🤝 TRADE SHAKES UP PLL DRAFT!

It didn’t take long for Joe Spallina to live up to the “Trader Joe” nickname. Less than two weeks after taking the job as California Redwoods general manager, Spallina dealt long-stick midfielder Owen Grant to the Boston Cannons in exchange for the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s PLL Draft and a fourth-round pick in 2026.

Spallina and the Redwoods now hold the No. 2 and No. 3 overall picks in this year’s draft.

We interviewed Spallina on this week’s episode of the Mitchell Pehlke Lacrosse Show (full episode drops on our YouTube channel on Wednesday at 9 a.m.), and we asked him about his strategy heading into the draft. Spallina said he feels confident that the defense is ready to compete, but two pieces he’s looking to pick up on offense are an attackman who can operate behind the net and a midfielder who can draw a long pole.

If Cornell attackman CJ Kirst is a lock to go No. 1 overall to the Philadelphia Waterdogs, Chris Kavanagh (Notre Dame) and Sam King (Harvard) are probably the next best options at attack for Spallina’s Redwoods.

When it comes to finding a midfielder, Spallina has some interesting connections. Duke’s Andrew McAdorey is from Long Island and played on the same Team 91 squad as Spallina’s son Joey in high school. Then there’s Sam English, who does everything and is a current teammate of Joey’s at Syracuse.

The Redwoods had one of the worst offenses in the league last year and lost two key contributors in Rob Pannell (signed with Maryland Whipsnakes) and Chris Gray (retired) this offseason. While Spallina is keen on filling these holes, he also mentioned that he’s intrigued by the goalie talent in this year’s draft class. Current Redwoods starter Jack Kelly recently turned 30 and saved 50.4 percent of the shots he faced last season.

So, was Spallina’s trade on Monday the last big splash he’ll make before the draft? While it may seem unlikely, he did not rule out the possibility of attempting to trade up to the No. 1 pick.

“This is not, ‘Let’s get a little bit better,’” Spallina said when we asked him about making a potential move for Kirst. “‘This is ‘Let’s go win a championship.’”

Tune in for the FULL EPISODE on Wednesday!

If you were GM of the Redwoods, would you try trading up to No. 1 for CJ Kirst? Let us know by replying to this email!

📈 Cornell Takes The No. 1 Spot

The PLL Draft isn’t the only thing that received a shake-up this week — so did The People’s Top 20.

After a chaotic weekend of college lacrosse, Cornell is now in the top spot. Maryland, the previous No. 1, fell three spots after losing to Michigan in triple overtime. Ohio State is ranked No. 2, but the Buckeyes may be the hottest team in the nation after picking up an impressive road win against Penn State on Sunday night (their ninth straight victory).

Check out the full rankings below.

The biggest reason why Cornell ranks No. 1 in the nation is because of CK Kirst, who dropped nine goals (and an assist) in the Big Red’s 19-14 win over Yale this weekend. Kirst was named TLN Player of the Week for his performance.

With 37 goals on the season and 202 goals in his college career, Kirst is expediting his pace to break the all-time NCAA career goals record (224, held by Payton Cormier). He has six regular-season games left this year, including a matchup against Penn this weekend.

Penn ended Cornell’s season in the Ivy League tournament last year, and star defenseman Brendan Lavelle limited Kirst to just one assist in that game. Kirst and Lavelle are both projected first-round picks in this year’s PLL Draft. It’ll be interesting to watch them go head-to-head again on Saturday.

❌ NCAA Replay Review Takes a Hit

Being a Penn State fan must be an awfully painful experience.

In overtime of the 2023 NCAA Semifinals, Penn State was on the wrong side of a missed crease violation that allowed Duke to advance to the National Championship. That missed call led to expanded video replay review in college lacrosse the following season.

Flash forward to this past weekend, and Penn State was on the wrong side of a controversial call yet again. This time, it was a “no-goal” call that was upheld after video review.

See the play for yourself in the video player below.

Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni was understandably upset on the sideline. After the game, he provided an explanation of the call.

“I just don’t think they could see it on the feed that they had,” Tambroni said, via Hayden Lewis on X. “I just don’t think it was as clear as what we were all looking at on the [video] board.”

If the officials don’t have access to the same replay angles as fans at home, is it even worth it for the NCAA to allow video replay review? How would you fix this issue? Reply to this email with your thoughts!

🧐 What’s Wrong With Loyola?

The Loyola Greyhounds are having a remarkably unfortunate season. Believe it or not, they’re 0-8 — one of just three remaining NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse teams without a win this year. The others are Wagner (0-9) and Hampton (0-10).

Here’s a look at how Loyola got to this point:

As you can see above, it’s not like Loyola is getting blown out every week. The Greyhounds have played a pretty tough schedule, and four of their eight losses have come by just one goal. One of those losses was in overtime against Maryland, a team that just spent the majority of this month at No. 1 in every poll.

Loyola’s Charley Toomey is in his 20th season as head coach. He famously lifted the program to an unexpected NCAA Championship in 2012, but the Greyhounds have now lost at least eight games in four straight seasons. Will Toomey turn things around?

🚨 Calvert Hall Keeps Winning in OT

One team to keep an eye on at the high school level is Calvert Hall (MD). Last Friday night, they knocked off then-No. 1 Malvern Prep (PA) in overtime.

Watch the game-winner from St. Joe’s commit Jackson Mitchell below.

Calvert Hall is 5-0 with three overtime wins so far this season. Those OT wins have come against ridiculously good opponents in Hill Academy (Ontario), Lawrenceville (NJ) and Malvern Prep (MD).

This Friday, Calvert Hall opens up MIAA (A Conference) play against St. Mary’s Annapolis.

📺 College Lacrosse on TV!

Here’s the men’s D1 slate and watch links for this week, via Inside Lacrosse (all times Eastern):

Tuesday, March 25:
4 p.m. — Binghamton at St. Bonaventure (ESPN+)
7 p.m. — Boston U at Harvard (ESPN+)

Wednesday, March 26:
12 p.m. — Sacred Heart at Iona (ESPN+)
3 p.m. — Canisius at Marist (ESPN+)
4 p.m. — Quinnipiac at Manhattan (ESPN+)
4 p.m. — Siena at Merrimack (Merrimack Athletics)

Thursday, March 27:
*No Division I games

Check back on Friday for the full weekend slate!