I woke up today at 4:30 am and got ready to head to Denver for the 2010 MCLA National Championship. As I was packing, I realized I need to go to Wal-Mart to get a travel sized deodorant. So now I can say I have been to Wal-Mart at 5 in the morning, something I’m not too proud about. Needless to say, I made it through security just fine and had a nice, short flight to Denver.

My brother Ben and I called our hotel who were nice enough to have a free shuttle from the airport so we caught that, went to the hotel for 5 minutes so I could drop off a bag, then went straight to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. We were told our press passes would be in the will call, but the will call wasn’t open when we got there so we waited inside the lobby. I was able to sneak into the Rapids front offices where they have some pretty cool jerseys from teams that had come there, but there was way too much light blue and purple for my liking. After about an hour in the lobby, we were finally able to get our press passes, except they didn’t make one for Ben, just me, so Ben took mine on the field just in case, but no one has said anything yet.

We headed up to the “press box” even though I wouldn’t call it that. There are a few boxes but those were reserved for radio and television. I headed out on the balcony where it was apparent the writers were sitting, although there was just one out there with me. Enter Jac Coyne. I had read his stuff here and there but to meet him was a treat. He is a quality journalist so I tagged around with him and followed his lead. I learned a lot from him. You can read his stuff here. If I could only write half as well as he does, I would be in good shape.

The first game had a lot of interest for me. Westminster was facing Utah Valley for the third time this year. This time it was on the big stage though. You can read my recap here. Utah Valley was able to beat Westminster for the second time this year. Utah Valley is looking really good going into the Championship game.

The other Division II semi-final featured the Division II defending Champions, St. Thomas Tommies versus the Davenport Panthers. This was a great game, but St. Thomas ran away with it and won 17-9. You can read the recap here. There was an hour rain/lightning delay. I was sitting on the “press balcony” and could see it coming. It started very lightly but then just started to pour. It got really cold too and continued to rain for the rest of the night.

The third game of the day featured Arizona State and Simon Fraser. Simon Fraser was able to knock off the No. 2 seed, Colorado State on Thursday, so they were feeling it. However, Arizona State came to play and shut them down. This game was over early. The three Westfall brothers took over the game and played really well. Recap here.

The fourth game featured defending Champion Michigan who knocked off Chapman. Michigan has now beat Chapman in the tournament the past three years. Neither team looked like they were playing well which bodes well for Arizona State, who looked like they were playing very well. Recap here.

After the games we returned to the hotel and I wrote a story while Ben edited some pics.

What’s in store for Day 2:
The Division II Championship is going to be great. St. Thomas is playing well and is hungry for a back-to-back title. Utah Valley is a very good team as well and they will be looking to prove a point. It’s going to be close…hopefully. The Michigan/Arizona State game should be very good. I know a lot of fans are pulling for Arizona State just because they don’t want Michigan to win again, but I think Michigan will be prepared for whatever Arizona State throws at them. These two teams faced each other back in March and Michigan was able to escape with a one goal victory. It’s going to be a battle.

Pictures from Ben: