Men’s lacrosse team plays Albion in MIAA Tournament semifinals

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's lacrosse team travels to play Albion College in the semifinals of the 2017 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Thursday, May 4.

THE MATCHUP: Olivet (7-6, 5-2 MIAA) vs. Albion (13-3, 7-0 MIAA)
DATE/TIME: Thursday, May 4, at 7 p.m.
VENUE: Alumni Field at the Davis Athletic Complex; Albion, Mich.
LIVE STATS: http://bit.ly/2oZAJv7
LIVE VIDEO: http://bit.ly/2qGWI6n
TICKETS: Tickets for the game will be available only on game day. Prices are $7 for adults, $5 for students and children, and free for any MIAA faculty, staff or student with a valid ID. All tickets are general admission.

MIAA TOURNAMENT: The Comets are the No. 4 seed, while the Britons are the No. 1 seed. The other semifinal game features #2 seed Hope College hosting No. 3 seed Alma. The winners will face off in the championship game Saturday, May 6, at the highest seed remaining and at a time to be determined.

TIE-BREAKER: Hope, Alma and Olivet all finished the MIAA regular season with 5-2 records. To break the tie, goal differential in the games against each other was used. Hope had the best differential, so the Flying Dutchmen were inserted as the No. 2 seed. Alma's win over the Comets then gave the third seed to the Scots.

REGULAR SEASON MATCH-UP: The Britons defeated the Comets, 17-9, last Friday, April 28, at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet. Olivet was led by senior Nino Minaudo, of Rochester Hills, who scored three points (two goals and one assist). Senior Logan Krieger, of Traverse City, also finished with three points (one goal and two assists). Freshman Trevor Bailey, of Sault Ste. Marie, also scored two goals. Senior Charlie Haesler, of Clinton, caused five turnovers, while younger brother, Cullen Haesler, of Clinton, scooped-up a team-best five ground balls. Drew Harm led Albion with five goals.

OLIVET HEAD COACH MATT HOLTZ: Matt Holtz is in his second season as the Comets' head coach. Prior to joining Olivet's staff, he served as the head girl's lacrosse coach at Okemos High School during the 2014-15 school year. Holtz led the Chiefs to a 16-4 record and a regional championship, while coaching seven All-State selections. He was named the Lansing State Journal Coach of the Year. Prior to Okemos, Holtz was the head men's lacrosse coach at University of Detroit-Mercy (UDM) from 2007-14.

ALBION HEAD COACH JACOB DECOLA:  Jacob DeCola is in his eighth season as the Albion's head coach and has compiled a 73-56 record.

CAPTAINS: Olivet's team captains for the 2017 season are Charlie Haesler, Cullen Haesler, Minaudo and senior Cody Oracz, of Caledonia.

SCORING LEADER: Minaudo tops the Comets in scoring with 50 points, including a team-best 26 assists. Krieger is next with 49 points (24 goals and 25 assists). Bailey has 43 points (33 goals and 12 assists), and senior Tyler Polendo, of Battle Creek, is one point behind with 42, including a team-leading 34 goals. Bailey has a team-best 110 shots, followed closely by Minaudo with 104 and Polendo with 94.

INSIDE THE CAGE: Senior Drew Radners, of South Lyon, has made nine starts, including all seven MIAA contests, inside the cage. He tops the team with an 11.12 goals against average and 105 saves.

MIAA LEADERS: Minaudo ranks among the MIAA leaders in assists (tied for fourth, 26) and points (seventh, 50). Polendo is tied for sixth in total goals (34), while Krieger and Bailey are eighth and 10th, respectively in total points. Charlie Haesler ranks first in caused turnovers (50) and fourth in ground balls (88).

NCAA LEADERS: In the latest NCAA Division III rankings, Charlie Haesler is second in caused turnovers per game at 3.85. As a team, the Comets are 14th in caused turnovers per game at 11.92.

MORE THAN 200: Minaudo became just the second men's lacrosse player in school history to top 200 career points earlier this season. Thus, he is Olivet's ranks second on all-time scoring ledge with 207 points on 119 goals and 88 assists. The career leader is Dakota Badder, who scored 218 points.

ALL-TIME LEADER: Minaudo's 88 career assists ranks first all-time at Olivet. He is also first in total shots (393) and shots-on-goal (246). Charlie Haesler is the Comets' all-time leader in caused turnovers (141) and ground balls (299). He holds three of the top four single-season marks in Olivet history.

MIAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The MIAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament is only its fifth year of existence. The Comets have made an appearance in each of the last four tournaments.

In the first-ever tournament in 2013, Adrian defeated Albion, 12-10, in the championship. In the semifinals, Adrian beat Hope (24-12), and Albion beat Trine (14-4).

In 2014, Adrian won its second straight tournament championship over Albion, 9-8, on a goal with 9:09 left in the contest. In the semifinals, Adrian defeated Olivet (19-6), and Albion defeated Trine (20-5).

In 2015, Albion defeated Adrian, 17-10, for the MIAA Tournament title. In the semifinals, Albion beat Olivet (26-13) and Adrian defeated Alma (14-6).

In 2016, Albion beat Alma, 12-5, in the championship game. In the semifinals, Albion defeated Olivet (14-8) and Alma beat Trine (9-5).