The Division II national championship matchup between Merrimack and Limestone, on paper, isn’t the least bit surprising. The Warriors and Saints are the two of the most dominant Division II programs in the last handful of years.
But this meeting is a bit different, not because of the schools’ prominence on the national scene. It’s because the path each team took to reach Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia this weekend.
For the defending champion Merrimack, the depth on offense was strong enough that it was projected to compete in the national title game once again. Led by preseason player of the year Charlie Bertrand, the Warriors were ranked No. 1 to start the season.
But Merrimack suffered regular-season defeats to LIU Post and Adelphi, eventually falling in the NE10 title game to Le Moyne. The result? The NCAA Selection Committee deemed the Warriors’ the No. 6 seed in the North.
Weeks later, wins over Mercyhurst, Adelphi and Le Moyne have brought the Warriors back to the title game. It’s the their final season in Division II before they make the transition to the Northeast Conference and Division I lacrosse.
As for Limestone, an 11-8 finish last season set expectations lower than normal for the Saints entering this year. The stars of the 2017 team were mostly gone, and a new direction was needed for the perennial powerhouse.
Coach J.B. Clarke and his team found the winning ways again, sweeping through its schedule at 20-0. Only six of Limestone’s wins this season have come by fewer than five goals. An overtime win over Tampa put the Saints back in the title game for the first time since 2017 — where they met Merrimack in its first championship game appearance.
Regardless of how they got to Philadelphia, Merrimack and Limestone will meet for Division II supremacy. Here are the storylines for each team.
Merrimack's Last Chance
It was bound to play a role in the 2019 season at some point, coach Mike Morgan just wasn’t sure when. The announcement came on Sept. 10 — Merrimack was slated to move up to Division I and play in the Northeast Conference starting in 2019.
As a result, the Warriors would not be eligible for the NCAA tournament until the full transition was complete in 2023. Morgan knew he needed to stress the urgency of this season to his team.
“It’s been a message all year,” he said earlier this week. “Once Division I was announced, I remember saying to the guys ‘You’re all seniors now. Start preparing like a senior. Start understanding what it means to have all these things at stake and in front of you.’ They heard me then.”
And as much as it was in the minds of the Warriors, it may have taken some time to fully sink in. Merrimack’s season hit a critical point after a nine-goal loss to Adelphi on April 20. It provided Morgan a chance to take a good look at where his team stood.
“It was the best thing that happened to us,” he said. “We went down there and we had a team — and I told the guys afterward that we showed up to play and they showed up to compete. That was the difference. You don’t show up to play Adelphi. They were super motivated. It made us realize that, yeah, we are good, but we need to work harder.”
Merrimack answered with a strong run of games, advancing to the NE10 title game and sweeping through road games at Mercyhurst, Adelphi and Le Moyne. The Warriors are playing their best lacrosse of the year at the right time.
This team felt urgency — not just because the season and careers were on the line. The members of Merrimack men’s lacrosse are playing for their final chance at a championship.
"They heard me in September and October, but once we started getting toward the end of April, it started to become reality and it showed, too,” Morgan said. “You see the urgency of a group that knows they can’t win it for the next four years. Limestone is going to have to match our will. That’s something that our guys are going to bring.”
Limestone Back in Limelight
For the first time in a long time, Limestone’s lacrosse season ended before its academic year. It was an unusual feeling for coach J.B. Clarke and his team, to say the least.
As much as the Saints’ 11-8 season was a disappointment, it did provide an opportunity to get a head start on planning for 2019. For the returning classes, it was time to get the program back on track.
“We were able to meet with the returners last year,” Clarke said. “When we sat down with the rising seniors, it was very evident that they were displeased with the outcome from last year and they wanted to do everything they could to change it. I asked questions that I didn’t know the answer to from those guys. We had very frank conversations about what had happened. They asked me very important and frank questions. It had to start then.”
Limestone’s junior class came up big during the 2019 season. Larson Sundown, Clark Walter and Tyler Papa (all juniors) led the team in scoring and providing leadership throughout the season.
The senior and junior classes have seen the ups and downs of Limestone men’s lacrosse. Not many recent Saints’ teams have been ranked No. 16 in the Nike/US Lacrosse preseason top 20.
“There was a void last year,” Clarke said. “It sounds arrogant and I don’t want it to. When you make it to that game so many times in a row, it is a void. It was disappointing.”
Yet, this group brought Limestone back to a place where it is accustomed to being — the Division II national championship game. Can they finish the turnaround?