PNCLL Division 1 Final Four Preview
By Steve Kojima
The Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) Final Four takes place this weekend in Missoula Montana, May 3-4. You can catch the D1 semi-finals and both D1 and D2 championship games live on grizlax.com, courtesy of the University of Montana. For more information, click here.
The PNCLL Final Four will feature the top four teams each from D1 and D2, battling it out for the right to represent the conference at the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) National Championships in Dallas, Texas, May 13-17.
PNCLL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
(All listed times are MT)
Saturday, May 2
DIVISION I SEMI-FINALS
1 PM Simon Fraser vs. Washington
4 PM Oregon vs. Montana
DIVISION II SEMI-FINALS
12 PM Western Oregon vs. Whitman
3:30 PM Puget Sound vs. Western Washington
Sunday, May 3
1 PM D2 Championship
2:30 PM D1 Championship
Sunday’s Championships are slated for Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Saturday’s games will take place at Dornblazer Fields on the UM South Campus, with D1 in the women’s soccer facility and the D2 games on the men’s lacrosse practice field.
Your D1 field includes in order of seed: SFU, Oregon, Montana and Washington. We predicted that exact seeding three weeks ago, but what wasn’t expected was the drop of Oregon in the National rankings.
Oregon and SFU were respectively ranked at No. 5 and No. 7 overall a few weeks ago, but the Ducks have since dropped to No. 16 in the latest Top 25 Poll. Montana and Washington both remain unranked. That means it’s unlikely that PNCLL D1 will send two teams to Nationals this season despite some great out-of-conference showings. The only thing that is certain is the PNCLL D1 Champion is guaranteed a spot at the ‘Big Dance’. It will be a heated weekend to see who takes that automatic qualifier.
Here’s a quick look at your PNCLL D1 field.
No. 1 SFU (8-0) vs. No 4. Washington (5-3)
SFU are the clear favorites against the University of Washington and to win this tournament. The Clan have put together a text-book season with a 13-1 overall record and have looked better with each game. They left for Montana Wednesday night, and will be all business trying to recapture the PNCLL crown for the first time since 2003.
Regular season meeting (Mar. 21): With the help of numerous man-up opportunities, Washington stayed close for the first half. Quarter scores were 5-4, 8-6 SFU before the Clan went on a 6-2 third quarter run and walked away with a 16-11 victory.
SIMON FRASER
Names you know: Ben Towner (60g, 10a), the conference’s leading scorer creates scoring opportunities and is the leader for SFU. Playing more composed than a lot of seniors, the sophomore attackman has put up an impressive 60 goals in 14 games this year. Russel Thomas (27g, 18a) is athletic and freshman Chris Tessarolo (32g, 8a) has been finding rope. Defensively Curtis Manning (7g, 5a) roams the field, and plays some man-up, while goaltender Dean Stewart (.60 SV%) is one of the league’s best.
Names you should know: Adam Foss and (12g, 22a), Ben Davies (14g, 3a) round out the offense. For SFU to be successful, they’ll need for these two players to be a threat to score. Defensively, Matt Miyashita (1g, 1a) and James Poelzer (6g, 5a) are two guys that go unnoticed but are key cogs. D-middie and face-off specialist Ben Johnson (2g 3a) will play a huge roll this weekend.
How they got here: This is the 11th conference tournament in the program’s 12 year history and the Clan will be hoping to make their eighth trip to the Big Dance. They last traveled to Nationals, then in St. Louis, in 2004. This season the Clan have put up wins over No. 8 SSU, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 16 Oregon, No. 20 Lindenwood and No. 21 Illinois – and they look to once again be national contenders. Their sole loss of the season was early to No. 4 BYU.
Keys to success: This is SFU’s tournament to win or lose. They have some solid athletes and ball players from goal to attack, but their strength is playing together as a team. “Discipline and executing our game plan will be the keys to our success this weekend,” said SFU co-head coach Brent Hoskins. They’re playing with a swagger now, and if they take that confidence to the field, this will be a tough SFU team to beat.
WASHINGTON
Names you know: UW is led by middies Joe Cramer (30g, 21a), Nick Tierney (24g, 12a) and attackman Sean Forsyth (22g, 27a). Forsyth runs their offense as the primary feeder from behind the cage. Jacob Sonkin (18g, 18a) splits time between middy and attack and follows in his bros footsteps as a key piece to the U-Dub unit. Critical to Washington’s weekend will be attackman turned goaltender, Cammy Moore (.57% SV), the Huskies’ MVP in 2008.
Names you should know: Steven Frankel (19g, 15a), splitting time between midfield and attack has quietly had a legit season and Chris Hutchinson (14g, 4a) will be asked to step-up when the opportunity presents itself. Also watch for Kenyon transfer Jack Cerchiara (12g, 3a) on attack. He came on strong late in the season, scoring nine goals in the last four games. Defensively, Nick Losh will draw either Towner or Foss. Ashkaan Jaberi is another key cog on their close D and will take some draws.
How they got here: Washington is attempting to make it back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2002. Their key win this year was a 14-13 thriller over Montana (Mar. 1), a victory that helped them earn a playoff seed over Oregon State University. (The OSU Beavers had beat Washington but lost to Montana, missing out on the post-season due to the tie-breaker scenario). The Huskies haved dropped games to SFU and Oregon 21-8 (Apr. 6), and know they’re the underdogs this weekend.
Keys to success: Washington will try to limit SFU possessions this weekend, and avoid fast-breaks against. Cramer and Jaberi versus Johnson at the X will be a good battle. The Huskies also have to be better at clearing against an aggressive SFU ride. They believe they have the weapons on offense – having recorded 11 and 14 goals-for the previous two times they’ve met SFU – and they will expect more production from their EMO against a very aggressive SFU man-down D. The question is whether their young defense can slow SFU’s offense.
No. 2 Oregon (7-1) vs. No. 3 Montana (5-3)
Oregon replaced their head coach a few weeks ago, but that shouldn’t matter this weekend. Players play, and it’s the best players that perform when it counts. Some guys rack up points during the regular season, but what impresses are those guys that can deliver in the clutch. And both of these programs have those types of players you need to be successful in the post-season.
Oregon were the D1 runners up Nationally last season, and the Griz captured the D2 National title. Both have playoff experience, and something to prove this year so this game should be a battle.
Regular season meeting (Mar. 8): Oregon dummied Montana to a tune of 19-10 earlier this year, but you can expect a much closer match on Saturday from two offensives that have the potential to be explosive. Many are predicting this game to be a high-scoring affair.
OREGON
Names you know: Justin Blackmore (42g, 21) leads the Oregon offense. He’s quick and is able to create his own looks, often times driving from bottom-left. Chad Loescher (31g, 9), Josh Schane (34g, 15a) and Will DeSiervo (20g, 7a) round out a tall and capable Oregon unit offensively. On the back end, goaltender Paul Swanson (.58%) is the real deal. But it’s the defenders in-front of him that will be key, including Jeff Brunelle (1a), Andrew Vincent (2g, 1a), Jon Jardim (3g, 6a) and Pat McMurdo (6g, 4a).
Names you should know: Middies Austin Loranger (11g, 1a), Danny Purcell (10g, 8) Justin Eckenroad (7g, 2a) and FOGO Brett Whyte (6g, 2a) have played big roles for Oregon this season. Whyte’s among the top drawman in the conference. “These players are underclassmen and have really stepped up this season,” added new Oregon head coach Andrew Clough.
How they got here: Since capturing the PNCLL conference title in 2004, Oregon has established itself as the conference’s top team, finishing second in the Nation last year. This season they lost to SFU, 16-8, but that Ducks were in that game only down 6 – 4 at the half. The Ducks cruised through the rest of their conference games and are confident about again competing for the PNCLL title. “We’re looking forward to two intense games this weekend and hope to help represent the PNCLL at the National tournament,” stated Clough.
Keys to success: This weekend, it will be crucial for Oregon to come together as a team and play for each other. There’s lots of potential with the program but they have to realize it and find some confidence. “Our keys to success will be executing fundamental lacrosse plays, leaving flashy bad habits in the past and focusing on executing the basics to perfection,” said Clough. They will also have to find a way to stop Montana’s offense, which has averaged 16 goals per game over their last three matches.
MONTANA
Names you know: Townsend Hall (26g, 12a). “T is a ‘big game player’ so this is really what he gets up for. He’ll likely play both midfield and attack this weekend, so expect to see him all over the place,” said Montana head coach Kevin Flynn. Tucker Sargent (34g, 5a) has been having a great year and will be key at the face-off circle. Zander Ault (35g, 9a) and Jake Bagle (19g, 12a) are two legit seniors and Sam Cameron (29g, 22a) can create. Colin Connery (.56 SV%) is another player known for post-season heroics, if he has a big weekend in goal the Griz could pull off some upsets.
Names you should know: Will Freihofer (1g) and Henry Sulzbacher. The real key for any kind of Griz win will be about defense. Montana will be looking to these two poles in particular to step up their game this weekend and limit Oregon’s potentially high-powered O.
How they got here: Montana made the jump to D1 after being a dominant program in D2, capturing the D2 National title last season. After a tough start, the Griz started to find their groove. And they traveled a lot. “For our first year back up in D1 we really wanted to show that we are willing to play anybody,” added Flynn. “We’ve been slowing things down a bit for the past few weeks, getting ready for the post-season, and have still been able to pull out W’s. We’re happy with our effort this year, but we aren’t satisfied.” They want more and it starts Saturday.
Keys to success: Montana’s biggest strength is their ability to generate offense, and they are comfortable in high scoring games. They also have a ton of post season experience, and their guys have shown they can elevate their play in pressure situations. What they’ll need is a defensive presence and ability to get the ball into the hands of their offense. Goaltending will be key. “The X-Factor strength may be the home field advantage,” added Flynn. “We’ll all know by Sunday night!”
