Jump to content

Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League
ConferenceMCLA
Founded1986
Ceased2017
CommissionerDan Morris
Sports fielded
No. of teams15
HeadquartersDurham, New Hampshire
RegionNew England
Official websitehttp://mcla.us/PCLL/

The Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCLL) was a conference in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The PCLL primarily incorporates teams in New England and New York and is divided into two divisions, Division 1 and Division 2 (formerly A & B).[1] The conference is governed by a five-member executive board and the teams that win the conference's divisional playoffs receive bids to the MCLA National Tournament. Before the 2019 season, the conference merged with the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) to form the Continental Lacrosse Conference (CLC).[2]

History

[edit]

In the spring of 1984, players from 15 colleges competed in a club All-Star game held at Dean College. It was during this event that the idea of hosting a New England college club championship germinated.[3] Over the next year meetings between the club lacrosse programs in the New England region were held and by the spring of 1986, four teams gathered at Dean College for a single elimination tournament.[3] In the semi-final match-ups, Boston University defeated the University of Connecticut, 6-5, and Dean College defeated the University of Rhode Island, 14-2. That same day, Dean College became the first "New England Club Champion", defeating Boston University by a score of 6-5.

After two years of successful tournaments, six teams petitioned the US Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) for sanctioning of the league. In 1987, Assumption College, Bentley College, Clark University, Dean College, Roger Williams University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute founded the Patriot Lacrosse League.[3] The league's original purpose was to provide structure and legitimacy to the member teams, hoping their institutions would elevate them to varsity status. Five of those six founding Patriot League members were able to obtain their goal.[3] During the spring of 1988, the first Patriot League Championship was played. Dean College defeated Bentley 18-9.[3]

The following year, although Roger Williams departed, the University of Rhode Island and Bryant College were accepted into the league.[3] In the spring of 1990, University of Connecticut and Northeastern University joined the league and at the USILA's request to avoid confusion with the NCAA's Patriot League, the league changed its name to the Pioneer Lacrosse League.[3]

The Pioneer operated along the same lines for the next several seasons. Teams left the league to compete at the varsity level in the NCAA while new teams joined to fill their place. In the fall of 2000, the league underwent a major change by officially joining what was then known as the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates (USLIA).[3] That same year, the University of New Hampshire defeated Boston University to earn the league's first automatic qualification and represent the PCLL at its first national tournament as members of the USLIA. In St. Louis, Missouri.[3] In 2006 the USLIA became the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA).

In August 2018, the MCLA announced its intention to merge the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League and the Central Collegiate Lacrosse League (CCLA) to form a new conference, the Continental Lacrosse Conference (CLC).[2]

Championship records

[edit]

Division I

[edit]
Division I champions
Year League champion Runner-up Score National tournament results
New England club champion
1986 Dean College Boston 6-5 N/A
1987 Boston N/A
Patriot Lacrosse League
1988 Dean College Bentley 18-5 N/A
1989
1990
1991
Pioneer Lacrosse League (independent)
1992 Rhode Island N/A
1993 Rhode Island N/A
1994 Dean College N/A
1995 Dean College N/A
1996
1997
1998
1999 Coast Guard Academy N/A
Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (MCLA conference)
2000 New Hampshire Boston 16-8 lost in first round to Brigham Young University
2001 Rhode Island New Hampshire 14-10 lost in first round to Colorado State University
2002 New Hampshire Connecticut 10-4 lost in first round to Sonoma State University
2003 Boston College New Hampshire 11-10 lost in first round to Colorado State University
2004 Boston College New Hampshire 14-8 lost in first round to University of Oregon
2005 Northeastern New Hampshire 15-12 lost in first round to University of Michigan
2006 Northeastern New Hampshire 8-4 lost in first round to Sonoma State University
2007 Northeastern Boston College 8-4 lost in second round to UC Santa Barbara
2008 Boston College Boston 12-4 lost in first round to Brigham Young University
2009 Boston College Northeastern 9-8 lost in first round to University of Minnesota Duluth
2010 Boston College New Hampshire 10-9 lost in first round to Colorado State University
2011 SUNY-Buffalo Boston College 5-3 lost in first round to Arizona State University
2012 SUNY-Buffalo Northeastern 9-6 lost in second round to Arizona State University
2013 Boston College Connecticut 10-4 lost in first round to Sonoma State University
2014 Northeastern New Hampshire 12-5 lost in first round to Chapman University
2015 Connecticut New Hampshire 9-2 lost in first round to Arizona State University
2016 Boston College Connecticut 14-5 lost in second round to Grand Canyon University
2017 Northeastern New Hampshire 10-9 lost in first round to eventual champion Grand Canyon University
Division 1 records
Team Championships Championship years Runner-up Runner-up years
Boston College 7 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016 2 2007, 2011
Dean College 4 1986, 1988, 1994, 1995
Rhode Island 3 1992, 1993, 2001
New Hampshire 2 2000, 2002 9 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2015 2017
SUNY-Buffalo 2 2011, 2012
Northeastern 2 2014, 2017 2 2009, 2012
Boston 1 1987 2 2000, 2008
Coast Guard Academy 1 1999
Connecticut 1 2015 3 2002, 2013, 2016
Bentley 1 1988

Division II

[edit]
Division II champions
Year League champion Runner-up Score National tournament results
2004 No championship held1
2005 Coast Guard Academy Framingham State 10-6 Did not attend2
2006 Salem State College New Haven 10-8 Did not attend
2007 Salem State College Framingham State 15-10 Did not attend3
2008 Central Connecticut State Coast Guard Academy 5-4 Did not attend
2009 Stonehill College Briarcliffe College 4-3 lost in first round to University of Northern Colorado
2010 Briarcliffe College Stonehill College 14-6 lost in first round to Utah Valley University
2011 Briarcliffe College Coast Guard Academy 13-6 lost in second round to Davenport University
2012 Briarcliffe College Coast Guard Academy 9-8 OT lost in first round to North Dakota State University
2013 Briarcliffe College Coast Guard Academy 9-7 lost in first round to Westminster College

Coast Guard Academy lost in second round to University of St. Thomas4

2014 Coast Guard Academy Briarcliffe College 15-6 lost in first round to University of Dayton
2015 Briarcliffe College Bridgewater State 10-9 lost in first round to Concordia University Irvine
2016 Bridgewater State Southern Connecticut State 15-7 lost in first round to eventual champion University of St. Thomas
2017 Bridgewater State Central Connecticut State 9-7 lost in first round to Grand Valley State University

1 Division B only included one team (University of New Haven) in 2004 and therefore did not have playoffs.
2 The PCLL(B) did not receive an automatic bid to nationals.

3 The PCLL(B) did not receive an automatic bid to nationals.

4 Coast Guard Academy received an at-large bid to nationals.

Division II records
Team Championships Championship years Runner-up Runner-up years
Briarcliffe College 5 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 1 2009
Salem State College 2 2006, 2007
Coast Guard Academy 2 2005, 2014 4 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013
Bridgewater State 2 2016, 2017
Central Connecticut State 1 2008 1 2017
Stonehill College 1 2009 1 2010
Framingham State 2 2005, 2007
New Haven 1 2006
Southern Connecticut State 1 2016

Final Teams

[edit]

Division 1

[edit]
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Team Nickname Primary conference
Boston College Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 1863 Private/Catholic 14,395 Eagles ACC (Division I)
University of Connecticut Storrs, Connecticut 1881 Public 20,846 Huskies Big East Conference (Division I)
University of New Hampshire Durham, New Hampshire 1809 Public 20,126 Wildcats America East (Division I)
Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts 1898 Private/Non-sectarian 21,000 Huskies CAA (Division I)
University of Rhode Island Kingston, Rhode Island 1892 Public 19,095 Rams Atlantic 10 (Division I)
SUNY-Buffalo Buffalo, New York 1846 Public 28,601 Bulls MAC (Division I)

Division 2

[edit]
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Team Nickname Primary conference
University of Bridgeport Bridgeport, Connecticut 1927 Public 2,897 Purple Knights ECC (Division II)
Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, Massachusetts 1840 Public 9,628 Bears MASCAC (Division III)
Central Connecticut State University New Britain, Connecticut 1849 Public 12,233 Blue Devil NEC (Division I)
Framingham State University Framingham, Massachusetts 1839 Public 6,429 Rams MASCAC (Division III)
University of New Haven West Haven, Connecticut 1920 Private/Non-sectarian 5,233 Chargers Northeast Ten (Division II)
Southern Connecticut State University New Haven, Connecticut 1893 Public 12,326 Owls Northeast Ten (Division II)
Stonehill College Easton, Massachusetts 1948 Private/Catholic 2,426 Skyhawks Northeast Ten (Division II)
Westfield State University Westfield, Massachusetts 1838 Public 4,900 Owls MASCAC (Division III)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, Massachusetts 1865 Private/Non-sectarian 4,556 Engineers NEWMAC (Division III)

Former teams

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "About the PCLL". PCLL. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "MCLA Adds New Conference". Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "History of the PCLL". PCLL. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
[edit]