Olivet College men’s lacrosse team faces Albion in MIAA Tournament semifinals

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's lacrosse team faces Albion College in the semifinals of the 2016 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Thursday, May 5.

THE MATCHUP: Olivet (6-9, 4-3 MIAA) vs. Albion (11-4, 7-0 MIAA)
DATE/TIME: Thursday, May 5, at 8 p.m.
VENUE: Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium; Albion, Mich.
LIVE STATS: olivetcomets.com/sports/mlax/2015-16/boxscores/20160505_3077.xml
LIVE VIDEO: www.ustream.tv/channel/albionsports
TICKET PRICES: Adults-$7 each; Seniors-$5 each with ID; MIAA Faculty & Staff-$5 each with; MIAA Students: Free with 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 Alma College hosting No. 3 seed Trine (Ind.) University. The winners will face off in the championship game Saturday, May 6, at the highest seed remaining and at a time to be determined.

REGULAR SEASON MATCH-UP: The Britons defeated the Comets, 15-11, last Friday, April 29, at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium. Olivet was led by senior Dakota Badder, of Troy, who scored five points (three goals and two assists). Junior Logan Krieger, of Traverse City, finished with three points (two goals and one assist). Junior Tyler Polendo, of Battle Creek, and senior Jack Ranson, of Nobleton, Ontario, Canada, each scored two goals. Cameron Braun led Albion with five goals and an assist for six points.

OLIVET HEAD COACH MATT HOLTZ: Matt Holtz is in his first season as the Comets' head coach. He most recently served as the head girl's lacrosse coach at Okemos High School during the 2014-15 school year. Holtz led the Chiefs to a 16-4 record and a regional championship, while coaching seven All-State selections. He was named the Lansing State Journal Coach of the Year. Prior to Okemos, Holtz was the head men's lacrosse coach at University of Detroit-Mercy (UDM) from 2007-14.

ALBION HEAD COACH JACOB DECOLA: Jacob DeCola is in his seventh season as the Albion's head coach and has compiled a 58-52 record.

CAPTAINS: Olivet's team captains for the 2016 season are juniors Badder, and seniors James Collins, of Ada, and Ryan McGee, of Traverse City.

SCORING LEADER: Junior Nino Minaudo, of Rochester Hills, tops the Comets in scoring with 74 points, including a team-best 34 assists. Badder is next with 63 points (40 goals and 23 assists). He leads the team with 116 shots, including 78 on-goal. Krieger has 41 points (28 goals and 13 assists), and Polendo is one point behind with 40 (22 goals and 18 assists). Ranson has 24 points (20 goals and four assists), followed by freshmen Bryce Drew, of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and Zach Sanders, of Tilsonburg, Ontario, Canada, at 23 and 21 points, respectively.

WINNING THE FACE-OFFS: Senior Hunter Teare, of Trumbull, Connecticut, has won 165-of-358 face-offs this season for a .461 winning percentage.

PROTECTING THE CAGE: McGee has started all 15 games in the cage has logged almost 831 minutes. He has given up 151 goals for a 10.91 goals against average, while making 178 saves with a .541 save percentage.

MIAA LEADERS: Minaudo ranks among the MIAA leaders in assists (third, 34), points (third, 74) and goals (fifth, 40). Badder tops all league players with 10 man-up goals, and ranks fifth in total goals (40), sixth in points (63) and seventh in assists (23). Junior Charlie Haesler, of Tecumseh, is third in ground balls (88). McGee is third among goalkeepers with 178 saves.

NCAA LEADERS: In the latest NCAA Division III rankings, Olivet is third in man-down defense (0.895). Individually, Minaudo is 14th in scoring (5.14 ppg) and 19th in assists (2.36 apg).

MORE THAN 200: Badder became the first men's lacrosse player in school history to top 200 career points earlier this season. Thus, he is Olivet's all-time scoring leader with 214 points on 134 goals and 80 assists.

TIED FOR THE ALL-TIME LEAD: Badder and Collins both have 134 career goals to be tied for the all-time lead in Olivet history.

CAREER LEADERS: In addition to his points, Badder is the college's all-time leader for assists (80) and man-up goals (23). He needs only four shots to become the career leader. McGee is the all-time saves leader (711). Teare tops the career records for face-off wins (268). Haesler is the career leader in caused turnovers (89). Senior Jordan Nurmikko, of Lowell, has played in (63) and started in (61) the most games in Olivet history.

MIAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The MIAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament is only its fourth 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).

Last year, Albion defeated Adrian, 17-10, for its first-ever MIAA Tournament title. In semifinals, Albion beat Olivet (26-13) and Adrian defeated Alma (14-6).