(Savannah, GA) - The Concordia Men's Lacrosse team will be competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) inaugural National Championship as they are making an appearance in the Quarterfinal round. Last summer the NAIA elevated Men's Lacrosse to Championship status.

This will be the Cardinals third straight appearance at the NAIA National Tournament and the first time making it to the semifinal round. 

The Cardinals advance to the semifinal following a 12-7 win over Webber International in the quarterfinal round. CUAA outscored the Warriors 6-2 in the first half before Webber mounted a third period comeback to bring the score to within one. Following a short lightning delay, Concordia's offense would explode in the fourth with five goals to Webber's one. 

Andrew Simmons led the offense with four goals while Spencer Guppy recorded three. Ross Preston led the passing attack with a trio of assists. Goalie Joseph Loria tallied 12 saves in net in the game. 

GAME INFORMATION

#5 Concordia vs. #1 Keiser

May 8 | 3 PM | Memorial Stadium | Savannah, GA

Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets ($)

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS

Keiser came into the tournament as the two-time NAIA Defending Champions and the top seed in this year's tournament. The Seahawks won the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament last month after beating Point, Reinhardt, and Cumberlands. They sit at 13-1 overall on the year and were 7-1 in the AAC this season. 

Keiser opened up the inaugural NAIA Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament on Wednesday with a 16-7 win over #8 William Penn. Kagan Hufford tallied six points in the match including five goals. Ryan Stowell and JP Prather added seven goals together with Stowell scoring four and Prather scoring three goals. Lucas Green recorded 17 saves in net. 

The Seahawks offense is paced by seven different players over 20 goals with two of them eclipsing 30 goals. AAC First-Teamer Ryan Rundle led the group with 35 goals and 25 assists, while Second-Teamer Kegan Hufford scored 30 goals and assisted on 15 goals. JP Prather, AJ Badik, Ryan Stowell, Vincent Cerasuolo, and Braeden Niemy all have at least 20 goals on the year. Badik and Cerasuolo were First Team All-AAC selections. 

The Seahawk defense has only allowed 111 goals on the year which is the fourth least allowed among teams this season. Three Keiser players have tallied at least 10 caused turnovers this season, being led by AAC First Team selection Shane Cassidy (19), Ethan Acosta (11), and Jackson Marshall (10). 

Lucas Green is the main man in between the pipes for Keiser with a goals against average of 8.35 in 654 minutes this season. Green has accumulated 94 saves on the year with a 50.8% save percentage. 

Chris Rayburn is the top faceoff man for the Seahawks, winning 129 of his 182 faceoffs for a 70.9% faceoff percentage. Cole Nappi is second on the team with 96 faceoff wins in 151 chances for a 63.6% win percentage. 

ABOUT THE CARDINALS

The Cardinals come into the tournament as the five seed after an 12-5 overall record on the season and a 5-2 record in WHAC play. The Cardinals are led by Head Coach Ty McGuire who is in his seventh season and has a 57-37 record at Concordia.

The Cardinals offense is paced by Travis Wright and Cooper Regimbal who have each recorded 75 points this season respectively with 53 and 58 goals respectively. Ross Preston leads the team with 28 assists on the year as Wright and Ryan Davis each have 22. Four different Cardinals have tallied at least 10 caused turnovers with Josh Dues (19), Mason Blow (17), Conor Przybylo (11), and Patrick Broderick (10) all hitting that mark. 

Joseph Loria is the team leader in saves with 173, while allowing just under 11 goals against and has a 58.6% save percentage. 

Gavin Scally is the Cardinals top faceoff man as he has tallied 264 faceoff wins against his 476 chances, which is good for 55.5%. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (PREVIOUS MATCHUP)

The Cardinals and Seahawks have faced off twice in program history with both times coming last season. Keiser took home wins in both games with a 14-7 win in the regular season before a 19-14 win in the NAIA Quarterfinals. 

In the regular season matchup Evan Stuart gave Concordia an early lead two minutes into the game which held for two minutes until Braeden Niemy scored the equalizer. Later in the quarter Keiser went up a goal, but Concordia responded with three goals in a matter of 19 seconds. Spencer Guppy tied things up, followed by Noah Sorenson and Andrew Simmons scoring off of Sam Saje assists after claiming the faceoff. Keiser found a way to tie it up at 4-4 after the first quarter and didn't look back as they scored five straight in the second. Noah Sorenson tacked on a goal at the end of the half, but Keiser was maintaining a four-goal advantage. The third quarter was more defensive, with only two goals being scored, both by the Seahawks. Ivan Progar put in a pair of goals in the final quarter, but ultimately Keiser walked away victorious 14-7.

The NAIA Quarterfinal matchup was a high-scoring affair last year. The Cardinals rattled off three goals to open the game from Ivan Progar, Andrew Simmons and Travis Wright before Keiser got on the board. Vincent Cerasuolo pulled Keiser back in the game with a first quarter hat trick, but Ivan Progar scored one of his own to make it 6-5, Seahawks after the first. Keiser started to pull away slightly in the second quarter with AJ Badik and Vincent Cerasuolo both scoring a pair, but Sam Saje, Progar, and Hunter McCarty all scored to keep it a four-goal deficit at the half. Four different Seahawks scored in the third quarter, with Progar scoring again followed by Spencer Guppy. The Cardinals outscored Keiser in the final quarter, but it was too little too late as Keiser secured the 19-14 victory. Ivan Progar finished with 6 goals and Sam Bowling stopped 11 shots in goal for Concordia. 

STATS COMPARISON

NAIA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 7 - NAIA Quarterfinals

#1 Keiser defeats #8 William Penn - 

#5 Concordia defeats #4 Webber International - 12-7

#7 Madonna defeats #2 Reinhardt - 14-8

#3 Cumberlands defeats #6 Indiana Tech - 13-10

Thursday, May 8 - NAIA Semifinal

#1 Keiser vs. #5 Concordia - 3 PM

#3 Cumberlands vs. #7 Madonna - 6 PM

Saturday, May 10 - NAIA Championship

Remaining two teams - 1 PM