MCLA Tournament 2015: Grand Canyon Tops Colorado, Wins 1st-Ever Lacrosse Title

ORANGE, Calif. — The 2015 Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association's national tournament had a Cinderella storyline so perfect, it could've been scripted straight from Hollywood.

But like any great blockbuster, there was one big problem: The champion wasn't an underdog at all.

Top-seeded Grand Canyon seems like the perfect dark horse—a small school with little Division I experience. But after edging powerhouse Colorado in the championship game on Saturday, the Lopes are no longer an underdog. They're the MCLA’s king.

“It feels great. It is very, very rewarding,” head coach Manny Rapkin told Bleacher Report after his team’s victory. “Not many people get this experience. We are very fortunate, and we’re happy.”

Darryl Webb, Grand Canyon University

The Lopes got off to a slow start, but their defense kept them in the game. After trailing 1-0 after the first quarter, GCU rattled off five unanswered goals on nine shots to take a comfortable halftime lead and never looked back.

“We told our guys after the first quarter that…(playing in the national championship) is routine for Colorado, and it isn’t for us,” said Rapkin.

“So we said, 'the first quarter, that is your first national championship appearance; the second quarter is your second, and so on.' We played OK in the first quarter…but we just told them to play our type of lacrosse, and after that first quarter, they had all the experience they needed to be comfortable.”

The Lopes placed an MCLA-leading six players on the 13-man All-Tournament team, which only shows how deep and talented the program is. Although many teams have great players, Grand Canyon found a way to let the team’s collective depth shine throughout the season. 

“Assembling a talented team is difficult, but it’s usually even more tough to get the guys to all play together,” said Rapkin.

“A lot of teams have tons of talent, but just don’t play together, and our team didn’t have that problem. You can talk all you want about how talented this team is, but you really need to talk about how well they played together. Every kid knew his role and was proud of what they did to help the team.”

Darryl Webb, Grand Canyon University

The past three seasons have been an amazing ride for the Lopes, who went from being an average Division II team to a D-I champion. GCU finished the 2015 season with a program-record 16 wins, including 14 straight after losing to perennial powerhouse BYU.

“I think moving up (from Division II) is a four-year process,” said Rapkin. “When I came to Grand Canyon four years ago, I knew it was a good school with a lot of really positive things to sell to recruits. … Did I expect to contend for a national championship by now? No. But did I think it was possible? Yes. … We don’t always talk about trying to win a national championship, but it’s always the goal.”

The Lopes return only three of their six All-Tourney players, but they will surely be strong next season. If one thing is certain, though, it’s that Grand Canyon is done being called an underdog.

Samuel Benson is a Featured Columnist covering college lacrosse. Contact him at [e-mail].