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Coyne: MCLA Championship Tournament Blog

by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Jac Coyne blogs live from the 2009 MCLA championships in Denver, where the top 16 teams in Division I and eight teams in Division II are in pursuit college club men's lacrosse national titles. Check back to LMO for more coverage as the weekend unfolds or leave a comment below.

For more information about the championships, visit www.collegelax.us.

It's Michigan and St. Thomas

Saturday | 11:41 p.m. MDT

It's been another long day here in Denver. The recap of the Division II championship is here while the story for D-I title game is here.

Congratulations to St. Thomas for winning their first national title and likewise to Michigan, who picked up their second. I'll have a recap of my weekend in the Mile High City early next week. It was a good time with a lot of great games.

St. Thomas Big at Halftime

Saturday | 5:17 p.m. MDT

Dayton raced out to a 3-1 lead to start the game, but just as they always seem to do in the big games, St. Thomas has roared back, taking an 11-6 lead into the break. Joe Costello(4g, 1a) and Tony Sadder (3g, 2a) are running things for the Tommies.

They just released the Division II All-American teams, which can be found on mcla.us.

We're Underway

Saturday | 4:12 p.m. MDT

We're underway here at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. St. Thomas and Dayton are currently locked in a 1-1 tie early in the game. I'll have an update at halftime.

It's Official: Chapman Isn't Afraid

Saturday | 1:40 p.m. MDT

I caught up briefly with Chapman head coach Mike Wood before he left for his team lunch and then off to the field around noon. I told him that conventional wisdom says he's a significant underdog heading into today's D-I championship game against Michigan.

He looked at me for a second, shrugged and said, "Okay."

If the Panthers are about to be led to slaughter, they certainly don't know it. They have an odd blend of SoCal nonchalance and an edge that comes with unfinished business.

"When you get to that national championship game and lose, it stays with you for about a year," said Wood, referring to the chip on Chapman's collective shoulder since last year's loss at the hands of the Wolverines.

Will the Panthers keep the same approach that worked for a half in the regular season meeting between the two schools that resulted in an 8-5 lead, or will they tweak the strategy that couldn't contain Michigan in the second half and was outscored, 8-2?

Again, another shrug from Wood, this time accompanied by a Cheshire grin.

You can call the Panthers whatever you want: in denial, myopic or dreamers.

But you can't say they are afraid.

Championship Saturday

Saturday | 10:30 a.m. MDT

As I'm gathering my things for a couple of meetings this morning, here are some notes from the last couple of days.

First, let's recap what has happened so far. Below are the results, linked to my game stories:

Michigan 17, Colorado 7
Chapman 10, BYU 9 (ot)
Dayton 9, St. John's 8 (ot)
St. Thomas 17, Davenport 7

So today's schedule is Dayton vs. St. Thomas at 4 p.m. (MDT) and Chapman vs. Michigan at 7 p.m. The games can be watched live on Fox College Sports. If you don't get that channel (it's part of a premium package for many cable/dish providers), you can watch it live on the web at the Fox College Sports website.

Phantom Goals
One of the storylines that I'm glad I did not have to use in my game story of the Chapman-BYU contest was a blown goal call midway through the second quarter.

A BYU player took a bounce shot that hit low off the pipe, hit the goalie's foot and then rolled right to - but not over - the goal line. The official standing on the goal line extended was screened by a couple of players, but raced in and declared a goal.

Because of the nice sightlines at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, it was easy to see from the press box that the ball had not gone in, but all hell broke loose when they showed the instant replay from about four different angles and in slow-mo.

Mike Wood and the Chapman bench were jumping up and down, pointing at the massive jumbotron at the end of the stadium, but the goal stood. The enormity of that call grew and grew as it looked like BYU was going to win the game by a lone marker, but fortunately for that official, fate intervened and the Panthers were able to pull off the overtime win.

The amazing part was the exact same thing happened in the Colorado-Michigan game. A ball that hit the post and then the back of the goalie, landing very near - but again, not over - the goal line, causing the a referee who was screened on the play to blow his whistle and come running in.

No doubt spooked by the previous game, he did not signal a goal, however. He ran over to the far official, spoke briefly, and then signaled no goal.

You won't read anything from me bashing officials because I know it's a tough job. I just do high school games, but there are a lot of tough calls out there. One of the toughest is figuring out if a ball goes in the net. I'm just glad that neither of those called impacted the outcome of a game.

If, by chance, you think that the officials blew relatively easy calls, then I encourage you to visit this site. The sport can always use new officials who never make mistakes.

Checking In with UCSB
While I was wandering around the concourse at halftime of the Chapman-BYU game, I bumped in Mario Waibel, the first-year head coach at UC Santa Barbara. I had spoken to Waibel on the phone before for a story converted from our old site. Waibel and his team were knocked out in the first round of the tournament by Colorado but, like many of the teams, they were sticking around until Sunday.

I congratulated him on making the tournament and he admitted that he was a little surprised that his team was included in the 16-team tournament. While the Gauchos played an extremely stiff schedule - something the selection committee rewarded this year - they finished with an 8-7 record and lost in the SLC quarterfinals.

While he earned a reward at the end, this was a tough year for Waibel, as it is for most first-year head coaches who are taking over legendary programs. Before he even coached his first practice, Waibel had, by his account, lost close to 80 percent of his scoring from last year due to graduation and defections. While there were some frustrating times, you could sense Waibel learned quite a bit from the experience and is geared up for the next couple of years.

As outlined in my previous story on Waibel, recruiting will be his strength and he confirmed he already has a large class coming in next year consisting of 11 or 12 players who could step in and play right away.

"Look out for us in two years," said Waibel. "We're going to be dangerous."

Postgame Interviews: Not Always Fun
It's no fun losing in the semifinals of the national tournament. You're so close to the finals, but don't get the satisfaction of playing the last game of the season. And if you're the coach of the losing team, the last thing you want to do is field questions from reporters.

To be honest, it's really not that enjoyable for the reporter because you're talking to a guy who is obviously heartbroken, but you need him to say something analytical about the game and/or compliment the other team.

There were a lot of long faces yesterday, but the coaches handled themselves well.

Davenport's Bob Clarkson was very succinct about his appraisel of the game they lost to St. Thomas, 18-7, saying the scoreboard pretty much summed it up. He was also able to draw on the positives, adding, "If you told me at the beginning of our second season that we'd be in the D-II semifinals, I'd be pleased."

Similarly, Colorado's John Galvin handled his 17-7 setback to Michigan with aplomb, even laughing with Wolverine coach John Paul prior to talking with the media.

It likely had something to do with the score, as the two coaches who lost in overtime were much more solemn. Extra time is excruciating for coaches because every mistake during the game is magnified and the frustration level is high when trying to recollect all the little things that went wrong.

Derek Daehn, the St. John's coach, leaned dejectedly against the wall at Dick's Sporting Good Park after the 9-8 loss to Dayton. He answered all of my questions very thoughtfully, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. BYU coach Jason Lamb even gave me a pre-question warning.

"Don't ask me any stupid questions like ‘How are you feeling,' because I can handle them right now."

Lamb wasn't being a jerk - he said it good naturedly - but you could tell he was hurting. The Cougars left a lot of opportunities on the field against Chapman and it was eating him up.

For a league that doesn't get a lot of publicity, all of the coaches handled themselves professionally, which reflects well on the association.

Slides & Rides
While it is beautiful during the day, it gets cold here in Denver at night. I felt bad for a woman who was writing for another lacrosse publication. Her teeth were chattering as she was trying to ask questions...Chapman will only be dressing one goalie, Dan Kirkpatrick, for the championship game against Michigan...Mike Wood, the Chapman coach, was a defensive back for the Ohio State football team back in the mid-80s. He said he is now 4-1 against BYU, with two wins in football (including the Holiday Bowl) and a 2-1 mark in lacrosse. Needless to say, he'd really like to beat Michigan today.

Just Two Games Left

Friday | 11:55 p.m. MDT

That was a long day. It finally ended when Michigan put the finishing touches on a convincing win over Colorado in the final semifinal of the day. Check out the game story here.

So the Division I championship game will feature a rematch of last year's title game between Michigan and Chapman while the Division II title contest features a pair of teams that lost in last year's semifinals - St. Thomas and Dayton.

It's been a long day, but I've got plenty of interesting tidbits that I'll post tomorrow morning. I'll be sitting down with both the Chapman and Michigan head coaches prior to the games, as well.

Chapman Punches Ticket; Michigan Cruising

Friday | 8:31 p.m. MDT

It's been a while, but it's tough trying to blog while putting together game stories. Chapman ended up beating BYU in overtime, 10-9, in an excellent game. My game story is here.

There's a lot to catch up on that didn't make it into my game story, but it will have to wait until later this evening or tomorrow morning. Right now, Michigan is leading Colorado, 6-3, after one period. As expected, the Wolverines appear to be a notch above the Buffs. We'll see.

St. Thomas will be playing Dayton in D-II finals, which will occur at 4 p.m. MDT (6 p.m. EDT). Chapman gets another chance at the national title, which will begin at 7 p.m. MDT against an opponent TBA.

I'll check back in a couple of hours with the Michigan-Colorado game story and perhaps some thoughts on the day in general.

Dayton Wins a Thriller; Chapman up on BYU

Friday | 5:39 p.m. MDT

It went to overtime, but top-seeded Dayton pulled it out, with Ryan Arling scoring with 2:19 in extra time to lift the Flyers, 9-8. Read the game story here.

It's early in the second quarter and Chapman holds a 5-3 lead. Ten minutes to go, to be exact. Connor Martin has a pair of goals.

Johnnies Take Lead into Final FrameFri

day | 3:40 p.m. MDT

It looked like Dayton might run away with this one on two occasions, but St. John's has answered each time and even put together a run of its own, opening up an 8-5 lead late in the third quarter.

The Flyers answered with a pair of goals with under a minute to trim the Johnnies lead to 8-7 heading into the fourth. The second one came EMO after a dubious late-hit call on the previous Dayton goal.

This fourth quarter will be more exciting that the last one, anyway.

St. Thomas Rolls, Dayton Out Early

Friday | 2:40 p.m. MDT

Sorry about the delay. Had to talk to the coaches after the game for my game story of the St. Thomas-Davenport game. It is posted here.

The St. John's-Dayton game has started. Dayton raced out to a 2-0 lead to start the game, but the Johnnies chipped away, tying the game at twos heading into the second quarter. The Flyers have answered with three straight, holding a 5-3 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.

After the first game, it was pretty cool watching the St. Thomas players passing the St. John's team, who were on their way out of the locker room. Even though they are bitter rivals, the Tommies were all wishing the Johnny players luck, giving words of motivation and giving high fives. The coaches did the same.

Evidently Minnesota teams root for each other as long as they aren't on the other half of the sideline.

Friday | 12:25 p.m. MDT

It took them about 20 minutes to figure everything out, but St. Thomas is starting to roll a little bit. The Tommies rebounded to take an 8-6 lead late in the half, although they did give one back late on a terrible clearing attempt, settling for an 8-7 at halftime.

They opened the second half with goals by Tony Sadder and Jason King to push the lead to 10-7 with 11:30 remaining.

I was asked to talk at halftime of the webcast they are producing for Collegelax.us. They've got a nice little operation here even though they are operating on a shoestring budget. Shows the dedication of the MCLA types because they aren't getting paid much (if at all).

Davenport Off to Quick Start

Friday | 11:18 p.m. MDT

Davenport is off to a hot start, in particular Shawn Beer, who had a pair of goals within 10 seconds of each other to build a 2-0 lead. St. Thomas couldn't keep any possession, even after Beer gave them a minute EMO with consecutive technical fouls. Off the penalty release, Jordan Richtsmeier made the lead 3-0 off a feed from Beer.

Midway through the first quarter and it's Beer time.

Closing In On Game Time

Friday | 10:45 p.m. MDT

Davenport and St. Thomas are out on the fields warming up for the start of today's semifinal action. I spoke with both coaches briefly before the game. Pete Moosbrugger, head coach of No. 2 St. Thomas, and he had his game face on. Bob Clarkson, No. 3 Davenport's head man, was much more laid back as he took it all in.

The conventional wisdom among the media members and staff is St. Thomas is prohibitive favorites, but you never know.

St. Thomas, located in St. Paul, Minn., only has one loss this season - to its archrival St. John's - but they made up for that by beating the Johnnies in the UMLL championship game. (St. John's plays Dayton in the other D-II semifinal at 2 p.m. MDT). The Tommies have several transfers from NCAA schools, including UMBC, Providence and Goucher. I wrote a story on them earlier this season.

Davenport is located in Grand Rapids, Mich. I've heard rumblings that Davenport has toyed with the idea of going varsity at some point (they are certainly well taken care of by the athletic department for a club program). They also have a women's program that plays in the WDIA. Davenport has two losses to D-II programs on the season - both to league rival and No. 1 Dayton.

Almost game time.

Semifinal Friday is Here

Friday | 7:52 a.m. MDT

The semifinals kick off later this morning at 11 a.m. MDT when Davenport and St. Thomas square off in the first of two Division II semifinals. I'll check in when I arrive at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and get set up in the press box. Until then, here are a couple of YouTube clips to pass the time.

This is a mini-documentary on the state of Alabama lacrosse. A member of the SELC Division II, the Crimson Tide have had their ups and downs in the last couple of years and this describes how they've been doing it. I thought it was well done:

I'm guessing this clip will leave you as speechless as I was the first time I watched it. Just before he left last night for his team awards dinner, Chapman head coach Mike Wood told me to punch in Connor Martin and Schweppes into YouTube and see what came out. This is what it gave me. 

Martin is not only a starting attackman on the Panthers team and a player of the year candidate, but evidently also has a goal to make ginger ale commercials for Schweppes.

Who knew Chapman could reach the semifinals and produce student-athletes who can rap about a niche drink with a faux English accent?

Can't Beat a Good Happy Hour

Thursday | 8:56 p.m. MDT

After the consolation games ended on Thursday, I wasn't sure if I was going to get to chat with any coaches, but I should have known better. The Embassy Suites in Commerce City runs a free "Happy Hour" from 5:30-7:30 p.m., which brought out every coach, parent and fan within a two-mile radius.

And, of course, me.

(For all the kids out there, ask your dad what Happy Hour is.)

Just before the HH officially began, I was able to sit down with Tony Scazzero, the Texas A&M head coach and the new president of the MCLA, and Doug Carl, another member of the Executive Board and the former head coach of Sonoma State. Once first call was announced, our table picked up a third member of the five-member EB - Ken Lovic, the head coach at Georgia Tech.

I'm kind of an annoyance to MCLA types because I'm always working them for information. It's not inside info (although there is some of that), but mostly me trying to gain a better idea of how the MCLA operates both formally and informally.

As a good Irish Catholic, I hold Happy Hour confessions to be privileged, but one of the things we all agreed on was the parity among the MCLA teams this year is no coincidence. The increased level of competition among the club teams is a direct reflection of both lacrosse's growth and the relatively static nature of NCAA expansion.

This posit assumes that good players want to play in the NCAA if given the opportunity - an assumption I know to be false and one that riles many MCLA types - but the point still stands. Using a trickle down theory of sorts (not the one you're thinking of), it becomes clear. There is not enough room at the scholarship level for the quality players that all regions of the country are producing now, so the talent is dispersed among the non-scholarship programs - whether they be varsity or not.

The guys I was talking with wouldn't say it, but I will: the MCLA is closing in on NCAA Division III in terms of attractiveness for lacrosse student-athletes. Would you rather go to Colby, my alma mater, in Waterville, Maine, and play great lacrosse or go to UC-Santa Barbara and do the same? It boils down to academic opportunities (as all college choices should), but if the competition level is even, it opens up a whole new world.

Our de facto round table touched on other subjects, such as the saturation of the camp circuit in areas you wouldn't think would draw much interest, officiating (Carl is a high school official), and the satisfaction of having former players join the coaching ranks.

After the three Executive Board members departed for a dinner meeting, I managed to have a sit-down with Chapman head coach Mike Wood.

This is a fascinating year for the Panthers. The team has been decimated by injuries, most notably to Lacrosse Magazine's Preseason Player of the Year Mike Clayton. Clayton suffered a high ankle sprain, missing seven weeks of the season and, upon returning, he tore the hamstring on his opposite leg. In a testament to his talent, Clayton still plays, albeit as just an EMO specialist, and sometimes even draws a pole. Last night, the first time he limped on the field he ripped a 15-yard bomb.

Yet Chapman has weathered the storm, winning the SLC and pulling off a pair of one-goal wins over No. 14 Colorado State and No. 6 Simon Fraser. Now they will play in the national semifinals against BYU - a team that defeated the Panthers earlier this season in Provo.

It's fun talking to Wood because he's not a "woe is me" guy. He takes what he gets dealt - in this case, the loss of seven players for the season and others for parts of it - and is always excited about what he has left. He becomes visibly juiced when talking about Derek Mills, who will be named the team MVP later this evening at the Chapman team banquet, and the other guys who didn't get much pub at the beginning of the year but showed up and played hard every game.

Can Chapman beat BYU and return to the national championship game? Wood is very complimentary of the Cougars, but feels he has pinpointed a couple of weaknesses that he'll try to exploit on Saturday night.

It's fun stuff here on the eve of the second biggest day on the MCLA calendar. But what would you expect during a Happy Hour?

Thursday's Pretty Much A Wrap

Thursday | 3:45 p.m. MDT

The consolation games are over without much fanfare. The games were played with varying degrees of intensity, which is understandable, especially considering it was getting warm at the end.

Because each team was only guaranteed two games, the squads that made it to last night's quarterfinals were not playing in the consolations. I'm mildly disappointed, because I was hoping to see Simon Fraser and Florida State play, but alas, no luck. That would have been three games in three days, which is probably not good from a safety standpoint.

I stopped by to see Dan Morris, the tournament director, and he was gracious enough to bring me over to the main stadium at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Michigan was doing their brief walk-through at the time and I was impressed with the condition of the articial turf.

Then I went down onto the field when I was walking over to get my credentials and realized that it was natural grass. Wow. It's an impressive surface, akin to a golfing green. It made me cringe when I thought about six lacrosse games in two days and what it was going to do to the crease area.

The money to offset the costs of resodding the creases will no doubt be taken out of the usage fee that the MCLA is paying, and that Morris confirmed is sizeable.

The PR staff is crossing their fingers and hoping the Denver-Dallas NBA series finishes up soon as to not draw away any potential fan base. The MCLA did get a bit of bad news when it was announced that the MLL's Denver Outlaws will be playing their home opener on Saturday evening at the same time as the MCLA Division I Championship game.

There is a rumor circulating among the MCLA staff that the Outlaws PR staff sent an email to the MCLA coaches encouraging them to attend the Outlaws games instead of the MCLA finals. It's still an unconfirmed rumor, but if it's true, that's some pretty weak cheese out of the Bandits.

Before I forget, here's tomorrow's schedule:

Friday, May 15 (MDT)
11 a.m. - Division II Semifinal - #3 Davenport vs. #2 St. Thomas
2 p.m. - Division II Semifinal - #4 St. John's vs. #1 Dayton
5 p.m. - Division I Semifinal - #3 Chapman vs. #2 BYU
8 p.m. - Division I Semifinal - #5 Colorado vs. #1 Michigan

The Chapman team is staying at the same hotel, so I'm going to try and track down some people for a feature story later this evening.

Off to a Fantastic Start

Thursday | 12:45 p.m. MDT

We're off to a hot start.

I'm waiting to get on my flight to Denver and I'm in boarding group "4," the final entrants, and as usual I try to be the last person on the plane. It's not that I'm agoraphobic (yet), it's just that I don't like people all that much. No offense.

So as I'm standing at the back of the queue, a pretty United rep walks up to me and asks, "Are you flying to Denver?"

Yes, M'am.

"Are you flying alone?"

Yes, M'am.

"Would you like to fly first class?"

Yes, M'am.

Evidently, they need to fill up first class on each flight, and I was the lucky stiff who got the last remaining seat. Beautiful. Two Cape Codders later and I actually catch about 15 minutes of sleep - something that has never happened on a plane before - and wake up at the gate in the Mile High City.

I've since found my way to the hotel and I'm about to head out to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to catch a little consolation action and hopefully chat up some coaches.

The big action doesn't start until tomorrow. It will start at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. (MDT) with the D-II semifinals and follow at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. with the D-I semis. I'll post game stories after each contest, but the second D-I game recap will likely be posted after midnight East Coast time. I'm sure you'll stay up for it.

I'll check back in after I scout the fields. While I have access, I'm not going to waste time setting up there today. I will have a live blog during the game tomorrow with features and interviews.