MCLA National championship bracket released
Saddle up club lacrosse fans, the MCLA tournament is here in Round Rock, Texas. With Conference Championship Weekend and Selection Sunday behind us, the sixteen team field has been decided.
Below is the first round schedule, starting on May 9, 2022. Virginia Tech is the top overall seed in Division I, and St. Thomas is atop the Division II bracket.
In the Division I bracket, the Southwest Lacrosse Conference placed the most teams with four, featuring Arizona, Concordia Irvine, Grand Canyon, and Southern California, which could have been a possible five if Arizona State did not become ineligible. For the first time in a few years, the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League has the least number of teams placed in the national tournament, with only Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the conference winner. The years of “west coast bias” is slowly fading away for at large bids. South Carolina is looking to go back-to-back, yet they face a tough first round match up with the talented Arizona “LaxCats” squad.
The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs celebrate their upset win over California on Kennelly Field at Dominican University, California for the WCLL title. (Credit: @CalPolyLax/Twitter)
In the other bracket, all eyes are on “first” year team University of Utah. (This is Utah’s first year back as a club program after moving to the varsity level a few years ago.) In addition, many are wondering if Utah State can carry that early season magic into Round Rock. The biggest sleeper in the Division II bracket is the Montana Grizzlies as a (6) seed, who upended the (2) seed College of Idaho ‘Yotes in the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League DII conference championship.
Montana Grizzlies lift the PNCLL DII trophy after their win over College of Idaho. (Credit: @GrizLax/Twitter)
“We’re going to have some really good matchups in the first round and the rest of the tournament will take care of itself,” explained Gary Podesta, the MCLA’s director of competition, for both DI and DII brackets.
The MCLA National Tournament begins on May 9, 2022, in Round Rock, Texas. Tickets for both in person and live streaming are available on mcla.us. In addition, fundraisers are available on each team’s social medias to assist them and their travels. Being a club sport, these men are using their own money to produce their season, so any and all donations are appreciated.