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COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – For the third time this year, Davenport will meet arch-rival Grand Valley State but this time is comes at the national tournament with a berth in the National Championship game on the line. The No. 5 Panthers face the No. 1 Lakers at 3:00pm EST in Denver, Colo, at the Dicks Sporting Good Stadium in the MCLA D2 Final 4.
Tournament Homepage: (Click HERE) | Bracket (Collegelax.us)
Day: Friday, May 20, 2011
Tipoff: 3:00pm EST
Location: Commerce City, Colo. – Dick's Sporting Good Stadium
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The Opponent: #1 Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State comes into the MCLA D2 semifinal matchup as the top ranked team in the country. The Lakers, champions of the CCLA, are undefeated on the year and looking to make their second title game appearance in the last four years as they also went to the final game in 2008 where they fell to Westminster.
The Lakers are loaded on offense by one of the best players in either division of MCLA play as Cam Holding was named the offensive player of the year in the conference after finishing the season with 101 goals and 129 points. He tied his own tournament record of 12 points in a game in GVSU's opening blowout over Sam Houston State and followed it up with another solid performance against SCAD in the quarterfinals.
Also someone to look out for on offense is Jack Dumsa who finished the season with 105 points (46 goals and 59 assists). Dumsa finished the quarterfinal win over SCAD with 8 assists.
The two teams have met twice already during the 2011 season with the Lakers winning 16-5 on their home field and then 12-9 in the CCLA championship game in Saline. Last season, GVSU also won twice during the regular season but Davenport won when it counted as they defeated the then No. 4 ranked Lakers in the MCLA D2 quarterfinals to move on to the Final 4 for the second straight year.
In net for GVSU is Alex Billings as the junior has allowed just 86 goals for a GAA of 7.167.
Grand Valley State is making their third appearance at the national tournament as they made it in 2008 and then the last two seasons.
The Series: GVSU leads 4-3 (Lakers have won 4 of last 5 meetings after losing first three)
MCLA National Tournament History for DU: Davenport is making its third straight appearance at the National Tournament and boasts a record of 3-2...The Panthers have made the last two Final Four's in Denver...DU's wins all-time include Emory in 2009 and Western Washington and Grand Valley in 2010...Both of Davenport's losses have come to the eventual national champion St. Thomas (Minn.)...Davenport has been outscored 45-58 in their five tournament games all-time
2011 Post-Season Quick Facts: Davenport won the CCLA North Division Title going a perfect 3-0..DU's only loss in conference play was a setback to No. 1 ranked Grand Valley State...DU has a record of 8-5 vs. teams ranked in the MCLA Top 25 Poll...Panthers have faced seven of the 16 teams at the MCLA D2 National Tournament...Six players were named to the All-CCLA 1st Team: Tadas Anuzis, Mac Ganzak. Adam Bowers, Kyle Anguilm and Cody Cross as well as the defensive player of the year in Zach Higgins...DU has three players that have scored at least 70 points, Jordan Richtsmeier (86), Dominic Boggiano (80) and Shawn Beer (70)
