Men’s lax wins a pair, clinches CCLA top seed

Men’s Lacrosse

The Pitt men’s lacrosse team needed two wins this past week to clinch… Men’s Lacrosse

The Pitt men’s lacrosse team needed two wins this past week to clinch a Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association Division A title. The Panthers did just that as they defeated Purdue and Western Michigan last weekend.

The Panthers opened their road trip in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Saturday with an impressive 16-9 victory over Purdue.

The game was back and forth early and the teams were tied going into halftime. An intense halftime speech by head coach Robbie Heaps put the Panthers back on track as they capitalized on some Boilermaker mistakes for easy goals.

Pitt’s attack was lead by the strong play of senior midfielder Craig Anderson, who scored four goals in the game, including the eventual game-winner.

Following their victory on Saturday, the Panthers needed a victory Sunday to seal up one of the top two seeds in the upcoming playoffs.

In a tight game against Western Michigan, Pitt’s high-powered offensive attack was held to only four goals through the first three quarters of play. Heading into the fourth quarter, the score was 5-4 in favor of the Broncos.

The Panthers finally took the lead late in the final quarter with the help of four big saves by senior goalkeeper Kyle Balliet. The team’s strong defensive effort set up two timely goals by senior attackman Warren Maxwell to clinch the 7-6 victory.

“I was real proud of our performance all weekend,” Heaps said. “Now we have a good chance to do some real damage in the CCLA playoffs.”

The Panthers clinched their first title in the club’s history at the school.

“Clinching the CCLA is a big step for the program,” junior Vlady Tintchev said. “Hopefully the tournament will be a great chance to showcase our talent and will get us to Blaine, Minn., [for the national tournament].”

The top-seeded Panthers will have two weeks until playoff action begins with the CCLA tournament in Grand Rapids, Mich. In the meantime, the team will travel to Latrobe, Pa., to take on St. Vincent this weekend in a non-conference matchup. Also, while they wait for the playoffs, the Panthers will have time to grow in their “rally mustaches” to bring good luck for the tournament, something the team started doing two weeks ago to come together.

Men’s Roller Hockey

After a 9-6-0-2 record in the regular season in the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate inline league, the Panthers clinched the second seed for this month’s playoffs.

In the playoffs, Pitt defeated the seventh seed Duquesne 10-5 and No. 3-seeded CCAC North 4-3 in overtime to earn a spot in the Western PA Championship Series.

In the best-of-three final series that took place two weeks ago, the Panthers faced the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon. Fourth-seeded CMU won the first game 6-3. Pitt rebounded the following night to even up the series and won game two by an identical 6-3 score.

Game three was played just an hour after the completion of game two, and the 12-man Pitt roster ran out of gas, falling short in the final game 5-1.

Ultimate Frisbee

This past weekend, the men’s Ultimate Frisbee team dominated and won the Western Pennsylvania Sectional Tournament and will likely be the second seed heading into the Metro East Regional Tournament that will take place in Princeton, N.J., on May 8.

If things go well for the Panthers at this tournament, an invitational to Nationals, held later this year, is likely to follow.

Joining the men at the Regional Tournament will be the women’s team, who finished second at the Pennsylvania Sectional Tournament.