Since switching to the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association from the National College Lacrosse League in 2010, the Ohio men’s club lacrosse team has faced stiffer competition and has yet to participate in post-season play.
But the Bobcats might be on the brink of changing that behind two wins last weekend. With victories against Central Michigan and Toledo, Ohio is still in contention for its first playoff berth in its new conference.
“I definitely think this year we’ve got a good shot at making it somewhere,” said Jason Deal, team president. “The competition is harder, but it’s definitely more fun because it’s more competitive.”
Although they had a winning record, the Bobcats need to win at least two of their last three games to clinch one of the top two spots in their conference, the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association. Ohio’s rivals are Toledo, Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Michigan State.
“We joined the MCLA my sophomore year,” Deal said. “It’s a competitive league — it’s like a travel team basically — our division has five teams including us, and if you win your division you go to the playoffs.”
The CCLA is a league within the MCLA, consisting of 25 Division I and II teams across Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Its top two teams play for a spot in the national playoffs.
Despite the Bobcats’ successful fall season, the spring started off as a bit more of a challenge than had been hoped for.
“It’s definitely an ups-and-downs battle, “Deal said. “We had a great fall season, we won all three games, and then we came back in the spring and people hadn’t picked up their sticks in a few months and getting the team back on track is hard.”
Ohio fell to Pittsburgh and West Virginia to open the spring. On a road trip to North Carolina, however, the team righted the ship with wins against North Carolina State and UNC-Charlotte, and now stands with a 5-2 record after rattling off its fourth and fifth-straight victories.
“We went on that trip down to North Carolina and really got our team together, and we won those two games,” said Deal. “It comes down to Michigan State, and if we win that that would be great, because we’ll make the playoffs.”
The Bobcats, who are coached by Joseph Perruzzi, a graduate student studying coaching education, have a roster filled with talented players from all over the eastern United States, featuring several transfers from NCAA Division II teams.
“We have some guys that have kind of come up through the ranks and kind of earned their spot as juniors and seniors, but we have some guys that are sophomores here that are transferring from DII schools,” Perruzzi said.
“We have two kids from Mercyhurst, which is a DII team that won the national championship last year. Our goalie is a freshman; our starting long stick is a freshman, so we get contributors from high in the ranks but also some rookies too.”
Deal said the team’s serious attitude is one of its reasons for success.
“People see us from the website and then also by word of mouth,” he said.
“That’s how I found out about this team, just people talking about it and how they take it serious enough, so that you’re not just going and sitting on the sideline drinking beer. It’s an actual team.”
Perruzzi similarly highlighted the team’s tenacity as one of its main strengths, and that will be critical on Saturday as Michigan State comes to Peden Stadium in the regular-season finale.
“We have a lot of heart. We run really hard, and these guys have a lot of intensity and a lot of passion for the game,” Perruzzi said. “So lacrosse skills aside, when push comes to shove, we’re a pretty hungry group of individuals.”
nc606411@ohiou.edu
