All 4 AAC Teams Advance to NAIA Semifinal Round

(Photo by Angelina Ruiz; Story by NAIA Sports Communications)

SAVANNAH, Ga. - [Schedule] [Bracket] The 2024 NAIA Men's Lacrosse National Championship got underway today at Memorial Stadium in Savannah, Ga. with four quarterfinal games being played. All higher seeds advanced to the semifinals tomorrow afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Savannah, Ga. and for the first time in the men's lacrosse tournament history all four teams come from the same conference; the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC). 

No. 1 Reinhardt (Ga.) def. No. 8 Ottawa (Kan.), 20-4 

• Reinhardt (Ga.) struck early in the opening game of the 2024 NAIA Men's Lacrosse Championship, turning their first shot into a goal from Cameron Cochran 30 seconds into the first quarter.
• Ottawa (Kan.) responded less than a minute later with a man-up goal from Vincent DeMarco off an assist from Ethan NewMyer to tie the game at 1-1.
• The Eagles continued their offense presence with five unanswered goals on eight shots to take a 6-1 lead after the opening period of play.  Liam Wright added five saves in the quarter to limit the Braves offense. 
•  Reinhardt continued to dominate the possession in the second quarter netting three straight goals to extend the lead to 9-1 with 5:44 remaining in the first half.  Both defenses combined to force four turnovers in the closing minutes of the first half as the Eagles took a 9-1 advantage into the half.
• Ottawa came out strong in the third quarter netting two goals in just over two minutes of play to cut the score to 9-3. 
• Reinhardt responded with a transition goal as Cameron Cochran connected with JR Sess to extend the lead to 10-3 with 11:51 remaining.  The two teams traded possession over the next 11 minutes before the Eagles netted three goals in the closing 23 seconds of the quarter to take a 13-3 lead.
• The Eagles continued their offensive efficiency, tacking on four goals, two from JR Sess and Cameron Cochran, in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter to make it a 17-3 lead.
• Vincent DeMarco added his third goal of the contest for Ottawa with 1:24 remaining, however, Reinhardt netted three straight for the 20-4 final.
• Cameron Cochran led the way for the Eagles with four goals and four assists, while Brady Hanak added four goals.  JR Sess and Benji Shackleford finished with four points each, while Gabe Turner and Jason Marx tallied three caused turnovers apiece.  Liam Wright closed out with 17 saves.
• Vicent DeMarco led the way for the Braves with three goals and five ground balls.  Jacob Vincentini went 12-25 on faceoffs with eight ground balls.  Jake Christopherson notched 14 saves in the contest.
• The top-seeded Eagles advance to the semifinal game tomorrow afternoon. 

No. 4 Cumberlands (Ky.) def. No. 5 William Penn (Iowa), 16-9 

• Cumberlands (Ky.) opened the game with three straight goals to take a 3-0 lead with 5:14 remaining in the first quarter. 
• An unassisted goal from Wyatt Christensen put William Penn (Iowa) on the board, however, the Patriots added a pair of goals over the final two minutes to take a 5-1 lead.
• Cumberlands added a goal from Ty Grooms eight seconds into the second quarter to extend the lead to 6-1.
• The Statesmen added three unanswered goals, including a pair from Christensen, to cut the deficit to 6-4 midway through the second quarter.
• The teams traded goals twice before Cumberlands took advantage of a penalty as Will Rogers found Nick Kava for a man-up goal to give the Patriots a 9-6 lead at the break.
• The Patriots extended their lead with a pair of goals in the first half of the third quarter, including a man-down goal from Rogers, to make it an 11-6 lead.
• The two teams traded goals, before Carter Barrett netted an unassisted goal for Cumberlands to extend their lead to 13-7 after three quarters.
• The Patriots opened the fourth quarter with three different goal scorers finding the back of the cage to give Cumberlands the 16-7 lead.
• William Penn answered with back-to-back goals from Breck Putzier for the 16-9 final.
• Goalie Michael Toohey led the way for Cumberlands with 25 saves and four ground balls.  Nick Kava netted five goals, while Maalek Wilson chipped in four.
• William Penn was led by Wyatt Christensen and Breck Putzier, who combined for five goals.  Nate Blasingame scooped 11 ground balls, while Eric Garigan made seven saves.
• Cumberlands will play tomorrow at 11 a.m. EST against the top-seeded Eagles of Reinhardt.

No. 3 Webber International (Fla.) def. No. 6 Indiana Tech, 13-10

• Indiana Tech made a save to open the game and on their first offensive possession Jake Deacon put a well-placed shot into the cage for a goal to put the Warriors in front 1-0.
• Webber (Fla.) got on the board a couple of minutes later as Jeremiah Loo notched an unassisted goal.
• The two teams traded goals before Nate Durham found a cutting Nate Langille for a goal to put Indiana Tech in front 3-2 with 4:55 remaining.  The two teams picked up their defensive efforts over the final five minutes of the quarter as the Warriors took a 3-2 lead into the second period.
• Indiana Tech opened the second quarter with consecutive goals, including a man-up goal from Devin Macomber to take a 5-2 advantage.
• Webber responded with a three-goal run, that spanned four minutes, to even the score at 5-5. 
• Indiana Tech added back-to-back goals before the Warriors answered with two straight to even the score at 7-7 heading into halftime.
• Webber came out of the break with back-to-back goals from Blake Nelson and Houston Finlayson to take a 9-7 lead with 11:49 remaining. 
• Both goalies added a pair of saves before Josh Bramley notched a goal off an assist from Samuel Bodley to pull Indiana Tech within one at 9-8. 
• Webber added a late goal in the third quarter with a Chase Jackson goal to put the Warriors in front 10-8.
• A minute into the fourth quarter, Indiana Tech pulled within one at 10-9.  The two teams traded goals before Webber added a pair of late goals for the 13-10 final.
• Blake Nelson, Chase Jackson, and Nick Sheaffer tallied four points apiece to lead the way for Webber.  Joshua Cargile went 12-23 on faceoffs and scooped 9 ground balls, while Ryan Prylinski made 21 saves in the game.
• Samuel Bodley and Jake Deacon finished with three points apiece for Indiana Tech.  Tristan McKneely scooped a team-high five ground balls, while Kyle Twobulls made eight saves.
• Webber International advances to the semifinals tomorrow at 2 p.m.

No. 2 Keiser (Fla.) def. No. 7 Concordia (Mich.), 16-11

• Concordia (Mich.) jumped out to a 3-0 lead scoring a trio of goals in just over five minutes of action as Ivan Progar tallied a goal and an assist. 
• Keiser (Fla.) took advantage of a Cardinals penalty as AJ Badik connected with Vincent Cerasuolo for a man-up goal.  The Seahawks netted two of the next three goals to pull within one at 4-3 with 3:33 remaining in the first quarter.
• Keiser added three straight goals as Badik dished out a pair of assists to put the Seahawks in front 6-4 with 1:32 remaining.  Concordia responded with an Ivan Progar man-up goal to cut it to 6-5 after the opening quarter.
• The Seahawks netted five unanswered goals, including a pair from Badik, in the first three minutes of the second quarter to extend their lead to 11-5. 
• Sam Saje won the next faceoff for Concordia and netted a goal seven seconds later to cut it to 11-6 with 12:06 remaining in the quarter. 
• Concordia added two goals in a three-minute span before Vincent Cerasuolo notched an unassisted goal to put the Seahawks in front 12-8 at the break.
• Keiser opened the third quarter with three goals in the first five minutes of the period to extend their lead to 15-8. 
• Concordia continued to battle as Progar and Spencer Guppy accounted for two of the next three goals to make it 16-10 with 5:34 left.  Both defenses came up with a pair of stops to send the game into the fourth quarter with the Seahawks leading 16-10.
• Badik completed his hat trick with an unassisted goal a minute into the fourth quarter making it 17-10.
• The two teams traded goals twice to make it 19-12 in favor of Keiser midway through the fourth quarter.  The score remained that way until the Cardinals added the final two goals of the game for the 19-14 final.
• Vicent Cerasuolo led the way for Keiser with six goals and eight points.  Ryan Rundle and AJ Badik tallied six points apiece, while Lucas Green made 11 saves.
• Concordia was led by Ivan Progar, who netted six goals, while Travis Wright notched four points in the game.  Sam Saje scooped 10 ground balls and was 15-33 on face-offs.
• Keiser will play tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST against the third-seeded Webber Warriors.