NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The first Great Midwest Athletic Conference program to make the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship bracket made a splash in the bracket as No. 2 seed Seton Hill saw its season end on Sunday against top seed Merrimack.
Seton Hill won its opening-round championship game against Le Moyne and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals in a battle of the top two teams remaining from the North Region.
Only eight teams were tabbed by the national committee to make the NCAA Championship bracket, a huge accomplishment for the Seton Hill program and the coaching staff as the sport continues to rise in prominence and popularity.
Merrimack was able to prevail, 16-9, as Michael O’Connell, Charlie Bertrand and Sean Black, all scored three goals. Zack Rusch and Sean Stanners scored three goals each for Seton Hill, which ended the first quarter in a 3-3 draw with the Warriors, champs of the NE-10 Conference.
The Warriors won their 13th straight contest on their way into the title bout, forging a perfect 12-0 record at home along the way. The lone Merrimack loss during the season was at the hands of Le Moyne, an 8-5 score back on March 24.
The Griffins (17-2 overall) closed out a banner spring campaign as back-to-back Great Midwest tournament champs and also claimed the first recognized regular-season title in the league.
SHU also hosted the four-team Great Midwest Championship (with Lake Erie, Mercyhurst, Wheeling Jesuit) in Greensburg, PA, and has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the USILA National Poll.
The Griffins were also firmly planted in the NCAA North Region Rankings for four consecutive weeks (there is no automatic qualification process for DII men’s lacrosse). The program will also be represented well on future NCAA All-American teams as publications begin to release their postseason honors.
The Griffins enjoyed a conference-best win streak of 16 straight and was a double-overtime finish away from completing an undefeated regular season. That team with the slight upper hand was Lenoir-Rhyne, the No. 1 South Region seed, which was defeated in the NCAA semifinals by No. 2 Saint Leo.
Saint Leo and Merrimack will collide the NCAA DII Men’s Lacrosse Championship trophy on Sunday, May 27, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Seton Hill also clleaned up the postseason conference awards with Great Midwest Player of the Year (Jack Moran), Great Midwest Goalkeeper of the Year (Max Eismann), Great Midwest Specialist of the Year (Brett Craig) and Great Midwest Coach of the Year (Brian Novotny).
The top four teams from the North Region in the NCAA Championship bracket were No. 1 Merrimack, No. 2 Seton Hill, No. 3 Le Moyne and No. 4 NYIT.