Carthage College will help launch the nation’s newest varsity lacrosse league in 2010 with the formation of the Midwest Lacrosse Conference. Seven teams will be inaugural members of the circuit. Those seven are Adrian College, Albion College, Carthage, Fontbonne University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Trine University and the College of Mount St. Joseph. Adrian and Albion are located in Michigan, Fontbonne in St. Louis, Mo., Trine in Angola, Ind., and Mount St. Joseph is located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Several other programs are expected to join in the coming years. Aurora University and Concordia University (Wis.) are adding varsity men’s programs in 2011, with Benedictine University (Ill.), Lake Forest College, Otterbein College and Saint Vincent College considering the same. Beginning in 2012, the MLC will have an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship. Besides the opportunity to earn an NCAA berth, the biggest lure of the new league is chance to play league games at home. “I had one home game last year in my first season,” said Carthage coach David Neff. “We were traveling to Alabama and Pennsylvania. Any game that I can get more local, which for us is four-to-five hours, is a good thing.” (courtesy of US Lacrosse’s Lacrosse Magazine) Click here to read the full Lacrosse Magazine article.