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Miya Scanlan makes SportsCenter Top 10 a second time

By Christian Storms 3 min read
Gowanda High School graduate Miya Scanlan fires a shot behind her back against Switzerland at the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship. The shot technique is exactly like the goal she scored for Jacksonville University against Stanford in the NCAA Tournament that landed her the fourth spot on the SportsCenter Top 10 Plays. On Wednesday, Scanlan made the second spot on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays with a behind the back bouncing goal against the Australians. Photo courtesy of NDNSPORTS Twitter

It's often said that lefties are more creative than the more abundant right-handed population.

Well, if there's any truth to that theory, Gowanda High School graduate Miya Scanlan is living proof of it.

For the second time this year, the left-shot attacker for Jacksonville University and the Haudenosaunee Nationals women's lacrosse teams has made the SportsCenter Top 10 Plays.

During the 2022 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championships, Scanlan, a freshman, scored an unbelievable goal against Stanford in the first round. After her first goal on the advantage, Scanlan sought another in the fourth quarter. Running through the slot, Scanlan picked a pass out of the air and nonchalantly swung a shot around her head as she was going from right to left. The shot fooled everyone and went over the Stanford goalie's head to give Jacksonville University an 18-6 lead.

Not only was the creativity of Scanlan on full display, so was her confidence. It's one accomplishment to play in the NCAA Tournament as a freshman, scoring and being a part of the team is great, but it's another thing to have the confidence to pull off a play like that with such high skill.

That goal caught the attention of ESPN and landed Scanlan the fourth spot on SportsCenter Top 10 plays.

Scoring a goal like that in the NCAA Tournament might be enough for some people, but Scanlan was not done showing the world how good she is.

The college freshman was selected to the Haudenosaunee Nationals to play in the 2022 World Lacrosse Women's World Championship.

Scanlan has really exploded offensively at the tournament, leading Haudenosaunee with 19 goals and two assists for 21 points. Scanlan's goals are not just regular run-of-the-mill goals. Some of them, in fact, have been mind-boggling shots, including five goals against Switzerland and four against Argentina. Then, in the playoff round, she rattled off another five-goal performance as Haudenosaunee upset Scotland.

That set up a date with No. 4 seed Australia, which was going to be a mountain of a task to win it all. Even against one of the best teams in the world, Scanlan brought her bag of tricks.

In the first quarter, Scanlan caught a pass between two Australian defenders in the high-traffic slot. Then, under the pressure of the two defenders, Scanlan somehow managed to whip a shot behind her that caught the goalie off guard and bounced into the corner of the net. The nifty goal landed Scanlan onto the second spot of the SportsCenter Top 10 Plays.

Haudenosaunee was relegated to the consolation bracket by Australia, but Scanlan will have more chances to show the world what's in her bag of tricks.

Haudenosaunee plays Japan at 11 this morning.

Starting at /week.