Reverb: Something Old, Something New

(Photo by Lance Wendt)

by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The two title contests at the 2025 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance features one with two starry-eyed teams looking for its first crown and two grizzled, tournament warhorses looking to add to their stash.

Both will be extremely compelling to watch and will feature some of the best players the association has to offer.

On to the games…

No. 4 St. Thomas vs. No. 2 Grand Valley State, 10 a.m. (GV -2.5 | 24)
Grand Valley State is in search of their first title since the magical run in 2014 and the Tommies are searching for their record-breaking seventh title – Colorado State also has six rings – and their first since 2019. They will both be trying to reach their achievement against an opponent the probably know better than any other team in the division.

This will be the third time the two teams are meeting in the finals, with St. Thomas taking the previous two in 2016 (10-7) and 2012 (9-8). The Lakers and Tommies typically meet in the semifinals, as they did last year and four other times, including the ’14 semis before the Lakers lifted the hardware. Fittingly, this will be their third meeting this season and the rubber match.

What can we derive from the first two matchups? The first contest was in the Stillwater (Minn.) Dome where Bryce Gordon torched the Tommies to the tune of six goals and an apple in a 13-7 wipeout. Keegan Greene was on, stopping 15 of the 22 (68.2 sv%) rocks that came his way. The second was in the UMLC finals in White Bear Lake and it was St. Thomas’ turn, 12-8. Five different players had at least two goals for UST, led by Cam Gelling’s hat trick, while Gunner Arens turned away 63.6 percent of the shots in net. Gordon was held to one assist and Greene was sidelined due to on-field contretemps a couple of games earlier.

Both teams appear to be playing their best ball at the right time, which is a wonderful situation for the fans. From my perspective, when fully-rostered, Grand Valley State is the more talented team. Not by a huge amount, and I would listen if Tommies’ fans wanted to argue otherwise. On the flip side, St. Thomas is unquestionably the Lakers’ tournament bogeyman. There’s a lot of history and the gray and purple has mostly been GVSU’s kryptonite.

The first one to 12 wins. And it is kind of fitting that Cam Holding and Joe Costello will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday as they were there at the beginning of this rivalry.

No. 3 Georgia Tech vs. No. 1 Liberty, 1 p.m. (LIB -3 | 25)
Georgia Tech is still around? Sheesh, why won’t these guys go away? Tennessee was an OT goal away. Texas just needed a good finishing kick. Utah Valley couldn’t grab a ground ball. Must be that clean Atlanta living that has the Ramblin’ Wreck playing for a national title for the second time in four years. In all seriousness, all you can do is win the games that are in front of you, and that’s just what Tech has done. There are no style points or bonus checks for blowouts. Get yourself to Saturday and see what’s in the tank.

This will be the second installment, but I’m not sure if we can take a whole lot from a game that occurred in February between these two. Does the game count? Sure, but there has obviously been some evolution for both teams. Liberty was still stinging from the curb-stomping it took at the hands of Virginia Tech a couple of weeks earlier – still the only loss for the Flames 18 games later – and the Jackets had no idea they were about to get worked by the Hokies the next day.

Georgia Tech was also still trying to figure out its goalie situation and had not moved to its true platoon of Owen Armentrout and Peter Zagrobelny. Those two have proven to be imperative in the Wreck’s late-season success, although dueling goalies can be a combustible situation, especially if you have a coach with a quick hook. And that’s the nature of championship games: there’s no tomorrow so you’re not waiting around for things to fix themselves.

Liberty’s ability to put up video game numbers this tournament – and this season – has been sparked by the play of Caleb Hammett, who has been a steady presence at the dot. Tech did a good job, however, mixing things up on UVU’s Jacob Lundin, another outstanding draw man. The elephant in the room is stopping Keaton Mohs, who is on one of the greatest tournament runs the MCLA has ever seen. Because of his passing and scoring, he appears to be un-guardable at this point. He’s a guy where you just start the game with Plan B, because you know Plan A isn’t going to work.

It's not my story to tell (although not a secret), but Georgia Tech is playing for a teammate (and family) who has undoubtedly been distracted from reality, however briefly, by this wonderful run that they are on. Those kind of jelling agents can be extremely cohesive, especially in a team setting. I won’t predict a Georgia Tech win – why start now, right? – but a closer game than people think may be in the offing.