The Reverb: Time Comes for Us All

(Photo by Bob White)

by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

LA CROSSE, Wis. – With its rather comfortable win over Grand Canyon on Saturday afternoon, Brigham Young improved to 5-0 and posted its 24th consecutive victory. It’s a remarkable accomplishment that will be remembered as not only one of the great Cougar runs, but one of the best streaks in MCLA history.

Alas, BYU will lose at some point. It doesn’t even necessarily mean it will be this year, but I suspect it will be. It may not even derail a repeat championship, but it’ll likely happen. All good things must come to an end.

It happened to Michigan, when they brought a two-plus year undefeated streak into Boulder and lost to a sub-.500 team with a hot goalie. The old Colorado State, Sonoma State and UC Santa Barbara outfits always ran into a tricky game along the way. It’s just the way things work in sports.

The big question is who has the best chance to pull off the seemingly unthinkable this spring? Some of the remaining opponents are certainly less likely than others. And obviously Utah Valley, the Cougars opponent in the finals last spring, is the foremost culprit to manage the feat in one of the Wolverines’ three (probably) meetings with BYU.

In many ways, Montana State having any notions of breezing to a repeat getting spiked in its first game by Air Force is a blessing (granted, they weren’t coming off an undefeated season). They can just take each game as its own mini-saga, and move cautiously to the next one on its way to Round Rock.

With its epic run, Brigham Young’s danger is in thinking seasonally. Individual games are just an expected part of the journey. And that creates blind spots, and maybe a bit of hubris. Instead of being its own entity, every game is just an assumed check mark on the calendar. It’s a very human trait that has sunk the greats – ’07 Patriots, Mike Tyson, 1980 Soviet hockey and just about every empire in history.

I don’t want to get too dramatic here, because a Cougars loss anytime outside of nationals is inconsequential in the overall day-to-day life of the players, coaches and program. It will just be the end of some of the most dominant and elegant MCLA lacrosse we’ve seen for quite some time.

So let’s enjoy the Cougars and their dominance, and watch closely as every team tries desperately to be the one that ends the streak. Who do you think it will be?

Denver Autopsy

It was a long weekend at the Broncos practice facility, even if the action didn’t bleed into President’s Day this year. After a slow run-up, the event culminated with a five-game Sunday marathon that didn’t finish up until 10 p.m. local. What were the key takeaways?

Much like last year, we found out that Air Force is a wagon. They are balanced with great players all over the field. In the back of everyone’s mind is that semifinal performance, but we’ll wait before digging into that too deeply. The one-goal win over Montana State was a classic, with both teams showing they are going to be heavyweights in Round Rock.

Utah State had a nice showing at this event. The Aggies took their lumps against Air Force in a 21-10 wipeout, but bounced back nicely with wins over San Marcos and NDSU. Utah State has an excitable group, somewhat reminiscent of San Marcos a couple of years ago, but that can be a big driver in the postseason.

NDSU and San Marcos, perennial tournament teams, are unknowns at this point. They showed flashes, and the Bison getting into an 18-15 shootout with Utah State is a new look, but I think we’ll see a different version of both in April. Denver and MSU Denver are going to benefit from this experience. They know what it takes to compete – and what won’t cut it – against elite programs.

My Top Fives

Division I

1. Brigham Young (5-0) – Cruising right along. Chapman seems a little less daunting now.
2. Georgia (4-0) – I could see the Dawgs running the table the rest of the regular season.
3. Cal Poly (3-0) – The Mustangs stuffed the two top SLC squads from ‘24 in a locker.
4. Northeastern (2-0) – Coming out of the gate with two solid wins. Huskies are intriguing.
5. Florida (3-1) – The Gators narrowly edged out Texas, who need more results.

Division II

1. Air Force (4-0) – Not seeing a whole lot of losses on the sked until the RMLC tourney.
2. Florida Atlantic (3-0) – Doubleheader against USU and NNU on March 1 looking spicier.
3. St. Thomas (1-0) – The UMLC West is looking like it’s ripe for the Tommies’ picking.
4. Montana State (2-1) – Rematch with the Falcons is going to be “lit,” as the kids say.
5. UNC-Charlotte (3-0) – The Coastal game getting postponed is a buzz kill.

Slides & Rides

- I’ll start with my usual caveat that is only mid-February, but the ALC-I is not in a great spot right now. Virginia Tech beating Liberty on the road and then falling to both Florida and Florida State cedes a lot of ground to the SELC. Both the Hokies and Flames have enough juice remaining on the schedule to grab an at-large (the other assumably getting the AQ, although Tennessee will still have plenty to say), but the margins have tightened considerably.

- Is there any program in the MCLA that annually has worse travel luck than Northeastern? On their first trip this year, the Huskies had their flight into Atlanta delayed out of Boston, making a short weekend even shorter. And to cap it off, the flight home got canceled, creating more scramble. The good news? The Pups took down both Georgia Tech (in OT) and South Carolina on the road to start the season. Fortunately, Northeastern has a couple of homers before heading to the Rockies. Thankfully, the weather is always nice there in early March.

- Your semiannual reminder about why comparative scores mean nothing. Arizona cruised past USC to start the season, 14-9. Utah knocked off Arizona, 14-9. USC downed Utah, 10-9. It’s all about matchups.

- Congrats to North Carolina for picking up its first MCLA win, an 11-10 nailbiter over High Point…I would actually like to know how long in real-time SMU’s 3-2 win over LSU actually took…comfortable 2-0 start to JMU. Dukes looking solid…good beginning for Tulane. The Green Wave have a rugged schedule ahead and mostly in Alabama.

- Quick peek at next week: Utah Valley heads to FSU and Florida, which will give us a little more read on the runners-up. Colorado opens up its account with contests at UCSB and Chapman. Montana State, St. Thomas, Montana and Duluth head to Minot. Georgia travels to the desert to square up with Arizona State and Grand Canyon.

- Get those nominations for Warrior Player of the Week and PEARL Goalie of the Week to info@mcla.us ASAP!