Colorado State earned the 5th seed with a 11-5 record and received an at-large bid out of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Lacrosse Conference. Simon Fraser comes into the contest with a 14-3 record after winning the automatic qualifier in the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League.
The Rams and Clan are no strangers in the MCLA national tournament, having met three previous times. In 1999, CSU beat SFU 15-11 in the national championship game. In 2004, the Rams decisively won an MCLA first-round contest 23-6. However, in 2010, Simon Fraser prevailed over CSU in the MCLA quarterfinals with a 12-11 overtime victory.
The Rams are led by All-Conference goaltenders Jack Regan (Sunset HS; Portland, OR) and Koltin Fatzinger (Wheat Ridge HS; Thornton, CO) and senior attackman Sean Smith (Amherst HS; Amherst, NY). Simon Fraser is one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the country, with Tyler Kirkby, Ward Spencer and Sam Clare each having eclipsed the 50 point mark this season.
The winner of the game will take on the winner of the 4th seeded Chapman Panthers and 13th seeded Northeastern Huskies. Arizona State earned the #1 seed in the tournament with the University of Colorado coming in as the #2.
Game time for Colorado State and Simon Fraser is 5 p.m. PST at UC-Irvine and all MCLA tournament games can be viewed live online at www.mcla.us.