(Savannah, GA) - The Concordia Cardinals men's lacrosse team secured their third ever, and second straight, berth to the NAIA Men Lacrosse Invitational following a 12-4 record throughout the regular season and WHAC Tournament. The team opens up the tournament as the #7-seed, facing off in a rematch of their third game of the season against the 2nd-seeded Keiser Seahawks.

GAME INFORMATION

#7 Concordia Cardinals vs. #2 Keiser Seahawks

May 8 | 6 PM | Memorial Stadium | Savannah, GA

Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets ($)

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS

Head Coach Patrick Johnston is in his eighth season at the helm for Keiser, sporting a 75-27 record with the Seahawks as he enters his eighth NAIA Invitational appearance following their National Championship in 2023. Much like the Cardinals, the Seahawks have squared off against many top-10 opponents within the NAIA this season, including all of the qualifying teams for this year's invitational. Keiser took down William Penn, Cumberlands, Indiana Tech, Concordia, Ottawa, and Webber International throughout the regular season. Their two losses on the year both came at the hands of top-seeded Reinhardt who defeated them both in the regular season and Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship game.  

Keiser's attack is led by First Team All-AAC Ryan Rundle, who is currently fifth in the NAIA with 52 goals on the season and sixth in points with 83. AJ Badik also was a First Team All-AAC attacker with 45 goals on the season. Four other Seahawks accumulated over 35 points on the year including Vincent Cerasuolo (71), Braeden Niemy (54), Kagan Hufford (44), and JP Prather (38). 

Reese Niemeier led the Seahawks as a First-Team All-AA defender, causing 16 turnovers and picking up 40 ground balls. Jackson Marshall led the team with 27 caused turnovers while picking up 48 ground balls. Chris Rayburn is the Seahawks' faceoff specialist and earned First Team All-AAC honors after winning the second most faceoffs in the NAIA with 250 at a 61.6 percentage. 

The Seahawks have seen a split in goal time this season with Lucas Green and James Boyer each earning time. Green has played 551:48 minutes in net, while Boyer has 349:04 minutes of experience. Lucas leads the duo with 87 saves on the year while making a 50.9% save percentage and allowing a 9.13 goal average this season. The combined 9.52 goals-against average is the eighth-best in the NAIA this season.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS

Head Coach Ty McGuire is in his sixth season as the Head Coach for the Cardinals, and guiding the team to a 12-4 record overall and a second-straight undefeated 8-0 Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) regular season record. This is the third time the team has now qualified for the NAIA Invitational. McGuire has recorded a record of 45-31 in his six years at the helm. 

The Cardinal offense is headed up by four players contributing at least 30 goals this season as they are led by WHAC First Teamer, Hunter McCarty with 37 goals and 22 assists, which is the 29th and 25th most in the NAIA respectively. The three other Cardinals hitting the 30 goal mark are Ivan Progar (35, WHAC Second Team), Cooper Regimbal (34), and Andrew Simmons (34). This Cardinal offense has tallied the second-most goals in the NAIA this season with 299 as well as the third-most goal-per-game average at 18.69. Other than McCarty, five other Cardinals have recorded at least 10 assists on the season with Ross Preston (17), Travis Wright (17), Spencer Guppy (14), Ryan Davis (12), and Jackson Brookes (10) all hitting that mark. 

WHAC Defensive Player of the Year, Sam Saje, has been the main man at the X for the Cardinals winning 224 of his 311 faceoffs for a 42% success rate. Sajes' faceoff wins are the third-most in the NAIA as he has also picked up the most ground balls in the nation this season with 168. Ethan Wagner is 25th in the NAIA in ground balls with 64. First Team All-Conference member Zachary Dixon forced the most turnovers on the team this season with 22, which is the 26th-most in the NAIA. Jeff Harrison (18, WHAC Second Team), Noah Sorenson (15, WHAC First Team), Josh Dues (10), and Ivan Progar (10, WHAC Second Team) all join Dixon in the 10+ caused turnover group. 

WHAC First Team All-Conference member, Sam Bowling has been the main man in the pipes for Concordia this season, starting 15 games with 838:15 minutes in goal. Bowling has recorded a 56.8% save percentage on 151 saves this year. The team's 7.97 goals against average is the fifth-best in the NAIA this season. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (PREVIOUS MATCHUP)

The Cardinals and Seahawks faced off earlier this season in early March, when Concordia traveled to Florida for a top-10 matchup. In what was Concordia's third game of the season and Keiser's eighth, the (at the time top ranked) Seahawks came away with the 14-7 victory in their only meeting in program history. 

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. 

AJ Badik led all scorers with 4 goals on the day, with Kegan Hufford netting a hat trick. Noah Sorenson and Ivan Progar both had 2 goals to lead Concordia. 

STATS COMPARISON

ABOUT THE REST OF THE FIELD

The top seed in the tournament goes to the Reinhardt University Eagles. The Eagles are the sole undefeated team in the tournament coming in at 14-0 after winning the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament. They are making their eighth appearance in the Invitational, having won five times. The Eagles are coached by third-year head coach Tyler Yelken. 

The #3 seed goes to Webber International University as they enter with an at-large bid into the Invitational. The Warriors are 14-3 on the season and fell to Keiser University in their conference tournament semifinal. Webber is making the second appearance in the tournament and is coached by Chris Burdick, who is in his fourth year as head coach. 

Coming in as the #4 seed are the Cumberlands Patriots. The Patriots are 13-4 heading into the Invitational and are an at-large bid after falling to Reinhardt in the conference tournament semifinals. They are making their fifth appearance in the National Tournament and are led by ninth-year head coach Pete Campbell. 

Facing off against the Patriots and making their first-ever appearance are the Statesmen from William Penn University. William Penn is 16-2 on the season and is the Heart of America Tournament Champion. Luke Christiansen is in his fifth year as the head coach of the Statesmen. 

The Indiana Tech Warriors are taking on Webber International in the first round of the tournament after winning the WHAC Championship. The Warriors will be making their seventh appearance in the Invitational. Indiana Tech is led by Bryan Seaman who is in his eighth season. 

The final team to make the tournament and also their first Invitational appearance is the Braves from Ottawa University. Ottawa is 8-6 on the season and took home the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship with a win against Columbia College. Seth Matlock is in his seventh season as head coach of the Braves. 

NAIA INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Quarterfinals - Wednesday, May 8

#8 Ottawa (Kan.) vs. #1 Reinhardt (Ga.), 9am

#5 William Penn (Iowa) vs. #4 Cumberlands (Ky.) 12pm

#6 Indiana Tech vs #3 Webber International (Fla.) 3pm

#7 Concordia vs #2 Keiser (Fla.) 6pm

Semifinals - Thursday, May 9

Winner 5v4 vs. Winner 8v1, 3pm 

Winner 6v3 vs. Winner 7v2, 6pm 

Championship - Saturday, May 11

Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2, 6pm

*All times are eastern time zone