Men’s lacrosse: Olivet travels to play Albion in MIAA Tournament semifinals
The Olivet College men’s lacrosse team travels to play Adrian College in the semifinals of the 2015 MIAA Tournament Wednesday, April 29.
OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's lacrosse team travels to play Albion College in the semifinals of the 2015 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Wednesday, April 29.
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, April 29, at 5 p.m.
VENUE: Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium; Albion, Mich.
LIVE STATS: http://olivetcomets.com/sports/mlax/2014-15/boxscores/20150429_c2uu.xml
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/albionsports
TICKETS: Tickets for the game will be available only on game. Prices are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and children, and free for any MIAA student with a valid ID.
MIAA TOURNAMENT: The Comets are the No. 4 seed, while the Britons are the No. 1 seed. The other semifinal game features #2 seed Adrian College hosting No. 3 seed Alma College. The winners will face off in the championship game Saturday, May 2, at the highest seed remaining and at a time to be determined.
REGULAR SEASON MATCH-UP: Albion defeated Olivet, 17-9, April 8, at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet. Sophomore Nino Minaudo, of Rochester Hills, scored five goals to lead the Comets, while Cameron Braun had a team-leading four points on two goals and two assists to lead the Britons.
OLIVET HEAD COACH ADAM HAGUE: Adam Hague is in his third season as the Comets' head coach and has a 24-26 career record.
ALBION HEAD COACH JACOB DECOLA: Jacob DeCola is in his sixth season as the Britons' head coach and has compiled a 44-47 record.
CAPTAINS: The 2015 team captains are juniors Dakota Badder, of Troy, James Collins, of Ada, and Ryan McGee, of Traverse City.
SCORING LEADER: Badder leads the Comets with 34 goals and 17 points for 51 points. Collins is right behind him with 36 points (26 goals and 10 assists). Minaudo is next with 36 points (24 goals and 12 assists). Junior Jack Ranson, of Nobleton, Ontario, Canada, has 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points.
PROTECTING THE CAGE: McGee has played in 12 games, with nine starts, and has logged nearly 628 minutes in between the pipes. He has allowed 128 goals for a 12.23 goals against average, while making 134 saves with a .511 save percentage.
LEAGUE LEADERS: Badder ranks among the MIAA leaders in goals (fifth, 34), goals per game (fifth, 2.43), assists (tied for sixth, 17), assists per game (seventh, 1.21), points (fifth, 51) and points per game (fifth, 3.64). Sophomore Charlie Haesler, of Tecumseh, is fifth in ground balls (58) and ground balls per game (4.14).
GAME-WINNING GOALS: Badder scored the game-winning goal in each of Olivet's five wins. Those five game-winning tallies top the MIAA.
MORE THAN 100: Badder and Collins have both surpassed the 100 career point plateau. Collins enter the tournament with 159 career points (131 goals and 28 assists), while Badder has 144 points (90 points and 54 assists). Ranson is the likely the next Comet to eclipse the 100-point plateau, as he has 84 points (51 goals and 33 assists). Minaudo has 76 points (49 goals and 27 assists).
TWO POINTS AWAY: Collins is three points shy of breaking Olivet's career scoring record. He is already the career goals scoring leader. Badder is the college's all-time assists leader.
MIAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The MIAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament is only its third year of existence. In the first-ever tournament in 2013, Adrian defeated Albion, 12-10, in the championship. In the semifinals, Adrian beat Hope (24-12), and Albion beat Trine (14-4).
In 2014, Adrian won its second straight tournament championship over Albion, 9-8, on a goal with 9:09 left in the contest. In the semifinals, Adrian defeated Olivet (19-6), and Albion defeated Trine (20-5).