Real Emotion
There will be a lot of emotion with the NCAA lacrosse tournaments in full swing this weekend, but nowhere will there be more emotion than at the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament at CCBC-Essex.
The first semifinal pits top-seeded Herkimer County Community College against CCBC-Catonsville at 12 noon on Saturday. The last time these two teams met still weighs heavily on the hearts of both teams. P.J. Schafer, a starting defenseman and captain for Catonsville, collapsed and died during their game on March 23.
"With all honesty, he was the kid you'd want for a son," said Catonsville head coach Dave Mintzer. "He's your All-American boy. He worked hard on the field, he was a model student, he had the highest g.p.a. on our team. He would help anybody."
Catonsville lost to second-seeded Essex 15-14 in its first game after Schafer's death, but then won four straight games, two by a single goal, before losing to Essex in the district playoffs to earn an at-large bid to the championship.
"They hung together and never ever quit," said Mintzer. "They just keep playing."
Playing Herkimer obviously carries some extra meaning for Catonsville, which qualified for the NJCAA tournament for the first time since 1996.
"Hopefully this will help them erase the horrible memories that occurred with that game," said Mintzer. But he added that much is different between the two schools that have had an intense rivalry in the past. "The kids from Herkimer have been extremely supportive. Two of their players came down here for the funeral and they've sent letters and cards to Mrs. Schafer. They've been very supportive of the Schafers and our team."
Essex meets up with three-time defending champion Nassau Community College in the other semifinal, a rematch of last year's championship game, at 3 p.m.
Buckeye Bonus
Ohio State pulled off a big upset in the opening round of the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament on Thursday, defeating fourth-seeded Duke 10-7. The Buckeyes fell behind 3-1 early, but scored the final five goals of the first half to take a 6-3 halftime lead. Junior Caroline Weatherill socred three of those goals and finished with a game-high four.
The victory improved Ohio State's record to 14-3, and amazingly, 9-0 on the road. The Buckeyes will meet defending national champion Princeton in the quarterfinals on Sunday at a time and location to be determined.
The Snubbed Bowl
There were outcries when Massachusetts, with a 12-2 record, did not get a bid to the 2001 NCAA men's lacrosse tournament. The cries were just as loud last year when Hofstra did not get a bid. Fittingly, those two teams meet in the first round of this year's tournament on Sunday at Massachusetts. Both earned at-large bids to the tournament and this should be one of the more exciting first round games. Massachusetts won at Hofstra 14-7 on March 23, but since then the Pride has won eight of 10 games, including victories over Syracuse, Duke and Army. Towson was the only team to defeat Hofstra during the stretch.
Double Trouble
Gettysburg and Scranton each have two 100-point scorers in women's lacrosse. The Bullets feature senior Megan Murphy (91g, 41a) and junior Julika Blankenship (57g, 53a). Scranton, in just its fourth varsity season, has seniors Bridget Lee (47g, 63a) and Liz Baumbach (72g, 28a). The two schools will meet in a Division III first round tournament game on Saturday at Gettysburg at 11:30 a.m.
Quickly
Princeton's Ryan Boyle leads Division I in scoring with 5.0 points per game which begs the question, when was the last time a player led the nation in scoring while leading his team to a championship? Last year, with Michael Powell and Syracuse...complete college tournament scores, schedules and ticket information is available at www.uslacrosse.org/news/tournament.phtml.
