New Lacrosse Goalie Heads Coming in 2022!
The goalie heads are coming! The goalie heads are coming!
If you like new lacrosse goalie heads then 2022 is shaping up to be quite a year!
Here’s a sneak peak at some of the upcoming goalie wands soon to hit the market.
ECD Impact Goalie Head
The ECD Impact is already here! Here is our full ECD Impact goalie head review.
Probably the most anticipated lacrosse goalie head of the batch. East Coast Dyes (ECD) is entering the goalie head market!
Always exciting when a brand new company starts pumping out goalie wands! Especially one as established as East Coast Dyes.
They’ve got a reputation for creating amazing lacrosse products and I’m sure this goalie head will be no different.
Greg and the folks at ECD have given the ECD goalie head to several goalies to play around with and test out so there are a lot of pics of this head in the wild.
Greg is also close with the Goaliesmith guys so plenty of their goalies have played around with this new goalie head including Drake Porter:
I’ve seen a bunch of photos of this thing and it gives off the Warrior Nemi spoon type of vibes. It also has similar indentations and grooves at the top like the STX Eclipse 2.
Here is Stony Brook and female Team Canada goalie Kam Halsall with the new ECD head. Seems like the Canadians love the ECD goalie head! Her thumb covers up the logo but we know 🤣
Another shot of Drake Porter with the new ECD head:
This screenshot comes from a great video Drake and the Goaliesmith guys put out outlining the drawbacks of setting up with your bottom hand fully extended in your stance. A setup I still see some goalies using.
The new ECD goalie head will feature the USA version of their logo:
Even some of the PLL goalies like the Redwood’s Tim Troutner are starting to use the new ECD Impact:
The only question is – what will ECD’s new goalie head be called?
Many are rooting for the ECD Crab or ECD Crab Catcher! And when I say many – I mostly mean just me.
I guess we’ll see when this baby hits the market this summer.
Edit: Someone dropped this graphic into the Lax Goalie Rats Facebook group – Looks like the new ECD head will be called the Impact.
As the graphic indicates the ECD Impact will be legal for both men’s and women’s lacrosse goalies.
Warrior Nemesis QS Goalie Head
The Warrior Nemi QS goalie head is here! Here is our full Warrior Nemesis QS goalie head review.
My sources over at Warrior lacrosse have told me that a new Warrior goalie head is set to hit the market this year.
I haven’t seen any photos of this baby out in the wild but I do know its not the Warrior Nemi 4, but rather the Warrior Nemesis QS (for quick save).
During the Lacrosse Goalie Summit 7, Warrior sponsored athlete Brett Dobson showed off the new Warrior goalie head:
The Warrior Nemi 3 is a good goalie head but is it currently illegal for women’s/girl’s lacrosse.
If you look at the pic of the Nemi 3 (seen above), it’s the most offset of the goalie heads. I think this makes it illegal for women’s play. Seems silly because I’m not sure what unfair advantage this gives a female goalkeeper but “dems the rules”.
I don’t know much about running an equipment company, but what I do know is putting out a lacrosse goalie head that is illegal for a large part of your market probably isn’t a good idea.
That’s likely one of the reasons Warrior is putting out the Nemi QS so soon after the Nemi 3 dropped in 2019.
So my guess there isn’t a dramatic remake to the Nemi 3 but some slight modifications to make it legal for the women’s game.
Warrior recently signed Dillon Ward as a sponsored goalie so who knows? Maybe they’ve gotten some other feedback from Dillon and others goalies to make some more subtle improvements to the Warrior Nemi QS.
But once the Nemi 4 / Nemi QS is released we can be sure Dillon Ward will be using that puppy to make saves in the PLL.
Deep South CL22 (or maybe CL23)
The CL18 from Deep South Lacrosse debuted in 2018 and brought a pretty novel approach to the piece of goalie equipment.
The number represents the year released while the CL stands for Coach Linehan. So we may be looking at a CL22 or a CL23.
Instead of the spoon, Coach Sash from Deep South went with an enlarged attack head shape which gives the goalie some advantages. Here’s my full review of the CL18.
Coach Sash was also fed up with goalies getting a large piece of those crank shots only for the flimsy goalie head to betray them.
Watch this video if you want to know what I’m talking about:
The CL18 is also the cheapest head in the game. You can grab one SidelineSwap for $25 right now! That’s pretty crazy.
Another attribute of the CL18 is its stiffness. Stiffest head in the game but that of course comes with the drawback called extra weight.
The heavy weight and the throat design are the 2 pieces of negative feedback from the goalie community on this head.
Those are the 2 elements that the CL22 will be looking to fix in the next iteration while maintaining that stiffness. The CL18 is also illegal for women’s play which will need to be addressed.
Here is are some mocked up images of what the CL22/CL23 might look like with a sleeker throat and a slimmer body to reduce weight while maintaining that stiffness.
STX Eclipse 3
One day I was minding my own business watching some lacrosse on the internet when a JUCO goalie slid into my DM’s:
It was indeed sent on April 1 – April Fools Day – but our JUCO friend confirmed it was not a joke.
Behold – the STX Eclipse 3!
My immediate thought was – I don’t really see much different in these photos between this version and the STX Eclipse 2. Am I getting punked here?
So I guess the scoop is improved for ground balls and the throat a touch longer.
Since this is just a prototype and considering that the time between the STX Eclipse and the STX Eclipse 2 was 18 years, I don’t think we’ll see the STX Eclipse 3 in 2022.
The STX Eclipse OG was released in 1999 and the STX Eclipse 2 in 2017 (18 years later!), so another 18 years should mean 2035 but just maybe we’ll see the 3 in 2023!
I shot my contact at STX a message trying to get more info about the STX Eclipse 3 and he never responded. 🤫
One interesting thing I found. If you check the women’s USA lacrosse list of approved heads, you’ll find an approved head by the name of the STX Shadow!
I’ve never seen an STX Shadow. Could that be the STX Eclipse 3?
True Temper Lacrosse Goalie Head
Perhaps not a household name in the lacrosse equipment world (at least for an old school guy like me), True Temper Lacrosse currently offers everything except a goalie head – a line of heads (men’s and women’s), shafts, mesh, gloves, bags, arm and shoulder pads.
Well according to this post from @lax_or_art they’ll be entering the goalie head market soon.
I haven’t used this head nor seen one live but just based on these pictures I think some improvements need to be made. What’s the deal with those top outer string holes? What’s the deal with that chunky throat?
I don’t think we’ll see this one released in 2022, but perhaps 2023 for the True Temper goalie head as well.
I sent True Temper a message on IG trying to get more about their goalie head and they never responded. 🤫
Edit: Here’s a post True Temper Lacrosse dropped recently:
Looks like a hot and fresh goalie head coming out of the oven. Also looks a lot more sleek compared to that clunky version Lax or Art shared.
According a member of my Facebook group the new True Temper goalie head will be called the Radar and will drop September 15th.
Conclusion
New goalie heads are coming for 2022 (and even more in 2023) and as a lacrosse goalie coach and a huge fan of new goalie equipment, I couldn’t be happier.
ECD goalie head, Warrior QS, CL22 (or maybe CL23), True Temper Radar – they’re all planned for this year!
Which goalie head are you most looking forward to?
Also in the spirit of the new Gait D defensive head, the Lax Goalie Rat prototype head was just released this week:
Until next time! Coach Damon
Anyone know of any new lacrosse goalie heads coming out soon that I missed? Leave me a comment down below.
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Hey Coach. Awesome write up, and about time for more Goalie heads. Love the new heads, esp. yours:). Some quick thoughts/questions:
1. Why is the Nemi 2 illegal in women’s lax?
2. Does the ECD appear to combine the best aspects of the Nemi 2 and the STX Eclipse 2?
3. Any chance Gait will make a Goalie head?
Thanks Ryan! Lax Goalie Rat head will take some time to develop unfortunately haha
1. Nemi 2 is legal for women. If you mean Nemi 3, I’m pretty sure it’s because of the offset angle is too much as I mention in the article. The rules committee doesn’t give the public any reasoning as to why but the list of legal sticks is here – https://www.usalacrosse.com/legal-womens-sticks
2. I imagine it would. I’m hoping to get my hands on an ECD impact so I can play around with it and test it out.
3. Yes, I have heard rumors that Gait is going to make a goalie head which is exciting because well that Gait D is definitely innovative. I hope they don’t rip my idea for the Lax Goalie Rat head
Fyi….ECD Impact is already certified as legal on girl’s/women’s side.
Yep that’s right! Gotta be legal for men and women if you’re gonna come out with a new goalie head these days!
Tell that to Warrior, UA and DeepSouth
Clearly you’re not a Simpsons fan… those extra holes in the True head are speed holes 😉
Haha i thought I was a fan but there’s always a reference here and there I never get.
Looks like the eclipse 2 is still king. The ECD DNA is the best head I’ve ever used, my expectations for their goalie head are very high.
No Nike prime elite 2?
Any reviews of the Gait GCG Command Goalie Head? I just discovered this, it seems it came out with little fanfare anywhere?!?
It’s the Under Armour Command goalie head just rebranded as Gait. I think that’s why it was such little fanfare, because it really isn’t a new head. I haven’t played iwth the Command but do see some goalies in the college ranks using it. I reviewed the original UA head the Headline which was a good head, very similar to OG Eclipse so I imagine Command is like Eclipse 2. https://laxgoalierat.com/under-armour-headline-goalie-head-review/