Old Rivals Meet for a Title
ROUND ROCK, Mass. – In the third installment of an instate, RMLC clash, No. 1 Brigham Young faces No. 14 Utah Valley in what is the most improbable seeding matchup in MCLA Division I history.
Speaking of history, most times the biggest storyline would be the top-ranked Cougars having the chance to get within one of Colorado State’s record six championships. Matt Schneck’s troops are also flirting with an undefeated season, but somehow they are the secondary plot in this Beehive State battle.
Valley’s tour-de-force through the Nos. 3, 6 and 7 teams in the tournament to arrive on Saturday is one of the monumental runs of all time. Sure, we’ve had upsets before, but they usually get sorted out pretty quickly. There has been no team that brought an upset binge to the cusp of a title.
And UVU looks good. They roll nine or ten seemingly interchangeable parts on the offense end that can wear you down on a hot Texas day. They also have a good defense and an above average goalie in Max Sturgill.
What they don’t have is the element of surprise. BYU knows them in and out, so it will come down to energy.
That doesn’t favor the Wolverines. UVU had to scratch and claw and pull every rabbit out of its hat to beat UC Santa Barbara (aided by a Gaucho brain cramp) in overtime. Meanwhile, the Cougars slipped the transmission into neutral midway through the third against Liberty and coasted home.
There’s that old maxim about how it’s tough to beat a good team three times. It’s really not.
If you’re the better team, you’re going to win. Occasionally, however, you get a performance for the ages, whether it’s in cage, at the dot or in the offensive zone. Championships can be swung on the backs of the extraordinary.
If everyone plays to their potential on Saturday, Brigham Young wins its fifth national championships. If one or two Wolverines decide they are going to go down in the annals of MCLA history or a couple of Cougars tighten up, anything is possible.