The Ivy League announced its 2021 spring sports are canceled, including lacrosse, in the midst of the pandemic.
It was already rumored that the conference was heading in this direction, and Yale had already determined it would not sponsor lacrosse this spring. But it is now official.
The Ivy League left the door open for teams to schedule local out-of-conference games and play some form of a season in that sense, but it’s unclear which, if any, lacrosse teams will go that direction. Yale won’t, and Terry Foy of Inside Lacrosse reported that Cornell won’t, either.
“Consistent with its commitment to safeguard the health and wellbeing of student-athletes, the greater campus community and general public, the Ivy League Council of Presidents has decided not to hold league competition or host league championships this spring,” the Ivy League released in a statement on its website. “While acknowledging that the current public health environment is not compatible with a traditional Ivy League season, the Council has also put in place a process that may allow for limited, local competition during the spring if public health conditions improve sufficiently to allow greater levels of in-person activity at Ivy League campuses.”
Previously, the Ivy League announced current senior athletes can play next season as full-time grad students at their current schools, a departure from its traditional rule.
Yale’s TD Ierlan entered the transfer portal in January when the season was still in limbo, and Denver has emerged as a favorite for his new landing spot. Other Ivy League lacrosse players could follow now that conference play is officially canceled.
That’s the biggest news of the week, but it’s not the only thing that happened in the last seven days. This is the lacrosse news for the week of Feb. 16-22, 2021:
Last Week in Lacrosse
-We’ve got an NLL team on the move, as the Black Wolves announced that they would be moving their home arena to Albany, New York. No word on if that means a name change from “New England.”
-No. 13 Army upset No. 4 Syracuse men’s lacrosse, 18-11, in the Carrier Dome to headline the college lacrosse season’s upsets so far. No. 17 Rutgers also upended No. 6 Penn State, 11-9, and the Scarlet Knights and Black Knights have seen sizable jumps in the Week 3 polls in response.
-It’s not all bad this week for Syracuse. The Orange’s women’s team moved up to No. 2 in the nation in the most recent poll.
-Wondering where and when you can catch men’s lacrosse on TV this year? ESPN has you covered, with more than 100 games.
-Looking for women’s lacrosse on TV? Well, we’ve got that, too.
-For the first time ever, Rutgers defeated Johns Hopkins in women’s lacrosse, marking a pretty incredible weekend for the school’s lacrosse programs. The Scarlet Knights rallied from a halftime deficit to take the win and provided head coach Melissa Lehman with her first Big Ten win.
-World Lacrosse has opened the bidding to host the next box lacrosse world championships.
Get Caught Up on LAS Content!
Miss out on what we did last week? Here’s a recap of some of our top content from the last seven days:
Weekly Rankings: NCAA DI Men’s Week 1 Ballot
Ryan Conwell explains his votes in the Week 1 NCAA DI poll, going through all 20 teams with details. Be sure to follow along with this series all season long!
PLL Offseason 2021 Plans – The Fix
Ryder Cochrane took at look at four PLL most in team of help and created offseason plans for each, fit with ideas for College Draft selection, Entry Draft picks, possible trades and more. Check out how each team looking to win a championship can get there:
Atlas LC | Waterdogs LC | Chrome LC | Chaos LC
Gerry Byrne Aims at Harvard Renewal
Harvard men’s lacrosse head coach Gerry Byrne joined the Going Offsides podcast last week to discuss why he took the job, dealing with COVID-19, his coaching philosophy and more. Check it out:
Syracuse Stunned in Season Opener – DI Rundown Week 2
Ryan Conwell catches you up on all the men’s Division I action from Week 2, including Army’s major upset of Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
