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2024 lacrosse team pregame huddle
Jenna Hendrickson/CSP Athletics

Lacrosse set for postseason play this Friday

Concordia to face Northern Michigan in the GLIAC Tournament semifinals

4.30.24

By: Josh Deer
ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul women's lacrosse (6-11) embarks on postseason play at the 2024 GLIAC Tournament, hosted by top seed, GLIAC Regular Season Champion and #7-ranked Grand Valley State. The Golden Bears, seeded third, will play second-seeded Northern Michigan (13-4) on Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) at GVSU Stadium in Allendale, Michigan.

WEATHER OUTLOOK
Friday's forecast includes a 70 degree high with cloudy conditions and 40 percent chance of occasional rain showers, with light SW winds 5-10 mph.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY & INFORMATION
The GLIAC Tournament consists of two semifinals played on Friday and a championship game on Sunday between the semifinal winners on Sunday, all on the campus of regular season champion #7 Grand Valley State University. The host Lakers will play fourth-seeded Davenport prior to the CSP-NMU semifinal on Friday. The semifinal winners will play on Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) / 12 p.m. (ET).

Tournament host Grand Valley State has captured the last three GLIAC Tournament championships and has won 11 GLIAC regular season championships in a row dating back to the start of GLIAC lacrosse in 2013, only sharing the regular season crown once in 2017 with McKendree (now in the GLVC).

The Golden Bears are making their fourth appearance in the GLIAC Tournament, holding a 1-3 all-time postseason record. This marks the third year in a row that CSP has secured the No. 3 seed in the GLIAC Tournament. In 2019 in the program's first-ever GLIAC Tournament appearance as the No. 4 seed, CSP hosted a quarterfinal round game, defeating No. 5 seed Davenport at Sea Foam Stadium before falling at that season's top seed and host #11 Indianapolis in the semifinals.

2019
Quarterfinals: No. 4 Concordia-St. Paul 15, No. 5 Davenport 9 (St. Paul, Minn.)
Semifinals: No. 1 #11 Indianapolis 21, No. 4 Concordia St. Paul 3 (Indianapolis, Ind.)

2022
Semifinals: No. 2 Davenport 14, No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul 13 (Allendale, Mich.)

2023
Semifinals: No. 2 Northern Michigan 15, No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul 11 (Allendale, Mich.)

2024
Semifinals: No. 2 Northern Michigan vs. No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul (Allendale, Mich.)

SERIES HISTORY: Northern Michigan 8, Concordia 7
The Golden Bears and Wildcats meet for the 16th time this Friday, including the second time in a row and third time this season. It's also the second-straight year these teams meet as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the GLIAC Tournament semifinals with NMU winning 15-11 last year in Allendale.

In their last meeting, NMU held off CSP 11-5 at Sea Foam Stadium just last Saturday on senior day for CSP. The Wildcats swept the season series 2-0, have won five in a row and eight of the last nine meetings after CSP won the first six matchups. This marks the second postseason contest between the programs, and the second on neutral turf. CSP is 3-3 at home, 4-4 on the road, and 0-1 at neutral sites against NMU.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Northern Michigan enters the playoffs with the second-ranked clear percentage in the country at .917, which was displayed on Saturday at Sea Foam Stadium when the Wildcats executed on 26 of their 28 clear attempts despite committing more turnovers (20) than Concordia (16). The result of NMU's clear success allowed the Wildcats to take a 34-23 advantage in total shot attempts, despite Concordia winning 10-9 on the draw.

The Wildcats lead the league with 15.06 draw controls per game, a number that CSP held to just nine on Saturday.

The Wildcats are led by Minnie Bittell, who leads the GLIAC in points (98, 10th NCAA), goals (67, 12th NCAA), and assists (31, 42nd NCAA) while also ranking second in the league with 4.35 draw controls per game. On Saturday at Sea Foam Stadium, Bittell accounted for eight points on NMU's 11 goals with four goals and four assists. NMU goalie Lauren Esposito ranks second in the GLIAC with 9.14 goals against average (17th NCAA) and third in save percentage (.454) and saves per game (6.71). On Saturday, she saved 11 of 16 shots on goal against the Golden Bears and defended the crease by nabbing seven ground balls.

CSP IN THE NCAA (GLIAC) RANKINGS: TEAM
  • 11th - .549 free position percentage (3rd GLIAC)
  • 15th - 12.18 caused turnovers per game (1st GLIAC)
  • 17th - 21.18 ground balls per game (1st GLIAC)
  • 55th - 5.12 assists per game (2nd GLIAC)
CSP IN THE NCAA (GLIAC) RANKINGS: INDIVIDUAL CSP INDIVIDUAL CAREER RECORDS & RANKINGS (Top-5 only) CSP INDIVIDUAL SEASON RECORDS & RANKINGS (Top-5 only) CSP TEAM SEASON RECORDS & RANKINGS (Top-5 only)
  • t-1st - 226 draw controls
  • 2nd - 207 caused turnovers
  • 4th - 360 ground balls
  • 5th - 264 points
  • 5th - 177 goals
  • 5th - 87 assists
  • 5th - 147 saves
  • 5th - .412 save percentage
  • 5th - 12.35 goals against average
CSP INDIVIDUAL GAME RECORDS & RANKINGS (Top-5 only) CSP TEAM GAME RECORDS & RANKINGS (Top-5 only)
  • 1st - 22 saves, at Northern Michigan (4/13)
  • t-1st - 22 caused turnovers, vs Lewis (2/18)
  • 3rd - 22 draw controls, vs Fort Lewis (3/8)
  • t-4th - 14 assists, at William Penn (3/22)

 
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