UMO men's lacrosse team earns first-ever bid to NCAA D2 tournament

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 9, 2016 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Old wounds heal over time, but they're never forgotten.

The University of Mount Olive men's lacrosse team certainly wouldn't argue with that statement.

Snubbed by the selection committee a year ago, the Trojan stickmen finally received the long-awaited reward for their hard work -- a first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II national tournament on Sunday evening.

Fourth-seeded UMO (13-4 overall) opens first-round play Saturday at two-time defending national champion Limestone (19-0) in the South Region. The other matchup is third-seeded Tampa (Fla.) at second-seeded Mercyhurst (Pa.).

The South champion opposes the North champion in the finals May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

"We had a really good strength of schedule to get that bid, but more important, we have a bunch of four-year senior guys who have been playing together the entire time and we had no doubt in our mind that we'd get a bid," Trojans goalie Ross Bowman said.

The postseason nod comes one year after the Trojans logged an 11-5 worksheet and finished the season ranked No. 9 in the final United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) poll.

Bowman and his teammates defeated several top-20 programs along the way. And, for the second straight year, they finished runner-up to Limestone in regular-season and conference tournament play.

Still, the selection committee seemed unimpressed in 2015.

It had a different viewpoint this year.

"Huge," UMO junior attackman Brett Kingston said of the program's historical milestone that came to fruition. "I think the past couple of years we've been there. We've beaten teams that made it to the tournament and I think we were better than those teams."

Limestone, undoubtedly, has been the South Region's dynasty for nearly the past two decades. They have played for the national title on eight occasions since 2000, and have appeared in 17 straight postseason tournaments.

Since 2014, LC boasts a 58-2 record.

While that mind-boggling success may intimidate some teams, the Trojans welcome another shot at their league nemesis.

"We don't look at Limestone like they're untouchable," said Bowman, a returning All-American who ranks eighth nationally with an 8.23 goals-against-average (GAA) and has posted a .531 save percentage in the cage.

"They have some really great players and we have to execute really well to beat those kinds of teams. If we get another chance at them, we can put in the hard work (to beat them)."