The latest on Michigan’s other top MCLA D-1 teams.
Michigan State
Since Michigan and Michigan State didn’t play the same schedule this weekend, I’ll have to go into a little depth on the Spartans’ weekend. State traveled to Urbana-Champaign to take on #15 Minnesota-Duluth and #17 Illinois.
Fortunately, the Spartans stood up for the pride of the CCLA, knocking off the top programs from the UMLL and GRLC, respectively. Following the 2-game stretch, head coach Dwayne Hicks talked to Lacrosse Magazine’s Jac Coyne about what it means for his program:
“We were going to continuously play good teams instead of trying to play good teams over spring break, and then ride out the rest of the conference. This year we were going to play good teams throughout the year and get used to the speed and get used to playing back-to-back games.”
Toughening the schedule will help with preparation for the MCLA Tournament (in which the Spartans have almost certainly locked up an at-large bid) and rival Michigan. Hicks told Coyne that Michigan probably won’t try to surprise the Spartans when they meet up on Saturday. More preview material for that game coming throughout the week – but first, I’ll have to preview Thursday’s Central Michigan contest. Speaking of whom…
Central Michigan
When last we left the Chippewas, they were toting an undefeated record, and welcoming a demoralized BYU outfit to town. The Cougars were able to rebound from big losses to Michigan and Michigan State, and paste CMU 25-4 (after holding just an 8-4 lead at halftime).
It’s been a tailspin ever since, with the Chips dropping a pair in Buffalo to the hosts and Northeastern University last weekend, and this weekend getting roughed up by MSU-Mankato and Marquette on a trip to Wisconsin.
CMU has another likely loss on the horizon as they visit Michigan State on Thursday, but they have a pretty good shot to seal a bid to the CCLA conference tournament over the next week, as they host Ball State (in Lake Orion) on Sunday and Western Michigan (in Mount Pleasant) on Friday.