Whitman’s men’s Lacrosse team traveled to Summit High School in Bend, Ore. this past weekend for the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League’s Final Four Showdown and championship game. The Missionaries took the field in the second game of the day on Saturday, May 1, against conference rival Western Oregon University. In a rematch of last year’s championship game: which took two overtimes to decide: the Missionaries were held scoreless in the first half, looking on as the Wolves tallied four goals. Despite outscoring Western Oregon in both the third and fourth quarter, 5-3 and 3-2, respectively, the Missionaries didn’t have enough firepower to overcome the early deficit. Yet again, the decision came down to the very end as the Wolves took the match 9-8.
On the other side of the bracket, the Western Washington University Vikings took care of Southern Oregon University in an 8-4 victory, advancing to the finals to face Western Oregon. In the title match the Vikings kept it close, but ultimately fell the Wolves 12-13. However, both Western Oregon and Western Washington advance to the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association Division II National Championship Tournament as the eighth- and 12th-seed, respectively, receiving at-large bids from the selection committee.
“It came down to ranking. Basically, Western Washington was number one in the north and Western Oregon was number one in the south,” said junior Stephen Over. “Whereas, last year, we were a three-seed and it didn’t seem reasonable [to the selection committee] to send a three-seed.”
To say the Missionaries have had difficulty with the reigning league champion Western Oregon Wolves would be an understatement. The Wolves have knocked the Missionaries out of the play-offs each of the last three years, en route to three consecutive PNCLL championship titles. The Missionaries haven’t defeated Western Oregon since Feb. 25, 2006, and in their last three meetings, the Wolves have won by a whopping total of three points.
“I would say that a number of things could have gone the other way, and we could have won any of those games,” said sophomore attacker Sam Kollar. “We are both talented teams and it has not gone our way by a small margin three times in a row now. They are a very physical team. They are athletic. Their bench is deeper, and they consistently play chippy lacrosse against us. [They] are an exceptional lacrosse team.”
This season’s team has had to adjust offensively after seeing former all-star Sunn Kim transfer. With a more balanced attack, Whitman fought to a 5-4 record overall, and 2-1 in conference. Despite not having a go-to offensive weapon, collectively, the team has done more than enough in picking up the slack. Surprise upstart, first-year Aedan Weber, ranks third in the league and leads the team in goals scored per game with 2.75. On the other end of the spectrum, departing senior captain Bidnam Lee, has also done his part. Along with Kollar, Lee leads the league in assists per game, dishing out two and three respectively. Sophomore Michael Nelson joins Lee, Kollar and Weber in the top 20 for points tallied per game: a statistic that includes both assists and goals.
With this season already in the books, the Missionaries are taking stock and evaluating what they’ll need next year.
“Our biggest weakness is always our low numbers: particularly at the midfield. That is our biggest concern for next year,” said Kollar. “The senors that are leaving: which made up a huge chunk of our core players: will be missed. However, underclassmen from this season will step up next season. As our coach always says: ‘We don’t rebuild. We reload.'”
