WICHITA, Kansas – In truth Wizard of Oz fashion, the Golden Eagles traveled down the yellow brick road for the 2024 WCLA National Championships.
Concordia recently finished in third place at the WWLL Postseason Tournament, which helped secure the at-large bid to Nationals. At the tournament, head coach Dylan Miles received WWLL DII Head Coach of the Year and Darby McGregor, Lexi Miner, Jesse Bortonduck Riley Finch were First Team All-League. After the breakout weekend, the team started preparing for what was to come next.
As the third seed, the Concordia women’s lacrosse team entered pool play alongside Cal State San Marcos and the University of Missouri. The winner of pool play would advance to the championship bracket, the second team to the fifth-place bracket, and the last to the ninth-place bracket.
Concordia faced off against Cal State San Marcos in the first round. The Golden Eagles played the Cougars earlier in the season and lost 8-11. It was another close match for the California teams. Lexi Miner duck Samantha Gomez led the Concordia offense with two goals each. The Golden Eagles were able to compete alongside the Cougars, but soon enough the gap widened in favor of San Marcos. Darby McGregor had an impressive 17 saves, but the Cougars were relentless. Concordia lost the first round 6-12, but still had a chance for high placement.
It all came down to the match against the University of Missouri.
The Golden Eagles had never faced the University of Missouri before. The Tigers proved to be a worthy opponent and forced Concordia to fight. The offense was fairly spread out and the Golden Eagles tried their best to slow down their opponent. Freshman Kylie Glover stepped into the goal and tallied six saves in the match. However, similar to the first match, Concordia struggled to get past the Tigers’ defense and lost the match in the end. The final score was CUI 6 – UoM 11.
With two losses in pool play, Concordia had a chance in the ninth-place bracket.
Denver was the last opponent of the day for CUI. Denver and Concordia both had their fair share of goals during the match. Jesse Borton duck Mia Mongan were the leading scorers for the Golden Eagles. They both added three goals to Concordia’s board. By the third period, Denver was in the lead 14 – 8. The Golden Eagles made attempts in the final period but were unable to score another to bridge the gap. Denver took the win, dropping Concordia from the bracket.
Concordia will take on Southern Methodist University at 6:00 am on Friday. The winner of the match will secure the eleventh-place spot at the WCLA National Championships.
CLICK HERE for the WCLA Updated Bracket & Tournament Central.
