The Reverb: New Digs

by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The MCLA is heading to Virginia next year, and I’m OK with it.

Let’s be honest: we’ve been snakebitten to some degree with our choice of championship location, going all the way back to the beginning. We’ve done floods (St. Louis), freezing cold (Blaine, Minn.), snow and tornadoes (Denver), simmering heat (Orange County) and torrential rains and lightning (Texas).

The spring is always a meteorological crapshoot wherever you go, so the Old Dominion could be just as combustible as all of the other spots. I worked for two years in the western part of the state (Lexington, Va.) 30 years ago and I witnessed freakish weather patterns.

We got a snap, 12-inch snowstorm one time that mandated me winching a roommate out of a sizeable snowbank in a Harris Teeter parking lot. On the other end of the spectrum, we (Washington & Lee) played a lacrosse game in 90-degree heat in early April. There really isn’t a predictable location for premium weather.

I do think it is important to move around the country, but that comes with some pitfalls. The MCLA’s venture to Greenville, S.C., in 2012-‘13 – an abject disaster from every standpoint – is still fresh in most of our decision-maker’s minds. As such, attempting another run at a southeastern location makes me jittery, whether fair or not.

There is also the issue of fairness, and the advantages of having a championship in your backyard. As we all know, travel, lodging and transportation are some of the huge budget items for most teams. Chapman players sleeping in their own beds and playing on their own field likely impacted their wins over Georgia Tech and Cal Poly in the ’16 semis and finals. That same year, Purdue – Chapman’s first-round opponent – had to take a three-day train ride from West Lafayette to Los Angeles to curb costs.

Moving the championship location is important from that perspective. Alas, the MCLA is not an “East Coast” league. Sure, we’ve got some teams in Virginia, but the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are varsity country. We’re not going to conquer anything on the East Side. Should we test the market? Absolutely, and that’s what will occur in the next two years. And it will also give our teams in the southeast a well-earned financial break.

After that, we need to make sure we’re utilizing all of our markets. We need to be in Chicagoland. We should try out SeaTac and/or Portland. We’ve got to give Vegas a run. Alas, all of that is easy to say, but everything boils down to facilities. If we don’t have the amenities to host 32 games in six days – something that is far more difficult and expensive than you’d think – we may not get the premium locations that we want.

Every location is going to have pros and cons. Throw in any number of weather occurrences and places will look grimmer than they really are. Virginia is going to be a great spot and a fun change from Texas. And it ain’t Greenville.

My Top Fives

Division I

1. Cal Poly (8-0) – Lone Star road trip is looking like a comfy vacation for the ‘Stangs.
2. Liberty (7-1) – Sunday jaunt to the Steel City might be a sneaky trap game.
3. Brigham Young (9-0) – If they can squeeze past Utah Tech, the Cougs should finish strong.
4. Florida (8-2) – The Texas loss is going to get a lot worse or a lot better next week.
5. Utah Valley (5-2) – This is a gift ranking as the UCSB loss isn’t aging well.

Division II

1. UC San Diego (7-0) – Some divisional mop-up duty before the battle with San Marcos.
2. UNC-Charlotte (8-0) – If the Niners run the table, it's tough seeing them dip below a 2 seed.
3. Florida Atlantic (9-2) – Gave up a season-high 14 to Charlotte and another dozen to URI.
4. Northwest Nazarene (8-2) – One more easy weekend before a mildly challenging finish.
5. College of Idaho (9-0) – Jury is still out on the Yotes, but the Utah State win is undeniable.

- Clean up on aisle Kingston. Rhode Island waded into the meat of their season with three games in Alabama and got swept by Kennesaw State, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic and the latter two weren’t particularly close. The Rams are still the favorites to take down the CLC title and its AQ, but any at-large hopes are pretty much out the window with just four D-II games left. After Bridgewater’s 1-2 weekend in Fort Payne, the CLC has all of the hallmarks of a one-bid league.

- Speaking of the CLC, Northeastern posted a somnabulant 1-1 mark in the Twin Cities that included an overtime loss to Minnesota – the same Golden Gophers outfit that got outgunned by Iowa State. The Huskies are presumably an at-large lock even if they can’t grab the CLC AQ, but they likely dropped from a top 8 to a bottom 8 seed with the Minnesota setback.

- Can UNC-Wilmington start making plans for Round Rock? Probably a little premature, but roasting Coastal Carolina over the weekend certain helps the cause…College of Idaho’s chances are certainly better after the Yotes downed Utah State. COI ends the season with Montana, Montana State and Northwest Nazarene. The Yotes are definitely upwardly mobile…UC Davis’ visit to the Top 20 poll might be a short one after getting deep-fried by San Marcos on Sunday.

- Liberty pushed its winning streak to seven after torching Temple. Flames are looking good for a Top 4 seed at this point…so what are we thinking about UC Santa Barbara? Three of their four losses (SDSU, Colorado, Arizona) are by a goal and the other (Chapman) was by two. The Gauchos appear to be comfortably locked into Round Rock, but do they have the juice for another semifinal run like last year?...congrats to Camden Dwelly of UCSB for cracking the 150-point barrier for his career.

- Your weekly reminder that PEARL Goalie of the Week and Warrior Player of the Week nominations are due to info@mcla.us by noon on Monday. Head coach noms only, please. We don’t need nominations yet, but start thinking about Lacrosse Specialties Player of the Month options for March. We’ve still got another week or so on that, however.