The MCLA Division I finals will have a familiar feel, as RMLC foes Colorado State and Colorado meet for the third time this spring. It’s also a rematch of the 2006 national championship game, won by the Rams, 8-7. On the D-II side, the top two seed will be playing for the title, but it wasn’t easy, as both had to survive overtime scares from their semifinal opponents.
The championship games will be played on Saturday, May 18, in Greenville, S.C.

MCLA Division I

No. 1 Colorado State 9, No. 4 Brigham Young 7

In the third meeting between the two squads, Colorado State used a big fourth quarter to distance itself from its biggest rival. Locked up at fives after three quarters of play, the Rams managed to outscore the Cougars, 4-2, in the final frame to complete the sweep and ensure a revisit to the national championship game.

Braxton Campbell and Eric Uhl each scored a pair of goals for CSU while Koltin Fatzinger made five stops in the second half. Jake Arbon was the top gun for the Cougars with two goals while Rob Ostler was solid in net with 10 saves in the loss.

No. 2 Colorado 5, No. 3 Arizona State 4

In the lowest scoring MCLA semifinal game since 2005, when UC Santa Barbara edged Michigan, 4-3, Colorado advanced to the national championship game for the first time since ’06. Arizona State struck for the first two goals of the game, but the Buffaloes managed to rebound in the second quarter to send the game into halftime tied at three. After trading goals in the third quarter, Colorado got the deciding marker in the fourth frame. The Sun Devils entered the game averaging 16 goals in the tournament, but could not solve the Colorado backline.

Ryan Haines and Riley Seidel led CU with a pair of goals while Tyler Dougherty added the fifth. Payson Clark produced half of Arizona State’s goals. ASU’s Preston Anderson made three stops in the loss while Brad Macnee was credited with no saves to pick up the win.

MCLA Division II

No. 2 Westminster 9, No. 3 St. John’s 8 (3ot)

Brian Tyrrell won a scramble in front of the net with 1:43 left in the third overtime and buried it into the St. John’s goal, giving the Griffins the victory and sending them to the title game for the first time since 2008. Westminster raced out to a 6-1 lead to start the game and appeared to be on pace for its third rout of the tournament, but St. John’s clawed back, outscoring the Griffins, 5-0, in the third period to take a 7-6 lead after three. With the Johnnies still leading by a goal and under a minute to go, it appeared St. John’s would get the ball back in their own zone, but a dubious call awarded possession to Westminster. The Griffins cashed in, sending the contest into overtime.

Kyle Postler led the way for Westminster with three goals and two assists while Tyrrell chipped in with a pair of goals. Miles Armitage and Conlan Meade had hat tricks for St. John’s. Chris Burckle was solid in net for the Griffins, turning away 14 shots – although he got some help from defender Matt Lambourne, who took a shot off the chest in overtime when Burckle was caught out of the net. Mike King was credited with five saves for the Johnnies.

No. 1 St. Thomas 10, No. 4 Liberty 9 (ot)

This game closely followed the script of the first semifinal, with Will Hersman playing the role of hero for St. Thomas as he delivered an overtime strike to send the Tommies back to the title game for the fifth straight year. Like Westminster before it, UST tried to put the game away in the second quarter when it ballooned the lead to 8-4 at halftime. Liberty, however, scored five of the six goals in the second half to knot the game at nines, forcing overtime.

Peter Carbonneau (2g, 3a), David Chilpala (2g, 2a) and Nikolas Colpitts (2g, 2a) led the St. Thomas offense and Steven Bang came on in relief to make six saves in the second half. Joe Gargiulo paced Liberty with four goals and a dime while Ryan Miller had two goals and three helpers. Ethan Kamholtz was strong for the Flames, turning away 15 shots. This was Liberty’s last game in MCLA Division II, as they will bump up to the senior circuit next spring.

For more:  http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/club/2012-13/news/051613_mcla_tournament_semifinal_recaps

After a wacky first round that featured three upsets in both the Division I and Division I bracket, things settled down in the quarterfinals as the chalk held. The top four seeds in each division advanced to the semifinals, which will be on Thursday, May 16, in Greenville, S.C.

MCLA Division I

No. 4 Brigham Young 17, No. 12 Oregon 14 A track meet broke out between the Cougars and the Ducks, and on the strength of a 7-3 second quarter, BYU was able to hold on at the end. Mike Fabrizio paced the Cougars with four goals and three assists while Jake Ferrin and Barrett Johnson also added four goals in the winning effort. BYU dominated the ground ball battle and Ducks’ goalie Austin Fisher could not replicate his spectacular first round performance, making only eight saves in the loss.

No. 3 Arizona State 15, No. 6 UC Santa Barbara 5 The Sun Devils made it a clean sweep over the Gauchos this spring, winning their third matchup of the season. (No stats available)

No. 2 Colorado 9, No. 10 Michigan State 2 Michigan State could not find an answer for Brad Macnee and the Colorado defense, as the Buffs pulled out a grinder. (No stats available)

No. 1 Colorado State 9, No. 9 Sonoma State 4 The Rams continue their defensive dominance of the MCLA, allowing the Seawolves to muster just 16 shots on the day. Josh Gregg and Mike Wolff each potted a pair of goals for CSU while Jack Regan and Koltin Fatzinger combined to make eight saves. (Partial stats available)

Thursday’s Semifinal Matchups No. 4 Brigham Young vs. No. 1 Colorado State No. 3 Arizona State vs. No. 2 Colorado

MCLA Division 2

No. 4 Liberty 10, No. 12 Grove City 9 Grove City looked like they might be on the cusp of pulling another upset, leading Liberty 8-7 heading into the final frame, but the Flames once again pulled the comeback. Bryce Mrakovich paced Liberty with three goals and two dimes while Ryan Miller and Joe Gargiulo struck for a pair each. Ethan Kamholtz had a dozen saves to pick up the win in net. David Hall was GCC’s top gun with five markers and two helpers.

No. 3 St. John’s 10, No. 6 Grand Valley State 8 Jacob Helmer (4g, 1a) paced the Johnnies to their second win of the year over Grand Valley State and vaulted St. John’s into the semifinals for the first time since 2009. Cole Armitage helped out the SJU cause with two goals and two assists. Brenden Austin had a hat trick for the Lakers.

No. 2 Westminster 15, No. 10 Indiana Tech 6 The Griffins continued their dominating ways, racing out to a 5-1 lead over the Warriors in the first quarter and never looked back. Adam Marfice and Elias Fairman each netted four markers and Collin Madsen dished out four assists in the winning effort. Justing Famiglietti turned away 17 shots for Indiana Tech, but it was not enough.

No. 1 St. Thomas 18, No. 9 Coast Guard 8 After a casual start to the tournament, St. Thomas looked more like its dominating self, taking a 12-7 lead at halftime and then burying Coast Guard in the second half. The Bears couldn’t solve Matt Kleven, who posted seven goals for the Tommies, and he was helped by Peter Carbonneau and Peter Schubloom, who each scored two. Eric Schmid and Steven Danseglio had two goals each for the Bears.

Thursday’s Semifinal Matchups No. 4 Liberty vs. No. 1 St. Thomas No. 3 St. John’s vs. No. 2 Westminster

For more:  http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/club/2012-13/news/051413_mcla_tournament_quarterfinal_recaps

Three away seeds pulled upsets in the first round that was, with the exception of the Oregon-Chapman, mostly devoid of any drama. The RMLC proved its worth with three comfortable wins in the first round while both the SLC and WCLL lost one of its big guns.

No. 1 Colorado State 20, No. 16 Purdue 3

Thirteen different Colorado State players scored at least one goal as the defending champions dispatched with Purdue. The Rams led 11-1 at halftime and were never threatened by the GRLC reps. Austin Fisher, Alex Devlin, Mike Wolff and Dustin Grybinas led the way for the top seed with a pair of goals each. Jack Regan and Koltin Fatzinger combined to make three saves in the win.

No. 2 Colorado 11, No. 15 Texas 7

Colorado held a 55-24 advantage in shots and an 11-5 advantage after three quarters, but had to fend off a late charge by Texas to advance into the quarterfinals. Tyler Dougherty (2g, 2a) Riley Seidel (1g, 2a) and Matt White (2g) paced the Buffaloes offense while the defense helped to dominate the ground ball battle. Texas goalie Jordan Lee was superb in net, turning away 16 shots in the loss.

No. 3 Arizona State 17, No. 14 Georgia 5

After building a slight, 3-1 lead after 15 minutes, Arizona State went on a rampage in the second frame, racking up nine goals for a 12-3 bulge at halftime that was not threatened. Logan Quinn (3g, 3a) had a big day for the Sun Devils, and was supported by Payson Clark (2g, 2a) and Justin Straker (4g). Georgia goalie David Lumsden was under siege for most of the day, but managed to make 16 saves.

No. 4 Brigham Young 17, No. 13 Grand Canyon 8

Despite the best efforts of Carson Barton, who factored in on seven (5g, 2a) of Grand Canyon’s eight goals, Brigham Young proved too much in a surprisingly comfy win for the Cougars. Pat Matheson was a monster out of the midfield with five goals and Mike Fabrizio added four markers. There were a lot of individual efforts for BYU as they had zero assists on 17 goals.

No. 12 Oregon 8, No. 5 Chapman 7 (4ot)

In one of the classic games in the history of the MCLA tournament, Oregon was able to find the game-winner in the fourth overtime to sink Chapman in the biggest upset of the day. Evan Merritt scored three goals for the Ducks while goalie Austin Lewis turned away an astounding 26 shots. Oregon had just 27 shots on the day, but made the most of them, especially in extra time.

No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, No. 11 Oregon State

After a slow start to the game, UC Santa Barbara woke up in the final three quarters, putting away Oregon State’s upset bid. Kevin Bowles had a massive game with five goals and three dimes for the Gauchos while C.J. Jacobs added three goals and an assist in the win.

No. 10 Michigan State 13, No. 7 Stanford 9

Stanford was the story of the year in the MCLA, but Michigan State put the clamps on the Cardinal in the first round. Stanford’s high-powered duo of Jack Farr and Peter Doyle were held to combined three goals and an assist (they were averaging nearly nine points per game). Mitchell Hall buried three goals along with an assist for the Spartans while Patrick Green had a goal and three dimes in the winning effort.

No. 9 Sonoma State 14, No. 8 Boston College 6

A huge first quarter allowed Sonoma State to build a lead that would not be threatened by Boston College. Kyle Riddle (4g, 1a) and Ashton Ward (1g, 6a) were the keys to the Seawolves’ offensive barrage while the ‘Noma backline kept the Eagles to their lowest goal output of the season.

Tuesday’s Quarterfinal Matchups No. 9 Sonoma State vs. No. 1 Colorado State No. 10 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Colorado No. 6 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 3 Arizona State No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 4 Brigham Young