Salt Lake City, Utah (May 3, 2008) – Westminster College won the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference Division II championship beating Fort Lewis College 12-11 on their home field in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams played well and with high intensity. Westminster wanted to repeat as Division II RMLC conference champions and Fort Lewis wanted to secure a slot at the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Championship in Dallas later in May.
Fort Lewis controlled the opening face off but scoring didn’t start until two and a half minutes into the quarter. Westminster midfielder James Brand committed a slash which gave Fort Lewis a one man advantage. The Skyhawks capitalized on a goal by attackman Chad Murphy on a pass from Tyler Pousson to take a 1-0 lead.
Westminster answered three minutes later on a goal by attackman Roman Schoewe to tie the score, 1-1. Six minutes later, Fort Lewis scored on a goal by Murphy, who was cutting down the middle when midfielder Danny Lowry passed the ball to him before scoring.
Westminster then went on a five goal scoring streak which ended the half with a score of 6-2 in favor of the Griffins.
The third quarter started off with a Skyhawk goal. Westminster goalie Dallas McLellan made a great save but was unable to control the ball which was then scooped up in front of the goal by Murphy who put it in the back of the net. Fort Lewis and Westminster swapped goals as each team scored four goals in the third quarter with Westminster leading, 10-6.
Fort Lewis wouldn’t give up as they scored the first two goals within in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Westminster answered back three minutes later with a goal by attackmen Jake Barnes off a fast break.
The Skyhawks then scored two goals to drawn within one goal (11-10). But Westminster midfielder Danny Larkin scored the eventual game-winning goal at the 4:42 mark off a feed from teammate Bradford Watkins.
Fort Lewis scored another goal with one minute remaining in the game, but Westminster was able to hold the ball as time expired giving the Griffins their second straight RMLC title.
“Their goalie was good and they can score in transition,” said Westminster Head Coach Mason Goodhand. “We played into their strength and gave them a chance to get back into the game when we should have been methodical and put it away.”
Westminster will advance to the MCLA Division II National Championships in Dallas. The Griffins will most likely obtain the top seed for the championship tournament after going the entire season ranked No. 1 in the polls. As for Fort Lewis, the Skyhawks must wait for the final MCLA Top 25 poll to see if they qualify for one of the Division 2 at-large bids.
Originally posted on CollegeLAX.us on May 3, 2008
