MCLA Day 1: Weather Forces Sked Shuffle
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
|
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – After two games were postponed on
Tuesday evening due to freezing rain and lightning, the Men’s
College Lacrosse Association (MCLA) has announced that it will be
altering the schedule for the next two days.
The Colorado-Oregon and BYU-Michigan State game, originally
scheduled for Tuesday evening, will be played on Wednesday morning
at 10 a.m. MDT (noon EDT), and followed by the four Division II
quarterfinals at 12:30 and 3 p.m.
The Division I quarterfinals have been bumped to Thursday, with two
games at 4 p.m. MDT and two at 7 p.m. (schedule below).
Thursday is normally designated as an off day for the semifinalist
and a consolation round for those teams eliminated in the opening
round.
It is unknown whether the consolation games will still take place
on Thursday or have been canceled.
The semifinals in both divisions are still slated for Friday.
MCLA Tournament - Wednesday, May 12
D-I First Round: No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 11 Colorado, 10
a.m.
D-I First Round: No. 8 Brigham Young vs. No. 9 Michigan State, 10
a.m.
D-II Quarterfinal: No. 4 Grand Valley State vs. No. 5 Davenport,
12:30 p.m.
D-II Quarterfinal: No. 3 Utah Valley vs. No. 6 St. John's, 12:30
p.m.
D-II Quarterfinal: No. 2 Dayton vs. No. 10 Westminster, 3 p.m.
D-II Quarterfinal: No. 1 St. Thomas vs. No. 9 Grove City, 3p.m.
MCLA Tournament - Thursday, May 13
D-I Quarterfinal: No. 4 Chapman vs. No. 5
Minnesota-Duluth, 4 p.m.
D-I Quarterfinal: No. 3 Arizona State vs. Oregon/Colorado winner, 4
p.m.
D-I Quarterfinal: No. 2 Colorado State vs. No. 10 Simon Fraser, 7
p.m.
D-I Quarterfinal: No. 1 Michigan vs. BYU/Michigan State winner, 7
p.m.
****
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Just when it looked like the
Men’s Collegiate Athletic Association (MCLA) would be able to
finish the first day of action, Mother Nature decided to throw the
league a curveball. Freezing rain and lightning forced the
association to delay, and then postpone, two of its late
games.
The highly anticipated match-up between Colorado and Oregon, as
well as the BYU-Michigan State contest, were initially pushed back
to 9 p.m. MDT before being postponed for the evening. Times have
not been announced, but the logical assumption is the contests will
be played on Wednesday morning.
How those delays will impact the structure of the tournament is
unclear at this point.
The weather did not impact the first round of the Division II
portion of the tournament.
The CCLA-II was the only conference in either division to garner
four bids to Denver, and the league did not make the committee look
bad. No. 2 Dayton, No. 4 Grand Valley State, No. 5 Davenport and
even No. 9 Grove City all managed to advance to the quarterfinal
stage, which will commence tomorrow at Dick’s Sporting Goods
Park.
Dayton breezed past No. 15 Missouri State, 14-3, while GVSU coasted
by No. 13 Cal State Fullerton, 15-4. Davenport defeated No. 12
Western Washington and Grove City upset No. 8 Western Oregon by the
matching scores of 11-8.
In other Division II first round action, defending champion St.
Thomas smoked No. 16 Sam Houston State, 22-3, while fellow UMLL
rival St. John’s stifled SCAD, 7-4. No. 10 Westminster pulled
the only upset in D-II by downing No. 7 Elon, 11-7, but Briarcliffe
came very close to adding another one. The Seahawks led much of the
game but a second half rally by No. 3 Utah Valley gave the
Wolverines the narrow, 10-9 triumph.
The senior circuit managed to get in six of its eight games before
the weather caused problems.
Top-ranked Michigan blasted No. 16 Texas State, 19-3, and No. 3
Chapman cruised past Illinois, 18-7. No. 2 Colorado State had its
hands full with Boston College, but the Rams managed to pull out a
10-7 triumph. After falling behind early to Cal Poly, No. 3 Arizona
State rallied for a 10-5 victory while No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth eased
past No. 12 Florida, 13-6.
The only upset in the Division I ranks so far was No. 10 Simon
Fraser surging past No. 7 Florida State in the second half for a
9-6 win, giving the Clan a date with Colorado State in the
quarterfinals.
Games are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow, but there is a
possibility the entire schedule will be pushed up in light of
Tuesday’s postponements.
