Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association

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Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association

Sport	Field lacrosse
Founded	2006
President	Ken Lovic (2013–present)
No. of teams	200+
Country	United States, Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Division I: Brigham Young (5th title) Division II: Montana State (1st title)
Official website	http://mcla.us

The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) is a national organization of non-NCAA men's college lacrosse programs. The MCLA oversees game play and conducts national championships for over 200 teams in ten conferences throughout the United States and Canada. The MCLA provides a governing structure much like the NCAA, with eligibility rules, All-Americans and a national tournament to decide national champions in both Divisions I and II.

The MCLA exists to provide a quality college lacrosse experience where varsity NCAA lacrosse does not exist. On an individual scale, the MCLA provides rules and a structure that promotes "virtual varsity" lacrosse, or an experience paralleling that of NCAA programs. While the MCLA provides a high level of athletic competition, it is one of the few governing bodies that does not have a national GPA requirement for its athletes. On a national scale, the MCLA provides the infrastructure to support a level playing field through eligibility rules and enforcement and the use of NCAA rules of play. The MCLA, an organization governing a mere 70 teams in 1997, has seen a rapid growth in affiliation as national interest in the sport of lacrosse continues to increase. As of the 2014 season, participation has increased to 210 teams.

The MCLA was formerly known as the US Lacrosse Men’s Division of Intercollegiate Associates (USL MDIA). The MCLA was created by the MDIA Board of Directors and its creation was announced by US Lacrosse on August 24, 2006.

MCLA President John Paul was interviewed in a podcast on August 31, 2006. Information obtained from this interview includes:

• MDIA council will cease to exist
• MCLA will run its own national tournament and control its own budget
• MCLA membership will still sit on US Lacrosse boards and committees
• Team dues will be doubled from $500 to $1,000, the only significant impact to teams
• By-Laws are being rewritten to be ratified in January 2007
• Two new Vice President positions have been formed in the MCLA Executive Board and some paid positions will be created
• Long-term goals include a full-time paid League Executive Director who will answer to the Executive Board
• Executive Boards of MCLA and conferences will be insured, as will the national tournament, however, players and teams are responsible for their own individual insurance

The MCLA receives significant print coverage from US Lacrosse's Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse. Inside Lacrosse acquired the license agreement from The Lax Mag in 2012 and devoted further coverage with weekly web editorial and podcasts. In efforts to promote the sport, the MCLA has also made strides to make lacrosse games available to a larger audience. In partnership with The Lacrosse Network (TLN) select games are available to viewers with streaming live feed. In the 2012 National Championship, 26 games from the tournament were broadcast live, exclusively on the MCLA tournament website while the Division II Finals, Division I Semifinals and Division I Championship were televised nationally on Fox College Sports. Additional coverage is occasionally featured on ESPN, LaxPower.com, various blogs and other news websites.

Colorado State University holds the record for most MCLA championships won with six (1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2012 and 2013). The Rams also hold the distinction of sending the first MCLA player into Major League Lacrosse when goaltender Alex Smith made the roster of Denver Outlaws from 2006-2010. Brigham Young (1997, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2021) is second in MCLA history with five national titles.

The University of Michigan Varsity Club Lacrosse Team became the first team in MCLA history to complete a perfect season by defeating Chapman University in the national championship game on May 17, 2008. The Wolverines were able to repeat their success the following season by once again going undefeated and beating Chapman University in the national championship game on May 16, 2009.

In 2008, Brekan Kohlitz of the University of Michigan became the first MCLA player drafted to the MLL by the Washington Bayhawks.^[1]

In 2010, Connor Martin of Chapman University, a two-time All American and Offensive Player of the Year, was drafted by the Denver Outlaws.^[2] In his debut for the Outlaws, he scored a hat-trick and recorded an assist, earning him MLL Rookie of the Week.^[3] In 2014 Cam Holding became the second player ever to play in the MCLA to get drafted into the MLL by the Chesapeake Bayhawks. He currently plays for the Denver Outlaws and recently won a Gold medal in the 2014 FIL World Lacrosse Championship with team Canada.

The 2009-2011 MCLA Championships were held at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.^[4]

In 2011, with the conclusion of the agreement between the MCLA and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the MCLA selected a new home for the National Championships. The 2012, 2013 MCLA Championships were relocated to a new venue; Sirrine Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.^[5]

The 2014, MCLA National Championships were held in Southern California. The opening two rounds were played at UC Irvine in Orange County and the semifinals and finals at Chapman University in Orange, CA. Two first-time champions were crowned, Colorado (DI) and Grand Valley State (DII).

The MCLA separates teams into divisions (I or II) based upon performance history, and regional conferences.

• Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (2021-present)
• Continental Lacrosse Conference (2019-present)
• Lone Star Alliance (1976-present)
• Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (1997-present)
• Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (1976-present)
• SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (1988-present)
• Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (2008-present)
• Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference (1992-present)
• Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (1980-present)

• Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (1972-2018)
• Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (2002-2017)
• Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (1986-2017)

The National Championships are held in May, featuring 16 qualifying teams from each division in a single-elimination contest to decide the National Champions. Each of the nine conference champions of the regular season receives an automatic bid to the National Tournament. The remaining seven teams to qualify for the tournament are selected by an at large process by the MCLA tournament committee.^[6]

(called Division A through 2007)

Year	Champion	Score	Defeated	Location
1997	#4 Brigham Young	15-13	#3 UC Santa Barbara	St. Louis, Missouri
1998	#2 California	16-15OT	#1 Brigham Young	St. Louis, Missouri
1999	#3 Colorado State	15-11	#5 Simon Fraser	St. Louis, Missouri
2000	#6 Brigham Young	17-13	#4 Colorado State	St. Louis, Missouri
2001	#3 Colorado State	16-7	#12 Stanford	St. Louis, Missouri
2002	#1 Sonoma State	13-10	#3 Colorado State	St. Louis, Missouri
2003	#2 Colorado State	6-4	#1 UC Santa Barbara	St. Louis, Missouri
2004	#1 UC Santa Barbara	8-7	#2 Colorado State	St. Louis, Missouri
2005	#2 UC Santa Barbara	8-7	#4 Sonoma State	Blaine, Minnesota
2006	#1 Colorado State	8-7	#3 Colorado	Plano, Texas
2007	#1 Brigham Young	16-9	#3 Oregon	Frisco, Texas
2008	#1 Michigan	14-11	#2 Chapman	Irving, Texas
2009	#1 Michigan	12-11	#3 Chapman	Denver, Colorado
2010	#1 Michigan	12-11	#3 Arizona State	Denver, Colorado
2011	#3 Brigham Young	10-8	#5 Arizona State	Denver, Colorado
2012	#2 Colorado State	7-5	#1 Cal Poly	Greenville, South Carolina
2013	#1 Colorado State	7-2	#2 Colorado	Greenville, South Carolina
2014	#2 Colorado	13-12	#1 Arizona State	Irvine & Orange, California
2015	#1 Grand Canyon	9-8	#3 Colorado	Irvine & Orange, California
2016	#1 Chapman	9-5	#2 Cal Poly	Irvine & Orange, California
2017	#2 Grand Canyon	12-8	#9 Chapman	Irvine & Orange, California
2018	#3 Michigan State	10-8	#1 Chapman	Salt Lake City, Utah
2019	#3 South Carolina	13-8	#1 California	Salt Lake City, Utah
2020	No Championship Series due to Covid-19 Pandemic[8]
2021	#2W Brigham Young*	16-9	#1W Chapman	Round Rock, Texas
2022	#3 South Carolina	11-9	#8 Georgia Tech	Round Rock, Texas
2023	#7 Concordia Irvine	17-10	#1 Virginia Tech	Round Rock, Texas
2024	#1 Brigham Young	13-5	#14 Utah Valley	Round Rock, Texas

*Postseason play contained top 8 teams. Hosted as "MCLA Invitational" rather than as a national championship.^[9][10][11]

Team	Championships	Winning Years	Runner Up	Runner Up Years
Colorado State	6	1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2013	3	2000, 2002, 2004
Brigham Young	5	1997, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2024	1	1998
Michigan	3	2008, 2009, 2010
UC Santa Barbara	2	2004, 2005	2	1997, 2003
Grand Canyon	2	2015, 2017
South Carolina	2	2019, 2022
California	1	1998	1	2019
Sonoma State	1	2002	1	2005
Colorado	1	2014	3	2006, 2013, 2015
Chapman	1	2016	4	2008, 2009, 2017, 2018
Michigan State	1	2018
Concordia Irvine	1	2023
Arizona State			3	2010, 2011, 2014
Cal Poly			2	2012, 2016
Simon Fraser			1	1999
Stanford			1	2001
Oregon			1	2007
Georgia Tech			1	2022
Virginia Tech			1	2023
Utah Valley			1	2024

(called Division B thru 2007)

Year	Champion	Score	Defeated	Location
2005	#1 San Diego	9-6	#2 Utah Valley	Blaine, Minnesota
2006	#1 San Diego	10-3	#6 St. John's (MN)	Plano, Texas
2007	#3 Montana	15-5	#1 St. John's (MN)	Frisco, Texas
2008	#1 Westminster College	17-10	#2 Grand Valley State	Irving, Texas
2009	#2 St. Thomas (MN)	16-11	#1 Dayton	Denver, Colorado
2010	#1 St. Thomas (MN)	12-9	#3 Utah Valley	Denver, Colorado
2011	#5 Davenport (MI)	14-9	#1 St. Thomas (MN)	Denver, Colorado
2012	#1 St. Thomas (MN)	9-8	#2 Grand Valley State	Greenville, South Carolina
2013	#1 St. Thomas (MN)	9-7	#2 Westminster College	Greenville, South Carolina
2014	#1 Grand Valley State	12-11	#2 St. John's (MN)	Irvine, California
2015	#6 Dayton	12-11	#1 Concordia Irvine	Irvine, California
2016	#1 St. Thomas (MN)	10-7	#6 Grand Valley State	Irvine, California
2017	#2 Concordia Irvine	13-10	#1 St. Thomas (MN)	Irvine, California
2018	#2 North Dakota State	8-72OT	#1 St. Thomas (MN)	Salt Lake City, Utah
2019	#2 St. Thomas (MN)	9-7	#4 Dayton	Salt Lake City, Utah
2020	No Championship Series due to Covid-19 Pandemic[8]
2021	St. Thomas (MN)*	9-6	North Dakota State	Saint Paul, Minnesota
2022	#5 Utah	13-7	#7 Rhode Island	Round Rock, Texas
2023	#9 Dayton	6-5OT	#3 St. Thomas (MN)	Round Rock, Texas
2024	#4 Montana State	12-7	#2 St. Thomas (MN)	Round Rock, Texas

*Postseason play contained top 4 teams. Hosted as "Covid Cup Invitational" rather than as a national championship.^[13][14]

Team	Championships	Winning years	Runner Up	Runner Up Years
St. Thomas (MN)	6	2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019	5	2011, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2024
San Diego	2	2005, 2006
Dayton	2	2015, 2023	1	2009, 2019
Montana	1	2007
Westminster College	1	2008	1	2013
Davenport	1	2011
Grand Valley State	1	2014	3	2008, 2012, 2016
Concordia Irvine	1	2017	1	2015
North Dakota State	1	2018
Utah	1	2022
Montana State	1	2024
St. Johns (MN)			3	2006, 2007, 2014
Utah Valley			2	2005, 2010
Rhode Island			1	2022

MCLA Division I All Time Career Points Leaders (230 Minimum)

Rank	Name	Team	Points	Goals	Assists
1	Bryan Larocque	Davenport	345	276	69
2	Ted Ferrin	BYU	337	202	135
3	Eric Nelson	Arizona State	312	184	128
4	Ben A Towner	Simon Fraser	305	235	70
5	Ryan Westfall	Arizona State	304	164	140
6	Trevor Yealy	Michigan	298	283	15
7	Corey Noonan	Florida State	298	214	84
8	David Drehoff	Central Florida	297	190	107
9	Aidan Smith	Virginia Tech	288	190	98
10	Tyler Westfall	Arizona State	286	158	128
12	Tyler Kirkby	Simon Fraser	282	193	89
12	Jake Halversen	BYU	282	190	92
12	Garret Brennan	Clemson	282	157	125
13	Matthew T Malcolm	Texas State	279	204	75
14	Dylan Garner	Chapman	277	173	104
15	Elliot Grow	BYU	268	122	146
16	Brian Connolly	Georgia Tech	267	157	110
17	Matt Higgins	Pittsburgh	267	147	120
18	Greg Lunde	Simon Fraser	255	155	100
19	Connor Martin	Chapman	254	168	86
20	Amar Batra	Minnesota	254	141	113
21	Sam Gregory	Liberty	250	143	107
22	Mark Manning	Utah & BYU	248	151	97
23	Casey Mithun	Minn-Duluth	248	121	127
24	AJ Hepting	Texas A&M	247	164	83
25	Scott Heberer	Cal Poly	245	126	119
26	Davis Goodman	Florida State	243	139	104
27	Tim Peterson	Georgia Tech	242	115	127
28	Cooper Kehoe	Colorado State	240	154	86
29	Will Patch	Clemson	234	141	93
30	Ryan Miller	Liberty	232	134	98
31	Noah Iversen	Missouri	231	102	129

MCLA Division I All Time Career Goals Leaders (150 Minimum)

Rank	Name	Team	Goals
1	Trevor Yealy	Michigan	283
2	Bryan Larocque	Davenport	276
3	Ben A Towner	Simon Fraser	235
4	Corey Noonan	Florida State	214
5	Matthew T Malcolm	Texas State	204
6	Ted Ferrin	BYU	202
7	Tyler Kirkby	Simon Fraser	193
8	David Drehoff	Central Florida	190
8	Matt Graupmann	Cal Poly	190
8	Aidan Smith	Virginia Tech	190
8	Jake Halversen	BYU	190
11	Eric Nelson	Arizona State	184
12	Dylan Garner	Chapman	173
13	Connor Martin	Chapman	168
14	AJ Hepting	Texas A&M	164
15	Ryan Westfall	Arizona State	164
16	Kevin Hayden	Virginia Tech	160
17	Marcus Wooden	Chapman	159
18	Cam Wengreniuk	Grand Canyon	158
19	Chris Severson	BYU	158
20	Tyler Westfall	Arizona State	158
21	Blake Day	UNLV	157
22	Brian Connolly	Georgia Tech	157
23	Garret Brennan	Clemson	157
24	Greg Lunde	Simon Fraser	155
25	Cooper Kehoe	Colorado State	154
26	Jake Marthens	Arizona State	153
27	Mark Manning	Utah & BYU	151
28	Andrew Clayton	Chapman	150

MCLA Division II All Time Career Points Leaders (230 Minimum)

Rank	Name	Team	GP	Points	PPG	Goals	Assists
1	Eric Weber	Hope	49	393	8.02	296	97
2	Jack Dumsa	GVSU	70	391	5.59	176	215
3	Chris Cole	Fullerton	75	367	4.89	214	153
4	Cameron C Holding	GVSU	52	364	7.00	266	98
5	Louis R Richman	Montana State	56	327	5.84	154	173
6	Shawn Beer	Davenport	55	311	5.65	216	95
7	Mike Ansel	Fullerton	50	296	5.92	211	85
8	Austin Jenkin	Cal State San Marcos	61	296	4.85	177	119
9	Nicholas H Tkachuk	Pacific Lutheran	56	295	5.27	211	84
10	Micah Willis	Fullerton	54	292	5.41	152	140
11	Nicholas Guzzetti	College of Idaho	45	283	6.29	197	86
12	Joe M Costello	St. Thomas	68	280	4.12	178	102
13	Jordan Richtsmeier	Davenport	58	280	4.83	122	158
14	Chris Perkins	Northern Colorado	54	271	5.02	105	166
15	Greg Swanson	PBA	50	266	5.32	88	178
16	Ryan Brouwer	New Haven	48	265	5.52	161	104
17	Adam Zimmerman	Northern Arizona	52	265	5.10	149	116
18	Michael Mann	Sam Houston State	37	262	7.08	156	106
19	Alex Kowalski	Fullerton	54	256	4.74	193	63
20	John P Healy	SCAD	55	255	4.64	172	83
21	Christopher Idema	GVSU	35	255	7.29	90	165
22	Andrew C Webb	Southwestern	48	249	5.19	195	54
23	Josh Fagan	Concordia	53	247	4.66	192	55
24	Calvin Davis	Western Oregon	58	245	4.22	133	112
25	Dan Fleisher	WashU	43	243	5.65	142	101
26	Sean Mastro	Northern Arizona	54	243	4.50	133	110
27	Allen Campbell	Hope	45	243	5.40	121	122
28	Daniel Hochspeier	Western Oregon	67	242	3.61	92	150
29	Alexander Brown	Montana State	53	241	4.55	151	90
30	Kyle Boyd	Northern Colorado	54	240	4.44	179	61
31	Scott Schulze	Kennesaw State	52	240	4.62	144	96
32	Jonathan J Prichard	Biola	55	236	4.29	190	46
33	Christian A Furbay	Dayton	60	235	3.92	162	73
34	Tyler Mathews	Kennesaw State	57	231	4.05	132	99
35	Brian Evans	Northern Colorado	55	230	4.18	140	90

MCLA Division II All Time Career Goals Leaders (150 Minimum)

Rank	Name	Team	GP	Goals	GPG
1	Eric Weber	Hope	49	296	6.04
2	Cameron C Holding	GVSU	52	266	5.12
3	Shawn Beer	Davenport	55	216	3.93
4	Chris Cole	Fullerton	75	214	2.85
5	Mike Ansel	Fullerton	50	211	4.22
6	Nicholas H Tkachuk	Pacific Lutheran	56	211	3.77
7	Nicholas Guzzetti	College of Idaho	45	197	4.38
8	Andrew C Webb	Southwestern	48	195	4.06
9	Alex Kowalski	Fullerton	54	193	3.57
10	Josh Fagan	Concordia	53	192	3.62
11	Jonathan J Prichard	Biola	55	190	3.45
12	Kyle Boyd	Northern Colorado	54	179	3.31
13	Joe M Costello	St. Thomas	68	178	2.62
14	Austin Jenkin	Cal State San Marcos	61	177	2.90
15	Jack Dumsa	GVSU	70	176	2.51
17	John P Healy	SCAD	55	172	3.13
16	David Justvig	Missouri Baptist	56	172	3.07
18	George Pertessis	San Jose State	45	166	3.69
19	Christian A Furbay	Dayton	60	162	2.70
20	Ryan Brouwer	New Haven	48	161	3.35
22	Josh Puckett	Indiana Tech	47	157	3.34
21	Jacob Bohince	Western Oregon	50	157	3.14
23	Michael Mann	Sam Houston State	37	156	4.22
24	Joshua S Smith	Providence	46	155	3.37
25	Louis R Richman	Montana State	56	154	2.75
26	Chad F Murphy	Fort Lewis	44	152	3.45
29	Will W McCormick	Dayton	46	152	3.30
27	Micah Willis	Fullerton	54	152	2.81
28	Spenser Brock	Western Oregon	57	152	2.67
30	Alexander Brown	Montana State	53	151	2.85
31	Josh Condas	Westminster	75	151	2.01

• Ken Lovic (President)
• Zach Bosh
• Gary Podesta
• Mike DeWan
• Jason Stockton
• Tony Scazzero
• Mike Annala^[15]

• List of MCLA teams
• 2015 MCLA Tournament
• NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
• US Lacrosse
• US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates

• Official website