Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League

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The Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCLL) is a conference in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The PCLL primarily incorporates teams in New England, New York, and New Jersey and is divided into two divisions, Division A and Division B. The conference is governed by a five member executive board and the team that wins the conference's divisional playoffs receive bids to the MCLA National Tournament.

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[edit] History

In the spring of 1984, players from 15 colleges competed in a club All-Star game held at Dean Junior College. It was during this event that the idea of hosting a New England college club championship germinated.

The following fall, Dean hosted an open meeting for all regional schools, inviting them to organize their club lacrosse teams into a league so that a New England Champion could be crowned.

In the spring of 1986, four teams gathered at Dean for a single elimination tournament. In the semi-final match-ups, Boston University defeated the University of Connecticut, 6-5, and Dean Junior College defeated the University of Rhode Island, 14-2. That same day, Dean Junior became the first "New England Club Champion", defeating BU by a score of 6-5.

After two years of successful tournaments, six teams decided to petition the US Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association ("USILA") and the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association ("NEILA") for league sanctioning. At a winter meeting in 1987, five teams from Massachusetts (Assumption College, Bentley College, Clark University, Dean Junior College, & Worcester Polytechnic Institute) and one from Rhode Island (Roger Williams University) founded the Patriot Lacrosse League. The league's original purpose was to provide structure and legitimacy to the member teams, hoping their institutions would elevate them to varsity status. Five of those six founding Patriot League members were able to obtain their goal.

During the spring of 1988, the first Patriot League Championship was played. Dean Junior College defeated Bentley 18-9, claiming the title as the first Patriot League Champion.

The following year, although Roger Williams departed, the University of Rhode Island and Bryant College were accepted into the league and the championship tournament was expanded to four teams. In the spring of 1990, the USILA requested a name change to avoid confusion with the NCAA's Patriot League, and along with additions of the University of Connecticut and Northeastern University, the Pioneer League as we know it was born.

The Pioneer operated along the same lines for the next several seasons. Teams "graduated" to compete at the varsity level and new teams joined to fill their place, but in the fall of 1999, the league underwent a major change by joining what was then known as the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates, now the MCLA.

In 2000, the University of New Hampshire defeated Boston University to earn the league's first automatic qualification and represent the PCLL at its first national tournament as members of the USLIA. In St. Louis, Missouri, New Hampshire was eliminated in the first round by Brigham Young University, but represented the league through the rest of the tournament, culminating in a consolation round defeat of the University of Tennessee.

[edit] Past PCLL Champions

Year League
Champion		 Runner-Up Score
New England Club Champion
1986 Dean Junior College University of Rhode Island 14-2
1987 unknown
Patriot Lacrosse League
1988 Dean Junior College Bentley College 18-9
1989 unknown
Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (independent league)
1990 unknown
1991 unknown
1992 unknown
1993 unknown
1994 unknown
1995 unknown
1996 unknown
1997 unknown
1998 unknown
1999 unknown
Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (MCLA conference)
Year Div. League
Champion		 Runner-Up Score Nat'l Tournament
Location		 Nat'l Tournament Results
2000 N/A University of New Hampshire Boston University unknown St. Louis, Missouri lost in first round to Brigham Young University
2001 N/A University of Rhode Island University of New Hampshire unknown St. Louis, Missouri unknown
2002 N/A University of New Hampshire University of Connecticut 10-4 St. Louis, Missouri lost in first round to Sonoma State University
2003 N/A Boston College University of New Hampshire 11-10 St. Louis, Missouri lost in first round to Colorado State University
2004 A1 Boston College University of New Hampshire 14-8 St. Louis, Missouri lost in first round to University of Oregon
2005 A Northeastern University University of New Hampshire 15-12 Blaine, Minnesota lost in first round to University of Michigan
2005 B United States Coast Guard Academy Framingham State College 10-6 Blaine, Minnesota N/A2
2006 A Northeastern University University of New Hampshire 8-4 Plano, Texas unknown
2006 B Salem State College University of New Haven 10-8 Plano, Texas Did not attend
2007 A Tournament to be held
April 26 through April 29		 Frisco, Texas  
2007 B Frisco, Texas The PCLL will not receive an automatic bid to nationals

1 Division B only included one team (University of New Haven) in 2004 and therefore did not have playoffs.

2 The PCLL did not have enough Division B teams in 2005 to receive an automatic bid to the national tournament.

[edit] Current Teams

Division A Division B

[edit] Former teams

[edit] Current Executive Board

  • Commissioner: Tim Gray
  • Vice-Commissioner: Allyson Skeens
  • Treasurer: Dan Morris
  • Secretary: Ben Clark
  • Communications/Membership: Ryan Larkin

[edit] External links

[edit] See also