NEWTON, Mass. – If Mount Ida College wants to get back to the conference championship game, they must do it on the road as the #5 seeded Mustangs will begin their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse tournament run in Providence against the fourth seeded Johnson & Wales Wildcats this afternoon at 4:00 pm.
The Mustangs (9-8, 4-4 GNAC) and Wildcats (9-8, 5-3 GNAC) will play the rematch of a great regular season game in Newton, which saw Johnson & Wales emerge with a 10-9 win, scoring in the final minute of the first overtime period.
Historic Notes:
Perennial contenders in the GNAC, the Mustangs return to the postseason for the thirteenth straight year, and are looking to get back to the title game for the fifth time in their six-year GNAC history. Mount Ida were finalists last year, falling to Emmanuel College in the championship tilt in Boston as the #2 seed.
This year's win for the Wildcats was their first against Mount Ida in their three-year program history. The Mustangs won the first meeting, 13-7, in Newton in 2014 and 6-5 in Providence last year.
Not taking long to get their program off the ground, Johnson & Wales are making their third straight GNAC tournament appearance, but are still looking for their first postseason win after falling to Emmanuel in 2014 and Norwich in 2015, both in the quarterfinals round.
How they Got Here:
After struggling out of the gate, Mount Ida comes into the tournament winners of their last three games. They won on the road at Saint Joseph's Maine to clinch a tournament spot, then allowed just four goals against Albertus Magnus and shutout Anna Maria on Senior Day to even their conference record at 4-4.
JWU has had an up and down year, neither winning nor losing two straight games since March 19th. Their best win of the year was an 11-8 home victory over Lasell College, and they played top teams Norwich and Emmanuel close as well.
Who to Watch:
Mount Ida boasts the GNAC leader in scoring in senior Lucas Stralka (E. Greenwich, R.I.), who tops the conference with 47 goals and 68 points. Stralka, along with Chad Coehlo (Salem, Mass.), who is second in the conference with 31 assists, and Mike Markevich (Westminster, Mass.) each just joined the Mount Ida 100-point club this past week.
The Mustangs get offensive contributions from Jon Berry (Chichester, N.H.), who has 25 goals this year, and Wyatt Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.), and carry with them the conference leader in face-off in sophomore Alex Zito (Andover, Conn.), who has won 195 of 329 draws.
Between the pipes, reigning GNAC Goalie of the Week Cam Hayward (Derry, N.H.) is third in the league in save percentage, total saves, and goals against average.
At third in the conference with 57 points, sophomore Max Stone (Burlington, Conn.) is the offensive lynchpin for the Wildcats, who also got 21 goals and 21 assists from classmate Eric Russo (West Grove, Pa.). In net, the Wildcats look to sophomore JC Guido (Miller Place, N.Y.), who has made 175 saves, is fifth in the conference with a 55.7% save percentage, and a 9.58 goals against average just 1.2 goals behind the conference leader.
How to Watch:
Wednesday's game will be streamed live on EZStream and live stats will also be available for you to follow the action.
Live Stats: http://www.mountidamustangs.com/links/3xvg9e
Live Video: http://www.mountidamustangs.com/sports/mlax/2015-16/boxscores/20160504_q70k.xml
2016 GNAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament Schedule
First Round - Wednesday, May 4
Game 1: #5 Mount Ida at #4 Johnson & Wales - 4PM
Game 2: #6 Rivier at #3 Norwich - 7PM
Semifinals - Friday, May 6
Game 3: Game 1 winner at #1 Emmanuel - 7PM
Game 4: Game 2 winner at #2 Lasell - 3:30PM
Championship - Sunday, May 8
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs Game 4 winner