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Massive Championship Weekend Super Post

It’s Championship Weekend for NCAA men’s and women’s lacrosse. That means there is more lacrosse “stuff” to look at for only about ELEVEN real college games spread over three divisions and two genders. Here is all the stuff truly worth checking out. Did I miss some stuff? Sure did. It’s impossible not… but this is a lot of it. WEST SIDE MASSIVE!

Who’s Playing?

Hopefully you know this by now, but here are the match ups for this superb weekend of NCAA lacrosse! I have also included links to useful resources or stories for each game.

FRIDAY – NCAA D1 Women’s SemifinalMaryland (21-0) vs. Syracuse (19-5)
FRIDAY – NCAA D1 Women’s SemifinalPenn State (14-6) vs. UNC (18-2)
SATURDAY – NCAA D3 Women’s SemifinalCortland (21-0) vs. Middlebury (20-1)
SATURDAY – NCAA D3 Women’s SemifinalTrinity (21-0) vs. F&M (20-1)
SATURDAY – NCAA D1 Men’s Semifinal #1Maryland (16-2) vs. Brown (16-2)
SATURDAY – NCAA D1 Men’s Semifinal #2UNC (10-6) vs. Loyola (14-3)
SUNDAY – NCAA D1 Women’s Final – Teams TBD
SUNDAY – NCAA D3 Women’s Final – Teams TBD
SUNDAY – NCAA D2 Men’s FinalLimestone (21-0) vs. Le Moyne (19-0) – WATCH HERE!
SUNDAY – NCAA D3 Men’s FinalTufts (20-2) vs. Salisbury (22-1)  – WATCH HERE!
MONDAY – NCAA D1 Men’s Final – Teams TBD

USILA North – South Games

FRIDAY – USILA North – South D3 Game 3pm
FRIDAY – USILA North – South D1/D2 Game 530pm

Both games will be played at Cabrini, and both will be Webcast LIVE, HERE.

Fun Quarterfinal Photo

Sure, Towson lost, but how perfect is this tilt and flow?

tilt flow towson lacrosse
Photo Credit: Craig Chase

Quickie Previews – Men’s NCAA Games

NCAA D1 Semi #1 – Maryland vs. Brown – With Dylan Molloy, I’d like Brown to roll here and win by a couple goals over a VERY good Maryland team, but Molloy is out, Maryland still has Rambo, and I’m starting to think the Terps have as good a chance as anyone here. Great goalies? Check. Great face off guys? Check. Great defenses? Different, but yes. Athletic scorers? Absolutely. This game is going to be epic, and the biggest edge I can find is Maryland’s ability to dictate a fast OR slow game. Brown is more one speed (fast), so I’ll give the Terps the edge here, with some hesitation.

NCAA D1 Semi #2 – Loyola vs. UNC – UNC is surging at the right time (all four teams kind of have to be, obviously, but UNC looks great) and when they lock and load up, they’re as dangerous as anyone. Loyola is no slouch either, and while UNC looks like the 2016 hotness, Loyola has been very consistent over their last 5 games, and has won their last 10. UNC could conceivably roll in this game, but I’ll take Loyola in a squeaker. That’s a close game! Pat Spencer could be the difference maker for the Hounds, as he scores goals one shouldn’t score with uncanny ability. Give me 3 ridiculous Pat Spencer goals and Loyola wins.

championship weekend may_madness_lacrosse_pat_spencer_loyola
Photo Credit: Craig Chase

NCAA D2 Final – Limestone vs. Le Moyne – Come on, guys. Give someone else a shot! Actually, don’t. Just keep dominating and making championship games appearances. These are the best two programs in D2 right now, the most consistent over the past 10 years, and two absolutely amazing groups of athletes. Neither team has lost a game, they’ve combined for 40 total wins, and while Limestone can hang 20 goals on a Top 10 team, Le Moyne does NOT give up more than 9 goals. In fact, only one team has scored 9 goals (Lake Erie), and one team 8 (Rockhurst). Both were in Le Moyne’s first four games of the season. Since then, the most goals they’ve given up is 7, and done so twice. That is nothing short of defensive domination.

So here’s the question, can Limestone score more than 10 goals on Le Moyne? If they can, I like Limestone to win. SO… can they? Yes. I think so. Limestone 12, Le Moyne 9.

NCAA D3 Final – Tufts vs. Salisbury – We’ve seen this match up before and it’s only bad if you like boredom. I hate boredom, so I love this match up. Tufts is going to score. It’s what they do, consistently. Since Salisbury has a good defense, the question here becomes two-fold. How low can SU hold Tufts? And how many goals can SU score? SU tends to hold top level opponents to between 8 and 14 goals, but Tufts is not your average offense. I don’t think the Jumbos will cruise to a 20+ goal game like they did against St. Lawrence, but I do see them putting up 13-16 goals in this game, even with SU’s vaunted defense.

So can Salisbury scored 14-17 goals, and beat Tufts at their own game? If Tufts doesn’t give up 10-13 goals in this game, I’ll be shocked. That being said, I’d also be shocked if they gave up more than 15 goals. All of this adds up to SU needing to hold Tufts to under 15 goals, and score 15 themselves, and that’s a tall order. It’s possible, but Tufts is my predicted winner, by 3 goals.

The Courage Game – Part TWO!

The Courage Game is back for year two and it’s going to be bigger and better than ever!

The Second Annual Courage Game will be held over the NCAA Championship Weekend and returning to Philadelphia at Penn Park! Check it out!

Date: May 29th

Game Times: Between 8am-3pm (Game Schedule TBD)

Where: Penn Park, 3000 Walnut Street, Philadelphia PA

‘The 1990 Lost Trophy Collection’

Streaker Sports recently released some throwback gear that is out of this world. Sure, Cuse is out this year, but they are a Final Four program of legend. I was curious why Streaker did what they did though, and they filled me in on their process:

We chose this team because A.) it’s widely considered the BEST of the best Cuse teams and maybe the best college lacrosse team of all time and B.) the story with the ’90 team, Roy Simmons and The Lost Trophy is such a good story and stuff of absolute legend, especially around central NY. If you haven’t watched that full documentary I highly recommend it.

We wanted to pay homage to this team and the legend of the lost trophy will this small collection. Unfortunately all that we know about this “Bo Don’t Know Lacrosse” tee is that the Gait brothers were photographed wearing them around the Cuse campus in 1990 and we can assume that they had them made (or someone made them for them). It seems like it was done because of the lack of respect for lacrosse from Nike with the ‘Bo Knows’ campaigns. Maybe along with Lax All-Stars we can reach out to Paul/Gary and see if they can give us the full story???

The hat is a recreation of the 1990 Championship hats with Syracuse‘s old colors (royal, bright orange as opposed to dark navy and orange) and old font  We have a special relationship with Bob Conge where he has allowed us to access these old prints. For now, we are only selling the Baggatway poster but will probably periodically add the other ones in the future.

Awesome Championship Weekend Videos

More Final Four/Championship Weekend Previews

Maryland men, women each reach Final Four in NCAA lacrosse

College men’s lacrosse: Maryland uses familiar formula to get back

Florida Southern upends Adelphi for DII women’s lacrosse national

Penn State women’s lacrosse tops Penn, advances to Final Four

Men’s college lacrosse: What to watch for at national semifinals in Philadelphia

THE COLLEGE CROSSE PROSPECTUS FOR MAY 26, 2016.

Quint: Up Next, Philadelphia

Ok, set your DVRs, buy tickets, get to it. It’s one final hurrah for NCAA Lacrosse in 2016.