May 18, 2008
by Mark Medina, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Notre Dame lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan felt well aware of the talent the Great Western Lacrosse League brought to the college lacrosse landscape. Problem was, those teams didn't prove it at the beginning of the season.
"I knew how good this conference was," Corrigan said. "I know the teams and I were disappointed in us as a group."
Denver lost three of its first four games and Ohio State lost two of its first three. Notre Dame won its first four but the Fighting Irish fell to North Carolina, prompting Corrigan to wonder if his team could compete with ACC opponents.
By the end, however, three GWLL teams made the NCAA tournament. Ohio State and Notre Dame to the quarterfinals here at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field. Despite the progress, both programs fell short in those games. No. 1 Duke manhandled Ohio State, 21-10, while No. 3 Syracuse prevailed, 11-9.
The final four, which takes place next Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., features Syracuse, Virginia and Johns Hopkins --- three teams that have combined with Princeton to win every national championship since 1992. Duke is the remaining team, a squad that holds the nation's best offense and has beaten teams by almost eight goals a game.
"The days of five or six teams being separated from the rest of the group might be over," Corrigan said. "But it's still not to the point of anybody new jumping into the championship picture anytime soon. Except for Duke."
But that shouldn't diminish the GWLL's success this year. Ohio State, Denver and Notre Dame, who shared the conference's regular-season title with 4-1 records, earned a spot. Typically, the NCAA only pays for two flights for first-round games. But it gained approval for a third flight because the RPI of both Ohio State (8) and Denver (12) was too much to overlook. Notre Dame earned the league's automatic qualifier.
It was the first time three GWLL teams made the NCAA tournament and it had the second-most representatives behind four ACC teams (Duke, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina).
"From the midpoint of the year on, I thought all three of us played very well," Corrigan said. "At the end of the day, like everybody else, I had my abacus out trying to figure out the seedings and who was going to be in the tournament. As soon as we beat those guys, I'm rooting for them."
In the first round, fans saw Denver playing competitively against Maryland before falling in the end. It saw Ohio State upset Cornell on its home field, featuring a play where Buckeyes goalie Stefan Schroder scored to open the game. ESPN's SportsCenter has replayed the goal several times. It also saw a Notre Dame team that faced adversity in both rounds, overcoming the challenges against a late-blooming Colgate but falling to a highly motivated Syracuse.
That's why Ohio State coach Joe Breschi and Buckeyes attackman Kevin Buchanan sat at the post-game press conference with a cheery demeanor, despite being the prey of Duke's offensive showcase and only leading after the opening goal of the game.
Instead, Breschi opened his press conference talking glowingly about his program's future, despite the results he saw against Duke.
"I couldn't be more proud of their effort and energy that they brought the entire season," Breschi said. "We broke new ground for our team and our program during the course of the season."
Rightfully so, the GWLL's growth has correlated with the sport's explosion in the Midwest. Despite the progress, the Northeast still dominates sports in terms of its youth participation and the traditional programs that still make it to championship weekend year in and year out.
"It's great for the game of lacrosse and not just our league," Breschi said. "Where these teams are coming from with South Bend, Denver and Ohio, it speaks volumes for the growth of the sport in general."
