by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

I run two Twitter accounts. I have my personal account and I have the @MCLA feed, and the contrast between how I approach each of them couldn’t be starker.

My personal account was built on the premise of an organizational account back when I covered the small school beat for Lacrosse Magazine. Even now, almost all of my #hottakes involve those two divisions, mostly because that’s why people followed me in the first place. I’m more openly critical and snarkier than I used to be because I have no ties left to that world, although I’m not foolish enough to delve into politics or pop culture.

That account has my name on it and my (outdated) picture. Those are my thoughts.

With the MCLA account, I play it right down the middle. I use the feed to get out information others have written, releases from this site, publicize streaming games and report scores. I’ll never retweet a .gif nor anything with a player nickname in it. That’s not to say the account can’t have some harmless fun, but my assumption is followers of @MCLA want info about the league and nothing tangential to that purpose.

This is not terribly surprising. The account represents an entire organization, and whatever is encompassed in those 140 characters has to be in line what the goals, mission and – most importantly – the reputation of the MCLA.

@MCLA is larger than any one person.

When I look at some of the official Twitter accounts of MCLA programs, however, I sometimes wonder if the line between an individual and a team is being blurred.

I can already see the eyes starting to roll. No, this isn’t about “kids these days,” or a literary finger-wagging at the smart-alecky youngster sitting at the back of the class. MCLA teams have personality. In many ways it’s what sets us apart from the staid, button-down approach of the NCAA types, and Twitter is a convenient vehicle to illustrate that.

Being a maverick is fine. With that said, there needs to be an awareness.

An awareness that you’re not just tweeting for yourself. A Twitter feed represents your program, your institution and – perhaps to the point – the MCLA. Trust me: people are watching, and that’s most definitely a good thing for the most part. Use program Twitter accounts wisely to promote everyone involved.

Division I

No. 1 Chapman (10-0) at No. 10 Oregon (7-1) – 7 p.m., Friday
The Ducks are back in the Top 10 for the first time since the 2014 preseason, which is welcome revelation for a program that went 2-10 last year. With that said, the back half of the schedule is where the season will be decided, starting with the top-ranked Panthers. Grant Clifford, a transfer from Dominican (Calif.), has been a force this season with 38 goals and 11 assists, and he’ll need to keep that going against a strong Chapman defense. This will be the Panthers’ farthest road trip of the season, so it’ll be interesting to see how they hold up.

No. 8 Grand Canyon (4-3) at No. 3 Brigham Young (8-1) – 7 p.m. Friday
The champs are getting a little bit of their swagger back with consecutive 19-5 wins over Boise State and Utah. A win over BYU would put Division I on notice that the old boss is back in town. The Lopes are 4-3 and Dean Fairell (14g, 14a) hasn’t exploded to this point, so they very easily could have a big run in them. Chris Severson (27g, 9a) is having a monster rookie campaign for BYU, sparking the Cougars to a hot start. If BYU can put away the defending champs, it’ll head into its conference slate with the knowledge they are in the tourney and are simply playing for a seed.

No. 5 Cal Poly (8-1) at No. 18 Sonoma State (5-4) – 1 p.m., Saturday
While both teams obviously hope to stay in the hunt for an at-large bid to the MCLA National Tournament powered by Under Armour, the jockeying for a favorable seed in the WCLL has already begun. These two squads are both 2-0 in the conference, and the winner will vie with Stanford for the top seed in the league tournament. For Noma, the recipe is pretty simple: when they score in double digits, they win; if they don’t, they lose. That’s not good news playing against a defense like the Mustangs’, but the Seawolves have some solid offensive threats. Playing in Rohnert Park should be a plus for Sonoma.

Division II

No. 17 Cal State Fullerton (8-2) at No. 2 Concordia-Irvine (9-0) – 1 p.m., Saturday
If you want a preview of the SLC championship game, look no further than this matchup. Other than a disastrous weekend in Vegas, Fullerton has been stacking up the wins, and have put together a reasonable case for inclusion at nationals. If the Titans want to punch their ticket to the OC, a win over the Eagles would wrap it up. That's easier said than done, however. Concordia has been mauling everyone, with only one team (San Diego) managing to stay within nine. The Titans made CUI work last year in the SLC title game (11-7), so there’s always a chance.

No. 5 Kennesaw State (6-1) at No. 13 Reinhardt (5-3) – 2 p.m., Saturday
Is the SELC a multi-bid league in 2016? If Kennesaw wins the AQ – and it certainly looks that way – it’s not going to be easy. The conference has numerous good teams, Reinhardt among them, but some pivotal games have not gone the SELC’s way. The Eagles started out the season 5-1 with a two-goal loss to Dayton and win over Siena Heights. Since then, they are 0-2, including last week’s 7-4 loss to St. Andrews. Now they are in a position where they need to beat Kennesaw just to stay in the at-large discussion. Meanwhile, the Owls have been playing as impressively as anyone in the country. It’s hard seeing them overlooking a game that will come in handy come seeding time.

No. 17 Indiana Tech (2-2) at No. 15 Missouri Valley (2-2) – 9 a.m., Sunday
The Easter bunny better get the candy out early in Marshall, Mo., because the Warriors and Vikings are squaring off in the rare 9 a.m. faceoff. Sporting a 2-2 record at the end of March isn’t terribly sexy, but these are good teams with serious postseason dreams. If Tech scores two more goals, they are 4-0 and ranked in the Top 10 (they lost to both Dayton and Lourdes by one). Mo. Valley got jumped in the season opener against Lindenwood-Belleville and bowed to a very good Kennesaw team, but have looked solid of late. The Vikings have the luxury of a very accessible GRLC automatic qualifier while the prospects of the Warriors navigating their way through the triumvirate of Siena Heights/GVSU/Dayton for the CCLA bid are poor. Tech needs this one more.