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.
Following up his last MCLA article, Andrew Golden is back getting us caught up on last week’s games.
DISCLAIMER: Each team’s national ranking is based on what it was at the time the game was played and may/are not up to date with the most recent rankings released.
Monday, March 21st
#9 (DII) Montana: 11
#24 (DII) Northern Arizona: 6
Grizzlies get their 2nd ranked win of the season thanks to Eric Frazier (2G, 1A) and Miles Hess (2G, 1A). Maguire Dinnan (3G) and goalie Louis Penaflor (20S, 65%) kept the Lumberjacks in it.
#20 (DII) UNC Charlotte: 22
MSU Denver: 8
49ers put up their third straight 20 point game, behind Nick Ferens (4G, 4A) and the faceoff duo of Liam Patterson (84%, 18GB) and Mark Altman (100%, 9GB). Zack Pfannenstiel (3G, 1A) led the Roadrunners offense and Jake Downing (30S, 58%) did all he could in net.
#21 Colorado State: 14
Washington: 6
Matthew Dowden (4G, 1A) and Cole Koeberer (2G, 2A, 5GB) led CSU while all four of their goalies played well. Glen Mahony had a hat-trick for UW.
Tuesday, March 22nd
#2 Concordia Irvine: 9
UC Santa Barbara: 8
Gauchos almost come away with a huge upset in Irvine. Lucas Mendez (1G, 4A) and Isaac Baker (3G) played well for UCSB. For CUI, Tyler Schweickert (16S, 67%), Cade Poe (75FO%, 8GB), Troy Hofer (2G), and Andrew Buckley (2G) all helped secure the victory.
Wednesday, March 23rd
#9 (DII) Montana: 19
San Diego: 4
Montana with a dominating win over a solid USD team. Luke Johnson (100FO%, 11GB, 1G), Miles Hess (1G, 5A) and Peter Curran (3G, 1A, 3GB) were the stars of the day.
#11 South Carolina: 14
Cal Poly: 8
USC comes back strong after a close lose to Georgia Tech. Gunnar Wilson (2G, 3A) and Johnny Stanton (3G, 2A) led the offense while Thatcher Knox (5GB) and Alex Petrush (13S, 62%) held it down on D. Cal Poly looks to bounce back against FSU.
#18 UC San Diego: 12
#16 UC Davis: 8
Finn Reid (4G) and Alexander Franz (4G, 1A) help get the Tritons the slight upset at home. Mark Wood (3G, A), Mason Johnstone (25S, 68%), and Daniel Nolan (7GB) kept the Aggies in it.
#21 (DII) Cal State San Marcos: 16
Western Washington: 3
Jason Thibeault goes off for seven goals in the Cougars dominating win. They also had five other players with two plus points in the game to help them stay undefeated in DII.
Thursday, March 24th
#15 (DII) Utah: 18
Fort Lewis: 2
One of the first MCLA teams with a varsity program gets better every week. 15 different Utes recorded points led by Long Island native Aidan Wallace (2G, 3A). They improve to 1-0 in RMLC DII.
#21 Colorado State: 11
#16 Utah Valley: 8
Opening weekend of RMLC play, CSU takes this one behind Kale Kissell (7GB, 1G), Dylan Hauff (86FO%, 8GB), and Dylan Widdos (16S, 67%). With all but one team currently nationally ranked in the RMLC, the conference race should be very exciting.
San Diego State: 14
#25 UC Santa Barbara: 6
Big out-of-conference upset that will really help the Aztecs at-large bid resume. Brian Davito (4G, 2A) and Evan Dean (3G, 1A) led the scoring while Karl Hedberg (18S, 75%) held it down on defense. Isaac Baker (3G, 2A) played well for the Gauchos.
#1 BYU: 7
Colorado: 6
Colorado almost pulls off a huge upset, but ultimately come up short, however the Buffs should still be ranked after this game. Mason Moon (12S, 67%) and Jake Halversen (2G, 2A) played well for BYU as they look to win the RMLC.
#22 Texas: 17
Oregon State: 10
Longhorns beat a solid OSU team thanks to Christian Reno (5G) and Ari Weiss’ (3G) play on offense. Oregon State looks to bounce back against Southern Methodist for the third game of their Texas trip.
#16 UC Davis: 15
Claremont: 6
Jonathan Cirelli (3G), Mark Wood (3G), and Carter Chan (3G, 1A) lead the Aggies offense while Mason Johnstone (21S, 78%) played very well in net. Zach Majd (3G, 1A) leads the Cougars offense.
Friday, March 25th
#14 Minnesota: 16
#13 Arizona: 8
Minnesota gets the upset in their first game on their Arizona road trip, 2nd ranked DI win of the season. Kevin Kvall (5G, 2A) and Nate Graslewicz (6G, 2A) led the offense while Dmitri Roth (7GB) and Jack Courington (17S, 68%) led the defense.
#18 (DII) UC San Diego: 8
#9 (DII) Montana: 7
Tritons get their second ranked DII upset in a row with help from Austin Ortel (1G, 4A) and Gabriel Brewster. They improve to 6-1 on the year with their only loss to DI UCLA. Miles Hess (2G, 1A) and Carson Burrill (8GB) played well for Montana.
#6 (DII) Utah State: 17
#23 (DII) Northwest Nazarene: 5
Aggies get their 6th ranked DII win of the season behind Cooper Williams (6G, 2A) and Brock Arbon (4G, 1A) on offense and LSM Tycen Biggs (4GB, 1G) and goalie Zach Blamires (15S, 75%) on defense. Bryden Dodson (2G) led the Nighthawks in scoring. They look to bounce back against Montana next week.
#9 Virginia Tech: 13
Tennessee: 11
Hokies get their second ALC South win of the year, Tyler Harper (3G, 2A) led the scoring. VT plays Clemson on 4/3 in what will be a very entertaining game. UT played very well against one of the best teams in the country.
Cal Poly: 17
#23 Florida State: 5
After bouncing back and forth between ranked and unranked all year, this big win in South Carolina should secure Cal Poly a spot in the next poll. Defense was outstanding behind goalie Tom Baquerizo (17S, 77%) and Dominick Trageser (5G, 4GB), Luke Mikolajewski (3G, 1A) and Matti Toivola (3G, 1A) led the dominating offense. Vinny Mercadante (72FO%, 5GB) played well for FSU. They look to finish the season strong against Georgia Tech and Florida.
#13 (DII) Missouri State: 21
Kansas: 13
MSU gets a solid DI win thanks to Kyle Hunter (4G, 3A) and Blake Donnelly (4G, 1A) before they head into LSA DII play. Jack Troll (2G, 2A) and Will Desmond (2G, 2A) played well for Kansas as they stay tied for first with Mizzou in the LSA DI North.
#4 Liberty: 21
Alabama: 2
Liberty dominates Bama as they look to move back up in the rankings after losing a close one to Clemson two weeks ago. Will Geary (4G, 2A) and Cooper Branham (4G, 2A) lead the Liberty offense.
#24 (DII) Loyola Marymount: 9
Washington (Mo.): 6
Henry Frandsen (3G, 1A) and Hudson Abel (2G, 1A) led LMU to victory over a good Washington team. LMU has a huge game in two weeks against Claremont to decide who makes the SLC DII Tournament.
#5 Florida: 16
South Florida: 6
Gators start their SELC South play with a win. James Dugan (4G) and Michael Fox (2G, 3A) led the scoring along with nine other players who recorded points. Anthony Broderick (19S, 63%) and Ryan Kerr (1G, 3A, 7GB) played well for the Bulls.
Saturday, March 26th
Purdue: 18
Illinois: 10
Purdue’s attack line of Nick Korell (6G, 1A), Ryan Schellin (5G), and Jared Meltzner (3G, 4A) led the offense with help from midfielder Michael Gustafson (2G, 3A). Wyatt Bucki (7GB) played well on D. Josh Crosby (2G, 3A) led the Illini offense.
Colorado: 18
#16 Utah Valley: 14
Colorado gets their first RMLC win and gives UVU their second RMLC loss in this huge upset that should put Colorado in the rankings. Trevor Clark (22S, 61%), Jake McIntyre (1G, 5A), Greysen Mitchell (4G, 2A), George Kandel (4G, 1A), and Dylan Sandman (3G, 2A) all played well for the Buffs.
#5 (DII) Dayton: 11
Temple: 8
Dayton gets a win over a very good DI in Temple. Nine different Flyers recorded points led by Matt Cesario (3G). Temple looks to bounce back against ALC opponent NC State.
#15 Boston College: 8
UConn: 4
Eagles get their second CLC win behind Zach Yorio (14S, 78%) and Reed Halpert. They look to secure the No.1 seed in the CLC as they close out their season against UNH and Northeastern.
#21 (DII) Northern Arizona: 10
Claremont: 8
NAU clinches the No.1 seed in the SLC North with this win as they look to repeat as conference champs. Bryce Kelly continues to be one of the best faceoff guys in the country going 95% with 9 GB and a goal. He’s 84% with only 12 losses on the year.
Miami: 11
Central Florida: 10
Miami gets a win over a solid DI team which should get them some more votes in the DII Poll this week. Eight different Hurricanes recorded points with Russel Wagman (1G, 2A) leading the offense. Codey Liberto (4G, 2A) played well for the Knights.
#3 (DII) Kennesaw State: 14
#19 Georgia: 11
KSU with a huge win over a very good DI team in UGA to improve to 7-0. Joe Schaub (20S, 65%), Jack Guiney (5A) and Dylan Stanhope (8G) all played well for the Owls. UGA stays undefeated in SELC North and has Georgia Tech and South Carolina left to play.
#21 (DII) Cal State San Marcos: 24
Western Oregon: 3
Jason Thibeault (7G, 1A) continues to be a machine for CSUSM, Tanner Peach (4G, 3A), Alex Cunningham (4G, 2A) and Kobe Brown (5A) all played well too.
#11 South Carolina: 12
#23 Florida State: 7
USC gets their 5th ranked win over a good FSU team. Sam Weiss (3G, 1A) and Patrick Reilly (2G, 2A) led the scoring for the Gamecocks and Alex Petrush and Luke Cosentino both played well in net. Alexander Gerdak (3G, 2A) stood out for the Seminoles. FSU has at least clinched a spot in the SELC Tournament. USC still has 3 games left to play on their side of the SELC.
Dominican: 13
#6 Santa Clara: 11
Just like Purdue Football, Dominican seems to be best at upsetting high ranked teams when they’re unranked. The Penguins play their three conference games in their last three games which will all be huge. James Walker (5G, 1A) and Tommy Dell’Erario (1G) played well. Aidan Oates (2G, 3A) and John Morris (4G) played well for the Broncos who also have all three of their conference games left as their last three games.
#5 Florida: 12
#24 Auburn: 10
Florida gets a huge win to stay undefeated in the SELC South. As usual they had a balanced scoring with 10 different point scorers led by Colin Russell (2G, 2A) and James Dugan (2G, 2A). Erik Diedirchs (3G) and Jordon Celeslie (1G, 2A) led the scoring for Auburn. The Tigers finish their SELC South play 2-2 and will now have to wait for the other teams to play out their schedule to find out their standing in the conference. They still have their rivalry game against Alabama left though.
#2 Concordia Irvine: 20
#10 USC: 9
CUI continues to roll and absolute dominates a very good USC team to improve to 4-0 in the SLC and take sole possession of 1st place. Cade Poe (93FO%, 15GB) continues to show he’s the best FOGO in the country while Easton Babb (5G, 4A) and Brett Masaki (4G) show out on offense.
#14 Minnesota: 15
San Diego State: 10
Minnesota wins the second game of their Arizona road trip against one of the best unranked teams in San Diego State. Connor Stoker (5G, 1A), Will Harris (3G, 1A), and Jacob Hageman (77%, 10GB) all played well for the Gophers. This is SDSU’s third loss to a ranked team by five goals or less.
Boise State: 16
#6 (DII) Utah State: 5
Big win for Boise State over one of the best teams in DII. Ryan Henning (7G) and Jason Moreta (1G, 6A) led the offense while Ethan Sepulveda (21S, 88%) and Mitchell Crocker (6GB) held down the defense. Aggies had six different point scorers on the day. They have one more conference game against Wyoming which has huge RMLC DII playoff implications.
#17 (DII) UNC Charlotte: 23
UNC Wilmington: 9
UNCC gets their fourth 20-point game in a row and win their first ALC DII game. 13 different 49ers recorded points with Nick Ferens (6G, 4A) and Declan McHugh (4G, 3A) leading the scoring. Their last four games are all ALC DII opponents. Ryan Mannarino (3G, 1A) played well for UNCW.
#1 BYU: 16
#21 Colorado State: 12
BYU gets their 2nd RMLC win with two more RMLC games remaining. Jack Halversen (5G, 3A) and Alton Taylor (2G, 3A) were the stars one offense while Kelby Sosa (6GB) led the defense. Nick Chastain and Cole Koeberer had a hattrick each for the Rams. They’re 1-2 in the RMLC making their last game against Colorado extremely important.
#25 (DII) Bridgewater State: 10
Maine: 9
BSU gets their second CLC DII win behind seven different point scorers including four with at least two points. James McDonagh (71FO%, 8GB) controlled the faceoffs. Maine plays very well against a very good team in their first year back in the MCLA.
#12 (DII) Florida Atlantic: 18
Elon: 9
Brandon Huff (83FO%, 18GB), Kyle Romano (4G, 6A), and Drake Summers (8G) are the stars for the Boca Boys as usual. Nicholas Meola (23S, 72%) was outstanding in net as well. With a win over FGCU next week FAU clinches the No.1 seed in the SELC DII South. CJ Kovalsky (4G) played well for Elon.
#22 Texas: 16
Texas A&M: 8
Texas gets a big in-state rival win over Texas A&M. They are 1-0 in the RMLC and look to close out the season well against Colorado, Utah Valley, and BYU in the span of six days starting 4/10. Texas A&M has already clinched the No.1 seed in the LSA South and also finished the season against BYU, UVU, and Colorado before the LSA Tournament.
#15 (DII) Utah: 12
#7 (DII) Montana State: 10
Utah gets a huge win over MSU and now only needs to beat Wyoming to get the No.1 seed in the RMLC DII Northwest. Billy Diffley (4G) and Matt Bess (3G) played well for MSU. They finished 2-1 in the conference and will now wait to see their final standing.
Sunday, March 27th
Purdue: 20
Butler: 1
Jared Meltzner (4G, 3A) and Nick Korell (3G, 3A) led the scoring. Vinny Haight, Cody Hart, Bill Russell, and Robert Shank all get their first goal. Braden Aguiar (70FO%, 5GB), Jack Mattson (80FO%, 2GB), and Ryan Albano (100FO%, 2GB) were great at the X. Daniel Plue (100%, 6S) now has the most saves in the country without letting up a goal. Andrew Golden had two tough GBs through traffic after completely whiffing on multiple to start the game (poor field conditions). Aaron Neiger (1G) had the lone goal for Butler.
#12 (DII) Florida Atlantic: 12
Appalachian State: 7
Brandon Huff (90FO%, 16GB) and Kyle Romano (6G, 3A) lead the Owls over a pretty good App State team. Romano leads DII in scoring with 60 points. FAU has a huge game against FGCU next week with SELC DII playoff implications on the line.
#14 Minnesota: 16
#12 Arizona State: 11
Minnesota goes down to Arizona and comes out 3-0 against three very good teams. They finish their UMLC West schedule next week against Illinois State and Nebraska and look to repeat as conference champs. Derek Walaitis (4G) played well for ASU.
James Madison: 14
NC State: 10
Two of the best ranked teams faced off in a close one. RJ Feerick (2G, 4A), Joseph Christiano (3G) and Brian Sweet (3G) led the Dukes scoring while the Brad Thompson, the nation’s leading scorer, had 4G and 2A. Both teams look to finish their seasons strong and make a run at the ALC Championship.
#5 (DII) Dayton: 12
West Virginia: 8
Eric Weber (4G, 1A), Quinn Thompson (4G), and Tucker Hoffmann (23S, 74%) all played well for Dayton. They’re 1-0 in UMLC DII East play with one game left against Minn-Duluth. WVU falls to 2-9, but have played five ranked DI teams and two ranked DII teams.
#20 Grand Canyon: 15
San Diego State: 11
Matt Hartig (77FO%, 10GB) gave the Lopes plenty of possessions and Liam Reid (1G, 7A) and Cameron Gilmore (4G, 1A) got the scoring going. The Aztecs had seven different scorers led by Evan Dean and Ben Hydo, who had a hattrick each. GCU gets their 2nd conference win.
#19 (DII) Wake Forest: 16
Elon: 7
Wake Forest beats an in-state rival and moves to 3-0 in the ALC DII. They play the other remaining undefeated teams in the ALC DII the next two weeks in Coastal Carolina and UNC Charlotte which both should be very good games. Dan Clifford (6G, 1A) and Dawson Muller (2G, 3A) played well for WF.
#18 Northeastern: 19
#4 (DII) Rhode Island: 10
Chris Balicki (2G, A) and Zeb Tilton (4G, 1A) played well for the Huskies. They still have six games remaining including three against CLC opponents, BC, UConn, and UNH. URI shows they are one of the best DII teams by putting up a decent amount against one of the best in DI. They’re 2-0 in CLC DII and have three conference games remaining as they look to repeat as champs.
