WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - The Lakers won their first ever National Collegiate Club Championship this past weekend at Williams College. The Lakers easily defeated Middlebury College 17-4 in the opening round of play on Friday. Goalie Kirk Kauffman foreshadowed his tournament performance by blocking a 4m penalty shot, and freshman Zach Heathman lead the GVSU squad with four goals. Junior Matt Leskovar and seniors Pat Lowman and Chris Posthumus had three, Seniors Jason Roberts, and Chris Vredeveld, sophmore Micah Swalley, and freshman Andy Leedy each chipped in a goal.

The Lakers faced a talented Yale squad in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning. The Bulldogs were determined to finish in the top four teams, but the Lakers weren't going to let that happen. In the first OT of the tournament, GVSU outscored Yale 2-1 to secure the win and a trip to the semifinals. The Lakers were lead by Lowman and Leskovar who scored three goals each, Leskovar had the game winner. Posthumus and fellow senior Craig Hoogerwerf each had one goal.

In the semifinal round, the Lakers found themselves matched up against UCLA. This game showed the defensive powers of both teams, as GVSU was only able to score one goal per quarter. Meanwhile, the Bruins were shut out in the first half by great goaltending and the so-called "Zone" defense from the Lakers. The Bruins managed to match each of the GVSU goals in the second half, but this wasn't enough to close the gap, and the #5 seeded Lakers won 4-2. Leskovar netted two goals, while Posthumus and Heathman each scored once. The win sent the Lakers to their first ever National Championship game.

After watching MSU breakout in the 3rd quarter to beat Arizona, the Lakers knew they were in for a tough championship game. For the first time ever, the title game featured two teams from the state of Michigan. Another interesting note, was that these two teams had the highest fan base of the sixteen teams participating, even though the tournament was held twelve hours away.

The Championship opened with GVSU drawing first blood, as an unlikely hero, Jason Roberts, score just 36 seconds into the game. MSU tied the game when Jon Haga scored at with 4:30 left. MSU then gained their first lead of the contest when Evan Perry scored on a counter-attack goal. GVSU's first possession of the second quarter led to a penalty shot when Posthumus turned State defender Dan Liebling at two-meters. Leskovar converted to tie the game. Perry then regained the Spartans' edge at 4:24, but the Lakers matched his efforts when Roberts scored at 3:29. Perry, not to be denied, scored his second of the quarter on the very next possession to give MSU a 4-3 lead. GVSU freshman Brent Augustine answered with a goal of his own on the next possession to tie the score at 4-4. MSU's Matt Schaffer put the Spartans up again. Then for the first time in the game, the defense for both teams stepped up, allowing no goals for the equivalent of an entire quarter. The drought was broken when Augustine scored his second at 2:46 in the third. Then with 1:15 left in the period, Parker was ejected from Michigan State. Everyone expected Posthumus to shoot from the outside, and collapsed in front of the cage to prevent the goal. However, Posthumus pump faked and passed the ball to Pat Loman, who had half the cage open for an easy goal. The score gave the Lakers their first lead since 4:46 in the first period. Leskovar then drilled crossbar-in shot with :01 remaining in the quarter to give the Lakers a key two-goal advantage and momentum heading into the last period of play. MSU wasn't about to roll over. They came right back with scores from Rob King at 6:32 and Haga at 5:55 to tie the game. But GVSU made the most of their next man-advantage opportunity by converting on a shot from Roberts, his third of the game, and the go-ahead goal. Leskovar scored the game winner at 3:38 as MSU was only able to score once more at 2:05 (Parker). GVSU then fired up the defense, including some key saves by Kirk Kauffman, to secure the win and their first National Championship Title.

GVSU also took home some hardware, as Josh Ahrendt was named Coach of the Year. Chris Posthumus earned the tournament's MVP. Goalie Kirk Kauffman was selected to the tournament's first team. Senior Pat Lowman and freshman Zach Heathman earned second team honors as well.

We would like to thank our fans, parents, professors, and the student senate for all of the support we received. We couldn't have done it without you!

Complete results from the National Collegiate Club Championships can be viewed at:

http://collegiatewaterpolo.com/html/schdnccc05m.htm