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Lower Leg Injury Sidelines CJ Kirst for Global Lacrosse Games, Start of NLL Season
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- Lower Leg Injury Sidelines CJ Kirst for Global Lacrosse Games, Start of NLL Season
( Photo courtesy of World Lacrosse )
Reining PLL MVP and NLL Rookie of the Year CJ Kirst will miss December's Global Lacrosse Games and the start of NLL season, sources tell Inside Lacrosse and the Toronto Rock announced on Tuesday.
After leading the Philadelphia Waterdogs to the PLL championship on Sept. 20, sources tell IL that Kirst went in for what he thought was a more routine exam to alleviate pain and a more severe issue was discovered. He subsequently has undergone treatment to address the issue but the recovery is expected to last months, not weeks.
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Kirst is coming off a PLL season in which he posted 42 goals and nine assists in 12 games, and 34 goals and 37 assists in 18 NLL games. The injury comes after he missed all but six games as a rookie for the Waterdogs, carrying an upper body injury off of his run to Cornell's 2025 NCAA Championship.
The Tewaaraton Award winner two seasons ago, Kirst tied Jon Reese and Miles Thompson for goals in a Division I season with 82. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound lefty is seen as a key figure to the US hopes for Olympic gold in 2028, though his participation in the Sixes competitions has been limited.
Global Lacrosse Games rosters are expected to be announced this week, and the Rock begin their season on Nov. 28 vs. the San Diego Seals.
