By: Kyle Piercy, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
DANVILLE, Ky. – Centre men's lacrosse is set to open action in the 2021 NCAA Division III Championships, hosting First and Second Round games inside Farris Stadium.
It will be the program's third NCAA appearance but first at home, where Centre is 9-1 overall this season with a +61 goal differential.
Centre enters the postseason 11-1 and riding a nine-game winning streak, claiming the Southern Athletic Association Tournament Championship for the second time ever in an 11-5 victory over Rhodes back on April 25. The Colonels have tall task in Saturday's opening round, welcoming 14th-ranked Denison for a 4 p.m. start time.
The winner of Centre-Denison will take on the advancing team from Saturday's first game between No. 16 Colorado College and Transylvania, which begins at 1 p.m. Sunday's Second Round contest starts at 2 p.m.
There is some familiarity between the Centre and Denison programs. The Big Red have claimed all three meetings, including a 19-4 decision in the teams' last meeting in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Colonel Head Coach
Grant Zimmerman, recently named the SAA Coach of the Year, also spent two seasons as an assistant at Denison, helping guide the Big Red to the national semifinals in 2017.
Centre is led offensively by sophomore
Will Hubbs, the 2021 SAA Offensive Player of the Year. He leads the team in goals (35), assists (18) and points (53), and has six hat tricks this season – including a four-goal outing in the SAA Championship.
Nic Malubay (36 points) and
Jack Shannon (21) garnered All-SAA First Team honors, while
Ridr Knowlton (22),
Chase Poplin (20) and
Anthony DiMichele (17) were also named All-SAA for their offensive efforts.
Defensively, the Colonels have proven to be one of the stingiest in the country, allowing only 5.58 goals per game. The 2021 SAA Defensive Player of the Year,
Wills McCutcheon, spearheads that effort with a .688 save percentage and 4.90 GAA – both on pace to be single-season program records.
Starting defenders
Graham Robbins,
Ian Hubbs and
Brenner McCutcheon were each named All-SAA, as was long-stick midfielder
Will Morrison.
Dylan Croft joined Robbins as the program's first ever freshmen to be named to the All-SAA First Team. He went 119 of 175 (.680) on faceoffs while leading the team with 57 ground balls.
Denison has scored in bunches this season, ranking third in the country averaging 21.56 goals per game. Sam Asman, Luke Fisher and Ethan Tyack have each scored 20+ goals for the Big Red this season.
Steven Villacorta presents a tough challenge at faceoff, where he's won 113 of 150 this season.
The Big Red boast one of the most established programs in Division III, making their 25th NCAA appearance this season.
A win Saturday would mark the first NCAA victory in Centre's program history. The Colonels would face either 16th-ranked Colorado College, which earned a Pool C at-large bid, or Transylvania, the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference champions.
The Tigers are a former conference opponent from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and are 3-0 all-time against Centre. The Pioneers are a more familiar foe, with Centre holding a 6-2 all-time series record, including a 9-5 victory earlier this spring.
