Weekender: Tourney Special

by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

ROUND ROCK, Texas – And here we go. Sixteen games in nine hours in one venue to kick of the 2025 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance. Below are my thoughts on the matchups.

Before we get to that, please understand that weather is supposed to volatile on Monday and Tuesday, but we’ll keep you updated here on MCLA.us the best we can if there are changes. Also our two X feeds – MCLA and MCLA_Tournament – will have immediate updates.

Streaming options are at the bottom as well as ticket possibilities.

On to the games…

No. 16 Minnesota v. No. 1 Liberty, 9:45 a.m. (LU -9 | 25)
It all kind of all boils back to that weekend in The Cities when Minnesota beat seventh-seeded Northwestern, 14-13, but also got a 17-burger dropped on them by No. 15 Boise State. The Gophers can pretty much run with any team and, judging by the loss to Iowa State, can get worked by pretty much anyone. The faceoff battle looks like it’ll go to the Flames, which puts added stress on what will likely be an overworked Minnesota back line. We all root for the underdog, and Minny is playing with house money, but it’s tough to get the math to work for the Gophers.

No. 16 UC Davis v. No. 1 Florida Atlantic, 9:45 a.m. (FAU -13 | 28)
The biggest goal for top seeds is to put the game away early and have your starters out of pads by the start of the fourth quarter. The Owls should be able to handle that. The Aggies have Marcello Battista and his 101-point (71g, 30a) season to contend with, but FAU has dealt with Austin Ortel, Keaton Bean and Tyler Nichols, among others. Alpha offensive players don’t worry them. Davis needs to worry about Ryan Kerr, who will likely threaten double-digit points before he’s done for the day.

No. 15 College of Idaho v. No. 2 Grand Valley State 10 a.m. (GV -9 | 19)
Props to the Yotes for stepping up, and stepping in, to fill out the field at the last minute. That kind anytime-anywhere mentality lets me know they’ve got a serious program. With that said, the Yotes will be swimming upstream in this contest. They’ve shown themselves to be a pretty decent team, but scoring has been an issue of late. They are averaging less than five goals a game over the last four outings, although, to be fair, they’ve all come against tournament teams. They'll need at least a dozen and a worldly game from Jacob Wong to pull this stunner.

No. 15 Boise State v. No. 2 Utah Valley, 10 a.m. (UVU -11 | 31)
The Broncos are going to have to do some heavy lifting to reverse the March 7 meeting that went to the Wolverines, 26-7. It was 17-4 at half and the UVU defense held PNCLL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year (!) Colton Altimus to just a goal. There is no doubt that Boise is playing solid ball at the right time, but the Wolverines are playing the second-best lacrosse in the country.

No. 9 Florida State v. No. 8 Arizona State, 12:30 p.m. (ASU -3.5 | 29)
This seeding matchup traditionally produces the best game on Monday and this should live up to that billing. Florida State has been dormant for over three weeks, which can certainly create issues, especially considering the Sun Devils have been honed to a razor’s edge over the past month. Braden Rome is returning to nationals and knows of the Round Rock grind while the ‘Noles haven’t tasted the championships since Salt Lake City in ’19, so there is no one on the roster with experience. Could that make a difference?

No. 9 UNC-Charlotte v. No. 8 Utah State, 12:30 p.m. (UNCC -1.5 | 33)
If there is one team that does not mind an away seed at nationals, it’s Charlotte. The Niners set the underdog standard in ’22, upsetting No. 2 College of Idaho as a No. 15 seed. They followed that up in ’23 by advancing as a No. 12 seed in the first round. No. 9 seems pretty nice, actually. And in many ways, they’ll be looking in the mirror when they see Utah State – a team that loves to get up and down. The goalie who can steal a couple of goals for his team will be the victor.

No. 10 North Dakota State v. No. 7 Montana State, 12:45 p.m. (MSU -3 | 18.5)
A lot of people will quickly move past this game, but this is a miserable matchup for the defending champs. They just played a couple of weeks ago – a two-goal win for MSU – so the Bison have game tape with personalized matchups to work off of. Also, NDSU is all Twin Cities kids, many of whom played hockey, and they love catching players counting their shoelaces at midfield. One of the keys to a deep tournament run is getting in and out of your Monday game quickly and easily with as little physical attrition as possible. That’s not going to be the case, and that leaves a loaded GVSU team on Tuesday for the Bobcats. If they survive.

No. 10 UC Santa Barbara v. No. 7 Northeastern, 12:45 p.m. (NE -3.5 | 21)
I really like this game. When they are sharp, the Gauchos and Huskies can run with anyone in the country and each has a navigated a strong schedule. Sam Bellomy is one of the premier goalies in D-I, but Josh Glasman has been doing a nice job in between the pipes for UCSB. This feels like a 50-50 ground ball game, with the winner of that stat moving on to a likely date with UVU.

No. 14 Tennessee v. No. 3 Georgia Tech, 3:30 p.m. (GT -6 | 28)
A rematch of a March 7 contest won by the Bugs, 15-10, in which Tech went up 8-2 in the first quarter and cruised home. The Vols should be ready to take on an early challenge in the rematch, but sustaining it for the entire 60 against a Wreck outfit that was peaking two weeks ago when it captured the SELC title will be the rub. Considering the weapons that each team boasts, goals shouldn’t be a problem, but Tennessee keeping pace is the quest.

No. 14 Rhode Island v. No. 3 Northwest Nazarene, 3:30 p.m. (NN -7 | 31)
The Rams upset of Bridgewater State in the CLC finals sets up this East-West battle in Round Rock. By any reasonable standard, this Rhody squad isn’t quite up to the level of the 2022-23 edition of the Rams, but they do have balanced scoring – four players have at least 30 points and eight have at least 20. Defense is where the questions lie, as URI is running at slightly above 50 in terms of save percentage. Not a great trait against one of the prolific offenses in the country. If the Rams can muddy up the faceoffs and get a hot performance at out Liam Simoneau in cage, they’ll have a puncher’s chance. But it’s a long shot.

No. 13 Wake Forest v. No. 4 St. Thomas, 3:45 p.m. (UST -5.5 | 24)
This is perhaps more of an intriguing matchup than you might think. St. Thomas is obviously the favorite, as they are in most games, but the Demon Deacons have an experienced fourth-year goalie, extremely athletic poles and enough offensive pop to keep anyone honest. It might take a career game out of Jack Church for the Deacs to pull the stunner, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

No. 13 San Diego State v. No. 4 Florida, 3:45 p.m. (UF -3 | 31)
The Aztecs stumbled their way into the tournament, losing three of their last five, including setbacks to unranked Grand Canyon and Arizona. They get a team stinging after they lost to the Yellow Jackets in the SELC finals (did you see what I did there?). The Gators can score goals through the dominant play of their midfield, which means SDSU has to keep up. The ‘Tecs’ offense has been rather pedestrian since they hung 17 on Virginia Tech in early March. San Diego State should be able to dictate tempo, but I’m expecting plenty of goals.

No. 11 Colorado v. No. 6 Texas, 6:15 p.m. (CU -1.5 | 22.5)
Northeastern and Texas seem like the two teams most susceptible to upsets in the D-I first round (I don’t count the 8-9 game). Not to say it’s going to happen, but the matchups aren’t great for either favorite. Mike Kuligowski gives Colorado the ability to control tempo, which is important, because trying to run with the Longhorns can be a dangerous prospect (as Florida found out). Overtime wouldn’t surprise me at all, but CU could also get its doors blown off if they aren’t locked in.

No. 11 Air Force v. No. 6 UC San Diego, 6:15 p.m. (SD -1.5 | 23)
A rematch of a game that occurred before St. Patrick’s Day that the Tritons won, 12-10, should produce as competitive a result as the first one, regardless of the seeding. The RMLC teams were so close in the possible seeding order that there had to be some accommodations made to avoid first-round in-conference contests, so it’s probably pretty fair to say the Falcons are not a true 11. UCSD has wins over the Nos. 1 and 3 seeds already this season, so they have a case for a higher seed, as well, despite the two losses to San Marcos. UCSD’s Austin Ortel and USAFA’s Mark Tang are two of the best attackmen in the division. Showtime.

No. 12 Cal Poly v. No. 5 Brigham Young, 6:30 p.m. (BYU -3 | 18)
The Mustangs loss in the WCLL finals dropped them precipitously, forcing a matchup with the defending national champion. It’s certainly not an unwinnable game for Poly, but BYU presents significant problems, especially on defense where they have some outstanding close defenders. The sheen of invincibility is off the Cougars with losses to Colorado and Utah Valley, but this is still a formidable outfit with designs on getting to at least Thursday.

No. 12 Montana v. No. 5 Cal State San Marcos, 6:30 p.m. (SM -6.5 | 19)
It was another great season for Tucker Sargent and his band of Kodiaks. For their troubles, they get the hottest team in the division in the nightcap. Joey Cortner has been putting together an All-American-type season to this point and he can solidify that reputation with a performance for the ages. But it ain’t going to be easy. The Cougars are a finely-engineered machine right now under the tutelage of the Tim Puls, so the Grizzlies need to be flawless.

Slides & Rides

- The 30-game bundle for the 2025 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance can be purchased HERE for $40. Individual games can be purchased for $15 at the same location.

- Buy your tickets before you get to Round Rock and avoid any delays at the ticket booth. Get your e-tickets HERE.