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Dogs Race For Salt Lake

By Noah Myers, 05/06/18, 4:45PM CDT

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This week, the UMD Men’s Lacrosse team will be making its 17th appearance at the MCLA National Championship Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah. “We came here for one reason, and that's to win a national championship,” said coach Ben Blaeser on UMD’s goals for the week.

UMD Nationals Preview

This week, the UMD Men’s Lacrosse team will be making its 17th appearance at the MCLA National Championship Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah. This will be the Bulldogs’ third consecutive trip to  the tournament. They have been selected as the #3 seed, and will play the College of Idaho Coyotes in the first round. 

The Dogs last took the field two weeks ago at the UMLC Tournament when they lost a hard-fought semifinal game, 12-9 against #2 seed NDSU. In the first game of that tournament the Bulldogs were able to overcome #5 seed Grand Valley State 13-10. 

UMD has never been seeded as high as they are this season since 2008, and they hope to capitalize on the opportunity, playing as many games as possible. The DII tournament is stacked with teams UMD has faced earlier in the season such as all six UMLC teams, Florida Gulf Coast, Sierra Nevada, Kennesaw State (GA), Cal State Fullerton, and Missouri State.  

The Bulldogs will begin the tournament on Monday, when they play the College of Idaho at 11 AM MST. This will be the Coyotes’ first trip to the MCLA National Championship, and they are entering as the #14 seed. They sealed an automatic qualifying bid to the tournament by beating #12 ranked Montana in overtime for the PNCLL Championship. The College of Idaho is coming from the city of Caldwell, about 30 minutes outside of Boise. They have a record of 10-2, only losing to UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz early in the season. 

If UMD beats the Coyotes they will play the winner between Kennesaw State and Cal State Fullerton, both teams the Dogs beat earlier this season.

“We came here for one reason, and that's to win a national championship,” said coach Ben Blaeser on UMD’s goals for the week.

-Noah Myers #8