GRLC Playoffs - Predictions, Scores, News

[mizzou dad]

Very good game between Illinois/Mizzou. Illinois almost scored at the end
of regulation time. They controlled most of the OT.

As a fan of mizzou very proud of our team. Both teams showed great
effort.

[exlax4]

how about a score on the WIU-Harding game? it should be done by now...
and what of the Div B all conf. list?

And as far as playoffs goes, Dordt would like to thank all of the execs, players, coaches, etc. who made our playoff experience so much fun. the field was perfect, it was nice to have a trainer, and the whole weekend was great. thanks especially to coach Hood and coach Bifulco who worked our games and who hosted the tournament.
we were happy to make playoffs again this year and felt like we played well against USD (thanks for a fun game) and had a decent showing against Harding (we were actually winning for a while!). hopefully Dordt can break its 3 year tradition of playing the #1 seed in the semi-finals if we make playoffs next year!

[yourmom]

Harding wins over WIU for div. B champs

[yourmom]

Lindenwood - 15

Illinois - 5

Im sure Troy will list details later.
Brian Nix from LU Got Game MVP.

Thanks to all who came out.

[SMSlax]

An interesting season from beginning to end. GRLC (A and B) have a third champion in as many years and potential for some real progress for the conference seems more than likely. Congrats to Lindenwood University and Harding University and best of luck in MN. To everybody else, time to start working towards next season.

[John Bifulco]

Having ran the clock and watched all the games except Missouri vs. SMS and Dordt vs. USD it was a great weekend of lacrosse. Here is my perspective of all the games I saw and a brief recap:

Friday 4:30PM - WUSTL (4) - ISU (6)
All week at Wash U, we had our fingers crossed that freshman Nick Brown, who recieved 2nd Team Attack honors this year, would be able to play against ISU after being injured in the SLU game. The team found out at the field that Nick was unable to play and I feel that took a lot of wind out of our sails. ISU came ready to play and played a great game. ISU scored early to secure the lead and the Bears were unable to get it back. Tim Wagner led the scoring for ISU with two goals and four other Redbirds posted goals.

Friday 7:30PM - RHiT (L) - Creighton (W)
I beleive Creighton won by 10 goals or so. I can't remember. This was my first experience watching a Division B game this year. I was really impressed with Creighton's attack line of Phil Snow, Chris Fete, and Connor Mulanney. It could be argued that Snow could of won Offensive POY. Metcalf is a tremendous defensemen and it was obvious why he was honored as the DB Defensive POY. Standout players on RHiT were LSM Ryan Westlund and goalie Hammes. I have NEVER seen a goalie throw a 75 yard pass like Hammes does ON A ROPE! It was impressive!

Saturday 11AM - Harding (12) - Dordt (5)
This was my first Dordt experience and I am a big fan. Most of the guys from Dordt have never played lacrosse before college and what they lack in stick skills, these guys made up in hustle, size, and heart. Dordt was actually winning early on before Harding took control of the game. Wilhelmi did a great job on faceoffs and Harding has a great attack lineup and some standout midfielders. However, what I thought most impressive about Harding is their great team culture. They will be fine representives of the GRLC up in Blaine.

Saturday 2PM - Creighton (10) - WIU (12)
Great game. My impression was that WIU does not have all the standout players that Creighton has, but rather a deeper bench of good players that resulted in them pulling out lead in the 4th qtr. because it appeared as if Creighton ran out of gas in the 4th.

Saturday 5PM - ISU (9) - LU (14)
This is a good rivalry that is worth noting that gets overshadowed by other traditional GRLC rivalries. ISU beat LU last year by a goal and this year hung tough with the Lions in their 14 - 11 loss to LU. LU was man down for what seemed to be half of the game. Every time ISU would pull close to LU, the Lions would score to keep their distance from losing their edge. It was a good game to watch, very physical, however I never felt that LU was seriously threatend to lose the lead.

Saturday 8PM - MU (4) - UofI (5)
Hands down the best game of the championships. Don't let the low score fool you. This wasn't a slow down style game. There was plenty of offense, but it was the goalies who played out of their minds that kept this score so low and game so great to watch! I thought Mizzou had the edge going into overtime, as I beleived they controlled most of the game in the first 4 quarters. However, it was the Illini that came into OT like a completely different team and maintained possesion to get the game winning goal.

Sunday 1PM Harding (12) - WIU (8 )
I think that was the score. Another exciting game, WIU and Harding exchanged the lead several times through the first three quarters. I think it was in the 4th that WIU's coach got a 30 second conduct foul when he questioned a bad call (that I happened to agree with him on). At that point, WIU never got back on track and Harding ran away with the game. Congratulations to Alan Frost who was the game MVP with 2 goals and 4 assists.

Sunday 4PM LU (15) - UofI (5)
Lindenwood came out with the early lead and the Illini could not recover. Their were some incredible transition goals on LU's part. The offensive POY and Defensive POY matchup between Combs and Hooper had a few moments, however, Brian Nix - attack - was the star of the LU show with 6 goals and 2 assists.

Congratulations to LU and Harding. I know both teams will represent the GRLC well up in Blaine!

[reLAX10]

This is from my goalie John Katsis, I do not permit players to post
on the board, but well this speaks for itself and the teams in the GRLC.


"Normally I am opposed to players posting on the Message Board
but I feel this weekend merits an exception.

Having been involved with the GRLC tournament for three years
now, I must say how satisfied I was with the way the
tournament went this year. Coach Bifulco and his staff did an
outstanding job coordinating the tournament and the lacrosse
that was played was the best I have seen in my experience at
the GRLC Championship.

The game Saturday night against Missouri will probably go down
as one of my greatest lacrosse memories. Both teams gave 100%
while playing clean, respectful lacrosse. I hope the class
Illinois showed to Missouri was equal to the class they showed
us throughout the game.

Although I wish the game Sunday could have shifted in
Illinois’ favor, I was astounded by the high caliber of
lacrosse Lindenwood played for all 60 minutes of the game. I
haven’t seen such a cohesive and explosive attack unit all
year (which is saying a lot, seeing as how I have played FSU,
Miami Ohio, Minnesota, and Minnesota Duluth). I wish
Lindenwood the best of luck in the national tournament.

-John Katsis #50"

[pepsi24]

first of all congratulations to lindenwood and harding for their wins. they played great all year and will be great reps for the grlc in minnesota. secondly the play i saw on the field was amazing. teams came ready to play and left it all out on the field. but what i was most impressed with was the sportsmanship shown by the teams playing. i was on the field after the harding/western illinois game and i was blown away by the wiu players. there was no "handshake line" but rather a "group hug" atmosphere with players individually seeking each other out shaking hands/hugging and talking. i was also impressed with the words being spoken, there wasnt anything negative coming out. it wasnt even just the regular hey good game stuff, i heard more then one player from wiu saying like "hey good luck in minnesota", "show em whats up in blaine" etc. they should alot of class on and off the field. when the game was over they didnt yell or get angry or anything, they knew that they had played their hearts out and left it all on the field, and they were proud to have made it to the championship game. i wish that we could have two spots for nationals, because teams like wiu are what this league needs.