NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship schedule
at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Today – Division I semifinals
No. 4 Duke (14-5) vs. No. 8 Cornell (14-3), 2:30 p.m. ESPN2
No. 2 Syracuse (15-3) vs. No. 6 Denver (14-4), 5 p.m. ESPN2
Sunday – Division II and III championship games
Division II: No. 1 Mercyhurst (18-0) vs. No. 3 Le Moyne (17-2), 1 p.m. NCAA.com
Division III: No. 3 Rochester Institute of Technology (19-2) vs. No. 4 Stevenson (21-2), 4 p.m. NCAA.com
Monday – Division I championship game
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m. ESPN
Note: All games will be broadcast live.

Ticket information*
Today’s games: $50-$90 (club level), $50-$75 (lower level), $50 (upper level)
Sunday games: $40 (club level), $20 (general admission)
Monday’s game: $25-$50 (club level), $25-$40 (lower level), $25 (upper level)
All-session: $70-$135 (club seats), $70-$110 (lower level), $60-$80 (upper level)
* Find more information on NCAA.com

Directions to Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
From Erie (approximately 7 hours): Take Interstate 79 South to Interstate 80 East, and then take I-80 East to Exit 277 (PA-940/I-476) toward Pennsylvania Turmpike/Wilkes-Barre/Allentown. Merge onto Interstate 476 South by taking the ramp on the left toward White Haven. Head south on I-476 to Exit 16 (Interstate 76) towards Philadelphia/Valley Forge, and merge onto I-76 East (towards Philadelphia) at Exit 16A. Take I-76 to Exit 349 (PA 611-Broad Street) towards Sports Complex. Turn right onto South Broad Street/PA-611 South, and then take first left onto Pattison Avenue to head to the stadium.

Edinboro 6-foot 9-inch  junior center Bryan Theriot had the support of his parents Curtis and Cheryl, who for two years would make the drive from Middleburg, Ohio, to see the Fighting Scots men play at home or at some reasonably distanced sites on the road.

Enter sister Rachel, who like her older brother starred at Midpark High School in the Cleveland area. Rachel accepted a scholarship to Division I Nebraska, where the 6-foot point guard has started 25-of-31 games as a freshman for the 25-9 Cornhuskers of coach Connie Yori, who contended for the Big 10 regular season title and lost in the semifinals of the tournament, then reached the Division I Sweet Sixteen before falling to No. 5 Duke 53-45.

The folks have been putting on the miles to watch both of their younger children. Two older boys did not pursue athletics.

“They have been hopping in rent-a-cars and driving where they can to see both of us play,” said Bryan, who i averaged 18.4 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Division II Scots. Edinboro finished 18-10 in the PSAC West, losing to champion Indiana 89-87 in overtime in the second round of the playoffs. Theriot missed five games with a knee injury. Theriot played three seasons for coach Greg Walcavich, who resigned after 24 seasons at Edinboro. Assistant Pat Cleary, who helped recruit Theriot, was elevated to head coach.

“The nice thing is, we play Wednesdays and Saturdays, and they play Thursdays and Sundays,” Bryan said. “I’m able to live-stream their games, and Nebraska played Purdue on a CBS game that went overtime that I was able to watch. You can also see games on the  Big Ten Network.”

Rachel, with imposing size for guard, averaged 6.2 points, 2.8 rebounds,and 3.0 assists. She had 12 points and 3 assists in a 77-59 win over Tennessee-Chattanooga in the first round of the tournament, and 7 points and 3 assists as the Huskers, a  No. 6 seed, upset 3 seed Texas A&M 74-63. She had 7 points and 2 assists in the loss to powerhouse Duke.

“She had offers elsewhere, but she picked Nebraska (under 11th-year coach Connie Yori), and luckily they moved to the Big Ten. Lincoln (Neb.) is a long haul, but they can easily make it to places like Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State and even Penn State,” Bryan Theriot said. “Our parents just love to follow us, and we’re grateful for that.”

– Bob Jarzomski

Let’s recap Week 14, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia

Final score: Tide 32, Bulldogs 28

Pregame rant: Some would say this is the national championship game.

The winner will likely be the favorite to beat Notre Dame in next month’s BCS title game.  Alabama and Georgia are in this position because Oregon and Kansas State lost.

The Bulldogs are not as good on defense as Alabama, but have better skilled players on offense than the Tide.

So special teams could be the difference. If it is, edge Alabama.

The Tide have a senior kicker in Jeremy Shelley, who is 10-for-10 on field goals this season.

Georgia has a freshman kicker in Marshall Morgan, who is 8-for-12.  He’s missed two of his last four attempts.

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Let’s recap Week 11, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 1 Alabama

Final score: Aggies 29, Tide 24

Pregame rant: Texas A&M has won seven of its last eight games since losing its opener. The Aggies’ two conference losses are to Florida and LSU.

Those defeats aside,  Texas A&M has made a better adjustment to SEC football than Missouri has. So the Aggies will be ready Saturday. The question is will that matter against the Tide?

Alabama is No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (9.11 points allowed a game), but LSU exposed that D a little bit. The  Aggies are fourth in the nation in scoring offense (44.67 points a game).

If freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel is on his game, the Tide will have their hands full. One of the most exciting players in college football, Manziel has 2,527 yards passing, 922 yards rushing and 31 total touchdowns (16 passing, 15 rushing).

Post-game commentary: Johnny Football was on his game as was his teammates.

As a result, No. 1 is no more for Alabama.

Manziel threw for 253 yards and two scores, ran for a game-high 92 yards more and was the difference Texas A&M stunning the defending national champions.

The Crimson Tide can still play for an SEC title if they take care of rival Auburn at home in two weeks. With the Tigers being 2-8 and coming off an embarrassing 38-0 home loss to rival Georgia, the Tide shoudn’t have a problem with them.

If somehow ‘Bama  blows that game and Texas A&M gets in that conference championship game, the Dawgs will have their hands full.

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Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 11.

Game of the week: No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies (7-2, 4-2 SEC) at No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0 SEC), Saturday, 3:30 p.m., WSEE (CBS)

Pregame rant: Texas A&M has won seven of its last eight games since losing its opener. The Aggies’ two conference losses are to Florida and LSU.

Those defeats aside,  Texas A&M has made a better adjustment to SEC football than Missouri has. So the Aggies will be ready Saturday. The question is will that matter against the Tide?

Alabama is No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (9.11 points allowed a game), but LSU exposed that D a little bit. The  Aggies are fourth in the nation in scoring offense (44.67 points a game).

If freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel is on his game, the Tide will have their hands full. One of the most exciting players in college football, Manziel has 2,527 yards passing, 922 yards rushing and 31 total touchdowns (16 passing, 15 rushing).

Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s recap Week 5, shall we?

No. 2 Alabama (5-0, 2-0 SEC) at No. 17 Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC)

Pregame rant: Everyone talks about Florida’s team speed, but this game will see if the Gators truly have some burners.

Postgame commentary: The Crimson Tide can slow down any team. Add Florida to that list. The Gators had just 15 yards rushing and were held scoreless the last three quarters of their 38-10 loss. Oh by the way, Alabama has the nation’s top back in junior Trent Richardson, who rushed for career-high 181 yards and two touchdowns against Florida.

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Let’s recap Week 4, shall we?

No. 5 Oklahoma State (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) at No. 14 Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1 Big 12)

Pregame rant: Great conference opener for these two Big 12 titans, but something has to give here. The Cowboys are second in the nation in total offense at 601 yards a game and third in the nation in points per game at 52.3. However, the Aggies has given up a total of 534 yards and 21 total points in their two games.

Postgame commentary: Down 20-3 at the half, Oklahoma State scored 27 straight points and withstood a final charge from Texas A&M to prevail. Senior Brandon Weeden threw for a school-record 438 yards and two touchdowns on 60 pass attempts. The amazing thing about that is Weeden didn’t throw an interception.

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Let’s recap Week 2, shall we?

Notre Dame (0-2) at Michigan (2-0)

Pregame rant: Don’t let Denard Robinson’s mortal performance against Western Michigan fool you. Robinson rushed for 258 yards and two touchdowns at Notre Dame in 2010. Look for another big effort Saturday.

Postgame commentary: In Michigan’s first night game ever at the Big House, Robinson threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns, ran for 108 more yards and a score as Michigan won a thriller, 35-31. Three touchdowns were scored in the last minute, 12 seconds as Robinson threw the game-winning touchdown with two seconds left. The guy just makes plays.

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