NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College and Norwich University have met in the last two Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse championship games, and tomorrow evening they will renew their rivalry as they are set to match up in the first round of the 2014 GNAC tournament.
The #5 seeded Mustangs will head to Northfield for a 7:00 pm game against the fourth seeded Cadets, as the GNAC tournament kicks off with four games on Wednesday.
Mount Ida captured its second consecutive GNAC title in 2012 by defeating Norwich in the title game 7-4, but the Cadets ended Mount Ida's championship run in 2013 by beating them 9-7 after having already won 9-6 in Newton during the regular season.
The Cadets defended their home turf this year with a 10-5 victory on April 12th, meaning that the Mustangs have only won once in three tries in Northfield (a 10-9, triple overtime victory on April 21, 2012).
Overall, Mount Ida is 4-3 against Norwich, but the Cadets have taken the last three meetings since Mount Ida's championship-clinching win two years ago.
"This is the game that everyone wants to see, a rematch of the last two championships," said Mount Ida head coach Andrew Fink, who has brought his team to the conference title game in each of his ten seasons at the helm of the program. "We have a lot of respect for Norwich. They're a hard-working team, and we certainly know what they are capable of, especially lately."
The Mustangs (9-7, 6-4 GNAC) won their first three conference games this year, but fell to the fifth seed after road losses to Lasell, Emmanuel, Norwich and Becker, as the Mustangs failed to win an away game in six tries, though they had a stellar 9-1 mark at home. Coach Fink knows that trend can't continue if the Mustangs want to return to the title game.
"We didn't want to be here, obviously. We would have liked to have a higher seed and get to host at least one game at home. But we figured we're going to have to go through a team like Norwich eventually, and we're going to have to win some road games, so why not play this game right off the bat."
In the other quarterfinals, #1 Emmanuel will host #8 Johnson & Wales, with the winner of that game and the winner of the Mount Ida/Norwich affair meeting in a semifinal game at the higher seed's home field.
Second seeded Lasell will host #7 Johnson & Wales, while third-ranked Becker plays host to #6 Saint Joseph's (ME).
"A lot of teams have an eye in this game, no question," said Fink. "The winner of this game will most likely face the top seed in Emmanuel, so it'll definitely be a game that people are watching, and we're excited to go up to Norwich and try to start a playoff run there."
Make sure to stay tuned to mountidamustangs.com for coverage throughout the Mustang's postseason run.