WILLIAMSTOWN — When the NCAA released its Division III men’s lacrosse bracket on May 5, Jon Thompson noticed a pattern.
The Amherst College coach saw that it was quite possible his team’s path to the national championship game would run through the same NESCAC foes it has battled all season. The Mammoths tied for second in the conference and all three of the teams either tied or ahead of them were on their side of the bracket and likely opponents in the third and fourth rounds.
Once Williams upset No. 1 RIT on Wednesday, it made it three straight NESCAC opponents for Amherst in the NCAA Tournament. It was a gauntlet the Mammoths survived with a 12-8 win over the Ephs on Sunday to advance to the national championship game this weekend in Philadelphia.
Having to conquer league rivals in order to reach the program’s first national championship game did make the journey a little more rewarding for Thompson and the Mammoths.
“Looking back on it from my perspective, it does make it kind of sweet that you had to beat some great lacrosse teams,” Thompson said. “The North’s really, really strong and the NESCAC is one of the best leagues in the country.”
Amherst (18-3) viewed its tough regular season schedule as an advantage come postseason play and felt it was prepared for all competition after playing a higher caliber of opponents for much of the year. Thompson said he felt his team’s mindset for handling tough tournament games was strengthened by having to play six ranked opponents in its final eight games entering the tournament.
Those battles kept Amherst composed when Williams made its run to take the lead in the third quarter Sunday. And getting a chance to avenge all three of its losses in a span of four days made the joys of victory sweeter for the players.
Yet that was all set up by the rigors of playing the same caliber of opponent constantly for the last two months.
“Facing the NESCAC all year really prepares you for late May,” junior attacker Colin Minicus said. “The past three teams we played were our biggest NESCAC games of the year, so to avenge the past two and avenge those three losses of the year is an unbelievable feeling for us.”
Even though his team survived the NESCAC rematches, Thompson said the committee should potentially look at spreading out the conference’s schools better across the bracket. He said the best parts of the tournament experiences are getting the chance to face new teams and using geography sometimes hinders that, especially with a league as successful as the NESCAC.
“The NCAA committee does a pretty good job, they do the best they can,” Thompson said. “There’s some room to grow in terms of shifting it up a bit. It’s certainly convenient to keep all the NESCACs in one bracket, (but) the beauty of the NCAA Tournament as far as I’m concerned is the guys getting a difference experience versus NESCAC teams.”
Few will remember who Amherst played on the road to the national championship game if the Mammoths are able to topple Cabrini on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Amherst will be playing for its first men’s lacrosse national championship and look to become the ninth program to win a team championship for the school.
The historic nature of this team’s accomplishments might not set in until after the season, but Thompson wanted to make sure he soaked in the moment Sunday. On Monday, the ninth-year coach shifted his attention to the Cavaliers, but for a few hours, the joy of victory wasn’t going to be suppressed.
“This is a lot of work that these guys have put into this,” Thompson said. “This is an amazing journey, this season to this point. It’s a big program win, it’s a big win for these guys individually, it’s a big win for the college. … (Monday) morning I’ll flip it over to whoever wins (the other semifinal), but I’m going to enjoy this one. This is a special win.”
SCOUTING CABRINI — The Cavaliers (21-2) have taken a far easier course to the championship game than the Mammoths. They have faced just six teams ranked in the final national poll compared to the Mammoths’ 11 contests against ranked foes.
Cabrini rollicked through the Atlantic East Conference by outscoring foes 165-31 over the course of eight games this season. The easy victories continued in the first two NCAA Tournament games before matching up with the two teams that beat Cabrini this season. It edged out York 11-10 in overtime in the quarterfinals before upsetting No. 2 Salisbury 16-13 on Sunday in the national semifinal.
Jordan Krug leads the Cavaliers with 73 goals and 108 points on the season while Jacob Klein has 36 tallies and a team-best 46 assists. Bill Morgan and Kyle Tucker both also have 40 or more goals this season.
