Feb. 7, 2008

by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Rules are rules. Without them, we'd all be in a real mess.

With that being said, it's tough not to sympathize with the Utah Valley State College men's lacrosse team.

The Wolverines posted a solid season last spring and were legitimate title contenders for the Division II crown. UVSC bounced eventual Division II champion Montana, 16-13, during the regular season and appeared primed for a run at the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference title. A berth in the nationals was imminent.

And then in the blink of a registrar's eye, their season was terminated.

Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association rules mandate every participating player must have a full slate of 12 credits in the spring semester to keep the program eligible. Teams must account for their players course load at the beginning of the season and then again at the end. Any derivation from these rules means instant termination of the season and the forfeiture of postseason opportunities.

Dutifully, UVSC coach Kevin Perkins submitted his player list to the school's registrar at the beginning of last year. Everything came back clean for the start of the season so the Wolverines embarked on their campaign. Days before the RMLC playoffs, Perkins re-submitted his roster again for what he thought would be a perfunctory check. He was stunned at the results.

One of his players wasn't eligible.

Trouble.

"I went back and looked at everything and he was not eligible the first time [the registrar] said he was eligible. The school messed up on the check," said Perkins. "He had nine credits when they checked it the first time, so they signed it when they shouldn't have."

If the betrayal by his own school wasn't enough, the player in question wasn't even on the team anymore.

"It kind of sucked because he was a very insignificant player," added Perkins. "He only played in two games, maybe five minutes total, and then quit. After that I didn't even know. During the season I kept on telling everyone they had to have 12 credits but he wasn't even on the team anymore."

Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, Perkins reported the problem to league officials, placing his team's future at the mercy of the MCLA executive board.

The verdict: game over.

"If there is an ineligible player that played then that's just the rule. Was there a player who was ineligible? Yes. Did he play? Yes. You're terminated," said Perkins with a touch of annoyance. "There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. There's no research done on it. Even knowing that it was the school's fault, they still would not let us play."

"The precedent has been set over the last five years where if a team has a player who played in a game and is not maintaining the 12 credits to be a full-time student, that team will forfeit all those games," reiterated John Robinette, the coach at USVC's rival Fort Lewis and the president of the RMLC. "Unfortunately for Utah Valley, they had an individual who failed to notify the coach or anybody else and continued to play in games."

A similar situation occurred in 2005 when Colorado State, a member of the RMLC Division I, had to forfeit its season just prior to the national tournament because of an ineligible player. Having company did not lessen UVSC's misery.

Even the team that eventually captured the crown lamented the turn of events.

"I know some of the guys who coach Montana and when I called to congratulate them they said, `It was a great win but it just didn't seem the same without you here. We felt like you guys had to be here to be completely legit.' They're still going to enjoy their national championship. It's like CSU a couple of years ago."

As the Wolverines gear up for the 2008 season there is a sense of unfinished business pervading the program. In a meaningless preseason scrimmage in the Gem State Classic at Boise State this past fall, UVSC played like a team possessed while beating Montana again. It was a demonstration of the kind of fire the team will use to recoup its missed opportunity.

"I wouldn't call it a chip on our shoulder, but we want to prove that we should have been there last year," said midfielder Ryan Cantwell, who was second on the team in points last year. "We definitely want to prove what we can do."

Both Perkins and Cantwell believe the defense will be the key to this season, especially with the return of poles Skyler Bentley and Nick Nelson. Complementing Cantwell's points on offense will be Adam Hickman, who returns from his Mormon mission.

The 2007 season will ultimately prove to be an important, albeit costly, lesson for UVSC. Perkins hopes the Wolverines' travails act as an example for other teams, allowing them to avoid the same mistakes. Since it was the sloppiness of his own registrar's office that ruined his season, Perkins is sure it will happen again.

"Now before every game I'm going to do an eligibility check," he said. "It's going to suck for another team because they're not going to do that and they're going to get caught. It's sad."

Slides & Rides
In one of those polling anomalies, Westminster, also a member of the RMLC Division II, is ranked first in the country while UVSC is sixth. In the RMLC preseason poll, UVSC is first and Westminster second. Perkins chalks it up to national pollsters not doing their research...starting in July, Utah Valley State College will morph into Utah Valley University. Mark it down...Mark Pano, a former player at D-3 Roanoke has assumed the head coaching position at Boston College, taking over for Mike Levin. No time to break in the rookie. The No. 7 Eagles play No. 13 Georgia on Saturday and then No. 19 Florida on Sunday...BYU may be the D-1 national champs, but they're not wasting any time getting back into the action. The Cougars will open up their season next Thursday on the road against No. 3 UC Santa Barbara.

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