Club lacrosse loses in first round of CCLA playoffs

The CMU club lacrosse team was eliminated from the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association playoffs Friday, losing its first round game 18-6 against Miami University at Saline High School.

CMU could not contain Miami (OH) junior midfielder Tyler Wallace, whose seven goals outscored the Chippewas.

“When they outwork you, you are going to get outplayed, which made it a 12 goal game,” said coach Brad Thomas. “The guys thought we had a good chance of advancing. It was just disappointed to finish the season with our two worst games of the year.”

Nine freshman played in their first playoff game, something Thomas said the players were not prepared for.

“I didn’t know if they weren’t focused, but I think it was our youth that played a factor in the game,” Thomas said. “We just couldn’t stop them all game. We were not communicating and forcing the shooters into bad angle shots.”

Bad starts in games this season was the catalyst for CMU’s struggles and was the problem in all four quarters of Friday’s game. CMU was outscored in every quarter.

Trailing 9-5 at the half, Thomas said the team lost a lot of its poise by trying to tie the game up in one possession and a lot of the guys tried to do things themselves

Bad shots and turnovers resulted in one goal for CMU the rest of the game.

Sophomore attacker Jeff Wood scored four goals and freshman midfielder Nick Diegel had two goals to complete the scoring for CMU.

CMU could have benefited from a healthier captain, who played despite battling an illness.

“I was 50% at best,” said senior defenseman Andrew Tillman. “But I knew this was potentially my last game, so I wanted to play as much as possible.”

CMU finishes the season 4-9 overall.

Looking to next yearw, Thomas said playing with poise and being able to play in tight games is something the team needs to improve on.