There is no denying that MCLA lacrosse doesn’t receive the amount of coverage that it deserves. In effort to fix this issue, Lacrosse All Stars has partnered up with the Varsity Club Lacrosse team to cover everything MCLA this season.
This coverage will include game recaps, program interviews, and of course gear reviews.
To kick off MCLA coverage for the 2022 season, Andrew Golden gives a full recap of every MCLA game from last weekend.
Tuesday February 2nd
NC State: 13
UNC: 3
NC State received 22 votes to be ranked in the MCLA preseason poll, the 9th most amongst unranked teams. 2021 1st Team All-ALC attackman Brad Thompson had 2 goals and 7 assists.
Friday February 4th
#22 Minnesota: 6
#1 (DII) St. Thomas: 2
Minnesota beats their in-state rival for a second year in a row as they look to move up in the polls. St. Thomas is the clear #1 in the Division II poll and looks to repeat as DII National Champions.
#21 Florida: 12
LSU: 2
Florida’s scoring was led by three freshman attackmen Ethan Heim (3G, 1A), Will Halligan (2G), and midfielder Colin Russel (2G). The Gators won last year’s matchup against LSU 6-0. This was the first game for LSU’s new head coach, Reece Townsley.
The Tigers are the defending LSA Champs and received 9 votes to be ranked in the preseason poll this year.
Georgia: 24
Central Florida: 3
Georgia had thirteen different goal scorers led by Austin Darnell (2G, 3A) and Riordan Shina (4G, 1A) in their dominant win. LSM’s Matt Lozito (6GB, 1A), Aidan McKenna (5GB, 1G), and goalies Reed McCall, Sam Wilson, and Sean Snarey held down the defense.
UGA received 46 votes in the preseason poll, the 4th most of the unranked teams. This was UCF’s first game since March 8th 2020 due to COVID.
South Florida: 24
Florida Poly: 0
The Bulls had fifteen different goal scorers with hat tricks by Harrison Lipson and Zachary Hart. They also dominated faceoffs, going 19-5 with five different players taking reps. Their defense only allowed 2 shots on net which were both saved by goalie Christoper Lopetegui. This was Florida Poly’s first game ever and they look to bounce back when they start playing DII teams.
UNC Wilmington: 14
UNC: 12
This is Wilmington’s first season in the ALC DII and their first season with a full schedule of MCLA games. They are led by former Wingate (NCAA DII) standout, Marc James.
Denver: 9
MSU Denver: 8
Denver is currently not in the MCLA, but will make the transition for next season.
Saturday February 5th
#6 Cal Poly: 12
#19 USC: 10
Cal Poly was #1 in the final poll of 2020 and are still a top team in the MCLA after not playing having played since 2020. Taylor Keller (5G) and Luke Mikolajewski (1G, 3A) led the scoring.
2020 was possibly USC’s best season to date, they finished 8-1 and were #12 in the polls and it looks like they’ll be just as good.
#1 Reinhardt (NAIA): 13
#2 Georgia Tech: 10
Reinhardt is the defending NAIA National Champs and is the favorite to repeat again this year. Georgia Tech starts their MCLA schedule next week against Boston College at home.
#5 California: 16
UC Santa Barbara: 14
Always a great game between two of the historically best teams in California and in the MCLA. UCSB surprisingly only received 5 votes to be ranked in the preseason poll, but that should change this week.
#16 (DII) Florida Atlantic: 18
#22 (DII) North Florida: 3
FAU started 2020 7-0 and finished #18 in the last poll in Stravros Neocleous’ first season as head coach. So far, they look have continued that success into this year.
Brandon Huff went 17-2 on faceoffs along with 18 GBs and an assist. The Owls had three 7+ point scorers at attack in Ryan Thomas (5G, 2A), Kyle Romano (4G, 3A), and Drake Summers (3G, 5A).
North Florida, the defending SELC DII Champs, are now led by long-time assistant Stan Williams. Will Stanely led the Ospreys in scoring with a goal and an assist.
UNC Charlotte: 11
West Virginia: 9
Huge win for DII Charlotte over DI West Virginia, first win as head coach for Nick Nedvesky who has done a lot to revitalize the program. Veteran All-Conference attackman Nick Ferens led the scoring with 5 goals and 2 assists. Liam Patterson went 13-4 for faceoffs with 7 GBs
#22 Minnesota: 16
#4 (DII) Minnesota Duluth: 13
The Gopher’s went 2-0 against in-state rivals on the weekend. UMD looks to bounce back in two weeks with big MCLA matchups against Montana and Montana State.
#13 Florida State: 12
Auburn: 8
Seven different players scored for FSU led by freshman Andrew Zeman (3G, 3A). Freshman goalie Sayre McMahon (17S, 0.68SV%) and Jonas Clingerman (5GB) held down the defense while Vinny Mercadante went 11-10 from the faceoff x. Auburn received 20 votes to be ranked in the preseason poll and look to win next week against Clemson.
#9 Clemson: 19
West Virginia: 11
Clemson looks to continue their success from the 2021 season. West Virginia had 8 different point scorers led by Will Stone (3G, 2A).
#17 Arizona: 19
UCLA: 5
5th year Wildcat attackman, Peyton Boyd, led the scoring with 3 goals and 12 assists, followed by Mason DePaola with 8 goals. Defense was held down by Thomas Atella (13S, 0.72SV%) and Connor Willihnganz (9GB, 1G). Rhett Farmer had 2 goals and 2 assists for the Bruins.
Oregon State: 16
#7 (DII) Montana: 5
Oregon State only received 4 votes to be ranked in the preseason poll, but proved a lot of people wrong with this win over a solid DII team in Montana. Freshman Gavin Yeoumans (2G) led the Grizzlies in scoring and defenseman Carson Burrill has 5 goals.
Sonoma State: 15
#14 (DII) UC Davis: 11
UC Davis freshman LSM Thomas Neil had 5 goals and 3 GBs and also had 6 GBs against Cal last week. Definitely a player to keep an eye on this MCLA season. Goalie Mason Johnstone also had 19 saves.
Point Loma: 15
Biola: 3
First MCLA game ever for Point Loma, a pretty huge win for them against a well established Biola team.
Texas A&M: 18
Texas State: 10
Aggie’s stats leaders were LSM Braden Montgomery (7GB), freshman attack Connor Legg (3G, 2A), and midfielder Eli Engelhardt (4G). Both teams should be contenders in the highly competitive LSA.
#18 Santa Clara: 17
Nevada: 8
Carson Lombardi (3G, 2A), Aidan Oates (4G, 1A), and LSM Mark Ellersick (6GB) led the Broncos.
UC Irvine: 13
Cal State Fullerton: 12
Fullerton’s first game since 2018 when they were SLC DII Champs, Irvine’s first game since 2020 due to COVID.
Fullerton was led by goalie Kelly Petro (20S, 0.625SV%), midfielder Preston Jaurequi (6G), and defenseman Collin Shirvan (10GB). Irvine was led by FO Ghassan Maloof (12-4, 9GB) and attackman Taylor Fialkowski (7G, 1A).
Air Force: 16
Adams State (NCAA DII): 8
First game for an MCLA team against a varsity program. Pretty good game for Air Force considering Adams State is NCAA DII.
#21 Florida: 19
Tulane: 2
Florida handled DII Tulane pretty well with sixteen different point scorers. Kyle Johnson (4G), Ian Dexter (2G, 2A), and Michael Fox (2G, 4A) led the way.
#15 Utah Valley: 10
Utah: 7
First game ever for Utah, great effort against an always solid UVU team.
UNC Wilmington: 18
Western Carolina: 0
Wilmington is a DII team to keep an eye on this season.
South Florida: 11
Southern Georgia: 7
USF goes 2-0 on the weekend led by Kenneth Klubnik (5G, 1A) and Collin Fedrickson (3G) this game. Georgia Southern puts up a solid effort against a DI with six different point scorers and 16 saves from goalie Ben Demchak.
Coastal Carolina: 15
Appalachian State: 7
Big rivalry game, and also both teams’ first year in the ALC DII after leaving the SELC DII. Both teams should be top competitors in the conference.
LSU: 12
#7 (DII) Missouri State: 10
Defending LSA DII Champs against defending LSA DI Champs. Former LSU attackman Reece Townsley’s first win as new head coach.
MSU Denver: 18
Kansas State: 6
MSU Denver just missed being in the rankings for the preseason poll. Neither team has played since 2020.
UCLA: 13
#10 (DII) Northern Arizona: 6
Northern Arizona’s first home loss since 2017. The 2019 SLC DII Champs were led by Ben Bradenburger (2G) and Maguire Dinnan (2G, 2A). Bruins had seven different point scorers behind Rhett Farmer (3G, 3A), Hayden Lechner (2G, 2A), and Dan Matthews 91G, 2A).
SMU: 11
Texas Tech: 3
SMU had nine different point scorers. Look for them to be at the top of the LSA this year.
#7 Montana: 18
Western Oregon: 12
Montana, led by Eric Frazer (4G, 3A), Brody Stevens (3G, 3A), and Gavin Yeoumans (1G, 3A), also dominated the ground ball game. Western Oregon put up a solid fight against an always competitive Montana team.
#7 (DII) Missouri State: 13
Tulane: 6
Solid win over a conference opponent for Missouri State
Georgia: 20
Vanderbilt: 7
Fourteen different point scorers for UGA Riley Walker (5G, 1A) and Riordan Shina (4G, 1A) leading the way. Georgia is looking like a top contender in the SELC.
Georgia Southern: 25
Florida Poly: 0
Eighteen goal scorers for Southern, including 2 poles. Florida Poly is still in their first MCLA season.
Stanford: 14
Nevada: 9
Stanford was led by veterans Brian Hanley, Michael Maffezzoli, and Reed Findlay with 4 goals each.
#22 Colorado State: 20
Wyoming: 6
DII Wyoming put up a solid fight against the always good Colorado State
TCU: 8
Texas Tech: 2
TCU looks to be one of the top teams in the LSA after losing in the conference championship last year.
NC State: 24
Wake Forest: 7
NC State goes 2-0 on the weekend and is looking like a very dangerous team in the MCLA.
Washington: 23
Western Washington: 4
Washington received 30 votes to be ranked in the preseason poll.
Loyola Marymount: 7
Santa Barbara CC: 6
First game for SBCC, first community college to play in the MCLA
