Pittsburgh Lacrosse: Move to D1 in ACC?
by Marisa Ingemi on Sep 18, 2011 2:44 PM EDT
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With Pittsburgh now a member of the ACC, the question of lacrosse has been raised in the lax community. Syracuse joining gives the conference five teams, joining Maryland, Duke, Virginia and North Carolina. To have an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament, a conference needs six teams.
There has been talk of Rutgers, a D1 lacrosse team, moving to the ACC from the Big East as well. However, there has also been talk of MCLA teams such as Pittsburgh, Boston College and North Carolina State joining Division one. NC State and BC are former D1 teams, however Pittsburgh has never left the Mens Collegiate Lacrosse Association.
To complete the ACC lacrosse puzzle, the Panthers may give it a try. Major League Lacrosse has an abundance of Pitt alum in the front offices, and the newly minted Ohio Machine franchise GM is a former Panter. It would certainly create a buzz of Pittsburgh lacrosse in the pro lacrosse world, and continue to grow the sport in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh has had two professional lacrosse franchises, the Pittsburgh Bulls and Pittsburgh CrossFire, both of which player in the National Lacrosse League, an Indoor League.
The ACC might be the best thing that has happened to Pittsburgh lacrosse. If they do decide to make the move to D1, it could become a major sport in Pittsburgh area.
Marisa Ingemi, InLaxWeTrust.com
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Make it so....
He’ll ya. That would be incredible. Lacrosse has been on the rise in Pittsburgh ever since the 90’s at all levels…high school, College, and Pro.
I played Club Lax at Pitt in the 90’s. We are the guys that started the whole Lax scene at Pitt. We got Pitt to join the NCLL allowing us to play teams such as Loyola, Buffalo, Fordham, Ohio State, and Virginia Tech, just to name a few. We beat Loyalo Club team in the finals our first year in the league. These guys were Varsity players that for one reason or another couldn’t hack D1. They were really good. We were all just local Pittsburgh guys that played in highschool.
We also hosted some great tournaments at Pitt in those years, playing under the lights at the old football stadium, at the indoor Cost Center, and at CMU.
These were some great times and put Pitt Lacrosse on the map.
I’m sure I speak for all former Pitt Lax players, coaches, and fans when I say it would be just amazing to see Pitt form a D1 team. What a great accomplishment that would be for Pitt and sweet satisfaction for all of it’s former players. Also, what a tremendous boost to local highschool lax to see D1 lax being played locally.
Let’s make it so……GO PITT!!!
Craig H. Leslie
by Heinz57steelerfan on Sep 20, 2011 2:22 PM EDT reply actions
it would give...
…the ACC AQ status at the very least (but adding UConn would do that as well). And the ACC now has THE lacrosse conference out there now. No one else even remotely compares. The more the merrier…
Wait, what?
If Penn State can start hockey...
…no reason Pitt can’t add lacrosse. (And besides, it’s cheaper on the budget.)
Pittsburgh is moving into a much stronger all-around conference (Florida State, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia and Maryland all finished in the top 20 nationally), and it will be interesting to see if the Pitt administration is up to the task. Virginia Tech had the same challenge when entering the ACC seven years ago, and has had some success in soccer and baseball.
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