Limestone University

 

 

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W

ith origins rooted deeply in ancient Native American culture, lacrosse is a sport that embraces tradition. 

 

However, change is said to be inevitable and while the game has certainly undergone modifications since initially being played on open fields by teams consisting of as many as 1,000 men per side, there are many elements of lacrosse that are as predominant today as they were several hundred years ago.

 

One particularly embraced alteration in modern-day men’s lacrosse that is being celebrated this year has nothing to do with in-game rules, but rather in how and when champions are crowned.

 

During the 2009 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships, a collaborative celebration of the sport will once again occur as teams from NCAA Divisions I, II and III will vie for a right to be named their respective division’s winner. However, for NCAA Division II fans, student-athletes and coaches, another milestone also will be reached.

 

This marks the 25th anniversary of the Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

 

Without a doubt, the NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship game had a modest beginning. In fact, after the introduction of the Division I championship format in 1971, the NCAA added a “small college” tournament for non-Division I schools in the 1972 and 1973 seasons.

 

From 1974 through 1979, a combined Division II and III tournament was held. Three different teams — Towson, Cortland State and Hobart — claimed first-time national titles in ’74, ’75 and ’76 respectively. After finishing as runner-up in 1974 and 1975, Hobart won back-to-back championships over the next two seasons while going undefeated (15-0) in 1977.

 

Roanoke topped Hobart 14-13 for the national title one year later and Adelphi registered its first NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship in 1979.

 

After finishing as runners-up the season before, UMBC beat Adelphi 23-14 for the 1980 title, but Adelphi responded with its second national title in 1981.

 

The NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship was not conducted from

1982-1992 however, several Division II teams were invited to participate in the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship during those years including Adelphi in 1982, ’87 and ’89, and C.W. Post in 1986.

 

In particular, Adelphi earned widespread recognition while participating in the Division I tournament by upsetting Army in 1987 and receiving a No. 5 seeding in 1989.

 

Citing the out-of-division success each of those two teams achieved during the Division II tournament hiatus, perhaps it was duly appropriate that Adelphi and C.W. Post met in the 1993 NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship; a game in which Adelphi won its third national title by a score of 11-7.

 

The Division II title game was dominated by Adelphi and C.W. Post over the next several years with Adelphi earning the national championship in 1995, ’98 and ’99, and C.W. Post, national runners-up in both 1998 and ’99, winning the crown in 1996.

 

But longtime New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) coach Jack Kaley,

who guided the Bears to a 1997 national title, believes one of the most significant

developments for the NCAA Division II men’s championship occurred in conjunction with the turn of the century.

 

“Around 2000, they moved the championship from a local campus to the actual site of championships weekend,” he said. “Before that, the Division II championship game was held on a secondary field.”

 

“That’s a change that all of us at the Division II level have been grateful for,” added Le Moyne men’s lacrosse coach and assistant athletics director Dan Sheehan.

 

As a result, title game attendance steadily increased.

 

A virtual unknown in the world of collegiate lacrosse, Limestone from Gaffney, South Carolina. stunned traditional powerhouse C.W. Post, 10-9, before a crowd of 2,019 fans in 2000.

 

One year later, Adelphi defeated Limestone 14-10 in front of a Division II-record paid attendance of 2,180.

 

Limestone won its second national lacrosse title in 2002 by defeating NYIT 11-9.

 

A championship rematch between those two schools the following season however, produced not only an opposite title game outcome but an opportunity for even more fans to be exposed to NCAA Division II men’s lacrosse, thanks to a scheduling change.

 

That particular contest marked the first time a Division II title game was played on the same field as the Divisions I and III games —Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Ravens.

 

Additionally, at that time, men’s lacrosse was the only team sport to hold all three divisional championships at the same site.

 

Despite steady rain, 15,417 fans saw defensive-minded NYIT top Limestone, 9-4, for the 2003 national championship.

 

“That was sort of a unique game,” Kaley said. “We were a zone team going against a high-powered offense.

 

“At one point, we were up 8-1 going into the fourth quarter. That’s something you just don’t see very often in lacrosse.”

 

The following season’s NCAA Division II championship game was also unique.

 

Le Moyne’s Brandon Spillett, a junior, scored a game-tying shot with two seconds remaining in regulation that sent the Dolphins into overtime against Limestone. Then, 44 seconds into the second sudden-victory period, Spillett scored again and gave Le Moyne an 11-10 victory in front of 19,202 people.

 

In recognition of his seven-goal performance which helped the Dolphins complete a perfect 16-0 season, Spillett was voted the game’s most outstanding player.

 

Limestone, appearing in its sixth consecutive championship game, endured another overtime loss during the 2005 NCAA Division II men’s title contest. In that game, played in front of 21,052, NYIT senior midfielders Joe Gabrysiak and Tom Zummo combined for nine of the Bears’ 14 goals, but it was Gabrysiak’s overtime score that gave Kaley his third national title.

 

“The lead changed probably five or six times in that game,” Kaley said.

 

“Both teams had opportunities in regulation and in overtime and it’s really a shame that somebody had to lose.”

 

While crediting Gabrysiak with an outstanding performance in that contest, Kaley is quick to point out that Zummo also deserves special recognition.

 

“Tommy Zummo was the best big-game performer I’ve ever had,” he said. “He had his biggest days in the most important games and he made other people around him better.

 

“Gabrysiak and Zummo were lefthanders and they were both very good.

 

“Since they both played the same line, Limestone had to decide which guy they were going to try to stop.

 

“They couldn’t stop both of them.”

 

Kaley, who refuses to recognize himself as one of the greatest NCAA Division II coaches, instead prefers to acknowledge the likes of Adelphi’s Paul Doherty and Sandy Kapatos, Tom Postel from C.W. Post and Le Moyne’s Dan Sheehan, but Limestone coach Mike Cerino, who also serves as the school’s director of athletics, believes Kaley is equally deserving of that classification.

 

“Jack and others like Kapatos, Postel and Sheehan have a passion for their programs as well as for the sport of lacrosse,” Cerino said. “They’re guys who are highly competitive and their teams are always ready to play.”

 

Sheehan’s 2006 team was especially prepared for a championship run and its nationally top-ranked defense proved too much for Division II’s most prolific offense in the national title game. Dowling entered its first championship game appearance with an impressive 15.6 goals per game average but the Dolphins’ defense prevailed in a 12-5 decision before 23,990 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

 

Le Moyne finished the year 18-0. 

 

The 2007 NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship proved to be the lowest-scoring final in Division II lacrosse history as Le Moyne bested Mercyhurst 6-5 for the Dolphins’ third title in four years.

 

Le Moyne junior attackman Mike McDonald scored the game-winner with just seven seconds remaining in regulation. He was voted the championship’s most outstanding player in 2006 as well as in ’07.

 

“When the chips were down, McDonald was the type of player who would take over,” Kaley said. “He was a phenomenal attackman.”

 

In 2008, NYIT reclaimed the Division II crown with a 16-11 win over Le Moyne,

giving the school its fourth national title in program history.

 

Division II, in particular, has undoubtedly benefited from being a part of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships. The multi-day celebratory event, which includes title games for Divisions I, II and III as well as student-athlete autograph sessions, vendor booths, food and music, has become a Memorial Day weekend tradition for players, coaches and fans alike as they gather to crown national champions and celebrate the sport itself.

 

“Championships weekend has grown every year,” said John Jez, head men’s lacrosse coach at C.W. Post and chair of the NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Committee. “It has to be the first or second biggest championships weekend behind basketball now.

 

“It’s a whole weekend experience and one of the few championships that brings all three divisions together.”

 

Cerino agreed.

 

“It was such an honor for Division II to become a part of championships weekend,” he said. “I really feel like being a part of that celebration has opened up a whole new opportunity for the division as well as for the sport.”

 

Television coverage has also helped Division II prosper in recent times.

 

“What amazes me is that you can now sit in your living room on any given Saturday from March through April and watch lacrosse on television,” Sheehan said.

 

“More exposure like that introduces more folks to the game and once they discover it, they fall in love with it.”

 

Twenty five years, a few very significant changes and a lot of fond memories after the first NCAA Division II men’s lacrosse championship game was played between Towson and Hobart, the sport is prospering and continuing to grow.

 

“When I first started in the game at the high school level back in the early 50s, as I recall, there were only something like 27 high school teams in America,” Kaley said. “Now, there are probably 20,000.

 

“It’s definitely going to get bigger and bigger, in all divisions.”

 

Many continue to credit championships weekend as a catalyst for growing the sport, particularly at the Division II level.

 

“The plan for the next couple of years is to keep going with the championships format we have,” Sheehan said. “The Division II and Division III games on Sunday are a nice bridge to the Division I championship on Monday.

 

“Divisions II and III bring a lot of folks down for the entire weekend and the current structure provides a nice opportunity to get more fans in the stands for all three championship games.

 

“With the passing of each year, excitement in the world of college lacrosse builds.”

Sheehan believes the growing popularity of the sport, especially in non-traditional lacrosse hotbeds, will ultimately create more competitive balance among all three NCAA divisions.

 

“The game is spreading like wildfire all over the country and I think you’re going to see more parity across all three divisions because there are so many kids out there playing the game.”

 

However, for Division II, the moment is now.

 

“Twenty-five years of any championship is a great milestone,” Jez said. “To have this year’s event taking place in a great city like Boston on Memorial Day weekend is really a special way for Division II to celebrate with the rest of the nation.”