Glading adjusting to MLL

In four years at Virginia, Danny Glading lost just 11 lacrosse games. As a professional player for the Washington Bayhawks the last month, he’s already lost five.
“It’s been a huge adjustment,” said Glading, whose squad is 2-5. “The ball moves a lot faster. I think the skill level is just so high. I have a pretty hard time to get myself to stop watching the players around me. I have to remind myself that I need to make some plays myself, too.”
Despite the team’s slow start, things are starting to look up for Glading.
On Saturday, Glading and older brother, Billy, a 2003 Virginia graduate, helped the Bayhawks snap a four-game losing streak with a 16-14 win over the Chicago Machine. It was the younger Glading’s first pro victory — he didn’t join the team until early June.
Glading, who was the fifth overall pick in the Major League Lacrosse Draft after an All-American career at Virginia, had two goals and three assists. For his efforts, he was named MLL Rookie of the Week on Monday.
Glading said that although the team has struggled at times, he’s had a blast playing with his
brother and former Virginia teammate Kyle Dixon (2006). In the win over the Machine, Dixon tied an MLL record with three 2-point shots.
“It’s been great to be playing with the guys I’m playing with now,” Glading said. “I had an awesome experience at Virginia and have been really fortunate to have the experience transfer over here.”
Having 28-year-old Billy by his side, who is a team captain, has certainly eased the adjustment. Except for an occasional summer-league game, the Gladings had never really played together before.
“It’s nice that he’s one of the veterans on the team,” Glading said. “He’s been a huge help to me. It’s been great.”
Glading, an economics major at Virginia, plans on working a number of lacrosse camps this summer while continuing his career in the MLL. After that, he hopes to land a job in the financial services industry near his hometown of Bethesda, Md.
Glading, who led Virginia in points this past season, said the team’s 15-6 season-ending loss to Cornell in the NCAA semifinals still stings.
“It’s something I still think about,” he said. “But you can’t dwell on it too much. You have to move on and hope that the guys who were in the grades younger than us, learn from us and can make a few more runs at it in years to come.”
Ground balls
Virginia was well represented this past weekend in the Under Armour High School All-America Lacrosse Classic at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University. Six future Cavaliers played in a contest that saw the South pull out a 19-16 win over the North for its first win in the four-year history of the event. Midfielder Chris LaPierre was named the game’s MVP after scoring two goals and assisting on four others. He also took the majority of the South’s faceoffs, winning eight of 15, and snared a team-high six ground balls.