The John Carroll men's lacrosse team, coming off its most successful season in team history is taking its game to a new level. After finishing 11-6 last year and earning an at large bid to the NCLL national tournament, the team has been accepted to join the CCLA conference of the MCLA, the largest club lacrosse league in the country.
This is a significant step forward for the program, as the MCLA is a league comprised of over 220 teams, many of which have "virtual varsity" status, and stretches from Boston to California. With the move, the team becomes part of the CCLA, which includes Division 1 powers like Pittsburgh, Michigan State and reigning MCLA champs Michigan as well as last year's Division 2 national runner up in Grand Valley State. In the CCLA John Carroll will compete in the Division 2 South along with Carnegie Mellon, Taylor University, Grove City and Dayton, an MCLA Final Four team last spring. The move is another step in the right direction, as it will allow the team to play national powers and out of conference opponents that are established and can act as a measuring stick for the talent and committment of the John Carroll program.
The team is optimtistic and willing to make the committment it will take, increasing the amount of practicing time and playing a tought fall schedule, including club powers Dayton and Pitt as well as Oberlin College, a Division 3 varsity team. As Coach Schmoldt says "This will be a big challenge for us, but we expect to make the conference tournament and hope to push for a national bid. We want to make an impression right away."
To that end, the team has brought on two assistant coaches to help move the program along. Kurt Huxel played at Cleveland Heights High and graduated with a B.A. and M.A. from Florida International and will act as defensive coordinator and assist with recruiting, while Scott Sullivan, the new offensive coordinator, played at St. Ignatius before playing four years at Division 2 Mercyhurst, where he was a captain and played in four NCAA Final Fours. With the new additions, as well as a strong freshmen class, the team is looking forward to a solid fall that will spring board to a successful spring season.