Welcome to Round One – NCAA Tournament Welcome to the NCAA tournament, where greatness is validated.  The tournament is a May tradition, a celebration and a party. Every team and fan base has sunshine hopes and blue-sky optimism. 16 teams walk into the weekend, only 8 survive. All that matters now is what happens next.  Seven of the eight at-large selections enter the tournament off a loss, with questions to answer. Outside of Notre Dame, everybody in the field has three or more losses. #2 seeded Duke has five losses. I can’t recall this type of widespread carnage prior to tour ..read more

2024 PLL Draft Grades by Team The 2024 PLL College Draft is the greatest draft class in professional lacrosse history. I know that can be a crazy thing to say before any of these players officially touch the field, but looking at the selections from top to bottom, it makes you wonder why the PLL has not added another expansion team. They have mentioned multiple times how they want to expand on their terms and when it is right, but you look at the depth of this draft and it is mind boggling that there are only eight teams in the league. You legitimately could have made an expansion team with al ..read more

Division 1 Men’s Lacrosse Conference Tournament Predictions: Part 2 As we continue our look at the Division 1 Men’s Lacrosse conference tournaments in Part 2 of our series, we zero in on some of the less-reported but equally exciting competitions. This section looks at leagues, including the ASUN and the MAAC, where the dynamic between the teams keeps games close, and upsets seem likely. These might not be the headliner matches seen at the ACC or Ivy League, but the teams feature rosters that are going to have a lot to say on things and could make a significant impact both in and out of the le ..read more

Quint Kessenich’s Top 20: April 29th, 2024 My Top 20 presented by SPIRE Lacrosse, always a treacherous exercise. Quint Kessenich’s Top 20 presented by Spire 1) Notre Dame Fresh off an 11-9 win at Virginia, the Irish (10-1) turn around and play the Cavs again, this time in Charlotte in the ACC semifinals on Friday at 5pm.  Rudy stifled UVA on Klöckner 11-9, forcing the Cavs into fourth quarter turnovers while playing with the poise of a champion. Pat Kavanagh notched four points and triggered a game ending 3-0 run. He became the school’s all-time points leader.  His production pl ..read more

MCLA Poll – April 18th LaxAllStars is headed back to its roots and will be publishing a weekly MCLA lacrosse poll, Presented by Axia Time. Stay tuned as we dive into club lacrosse this season!  MCLA1  What changed this week? Strong performances by Colorado and Tennessee provided a springboard into the top 10. Mounting losses by Utah Valley and South Carolina sees them both bumped out for the first time this season. VT losing to Tennessee (12-11) has them slipping from 2 to 4. 1. BYU (12-0) 2. Texas (13-0)  3. Chapman (11-2)  4. Virginia Tech (12-2)  ..read more

Quint Kessenich’s Top 20: April 15th, 2024 My Top 20 presented by SPIRE Lacrosse, always a treacherous exercise. Quint Kessenich’s Top 20 presented by Spire 1) Notre Dame In front of 7480 fans at LIU the Golden Domers got a game-winning goal with six seconds on the clock from Ben Ramsay to take down Cornell 18-17. This game was pure enjoyment for the fans as the squads combined for 95 shots. ND (8-1) holds onto the top spot in the RPI and national polls. Pat Kavanagh played a week after injuring his shoulder at Duke. Injuries will be a major story line for all programs from here until Memorial ..read more

MCLA Poll – April 11th LaxAllStars is headed back to its roots and will be publishing a weekly MCLA lacrosse poll, Presented by Axia Time. Stay tuned as we dive into club lacrosse this season!  MCLA1  What changed this week? A 12-11 loss to Northeastern has South Carolina move down two spots, the loss was cushioned by a 16-9 victory over Boston College. 1. BYU (9-0) 2. Virginia Tech (12-1)  3. Texas (12-0)  4. Utah Valley (6-2)   5. Chapman (10-2)  6. Liberty (9-4)  7. UC Santa Barbara (7-2) 8. San Diego State (11-1) 9. South Carolina (9-3) &nb ..read more

Quint Kessenich’s Top 20: April 8th, 2024 My Top 20 presented by SPIRE Lacrosse, always a treacherous exercise. Quint Kessenich’s Top 20 presented by Spire 1) Notre Dame Golden Domers hard fought 15-12 road win in Durham on Sunday was chapter one in what could be a multiple game affair with Duke. Pat Kavanagh and Liam Entenmann were the headliners. Under deeper inspection wins like this take the hard work and production from at least 25 players plus staff. The action was wall-to-wall. The chirping was non-stop. Every confrontation meaningful. That’s five straight ND wins over Duke.  Rudy ..read more

MCLA Poll – April 4th LaxAllStars is headed back to its roots and will be publishing a weekly MCLA lacrosse poll, Presented by Axia Time. Stay tuned as we dive into club lacrosse this season!  MCLA1  What changed this week? The big news this week was San Diego State’s loss to Arizona State 8-5. BYU and Texas are the lone undefeated teams at the top of Division 1. 1. BYU (9-0) 2. Virginia Tech (11-1)  3. Texas (11-0)  4. Utah Valley (6-2)   5. Chapman (10-2)  6. Liberty (8-4)  7. South Carolina (8-2)   8. UC Santa Barbara (6-2) 9. San Diego ..read more

Quint Kessenich’s Top 20: April 1st, 2024 My Top 20 presented by SPIRE Lacrosse, always a treacherous exercise. Quint Kessenich’s Top 20 presented by Spire 1) Notre Dame Golden Domers blew open a 3-3 game with Syracuse, building a 10-5 lead at halftime. They led 13-7 after three quarters but took their foot off the gas pedal in a 14-12 victory. A wall-to-wall festive crowd of 5,000 fans at Arlotta circled the pitch. I’ve never seen the grassy knoll so packed. Midfielders Reilly Gray and Will Angrick provided punch from the second line and FOGO Will Lynch gave ND a time-of-possession and shot a ..read more