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COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – After taking out arch-rival Grand Valley in a 4-OT thriller, Davenport will meet their nemesis St. Thomas in the 2011 MCLA D2 National Championship game. The No. 5 Panthers face the No. 2 Tommies at 5:00pm EST in Denver, Colo, at the Dicks Sporting Good Stadium. Fox College Sports will air the game live as will College Lax.
Tournament Homepage: (Click HERE) | Bracket (Collegelax.us)
Day: Saturday May 21, 2011
Tipoff: 5:00pm EST
Location: Commerce City, Colo. – Dick's Sporting Good Stadium
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The Opponent: #2 St. Thomas
Two fierce rivals will square off on the biggest stage on Saturday in Denver, Colo as Davenport meets St. Thomas for the 2011 MCLA D2 National Championship. Davenport reached the game after a thrilling 16-15 win in four overtimes over Grand Valley while the St. Thomas Tommies held on a for a one goal win over CCLA foe University of Dayton.
St. Thomas comes into the game ranked No. 2 in the MCLA D2 Top 25 poll and they have claimed the last two division two crowns. On their way to both of those wins, the Tommies took out Davenport in the semifinals. This is the first appearance in the national title game for the Panthers in only their fourth year as a program.
The Tommies come into today's game with an overall mark of 19-2 with their only two losses to No. 1 Grand Valley and No. 3 St. John's. UST is led by one of the top players in all of college lacrosse as Joe Costello leads the team with 85 points (56 goals and 29 assists). Joe is also their top face-off specialist as the senior is 67/82 this season.
Davenport University enters their first ever National Championship game after coming up big with a 16-15 win in four overtimes over Grand Valley State. The Panthers had cruised through the first two rounds of the tourney here in Denver as they took out Utah Valley 23-9 in the opening round before ousting Briarcliffe 23-10 in the quarterfinals.
Leading the way offensively here at the tourney and throughout his career in a DU uniform has been senior Shawn Beer. The attacker from Canada has posted 22 goals and 8 assists in the three Panther wins and had the game winner against the Lakers in the semifinals.
Series: St. Thomas leads 3-0 (The Tommies won the only meeting in 2011 11-8 in St. Paul, Minn.)
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)
