Key '26s Who Helped Lift the West Coast Starz to an NLF Title

There's always extra motivation for rising seniors and their respective club teams at the National Lacrosse Federation Summer Championships, given that it's the final club event ever for the lion's share of the programs in attendance. On Sunday, it was the West Coast Starz that finished strong with a pair of one-sided victories over incredibly talented squads from New England, outscoring the NH Tomahawks and Laxachusetts 21-8 in the semifinals and title game. Playing at Stony Brook's Lavalle Stadium and in front of an ESPN+ audience, the Starz broke a 4-4 tie against the boys from Boston and never looked back, winning 10-4 to secure a championship belt and finish the summer 17-1. While Top 100 talents like [player_tooltip player_id='44828' first='Joe' last='Ligas'] (Notre Dame), [player_tooltip player_id='44830' first='Landon' last='Johnson'] (Cornell), and Colby Rossettie (Johns Hopkins) all played a big part in helping WCS to a tournament title, it was the team's relatively unheralded and vastly improved 2026's who were especially instrumental in Sunday's decisive wins.    Producing at least five goals in Sunday's huge playoff wins, Jacobsen was named the championship MVP and played with a ton of confidence. The Dartmouth commit, who earned All-American honors while posting 81 points this spring, has a phenomenal understanding of spacing without the ball in his stick and sets up his dodges impeccably. He's able to manipulate defenses with his body language and subtle fakes, then attacks the cage with purpose. Jacobsen isn't the biggest cat in the world, yet he shoots the heck out of the ball and is armed with a downright nasty release that makes it tough for keepers to get a read on. Jacobsen makes the most of his scoring opportunities as a high-percentage shooter, and overall, it's noticeable just how much more dynamic and dangerous he has become in a year's time. In all likelihood, he'll run out of the box at the next level — given his vast improvement, I'd expect Jacobsen to make an impact in Hanover.       Korb-Nice is a versatile and highly athletic defender whose play jumped off the page on Sunday. During a big semifinal matchup, the Bucknell verbal won his reps against a five-star (and one of the best athletes in the class), then carried over that success to the championship while largely matched up against another five-star. From what I gather, he's been on an absolute tear as of late, and his mid-summer highlights certainly back that up. Playing shortstick out of necessity at last week's National All-Star Games, he clamped down on opposing dodgers, continuing to demonstrate his high-level footwork. Impactful as the two slide and lights out 1v1, he's physical and disruptive but plays under control at all times. Additionally, Korb-Nice has an awesome stick and is a menace in transition. He found the back of the net to tie the game up at 4-4 and served as the catalyst for the huge WCS run that ultimately put the game away. Korb-Nice is another '26 who has dramatically improved his game since his recruiting summer.     Chapman, a former Middlebury commit who graduated from Cali powerhouse St. Ignatius this spring, recently opted to reopen his recruitment and take a PG year at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. Despite having a fantastic spring and summer, he's still under-recruited for whatever reason and looks every bit of a player deserving of Ivy and Patriot League attention. Possessing tremendous burst, Chapman is a steady Eddie across the board and a QB type from up top who gets to his spots at will. He thrives with the ball in his stick, making the right play every time and executing plays that his teammates seem to feed off of, whether that's on the offensive end or in the middle of the field. His first step, shiftiness and overall deception stand out, and he had very little trouble winning his matchups to get his hands free, which resulted in 1g/2a in the semis and a pair of goals in the championship game.     To start, Englehart appears to have grown at least an inch and added a considerable amount of muscle since this time last year. There's no doubt that his game has also ascended. On Sunday, he blanketed an ACC-bound goal-scorer while playing a hand in collectively limiting what's arguably the most talented attack line on the '26 club circuit from getting much of anything done when 1-on-1. Hailing from just outside Boulder, Englehart imposed his will with his physicality and relentless attention to his matchup's hands. He's got superb feet and hips and was just incredibly disruptive all game long. On top of that, he played excellent team defense and also added a key goal. Englehart committed to St. Bonaventure's former staff back in the fall and looks to be a priority for its new staff to keep on board, as Englehart looks every bit of a difference maker at the next level.     As was the case for his peers highlighted in this article, Chapman stood out for his ability to do a plethora of things at a high level. Days after announcing his commitment to Marquette, Chapman had quite a weekend and made an impact all over the field. The two-way midfield recruit chipped in two goals on Sunday and looked rather comfortable in the offensive zone, and more than held his own playing defense. I was struck by Chapman's speed and explosiveness as an athlete and how he never seemed to get tired, going up and down the field and stacking up plays that led to a win. He picked up key groundballs and darted upfield to space, then constantly made the correct decision with the ball to create scoring opportunities.

There's always extra motivation for rising seniors and their respective club teams at the National Lacrosse Federation Summer Championships, given that it's the final club event ever for the lion's share of the programs in attendance.

On Sunday, it was the West Coast Starz that finished strong with a pair of one-sided victories over incredibly talented squads from New England, outscoring the NH Tomahawks and Laxachusetts 21-8 in the semifinals and title game. Playing at Stony Brook's Lavalle Stadium and in front of an ESPN+ audience, the Starz broke a 4-4 tie against the boys from Boston and never looked back, winning 10-4 to secure a championship belt and finish the summer 17-1.

While Top 100 talents like Joe Ligas Joe Ligas 6'1" | 185 lbs | D | Left Hand Whitney | 2026 #12 Nation CA (Notre Dame), Landon Johnson Landon Johnson 5'11" | 160 lbs | M/A | Right Hand Eastlake | 2026 #72 Nation WA (Cornell), and Colby Rossettie (Johns Hopkins) all played a big part in helping WCS to a tournament title, it was the team's relatively unheralded and vastly improved 2026's who were especially instrumental in Sunday's decisive wins.