Once again, Paul Rabil is a Cannon.
Not for the fourth-round pick we predicted, but it still happened. The details are basically that Paul Rabil will move over for two College Draft first rounders: one in 2021 and one in 2022. Meanwhile, the two teams will swap picks in the Entry Draft, with the Cannons moving up from No. 9 to No. 6 on that side of things. Paul Rabil, meanwhile, becomes the first official Cannon of the new era, having played with the MLL version of the franchise at the beginning of his career.
Paul Rabil’s strongest days as a player might be behind him, but he’s still made the PLL Top 50 both years, and I’m genuinely excited to watch him and Lyle Thompson on the same team. Both guys have been, at various points in my life, considered the best player in the world, and I’m excited to watch the two play together for Cannons, even if it’s not quite at their peaks.
“With the type of culture we want to build, Paul was honestly a no-brainer,” Cannons LC head coach Sean Quirk said. “His leadership ability and what he stands for as a man and as a player is going to really benefit our team.”
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. 23-March 1, 2021:
Last Week in Lacrosse
-Reports of Syracuse’s demise were greatly exaggerated. The Orange highlighted one of this weekend’s major blowouts, taking down No. 2 Virginia, 20-10, just a week after dropping their season opener to Army. As we all expected, the ACC is stacked this year, and this shouldn’t be the only case of teams cannibalizing each other within the conference.
-That case looks even stronger after Notre Dame’s opening performance. Behind nine points from Pat Kavanagh (yes, related to that other Kavanagh), the Irish dominated a good Robert Morris squad en route to a 19-7 win. The Golden Domers were the final ACC team to begin playing, and they don’t appear to have lost a step because of it.
-Somehow, those both rank as not even the most shocking performance of the weekend. Rutgers blew the doors off of No. 6 Ohio State, winning 22-12 in an incredible offensive showing that might put the Scarlet Knights on the same plane as Maryland in terms of Big Ten contention.
-Finally, in top-20 matchups that became blowouts, we have Maryland slowly wearing down Penn State until a fourth quarter run saw the Terps take the W, 13-7. Maryland is surely glad to have Jared Bernhardt back after the senior dropped seven points in the victory despite the announcers repeatedly saying he’s not yet fully back from his break to play football.
-On the PLL front, protected rosters were released Monday for each team. You can find those on the individual teams’ social media accounts. The Cannons will draft a roster of 18 from the unprotected pieces of the existing seven clubs.
-World Lacrosse is trying to find a host for the next Indoor Worlds. My vote is it returns to Onondaga.
-The New England Black Wolves are no more. The NLL squad will be moving to Albany for this fall.
-Finally, the latest polls are out now. Duke remains No. 1, but the gap isn’t too big these days.
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:
There’s a New Number One: NCAA DI Men’s Weekly Rankings Week 2 Ballot
Ryan Conwell explains his votes in the Week 2 NCAA DI poll, going through all 20 teams with details. Be sure to follow along with this series all season long!
Albany NLL Is the Newest Pro Box Team
The New England Black Wolves are on the move. After the team’s sale, the franchise is packing up for Albany, New York. A rebrand will come via a fan contest, but the moniker Albany NLL has been adopted in the meantime. We’ve got a recap of the move’s new and reactions from the league and fans alike.
Redwoods LC Offseason Plan 2021 – The Fix
Ryder Cochrane previously offered offseason plans for four of the PLL’s teams, but a bonus fifth one was created for Redwoods by popular demand. He includes strategies for the College Draft, Entry Draft, and some trade ideas that could help this team reach the promised land.
JD Harkey Takes Us Inside an MCLA Program
South Carolina men’s lacrosse head coach JD Harkey featured on the Going Offsides podcast last week, offering up an inside look at the inner workings of an MCLA program, as well as his experience playing college lacrosse at UMBC and more.
21 Predictions for the 2021 Men’s DI College Lacrosse Campaign
We revisited Ryder Cochrane’s 21 predictions for the 2021 NCAA Men’s Division I campaign now that it’s been a handful of weeks since the season’s start. There’s still a ton up in the air, and we will be coming back to his predictions as the year progresses to either applaud him for his genius or laugh maniacally in his face for his unrelenting naivete. But a check up is necessary.
Virginia Experiences Orange Wrath – DI Rundown Week 3
Ryan Conwell runs you through everything that happened in Week 3, from Syracuse’s 10-point victory over Virginia, Rutgers blowing out Ohio State, Notre Dame finally starting its season and more.
