Coming in on a five game win streak, UMBC put forth a monumental effort against defending National Champion Cincinnati, only to have the undefeated Bearcats escape in an overtime thriller 12-11 to set the tone for the tournament. After building a seemingly insurmountable lead at 7-2, Cincinnati found itself on the other end of a two goal deficit with just under 7:00 minutes to play in the last stanza. Over the next several critical possessions, Cincinnati used stellar goaltending and accurate shooting to regain the lead, only to have a resilient UMBC tie it up with 8 ticks of the clock left at 11 all. UMBC would outscore Cincinnati 8-1 to lead 10-8 but with a well-placed shot by All Tournament attack man Tim Wetta, the Bearcats from Ohio would advance weary but wiser to the Final Four in the day’s afternoon games: credit both UMBC Danny Weissman and Cincinnati Matt Walters who were unflappable in goal stopping 13 shots. With a 20 game win streak of their own, Cincinnati showed tremendous poise and character in clawing back as UMBC would not go away easily.

On Comcast East, Slippery Rock and Ithaca were locked in a heated duel as Ithaca jumped to an early 6-1 advantage, only to have Slippery Rock score the next six of seven to take their first lead of the day at 8-7. In a game of runs, Ithaca scored the next five of six to take a 12-9 lead and then held off a furious Slippery Rock rally for the 12-11 win. With five goals in the 4^th quarter, Ithaca proved once again that it could play deep into any game if need be. With a return trip by NY Metro Champion Columbia University to the Elite Eight, the veterans were able to stake an early 2-0 lead but  newcomer VMI found its’ footing and unloaded offensively by scoring 12 of the next 13 goals to claim a first ever Final Four berth by a 12- 3 margin as All Tournament Roland Richardson scored a game high five goals for the Keydets. For defending Deep South Champion University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, who upset both Memphis and Mississippi State in the Conference Championships to advance to College Park, #2 West Chester proved to be battle tested coming from the Liberty Conference as the Rams secured a 14-2 victory and were able to successfully acclimate to their first Division II Elite Eight in program history.

In the much anticipated Final Four, Cincinnati fell behind early before rallying to a 15-5 victory over Ithaca to complete a 3^rd consecutive trip to the Division II National Championship as the Bearcats clamped down a highly touted Blue Bomber offense, who were aiming for their fourth consecutive upset as Ithaca claimed upset wins over undefeated Nationally Ranked #2 Niagara (13-10), #4 RPI (10-7) and overall  #4 seed Slippery Rock (12-11) for their second consecutive Final Four appearance. In the other semi-finals, West Chester was able to keep the VMI attack off the board and doubled up the Blue Ridge Champion 10-5 to send the Rams into Sunday’s Final as VMI ended their most successful season in program history at (8-1).

National Championship ( as reported by Brendan Staudt)

With differing weather the day and night before, Sunday brought out the sun with a stiff cool breeze, a far step up from Saturday’s lightning, pouring rain and ominous skies. As teams arrived and the sidelines filled with fans, both teams would produce epic efforts as the top two seeds destiny finally collided:

1st Quarter

With face-off set for 11am, the teams lined up in traditional lacrosse fashion, goalies met at the center and the players took their respective positions. Luke Hay won the game’s first face-off, as he had been doing all year. Unfortunately, the swarming wing play created a Bearcats turnover and the tone was set.

After clearing the ball, the vaulted Cincinnati offense quickly fired their first shot, which was gobbled up by WCU’s goaltender Joe Kelly who started a fast break of his own. The Rams first possession lasted for almost two minutes as the Rams were able to shoot several times, getting off two good shots that were saved by Bearcat Matt Walters. After the second save, the Bearcats found themselves on the offensive front with another attempt on a great shot. The first EMO went to WCU and after a classic and perfectly timed poke check helped UC gain possession and get the ball back to their offensive side of the field. UC, always known to attack the cage, tried getting a timely short-handed goal, but Joe Kelly was again up to the task and kept the Bearcats off the board, one of the only times any opponent has accomplished that feat. The Rams defense stood tall during the exchange and thanks to the heads up defensive play of Colin Kelley, the Rams regained possession and then watched Mike Gartenmayer race to the offensive end.  

The first quarter was a back and forth affair as both offenses created multiple scoring opportunities only to have Kelly and Walters make the save at the doorstep. Both teams had great possessions and looks at the cage, but the goalies were playing at an extremely high level from the opening whistle. Kelly and Walters showcased their skills as two of the best in the game.

END OF 1^st QUARTER: 0-0

2nd Quarter

Cincinnati started off on the right foot with a win at the face-off X. The Bearcats gained possession and after passing it around the horn, had an attack men beat both defenders for a chance at a 1 on 1 for the lead. Kelly was alert and made an incredible stop to provide some much needed energy and keep the UC offense at bay. Kelly again found a breaking Gartenmayer who took off running for the opposite end.

WCU would strike 1^st as Hare found Josh MacKilligan streaking down the backside and in the back of the net for the Rams’ first tally: West Chester 1-Cincinnati 0

WCU’s first goal clearly swung the momentum to the Liberty Champions as the Rams’ Luke Hay won the ensuing face-off and with Joe Kelly standing tall in net to stymie the UC offense, it would be Phil Graziano’s goal to push the purple and gold to a 2-0 lead.

With teams content on trading possessions, WCU’s Nate Hare and freshman Jimmy Gormley began to play in sync as Hare back-doored his defender to catch a beautiful pass from Gormley and slipped it into the back of the net for his first goal of the game and his teams third.

END OF 2^nd QUARTER: 3-0 West Chester

3rd Quarter

                While Cincinnati kept possession after face-offs, the Bearcats were held off the board until a save by Walters lead to a clean fast break and goal as All Tournament midfielder Joe Werner put the Bearcats on the board to close the three goal gap at 3-1.  Rallying behind the quick goal, the Bearcats won the face and got the ball on offense to extend their momentum but were denied by Kelly in goal. With a quick clear, West Chester again extended their three goal cushion to 4-1 as Hare’s shot slipped past Walters after splitting two defenders.

With Cincinnati relying on face-offs to keep them within striking distance, West Chester was called for illegal procedure as the Bearcats looked to pick up the pace offensively. With the Rams defense making life difficult for the high powered Cincinnati offense which came in averaging 14 GPG, the purple and gold cleared the ball and after numerous shots then saves by Walters, Hare scored another to up the lead to 5-1.  With an apparent goal waived off, Hare could not be stopped in scoring the sixth goal for WCU as Cincinnati could not answer as West Chester claimed a 6-1 lead.

Slowly though, Cincinnati began to chip away at the lead.  Winning face-offs, Cincinnati  began to find its’ footing as the Bearcats realized time was not in their favor as UC Kyle Torpey’s rocket shot closed the gap 6-2.

                Sensing a comeback attempt, West Chester’s Luke Hay took away any momentum with the critical face off and pushed the advantage back to five goals as senior Taylor Sell buried his shot for a 7-2 lead. Hay would again claim the critical  faceoff as the Rams would attain possession for the next 1:50, making many attempts but not finding anything to drop in their favor.

END OF 3^rd QUARTER: 7-2 West Chester

4th Quarter

This is where the game got interesting. Although it started with Hay winning the face-off for West Chester, the Rams gave away possession and could only watch as Cincinnati found its’ form. With an EMO for Cincinnati, Tim Wetta didn't waste any time as he ripped a shot from top center to make the score 7-3.  Shortly after, Cincinnati gained possession in an unsettled situation and Joe Werner took the ball to X and dove from behind the crease to sneak it past Kelly, giving his team that extra push they needed to make a run, closing the gap at three goals 7-4 in favor of West Chester.

On the ensuing faceoff, Cincinnati picked up the ball after a scrum at the midfield and with another EMO attempt, Kyle Torpey finished off another shot to make it 7-5 West Chester. Three minutes later, Hare tallied again to put his team back up three with an 8-5 lead. On the next Cincinnati offensive possession, Kelly came up big twice to keep the Bearcats at bay. With just under 2:00 left in the game, West Chester would add to their penalty minutes and were called for a non-releaseable due to a  high hit to the head. For the Bearcats, this was the break they were looking for and quickly put forth a volley of shots that the Rams EMD were willing to give before Torpey’s shot brought the Cincinnati faithful to its’ feet with UC climbing back to make it 8-6. With time running out, the comeback attempt fell short as West Chester held off a tremendous effort by the Bearcats who could not overcome the 7-1 deficit in the second half. For West Chester, their all-around team effort paid off with a 17-2 season culminating in the Frederick Cup and Final Four MVP honors for West Chester goalie Joe Kelly as he was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Jimmy Gormley, Nate Hare, Colin Kelley, Sean Hagan and Mike Gartenmayer. For Cincinnati, who competed in their 3^rd consecutive Nationa Championship, All-Tournament players included Tim Wetta, Joe Werner, Tyler Jernigan, Zach Gordon and Matt Walters.

May 11 at University of Maryland Elite 8

#1 Maryland 14 vs. Sacred Heart 7

#4 Virginia 11 vs. Penn State 12 OT

#2 Cornell 9 vs. Michigan 4

#3 Rutgers 5 vs. Salisbury 7

May 11 at University of Maryland Final Four

#1 Maryland 7 vs. Penn State 12

#2 Cornell 8 vs. Salisbury 12

May 12 National Championship at University of Maryland

Penn State 11 vs. Salisbury 7

May 11 at University of Maryland Elite Eight

#4 Slippery Rock 11 vs. Ithaca 12

#1 Cincinnati 12 vs. UMBC 11 OT

#2 West Chester 14 vs. UTC 2

#3 Columbia 3 vs. VMI 13

May 11 at University of Maryland Final Four

#1 Cincinnati 15 vs. Ithaca 5

#2 West Chester 10 vs. VMI 5

May 12 National Championship at University of Maryland

West Chester 8 vs. Cincinnati 6

1. West Chester (17-2)

2. Cincinnati (13-1)

3. Ithaca (8-3)

4. Niagara (11-1)

5. St. Joseph’s (5-3)                                      

6. UMBC (5-5)

7. Slippery Rock (10-2)

8. Virginia Military Institute VMI (8-1)

9. Rensselear Polytechnic Institute RPI (6-2)

10. Moravian (7-2)

11. St. Mary’s (5-1)

12. Temple (12-5)

13. Columbia (6-3)

14. Monmouth (9-2)

15. Lock Haven (6-4)

16. Millersville (10-5)

17. Binghamton (5-6)

18. Connecticut College (5-2)

19. Pitt-Johnstown (4-1)

20. Eastern Kentucky EKU (6-5)

21. Bowling Green (7-3)

22. University of Tennessee-Chattanooga UTC (5-6)

23. Johns Hopkins (5-3)

24. Akron (10-5)

25. LaSalle (7-4-1)

Others Considered: Radford, Lynchburg, Franklin & Marshall, Mississippi State, Dickinson, Saginaw Valley, Le Moyne, Penn College, Indiana University (Pa), Rowan, Memphis, Williamson, George Mason, Tennessee Tech, Christopher Newport, Trinity, New Paltz, Morgan State

Tournament MVP                           Ben Mank         Penn State-Attack

Division II

Position                                                Name                                        School

Attack                                                  Roland Richardson                 VMI                           

Attack                                                  Justin Higgins                          Ithaca

Attack                                                  Sam Cannella                           Ithaca

Attack                                                  Tim Wetta                                Cincinnati

Attack                                                  Jimmy Gormley                       West Chester

Attack/Midfield                                   Nate Hare                                 West Chester

Midfield                                               Mike Gartenmayer                  West Chester

Midfield                                              Joe Werner                               Cincinnati                   

Midfield                                              Tyler Jernigan                           Cincinnati       

Defense                                               Colin Kelley                             West Chester              

Defense                                                Sean Hagan                              West Chester  

Defense                                                Zach Gordon                           Cincinnati

Goal                                                     Matt Walters                            Cincinnati

Goal                                                     Joe Kelly                                  West Chester