By Gary Pottenbaum – (University of Dayton Defensive Coordinator)
Photo Credit – Cecil Copeland

Returning from a lengthy Spring Break has brought us here….I can’t say I am happy with our play vs Elon and SCAD, although we won both.

Davenport and St. John’s this weekend.  Are we ready?  The questions that we have will be answered.  Will the talent we have overcome the chemistry that we haven’t yet established?  That is a tough one.  Will our last year’s young, now experienced defense face the impending challenge?  I think so.  Our captain and defensive leader Alex Reynolds gets his first start against either team, after sitting out almost all of last year with a devastating knee injury.  The position where we had the least depth last year, we now have the most, and the competition has created a marked improvement in an already great stopper. Read the rest of this entry »

By Casey Lamon

In what is a relatively light weekend, only six teams will suit up for four games that might begin separating the contenders from the pretenders.  It is also the midway point of the season.  Because of this special occasion, I have chosen several Mid-season Awards, which are my own unofficial PNCLL D-II awards and all-stars at this point.  Hopefully this will add a little more excitement to an otherwise light weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

For Immediate Release – Stonehill College Lacrosse

Skyhawks Fall in Season Opener to PBA 13-11

Stonehill’s men’s lacrosse team travelled south for the 2010 Sailfish Shootout, leaving the harsh New England weather for the more appealing Floridian climate. Their first game pitted Stonehill against the host, Palm Beach Atlantic University.

The opening stanza was a low scoring affair as the teams felt each other out. Stonehill’s offense was frustrated early by PBA’s well coached zone defense. The Sailfish drew first blood at the 6:28 mark with an unassisted goal by #3, Trey Darby. This would prove to be a trend for the remainder of the contest. The quarter ended with PBA on top, 1-0.

In the second quarter both teams’ offenses picked up the pace. Stonehill senior captains Colin Lancey and Tom Higgins connected for their team’s first goal with a nifty quick-stick one-timer. Sophomores Connor Green and Bobby Flippin tallied two more to give Stonehill a 3-1 lead, with assists from Flippin and Lancey respectively but the Sailfish would go on a four goal run to end the half with the scoreboard showing PBA up 5-3.

Stonehill opened the third quarter with three straight goals, grabbing their final lead of the game at 6-5. Junior Matt Coletti scored with a hard bounce shot to start the run. Next, Coletti found senior Dan Cermack on the crease, who then made a nice move to escape traffic and place a bounce shot in the top left corner of the goal. Lancey scored again on a feed from freshman Anthony Powers to put Stonehill on top, 6-5.

The Sailfish would not be silenced for long, however, regaining their lead with two goals before Coletti was able to answer and knot the game at 7-7 with an assist from Flippin. The tie was short lived as PBA scored four straight goals to end the third quarter at 11-7.

In the final quarter Lancey found the net four more times, with assists from Cermack and Green. Despite the effort, it was not enough to earn the comeback win as, PBA notched two more of their own to come away with a 13-11 victory and the Sailfish Shootout crown.

Freshman goalkeeper Mike Phillips made his college debut in net, recording 17 saves on the day. Defensemen Charlie MacDonald and Mike Moccia shined in transition, picking up valuable ground balls and forming the foundation of Stonehill’s clearing game. Green and Lancey fought hard in the trenches, coming up with several faceoff wins and combining for an impressive 15 ground balls.

Stonehill Downs Georgia State 13-6

The Stonehill men took the field again looking to rebound after losing its season opener to the hosts Palm Beach Atlantic in the Sailfish tournament.  Stonehill’s next match would pit them against the Panthers of Georgia State coached by Tom Higgins.

The Purple and Black struck first , with an strong individual effort from Connor Green, who would put Stonehill on the board 13:46 into the first. The Sophomore Green was not done, as he netted the next Stonehill score as well at 11:30,  finishing the day with 3 goals and 2 assists.

The Panthers of Georgia State responded with a goal of their own with 7:31 remaining to close the gap to 2-1.  However, Stonehill stifled any attempts of a come back with three more goals of their own by freshman Anthony Powers, senior captain Thomas Higgins, and another tally by Green to complete the hatrick.

Scoring on the day was no problem for the Stonehill with sound offensive efforts coming from a variety of players in their balanced offense. Additional scores came from Seniors Matt Colletti and Colin Lancey with a break out day from freshman Alex Arnott.

Senior captain Ben Hyder led a staunch Stonehill defense with seven ground balls and was the backbone all day. Freshman goalie Mike Phillips stood tall between the pipes for Stonehill only allowing 2 Georgia State goals with goalie Robert Mostertz coming in for the second half making seven saves on the day. 

At 1-1 the Stonehill men now look forward to the war of 24, when Stonehill will face their rivals Bridgewater State College at home Friday March 19th at 7:00pm at the W.B. Mason Stadium.

ATLANTA (March 10, 2010) – The third Prodigy poll of the MCLA season was just released. And the same two programs remain at the top of the rankings.

The two-time defending MCLA champion Michigan Wolverines have continued their winning ways with road victories over No. 3 Arizona State and No.  7 Brigham Young.  Michigan will battle No. 13 Simon Fraser this Saturday in Ann Arbor.

Michigan (3-0) is followed in the latest Div. I rankings by No. 2 Chapman (6-0), No. 3 Arizona State (3-1).  Breaking into the Top 5 with convincing wins over No. 13 Simon Fraser and No. 21 University of New Hampshire is Colorado State (5-0) at No. 4.  Minnesota-Duluth (5-0) rounds out the top 5 and will travel to No. 3 Arizona State for another top 5 showdown in Tempe. Read the rest of this entry »

By Pete Stevenson

Friday’s loss was horrible. It was unexpected. Until the game was over, I didn’t think that it would happen. Looking back, we just didn’t play the way we had practiced and we met up with a pretty good goalie that had a great night and kept us reeling all night. Losing isn’t always bad. There are things to be gained from losing. They are never easy lessons and they are never easy emotionally.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ethan Ritz, executive producer of the 2010 MCLA Championships on Fox College Sports, writes an open letter to all followers of the MCLA and those interested in this year’s telecast of the season-ending tournament in Denver.

Fans of the MCLA,

Once again this year, I have the privilege of being the executive producer for the 2010 MCLA Championships’ television broadcast to air live on Fox College Sports May 14-15. While I have the chance to work sporting events from golf to the Super Bowl, lacrosse is where my passion lies. I played in college at Tennessee and coached Division II Augustana College (IL) to the 2006 GRLC Division II championship. I know what the players and coaches sacrifice to be successful and appreciate the commitment that each individual on each team must undertake. Read the rest of this entry »

For Immediate Release—University of Oregon Lacrosse

March 9, 2010

EUGENE, Ore.—Oregon men’s lacrosse continued its unbeaten streak Saturday afternoon after handing northwest rival Washington a 15-3 loss. In the third game of a four-game home stretch, the Ducks took 55 shots on goal and the steady weekend performance helped the team move up to No. 7 in the latest national MCLA The Lax Mag poll.

Read the rest of this entry »

News Release—Colorado University Lacrosse

March 5, 2010

BOULDER, Colo.—The University of Colorado fell short Friday night to the University of New Hampshire, giving up two goals late in the fourth quarter en route to a final score of 9-8 in favor of the Wildcats. The Buffaloes won the ground ball battle with 37, clearing was not a problem as it had been in the preseason and CU registered 44 shots to New Hampshire’s 37 . But in the end, it was a combination of penalties (12) and New Hampshire’s Jacob Katz locking down the cage in the second half that sealed CU’s fate.

Read the rest of this entry »

For Immediate Release—Colorado University Lacrosse

March 7, 2010

BOULDER, Colo.—Although the Olympics are over, Sunday night witnessed another meeting between the United States and Canada, only not so much ice. Colorado head coach Pete Stevenson earned his first regular season victory with CU as the Buffaloes upset third-ranked (MCLA The Lax Mag) Simon Fraser by a final score of 17-7.

Read the rest of this entry »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Simon Fraser University Men’s Lacrosse

Event: Men’s Lacrosse
Site: Shea Stadium, Littleton, Colorado
Score: #3 Simon Fraser University 6, #9 Colorado State University 12
Record: SFU (1-1, 0-0 PNCLL), CSU (4-0, 0-0 RMLC)
Next SFU Game: Sunday, March 7, 2010, 7:00pm MST – vs. #11 University of Colorado – Boulder, CO (Kittredge Field)

LITTLETON, CO (March 5, 2010) No. 3 Simon Fraser (1-1, 0-0 PNCLL) played their second game of the 2010 regular season on Friday, March 5 falling 12-6 to No. 9 Colorado State (4-0, 0-0 RMLC). With SFU leading 5-4 at halftime, the Rams stunned the Clan with an 8-1 second half on route to earning the upset. Fraser was led by senior attack Adam Foss (Cochrane, AB / Cochrane High School) with 2 goals and junior attack Chris Tessarolo (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary) with 1 goal and 1 assist.
Read the rest of this entry »

For Immediate Release—University of Michigan Lacrosse

March 6, 2010

PROVO, Utah—The University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team wrapped up its season-opening road trip Saturday night in Provo, Utah, defeating Brigham Young by a score of 13-9 and improving to 3-0 on the 2010 campaign. In a seesaw affair, the Wolverines gutted out the victory with timely runs and a focus on possession despite the absence of six players due to suspension.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo Credit – Cecil Copeland)

For Immediate Release (March 5, 2010) - In cooperation with Georgia Tech Lacrosse, CollegeLAX is proud to annouce two online video webcasts this weekend involving the home standing Yellow Jackets from the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC). 

Georgia Tech (6-0) is undefeated this year after posting two wins last weekend in Lexington over Marquette (UMLL) and Kentucky (SELC). Last Friday night, the Jackets beat the Kentucky Wildcats 12-9 behind four goals from Alex Del Pozzo. On Saturday, the Jackets beat Marquette University 9-6, as Casey Timmerman led the way with three goals on the afternoon.

SATURDAY, March 6, 2010 – Boston University at Georgia Tech
Game Time is 1:00 p.m. (Eastern) in Atlanta.
CLICK HERE to watch the Boston University/GT video stream online.

SUNDAY, March 7, 2010 – Buffalo at Georgia Tech
Game Time is 2:00 p.m. (Eastern) in Atlanta.
CLICK HERE to watch the Buffalo/GT video stream online.

For Immediate Release (March 5, 2010) – In cooperation with Chapman University, CollegeLAX is proud to annouce that Sunday afternoon’s contest between No. 2 Chapman and No. 5 Florida State will be broadcast live online!

Game time on Sunday, March 5th is 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time (4:00 p.m Eastern) from Orange County, California.

CLICK HERE at Sunday afternoon to watch the video stream online plus chat about the game live with other CollegeLAX fans.

Courtesy Coast Guard Lacrosse

New London, Conn – As basketball and football are often associated with the states of Indiana and Pennsylvania, shellfish and the sport of Lacrosse are synonymous with the state of Maryland.  What’s the line from The Wedding Crashers?  ”Crab cakes and lacrosse, that’s what Maryland does!”…something like that.  In keeping with the Maryland theme, it appears as if Coast Guard Academy head lacrosse coach Brian Krautler (Arnold/ Broadneck and Key School) and his staff have inherited some talented players from “The Old Line State” – players that the Coast Guard Academy hopes will lead them to a PCLL D2 Championship in 2010. The 40-man 2010 Coast Guard Academy Men’s Lacrosse team roster includes nine players from Maryland, including a core group from the Class of 2011.  The defense is anchored by a pair of Marylanders in team captain, Greg Bernstein (Baltimore/The McDonogh School) and crease-clearing Paul Junghans (Damascus/The Heights School).  Last season’s offensive leaders, juniors Kyle Ennis (Mayo/ DeMatha High School) and Matthew Chase (Baltimore/Loch Raven) also hail from “The Old Line State.”  Like a yellow and blue tin of Baltimore’s Old Bay seasoning, this core group of players has added a distinct impact and flavor to the Bear’s lacrosse program. Read the rest of this entry »

By Pete Stevenson

People fear the unknown. That is what is so scary about the first game of the season. How will we handle the pressure? How will we react when there is tension, when we don’t play well, when we do play well? How quickly can we readjust to the newly known? How well can we plunge head first into what we believe to be the right way to win?

So many unknowns, and yet there is strength in facing the unknown. There is team growth in facing those things together and relying on your linemate to bail you out when you need him to. Will I be able to make changes mid game? Will those players who we need to lead, be leaders? Will the underclassman follow?

And this year there are even more unknowns. Everything is new. Yet, it is just lacrosse that we are playing. The kids on the team have been playing for years. And we just need to put them on the field and the unknowns float away. Read the rest of this entry »