On the strength of a big first quarter, St. Thomas held off Dayton, 9-7, to win the Division II title game at the 2019 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour held at the Salt Lake City Regional Athletic Complex on Saturday.
The championship is No. 6 for St. Thomas, tying them with Colorado State for most titles in MCLA history.
After 10 minutes of scoreless end-to-end action, the Tommies (11-4) broke through with a Nick Bunde goal off a dish from Jack Stanchfield. The lead expanded to 3-0 by the end of the first quarter as Bunde struck for his second.
The lead ballooned to 5-0 with 12:03 left in the second frame when Stanchfield set up Bunde for his hat trick. Riley Baumgartner pushed the lead to 6-0 with less than three minutes to play.
Sam White staunched the bleeding for Dayton (12-4), send the Flyers into the halftime break down 6-1. White’s goal was the first of three straight that cut the St. Thomas lead to 7-3 after three quarters.
Stanchfield pushed the lead back to 8-3 to open the fourth quarter, but a goal by Ryan Lamoree and two more by White trimmed the margin to 8-6 with just under four minutes to play.
The two teams would trade goals in the final minutes before St. Thomas burned off the clock for the championship.
Stanchfield finished with two goals and three assists and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the championship game. Drew Bouman made nine saves for the win.
White’s five goals led both teams. Mitch Nietupski finished with 10 saves.
Rewatch the 2019 MCLA National Championship for Division II on the Lacrosse All Stars website here.
