NCAA Championship Bracket
GREENSBURG, Pa. – The first Great Midwest Athletic Conference program to play in the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship bracket made quite a splash in the quarterfinals as No. 2 Seton Hill beat No. 3 Le Moyne, 14-10.
The Griffins were one of four teams represented from the North Region along No. 1 Merrimack and No. 4 NYIT after winning the Great Midwest Championship for the second year in a row.
By virtue of a near-undefeated season, Seton Hill (17-1 overall) emerged as the second seed out of the North as Le Moyne stumbled in the NE-10 Championship semifinals against Saint Anselm.
The Griffins are in their second year of associate membership with the Great Midwest under head coach Brian Novotny. SHU went into the national tournament remaining ranked third in the USILA National Poll.
The Dolphins of Le Moyne were ranked No. 1 in the North Region for back-to-back weeks but slipped to No. 3 with Merrimack taking over No. 1 in the final set of North Region rankings. That opened the door for Seton Hill to move up a spot while NYIT remained locked at No. 4.
Merrimack crushed NYIT in the quarterfinal round by a 24-6 score and the Griffins will have to contend with the top-seeded Warriors for a North Region title next weekend.
Seton Hill will put its 16-game win streak on the line against Merrimack next Sunday with the start time to be determined. The winner will play the South Region champion out of No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne and No. 2 Saint Leo for a national championship trophy.
The Griffins won the battle of the first quarter as five different players scored for a 5-2 lead as John Hofseth and Zack Rusch had a goal and assist in the first 15 minutes.
Keeping pace in the second quarter important as each team scored five goals and the Griffins carried a three-goal advantage into halftime.
The Griffins locked down defensively in a critical third-period showing while holding the Dolphins scoreless. Moran and Jay Scerbo each scored in the fourth quarter to hold off Le Moyne’s late charge.
Seton Hill had just one more shot than Le Moyne with a 43-42 advantage. The Griffins had 26 shots on goal while forcing their opponent to make 12 turnovers and just committed six of their own.
The Griffins cleaned up the Great Midwest Men’s Lacrosse individual awards in the postseason with Moran, specialist of the year Brett Craig, goalkeeper of the year Max Eismann and coach of the year Novotny.
Le Moyne concluded the spring season with a 15-2 overall record.