re: Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Club National Tournament (DI & DII)

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ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Division I late quarterfinals at the 2023 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance stole the show on Tuesday night.

Playing side-by-side, the Chapman-Brigham Young and Liberty-Georgia contests brought all you’d expect to quarterfinal play.

Liberty (15-3) and Georgia (13-3) played a game full of wonderful swings of momentum that kept the fans fully engaged.

The Bulldogs were ready out of the gate and, thanks to a first-quarter natural hat trick from Eli Moran, Georgia had a 4-2 lead after one period.

The Flames finally settled in during the second quarter, blanking the Dawgs, 4-0, to take a 6-4 edge into halftime. Liberty built the lead to 10-7 late in the third and appeared to be in complete control.

Georgia had other plans as Moran scored his fourth to finish the third before Sam Wheeler and Aidan McKenna knotted the game at tens midway through the final frame.

As it looked like the two teams were headed for the first overtime game of the tourney, Liberty’s Cooper Branham scored as the buzzer went off for the 11-10 triumph to send the Flames into the semifinals for the first time as a D-I program.

Simultaneously, Chapman (17-3) and Brigham Young (14-7) rekindled their legendary rivalry, and the players did not disappoint.

The Panthers made a play at putting the game away early with a 5-2 lead after 15 minutes, aided by two goals from Jack Wirth. The Cougars would not be rolling over on this night, however.

Thanks to the lockdown defense that helped them stun Florida in the first round, BYU blanked Chapman in the second frame while Andrew Freedman’s second marker cut the lead to 5-4 heading into intermission.

The third quarter was much of the same, as Freedman completed his hat trick while the Panthers could muster just one goal, helping the Cougars build a 7-6 lead.

The edge expanded to 8-6 before the potent Chapman offense woke up, thanks mostly to the play of Liam Nelson, who exploded for four goals in the final quarter, including the game-winner.

An empty-netter by Nelson with under a minute sealed the 12-10 win and Chapman’s sixth semifinal berth in the last seven seasons.

No. 3 St. Thomas (13-2) d. No. 6 Montana State (14-3), 14-4
The Tommies took much of the drama out of this contest in the first half, holding the high-powered Bobcat offense to a lone goal as they built a 5-1 lead. Montana State would get no closer the rest of the way.

Garett Hoch, Cam Gelling and Cabe Maskevich all potted a pair of goals for the Tommies while Gunner Arens had to make just three saves.

Dexter Tedesco scored all four goals for the Bobcats.

St. Thomas will be making its 14th-straight trip to the national semifinals.

No. 13 Air Force (12-1) d. No. 12 UNC-Charlotte (11-3), 16-13
Air Force’s magical journey in the tournament continues for another round after the Falcons rallied past UNC-Charlotte with a second-half blitz.

The 49ers came out hot with Blake Moxim and Declan McHugh each getting two goals, staking Charlotte to a 6-3 lead after one.

Air Force was able to get a goal back in the second, helped by Mark Tang scoring five in the first 30 minutes, but the Falcons still trailed by a pair after two, 10-8.

Three-straight goals out of the gate in the third – including Tang’s sixth – gave the Falcons an 11-10 lead. Charlotte quickly answered with McHugh’s hat trick to send the two squads into the fourth locked at elevens.

The Falcons scored three goals in 1:51 to start the fourth quarter to open the scoring and take command of the game and advance to the first semifinal in program history.

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ROUND ROCK, Texas – Virginia Tech will be making its first-ever trip to the championship game at the 2023 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance after the Hokies defeated Chapman, 15-9, on Thursday evening at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.

With the victory, Virginia Tech (17-2) will face the winner of the Liberty-Concordia game on Friday evening at 7 p.m. The championship game was moved up a day to Friday to avoid an imminent storm in the area.

Virginia Tech started the game with the advantage via goals by Will Giannelli and Grayson Barker before Liam Nelson finally cracked the egg for Chapman (17-4) with just under 10 minutes to play.

The Hokies answered on a Jared Cole’s first marker of the day followed by Aidan Smith on dodge to a low-angle rip for a 4-1 Tech lead after 15 minutes.

Nelson opened the second with a crease dive for Chapman, but less than a minute later Walker Everhart went in alone for a pole goal to push the lead back to three. The Panthers countered with two goals less than a minute apart, including Nelson’s hat trick, to draw Chapman within one, 5-4.

Virginia Tech responded with three of the final four goals of the half to take an 8-5 advantage into intermission.

Three quick goals from the Hokies to open the second half, including Cole’s hat trick, ballooned the lead to 11-5. The advantage was still 12-6 at the end of the third quarter for Virginia Tech.

Chapman made one last surge, opening the fourth quarter with goals from Dante DeCollibus and George McGuirk on crease rolls two minutes apart to cut the lead to 12-8. The Hokies countered with another three-goal run to put the game away.

Virginia Tech goalie William Eckert was outstanding on the day, finishing with 18 saves for the Hokies. In addition to Cole’s trick, Tyler Crookes and Jack Jenkins buried a pair of goals in the winning effort.

Nelson finished the evening with his three while Jackson Wells had a goal and two assists. Jason Bohlinger made five saves in the first half while Anderson Marks turned away six stops in the second for the Panthers.

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