Is Dartmouth Lacrosse the Next Bandwagon?

Huge commits, Jared Bernhardt and more.

Jake Nathan
September 13, 2023

Good morning.

I’m Jake and this is Recruit Report presented by Apex Lacrosse Events.

I’m your friend who tells you everything you need to know about high school lacrosse.

Apex just opened up applications for the Apex 60 Showcase.

Over 600 ALUMNI are now playing college lacrosse, and there’s over 50 college lacrosse coaches attending.

Spots are closing soon, and you can fill out an interest form here.

Now, let’s get into it!

Dartmouth hasn’t made the college lacrosse playoffs in nearly 20 years. It’s been the laughing stock of the Ivy League for awhile now.

But one man is here to change that: Sean Kirwan.

He was the offensive mastermind that turned UVA from the bottom-feeder of the ACC to the #1 team in college lacrosse.

Before that, he turned around Brown from an average Ivy League team to a final four contender.

Now, he’s headed back to the Ivy League to see if he can do the same thing for the Big Green.

Although he has a long road ahead of him, he’s already made a huge splash.

In less than 3 months since taking over the program, he landed a 4-star recruit in Stu Gates.

Gates is one of the best players on the West Coast, and it’s telling that a top recruit like him took a chance on Dartmouth.

Hop on the bandwagon before it’s too late!

It’s been a little over a week since the recruiting window opened, and things are heating up:

Top-ranked face-off specialist Aidan Diaz-Matos of Brunswick verbally committed Notre Dame. Winning the national championship certainly helps recruiting. Look to see a loaded 2025 class for the Irish this year.

The #1 goalie in the ‘25 class quickly made a decision. Aidan Seibel is heading a few hours down from Baltimore to College Park where he’ll play for Maryland. Every college coach had him as the #1 goalie, so it’s a huge pickup for John Tillman and the Terps.

Joe Amplo and Navy got a fantastic goalie in Ethan Train, a 4-star recruit out of Nobles. This is a huge land for a Navy team that’s looking to get back to college playoff dominance.

Jared Bernhardt graduated as one of the greatest college lacrosse players in history.

But instead of going to the PLL right after school, he decided to take a stab at college football.

After a 5-year hiatus from football, he led D2 Powerhouse Ferris State to a national championship as their starting QB.

But the story gets even crazier…He got invited by the Atlanta Falcons to try out as a wide receiver and made the team!

But after 1 year in the NFL, he retired.

This is good news for lacrosse fans because now he’s back in college lacrosse.

Maryland head coach John Tillman hired him as the Director of Player Development.

More details to come on what his role will be, but it’s great to see one of the best in the sport back at it.

But that begs the question…will Jared also return to professional lacrosse?

As I mentioned, Stu is a huge pickup for Sean Kirwan and Dartmouth.

The 5’9, 160 pound righty attackman reminds me of Joey Sankey.

He uses his size to his advantage and gets underneath defenders for easy buckets.

His highlights are on repeat for me this week!

Remember, every week we feature a recruit. Respond to this email to nominate a player!

Talk to you soon.

P.S. Make sure to fill out an interest form before the Apex 60 Showcase before spots close.

Best,

Jake Dar