Friday Recap: Nashville News

by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

LA CROSSE, Wis. – As we knew would happen, the second day of Music City Judgement gave us four ranked winners and four ranked losers.

It didn’t play out exactly as I would have predicted, however.

It started with Friday’s opener between No. 7 St. John’s and No. 5 Dayton. My take on the Flyers was a really complete team with quality scoring while the Johnnies were going to be their usual stingy selves on defense but may struggle with goals.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

That was a bad take. St. John’s jumped out to a 5-1 lead and pretty much handled anything Dayton brought to the field in a 13-9 victory.

The second game of the day brought the biggest surprise with No. 11 Florida Gulf Coast edging No. 2 Grand Valley State, 13-12. It was a surprise for a couple of reasons.

Days like these you don’t forget for the rest of your lives. You know Nashville, you don’t seem so cold after all :-) #judgementweekend pic.twitter.com/1NqJeZsIrs
— FGCU Men's LACROSSE (@fgcuLAX) March 9, 2018

First and foremost, the Eagles got housed on Thursday by Duluth, 21-2. They managed just 12 shots on the Bulldogs cage. They gave up eight goals in the second quarter. It wasn’t good.

Second, Grand Valley is, well, Grand Valley. Disciplined, methodical and talented. The Lakers aren’t the team you want to see coming off a 19-goal setback because you have to work for everything.

As it turned out, FGCU got a fantastic performance from junior goalie Kent Norris in net (18 saves) and the backup keeper also delivered the rare goalie goal for the Eagles.

“He played out of his mind in net today,” said FGCU coach Mike Dubbelde.

Not to make excuses for the Lakers, but this was their first game of the season and the Eagles’ sixth. Give FGCU all the credit, but I wouldn’t bury GVSU quite yet.

Support our Men's Lacrosse team @cuilax tomorrow via live stream as they face the also undefeated @ChapmanU team on this week's @MCLA SLC National Game of the Week! Game starts at 1:00pm @cuieagles https://t.co/be1Txo9TR8 pic.twitter.com/ogFSzGFdyx
— Concordia University (@ConcordiaIrvine) March 10, 2018

The third game of the afternoon was probably the most predictable as St. Thomas ground up Bridgewater State, 13-6, helped by four goals from Sam Turner.

The score was actually tied at ones after 15 minutes, but the Tommies dropped a sixer in the second quarter to take away any upset thoughts from the Bears.

The demolition machine known as No. 4 Minn.-Duluth wrapped up Friday with a 17-9 win over No. 9 Kennesaw State.

Just for the record, the Bulldogs have outscored the No. 16, No. 11 and No. 9 team in the country by a combined score of 53-14. Columbus State awaits Duluth on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Here’s your Saturday schedule for Music City Judgement

Saturday, March 10
St. John’s vs. Central Conn. State, 11 a.m.
Columbus State vs. Minn.-Duluth, 11 a.m.
Dayton vs. Bridgewater State vs. 1:30 p.m.
St. Thomas vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 1:30 p.m.
Grand Valley State vs. Kennesaw State, 4 p.m.
St. John’s vs. Columbus State, 4 p.m.
Central Conn. State vs. Dayton, 6:30 p.m.

* * *

Flames' fourth-quarter rally snuffed by No. 5 Buffaloes @MCLA https://t.co/To7cFLe3Uk pic.twitter.com/cM3CPcHaE5
— Liberty Lacrosse (@LibertyLax) March 10, 2018

No. 19 Liberty couldn’t have hoped for a better start against No. 5 Colorado, racing out to a 4-0 lead to start the game. Unfortunately, the Buffs outscored the Flames 17-11 the rest of the way.

SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE

The third quarter was the difference as CU took a nine-all halftime tie and turned it into a comfortable lead with an 8-2 third frame.

The Flames have a quick turnaround to take on No. 10 Arizona State tonight while the Buffs have a day off before squaring off with No. 11 Georgia Tech.

Might as well add this one to the trophy right ? #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/aATUJtveYg
— Knights Lacrosse (@MLacrosse_UCF) March 10, 2018

DIVISION I NOTES: No. 17 UC Santa Barbara stayed a step ahead in the SLC North by knocking off UCLA, 13-3, in Westwood. The Gauchos entertain No. 16 Cal on Sunday…on the strength of outstanding goalie play from junior Nick Johnston, Oklahoma proved too much for Arizona, 11-5…Central Florida won the I-4 trophy game against South Florida, 19-11…Georgia Tech picked up a big win over No. 14 Colorado State…Washington was too much for Dominican, 12-7.

It’s a beautiful evening for some lacrosse! Griz lax takes on Fort Lewis tonight at 7pm at Fort Missoula!
A post shared by University of Montana Lacrosse (@grizlax) on Mar 9, 2018 at 5:27pm PST

DIVISIOIN II NOTES: No. 13 Montana breezed past Fort Lewis, 16-9, with top-ranked North Dakota State looming on Sunday…keep an eye on the San Diego-San Marco game today in a divisional clash. Goals should be plentiful…Western Oregon and Western Washington renew their rivalry tonight. This used to be the game of the season in PNCLL D-II…as always, check the MCLA Twitter feed for updates on live streams.