Black Bears’ Reilly O’Connor and Damon Edwards, as well as Thunderbirds’ Luc Magnan, who are coaches on the Beaches. The Knighthawks’ Riley Hutchcraft is one of the Mimico Mountaineers coaches, and the Mammoth’s Robert Hope and Knighthawks’ Turner Evans are coaches of the Peterborough Lakers – Hope is one of those cases like Crowley where he plays for the Sr. A team and coaches the Jr. A team.

Roughnecks’ assistant coach, Troy Cordingley is a head coach for the Oakville Buzz, while Nick Rose and the Knighthawks’ Rylan Hartley are put of the Orangeville Northmen staff (Rose is GM and Hartley is an assistant coach). NLL coaches Rusty Kruger and Andrew Suitor are also on the Northmen staff. The OJLL’s Kitchener-Waterloo team has the Bandits’ Steve Orleman and the Rush’s Jake Boudreau on their bench and the Whitby Warriors’ bench has the Black Bears’ Mitch Wilde, plus they have the Desert Dogs’ Joel Watson as one of their GMs. The Burlington Blaze also have one of the Swarm’s coaches (Alex Crepinsek) as their head coach.

PREMIER LACROSSE LEAGUE (PLL)Some of the NLL’s best have decided to take their game outside for the summer.Jeff Teat, Trevor Baptiste and Reid Bowering play for the New York Atlas. Josh Byrne, Tye Kurtz, Ian MacKay, Kyle Jackson and Blaze Riorden feature on the Carolina Chaos. Wes Berg, TD Ierlan, Ron John and Charlie Bertrand are featured on the California Redwoods. Mike Messenger, Ryan Terefenko and Eli Salama feature on the Denver Outlaws. Zed Williams and Joe Nardella are NLL standouts playing on the Maryland Whipsnakes. Zach Currier, Jack Hannah, Ryland Rees, Dillon Ward, Connor Kelly and Eli Gobrecht are some of the notables on the Philadelphia Waterdogs. Finally, Brett Dobson, Tom Schreiber, Connor Fields, Challen Rogers and other highlight some of the best NLL guys on the Utah Archers.

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It was a great night for English clubs, and for Barcelona captain Raphinha.

Premier League leader Liverpool moved level on points with Aston Villa at the top of the Champions League standings Wednesday by extending its perfect record to three wins, and Manchester City set a new record for the most consecutive games undefeated in the history of the competition.

Liverpool edged Leipzig 1-0 with a goal from Darwin Nunez. City routed Sparta Prague 5-0 with Erling Haaland scoring twice.

Raphinha scored a hat trick as Barcelona finally beat Bayern Munich to end a series of six consecutive wins for the German team in their head-to-head meetings that included a humiliating 8-2 loss for Barca in the quarterfinals in 2020.

This time, Barcelona came out on top of an entertaining contest with a 4-1 statement win.

After three rounds in the revamped tournament, Liverpool and Aston Villa have a two-point lead over seven clubs including Man City and another Premier League team, Arsenal. The four English teams in the competition have conceded just one goal combined so far.

Raphinha on a roll

In Barcelona, the hosts opened the scoring within a minute as Raphinha was found by Fermin Lopez's through ball, then rounded Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with ease.

Bayern leveled the score with Harry Kane's volley, but Barcelona responded with one goal from former Bayern great Robert Lewandowski and two more from Raphinha, who was later substituted to a standing ovation.

It was Barcelona’s first win over Bayern since the 2015 Champions League semifinals. Barcelona came into the game without having scored in its four games against Bayern since an 8-2 loss in 2020. Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was Bayern’s coach in that game.

“It could have been a Champions League final. Winning like this, in front of our fans, is the best," Raphinha said. “What we are doing on the pitch answers what Barça can do in this Champions League."

Liverpool stays perfect

Arne Slot has guided Liverpool to first place in the Premier League early in his tenure as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement and now has the team on a maximum nine points in the Champions League.

The latest win in Europe came at Leipzig, one of the clubs that Klopp will be overseeing in his new role as head of global soccer at Red Bull.

Nunez tapped in the only goal in the 27th minute from Mohamed Salah’s header back toward goal and could have earned a penalty in the 38th when he appeared to be tripped by Willi Orban.

“If we had left this place with a draw, I would have really felt we had lost something,” Slot told TNT Sports. “For the 70 previous minutes — except, maybe, for the first 10 — we dominated.”

Leipzig is the only team from the big 5 leagues to lose its three opening matches.

City improves United record

Manchester City's new record won't please the red half of the English city.

By beating Sparta Prague, the English champions set the record for consecutive games undefeated in the history of the competition — even stretching back before 1992 into the European Cup era. City is now on 26 matches unbeaten. Alex Ferguson’s Man United team from 2007-09 managed to stay unbeaten for 25 matches.

Phil Foden put the hosts ahead with less than three minutes gone. Haaland then scored an amazing goal off the back of his heel. John Stones made it 3-0, Haaland grabbed his second and Matheus Nunes added more luster to the emphatic win.

Lille upsets Atletico

After beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the previous round, Lille won 3-1 at Atletico, which was unbeaten in its last 11 home matches in the Champions League.

The French side had just three shots on target, including a penalty kick.

Julian Alvarez put the hosts in front with an early opener before Edon Zhegrova curled in an equalizer close to the hour mark. Jonathan David then scored from the spot in the 74th minute and completed a brace in the 89th minute.

“We may not have played a great, great game, but we played the game we needed to tonight,” Lille midfielder Benjamin Andre said.

Brest frustrates Leverkusen

A superb goal from Pierre Lees-Melou helped minnows Brest to a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen as both teams remained unbeaten.

The French team played with verve throughout the second half but was unable to find the second goal.

Playing in Europe’s top competition for the first time, the newcomers faced their toughest test yet against the German champions, who had also won their first two matches in the revamped tournament.

Florian Wirtz's low shot gave Leverkusen the lead in the 24th minute. It was his seventh goal in all competitions this season. Lees-Melou, who recently returned from a broken leg, leveled with a right-footed volley from outside the box. It was his first goal since March.

Other matches

Elsewhere, Celtic struggled but frustrated Atalanta with a 0-0 draw. Mario Pašalić hits the woodwork for the Italian team.

Looking for a third consecutive win, Benfica lost 3-1 to Feyenoord, while substitute Marcus Thuram scored in stoppage time to help Inter Milan scrape a 1-0 win at Young Boys.

Trevor Baptiste started the season scorching, winning an average 84.7% of faceoffs throughout his first three games. That number dropped after he posted a win percentage in the 40s for the next three matchups. Baptiste looked more like himself in the last two games, returning to 76% and 70%, respectively. But it’s not just about winning the clamp against the Archers’ Mike Sisselberger; it’s about winning the faceoff clean.

The Atlas do their best work within the short clock on a won faceoff when there’s most of the 32 seconds left, not when they’re scrambling to beat the buzzer. And Sisselberger, a former wrestler, could cause some lengthy battles on the ground, wasting precious time within the short frame.

If Baptiste can win the faceoffs in one fell swoop and the Atlas midfield continue firing away within the 32-second shot clock, the pressure comes off the Atlas attack facing, as Zach will soon explain, a tough Archers defense. 

In the Atlas’ two losses this season, their attackmen combined for an average of seven points. In their six wins, Jeff Teat, Connor Shellenberger and Xander Dickson have averaged nearly 11 combined points per game. 

Limiting the production of the three best players on the best offense in the league is no small task. But the Archers theoretically have the personnel to do it. 

Graeme Hossack is a lockdown defender who can own a matchup. Teat will not be able to beat him off the dribble at will, so that matchup will come down to how well the Archers can play big-little picks, maintain matchups when possible and be decisive in switching and sliding when necessary. Teat makes scoring look easy – can Hossack make it look a bit tougher?

The complexities of off-ball defense is where the Dickson problem arises. Dickson is a third slide’s worst nightmare. He’s constantly moving, always cutting and always finds a way to get open, particularly when one of his teammates is dodging and the defense is rotating. Rookie Mason Woodward will draw the Dickson matchup in his biggest off-ball test of his pro career thus far. Can he stay on Dickson’s hands while maintaining his role as a help defender? He’s a savvy player for a rook, but Dickson is a challenge unlike any other.

Warren Jeffrey – the Archers’ second cover defender – will line up against Shellenberger. The rookie from Virginia has one of the most explosive changes of direction in the game. Can Jeffrey match his footspeed and shiftiness? Shellenberger has played hurt at times this season, but coming off a bye, he should be fresh and ready to take it to Jeffrey. The 27-year-old defender knows how to play to his strengths and negate his opponent’s. Whichever win out on Saturday will go a long way toward determining the final result. Perhaps the unsung hero of New York’s season is its defense. Against the Waterdogs before the Atlas’ bye week, it was the defense that closed out the game in the last 30 seconds to cause a turnover and claim victory.

It’s been Gavin Adler causing those turnovers (he ranks third in the league with 12). It’s been Brett Makar holding players like Marcus Holman, Asher Nolting, Zed Williams, Ryder Garnsey and Zach Currier (among many, many others) scoreless as the closest defender. It’s been Tyler Carpenter nabbing the most ground balls of any non-faceoff player in the league, and Liam Entenmann voiding deposits in net.

As the Atlas attack continues to get its flowers – deservedly so, as the highest-performing offense in the league, combining for 100 points this season – don’t forget about the defense, which can win the game for New York if need be.

After Matt Moore suffered a right shoulder injury last week in Baltimore, he’s out this week against the Atlas. That poses an interesting question for the Archers against New York: Who starts at attack in his place? 

Tre Leclaire filled in for Moore after he left last Sunday’s game. Leclaire is a versatile offensive threat who, by playing attack, would allow Grant Ament to continue coming out of the box like he has all season. Ament dodging short sticks has been a boon for the Utah offense, and by moving Leclaire to attack, the Archers would be able to maintain those matchups. That said, if Moore is out for an extended period of time, Ament may be the better option with his higher ceiling as a former Attackman of the Year.

Moore’s absence and the move to fill it will have ripple effects for the Archers. Rookie and Ontario native Dyson Williams will likely get more runs out of the midfield, while Ryan Aughavin will most likely be back in the lineup to replace the dodging and shooting gap that one of Ament or Leclaire leaves by moving down to attack.

Losing Moore means losing a strong dodging presence on the righty wing. Utah has the pieces to still run effective offense. But where those pieces fit into the puzzle is still yet to be seen

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