Editor's Note: Welcome aboard to Marisa Ingemi, who will be joining the BCI team this spring to pitch in on lacrosse and baseball coverage. Follow Marisa on Twitter at @marisa_ingemi
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After finishing their season at 11-4 and second in their division in 2014, the Boston College Eagles are looking to take the MCLA by storm in 2015. The Eagles defeated New Hampshire in the PCLL conference finals to move on to the MCLA playoffs, where they defeated Westminster before falling to Arizona State.
The MCLA
The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association is not varsity lacrosse, it's club lacrosse. However, since there are only 68 varsity lacrosse teams, you might recognize the names of some MCLA teams more. Almost every west coast team is exclusively MCLA, along with most teams in the south.
While the Eagles' season doesn't kick off until February 28th, some teams have already opened their campaigns. Florida and LSU are already 2-0, while Santa Barbara, Houston, Central Florida, and South Carolina have wins as well. Texas A&M have fit in three games and sit at 2-1.
BC will be the last team to open play in their own conference, while Northeastern will begin on February 14th against Saint Anslems.
Boston College was #1 in the PCLL (Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League) pre-season poll, receiving three first place votes. Both Northeastern and Buffalo each had one first place vote.
Schedule
Boston College opens their 2015 campaign on February 28th with a match against the 2014 champion Colorado Buffaloes. This is part of a four-game west coast swing between the 28th and March 14th, where they will also have to play at Colorado State, Utah Valley, and Michigan State.
They play their next eight games from Chestnut Hill starting on March 19th against 2014 playoff team Indiana. From there they play Northeastern, Stonehill, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Texas, and division rivals Buffalo and Connecticut. They end their season in conference travelling to New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
Roster
Midfielder Joseph Volk returns as the team's leading scorer from 2014 with 24 points. He is now a senior and will be their leader from the offensive midfield. The attack unit, however, will be mostly run between John Gosstola, Spencer Reed, and Steven Van Fossen.
Faceoff man Antonio Zegarelli is a player to watch after he went 151-240 faceoffs last season and led the team with 67 ground balls. On defense, Max Stuebe, Matt Quinlan, John Gordon, and Nolan Dilorio are players to watch.
Mike Shepard will be the man in net, going into his junior season. Last year he played to a goals against average of 6.67.
Division
The biggest threat is Northeastern, who also went to the MCLA playoff tournament in 2014. They won the conference at 10-3 as well. They face most of the same teams as BC (GT, Texas, Indiana) but they miss that west coast trip and some solid teams like Michigan State while instead they play Pittsburgh and MIT.
The next biggest threat is UNH. They face a tough schedule, with games at Tennessee and against Davenport added to their schedule. Buffalo had a first place vote, and while they don't have to travel west like the Eagles do, they do face a tough road trip at NC State, South Carolina, and Florida State.
Connecticut does have to go to Colorado State and they face most of the same teams as BC. They and Rhode Island are projected to finish last in the conference.
In Conclusion
Boston College has a good shot at winning their conference this year and advancing to the MCLA playoffs. I am very excited for the opportunity to join BC Interruption for what seems like it will be a great season, and I hope to add some great lacrosse coverage for BC lacrosse fans and add some interviews throughout the season.
For more lacrosse coverage, check out InLacrosseWeTrust.com!