🚨 KAVANAGH TRADE FALLOUT

On Thursday, the Boston Cannons traded rookie attackman Pat Kavanagh to the Denver Outlaws. In return, the Cannons received the third-overall pick in the 2025 PLL Draft as well as Denver’s second-round pick in 2026.

This move unites Kavanagh with his longtime rival, Brennan O’Neill, but did the Outlaws win the trade? Also, what will the Cannons do with back-to-back first-round picks in 2025?

Let’s answer those questions and more…

Who won the trade? It really depends on what the Cannons do with the draft picks they received from Denver, but you can argue that Boston already won the trade. They selected Kavanagh with the sixth-overall pick in 2024, and have since flipped him for a higher pick (third-overall) in 2025 and an additional pick in 2026. In terms of pure draft capital, the Cannons have to feel like winners.

For the Outlaws to feel like winners, Kavanagh needs to step in and solidify himself as the quarterback of Denver’s offense. He needs a bigger role than the one he had in Boston, where he averaged 2.0 points per game running through the box as an offensive midfielder in 2024.

Who will start for Denver? With the addition of Kavanagh, the Outlaws have the potential to field a more consistent offense in 2025. He should replace Josh Zawada as the primary option at X attack, and O’Neill should continue to make his home on the lefty wing. Here’s how the rest of the starting offense could shake out…

Veteran Eric Law rounds out the starting attack on the crease. Cross Ferrara, who has played a lot of attack in the PLL, joins Graham Bundy Jr. and Justin Anderson to form the starting midfield. This lineup would leave Sam Handley, Logan Wisnauskas, Dalton Young and Zawada on the bench as the primary reserves.

One important note: Law, Anderson and Wisnauskas are all pending free agents in 2025.

What will the Cannons do? Boston now owns the third- and fourth-overall picks in the 2025 draft. The Cannons still need a true left-handed attackman to complement Asher Nolting and Marcus Holman. Princeton’s Coulter Mackesy would be a better fit than Kavanagh was in that role.

Assuming Cornell’s CJ Kirst and Notre Dame’s Chris Kavanagh are the top two prospects off the board on draft night, the Cannons will have an opportunity to select the top long pole in 2025. Penn’s Brendan Lavelle is the best close defender in this class, but Virginia’s Ben Wayer or St. Joe’s Levi Verch could compete with Ethan Rall as Boston’s top long-stick midfielder.

Reply to this email with your thoughts on who won the Pat Kavanagh trade!

🏀 UVA Cancels Practice For Ex-Teammate

The University of Virginia men’s lacrosse team will not be practicing on Jan. 18. That’s because members of the team are planning a road trip to UNC Chapel Hill to watch their former teammate, Cole Kastner, play for Stanford’s basketball team.

“I’ve already been warned, we’re not practicing that day,” Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany told the Associated Press. “Everyone’s going to drive 3.5 hours — just the love for him.”

Kastner (6’7, 220 lbs.) was an All-American defenseman for Virginia and started for the team that won the NCAA Championship in 2021. Earlier this year, Kastner transferred to Stanford for a post-graduate year and walked onto the basketball team.

The transfer is also a return home for Kastner, who was a standout lacrosse/basketball player growing up in Palo Alto, California.

📈 Division II Lacrosse is Real

What would happen if a top NCAA Division II program played a top Division III program? Could a D2 team really hang with a D1 team?

These questions are as old as time, but a couple of D2 powerhouses have provided new and interesting answers this fall.

Reigning NCAA Division II champs Adelphi, for example, scrimmaged Salisbury (D3) recently and won, 11-9. This was a surprising outcome for many who consider the top D3 programs a cut above D2.

Meanwhile, Lenoir-Rhyne, the 2023 D2 champ and runner up to Adelphi in 2024, was recently featured in a YouTube documentary by Mitchell Pelke. In that documentary, Pehlke asks Lenoir-Rhyne head coach Greg Paradine if his recent title-game squads could hang with D1 programs.

“They could whip a lot of Division I teams,” Paradine said.

The joke online is that “D2 isn’t real,” but these programs and others are starting to demand some respect.

🍔 Guy Fieri’s Cousin Named Captain

This is random, but we want you to know that the Mayor of Flavortown has a high-profile lacrosse connection at Ohio State. Midfielder Greg Langermeier, who is Fieri’s cousin, was recently named a team captain for the Buckeyes in 2025.

Langermeier’s co-captain at Ohio State is Bobby Van Buren, a senior defenseman and former 5-star recruit.

On top of his captain duties, Langermeier is also Ohio State’s 2024-25 Hammer Recipient. This distinction comes with a ceremonial sledgehammer, which has been passed down every year since 2013 and goes to a senior leader in the weight room each offseason.

Over the past three seasons as a defensive midfielder for the Buckeyes, Langermeier has accumulated 52 ground balls, 21 caused turnovers and six points.

⛳️ Lacrosse Player’s Crazy Hole-in-One

We like to highlight a lot of “firsts” in the lacrosse world. This one is unofficial, but Brown’s Aidan McLane has to be the first lacrosse player to ever make a 357-yard hole-in-one while playing golf.

McLane was Brown’s leading scorer last season with 40 points (34 goals, 6 assists). His older brother and former Brown teammate, Devon McLane, won a National Championship with Notre Dame last spring.

In McLane’s official bio on the Brown website, it says he “enjoys golf in his spare time.”