2021 Lacrosse Season Review

COMING UP: Season Complete
 
2021 – A TOUGH YEAR ALL AROUND: Coming off a 2020 season that was halted just two games into the season, the Coyote lacrosse team was poised to continue their roll in 2021 through the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League. Unforeseen circumstances changed things for C of I. The COVID-19 pandemic canceled not only the PNCLL schedule and the MCLA Division II national tournament – but only C of I and Montana forged on to try and salvage a season. With fall sports moving to the spring, C of I lost the services of multi-sport athletes, other athletes chose to opt-out of the season due to the pandemic and a rash of injuries depleted the Coyote roster – to a point where the team had to opt-out as a group just three games into a 7-game schedule.
 
RECAP OF GAMES: The Yotes were able to play three games – all against high-caliber teams. The squad opened the season under the lights at Simplot Stadium, outlasting MCLA Division II national qualifier, Utah State, 17-6. Just four days later, C of I hosted an extremely deep nationally-ranked Division I foe in Dominican (Calif.), with DU scoring the final three goals of the match to earn a 12-8 victory. The season ended in Boise with the first-ever counting match against Division I Boise State, with the Broncos rallying to top C of I, 10-9. First-year player Loy Howard led C of I with eight goals in the three matches, with both Casey Davies and Dane Hamilton scoring seven goals.
 
MCLA INVITE: Though the traditional MCLA Division I and II National Championships have been canceled, the MCLA will host an 8-team Invitational Championship in May. A selection committee will take the Top-8 teams (regardless of being Division I or II) to play for a title.
 
THANK YOU SENIORS: Three Coyotes have played their final games in the gold helmets, as Kirk Trammell, Parker Gregg and Keenan Pattwell will graduate this spring. Both Trammell and Pattwell were honored as All-PNCLL selections during the 2019 season and are 4-year members of the program, while Gregg joined the team prior to the 2020 season.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: C of I will return the bulk of their roster for the 2022 season – including All-Americans Casey Davies and Hank Ontiveros, along with All-PNCLL picks Cade Brown and Joey Brant. The team will welcome regulars Ed Osterberger and Dylan Martinez back after spending this spring with C of I's football team, while freshmen Loy Howard and Dane Hamilton will be back after stellar rookie campaigns.
 
TO THE FUTURE: The look of the PNCLL will be determined during the offseason – as both the Portland and Portland State programs, along with Seattle University, eliminated their teams prior to the 2021 season, while Southern Oregon is searching for a new coach. Northwest Nazarene will be added into the mix as a full MCLA member. In addition, two new NAIA programs will begin on the West Coast – Westcliff (Calif.) and Multnomah (Ore.) – giving C of I the potential of playing countable NAIA contests for the first time since becoming a varsity program in 2018 (teams must play eight countable contests to be eligible for NAIA postseason competition).