(Photo Courtesy of the Capital Gazette)
Every year in college hockey Boston College, Boston U., Harvard, and Northeastern get together in Boston at TD Garden for the Beanpot tournament. This is one of the biggest events of the year in college hockey as there are some pretty big bragging rights at stake, especially in the Boston area.
College lacrosse could really benefit from something similar to the Beanpot. With really good areas like Baltimore and New York that have multiple college teams it would be a great event.
The closest thing to the Beanpot that we have in college lacrosse is the Mustang Classic. The Mustang Classic is a DIII event where Stevenson host some of the best DIII teams in the country for a weekend of lacrosse action. It’s a great event and really showcases the DIII level of the game. It’s just a classic and not a tournament though.
In DI here is going to be the Crown Lacrosse Classic and the Philadelphia Lacrosse Showcase this season. Both of those look be great events that are just starting up.
If lacrosse were to go ahead and have a Beanpot like mid-season tournament there would be various different options for doing it. The two obvious locations would be New York or Baltimore and have at least four teams in those cities or the metro area play in it. There are also area’s like the Carolinas, New England, Midwest, and more that would be great for an event like the Beanpot.
Here are ten possible options for a college lacrosse version of the Beanpot Tournament:
*Note: Teams that will start DI play in 2020 are included*
New York Metro
Teams: Hofstra, LIU, Rutgers, Princeton
Location: Columbia University
Baltimore
Teams: Hopkins, UMBC, Loyola, Towson
Location: Homewood Field
Carolinas
Teams: High Point, Furman, Duke, North Carolina
Location: Charlotte, NC or Charleston, SC
Connecticut
Teams: Yale, Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Hartford or Sacred Heart
Location: Dillon Stadium (Hartford, CT)
Upstate New York
Teams: Syracuse, Colgate, Canisius, Cornell
Location: Carrier Dome
The South
Teams: Bellarmine, Virginia, Mercer, Duke (Could go with other’s as well)
Location: Atlanta, GA
New England
Teams: Yale, Providence, UMass, Vermont
Location: Boston, MA
The West
Teams: Denver, Air Force, Utah, Marquette
Location: Denver, CO
Midwest
Teams: Ohio State, Marquette, Detroit Mercy, Notre Dame
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Philadelphia
Teams: Penn, Drexel, Villanova, St. Joseph’s
Location: Franklin Field
