Pardon any Division II men's lacrosse coach if he seems to have an extra spring in his step this season, particularly if he or his neighbors speaks with a Southern accent. After a spotty history, the division is on a hot streak, and the South, in particular, has risen.

Last season was the first in which a team from the land of early spring, in that instance Limestone, was guaranteed a spot in the national championship game. That was noteworthy because since 1993, every team in the championship was from the North and all but one, Springfield, was from Long Island. Southern teams were eligible but had virtually no chance because of schedules and perceived regional differences in ability.

The Southerners, whose region is called the Southwest, got an added boost when Limestone, which some from the North gave little chance, rang up a 10-9 victory over championship-savvy C.W. Post and walked away with trophy in hand. The win gave those in the heretofore lacrosse hinterlands instant credibility in which even the Saints' rivals continue to revel.

"We couldn't have asked for more," said John Lantzy, coach at St. Andrews, traditionally one of the region's top teams. "It showed that you don't have to be from Long Island to win."

Joining the lacrosse family

From extinction to expansion

Vince Salamone, a former chair of the Division II Men's Lacrosse Committee and the director of athletics at C.W. Post, also welcomed the change.

"This is a tremendous improvement," he said. "It makes it more of a championship tournament than just a game."

Having personally partaken in past
marathon meetings where the committee had to select two teams, Salamone pointed out that the current committee also will welcome the change.

"There was quite a debate (as to who would get in) when it was just two teams," Salamone said. "It's very difficult to pick just two teams out of 30."

Current Division II Chair Chip Polak, director of athletics at New Hampshire College, agreed, but added that he still expects the process to be far from easy.

"It don't think it will ever be easy," Polak said. "It's the most important function we perform. Some people have the misperception that the fewer teams you pick, the easier it is but I think the opposite is true. When you're down to two teams, you really have to nit-pick.

Polak also that it's important to understand that with the new format, the committee is not picking the four best teams in the country, although that could end up happening.

"We're to pick the best two teams in each region, based on our criteria," he said.

That non-fuzzy math put Division II at a crossroads at the 1999 NCAA Convention. Had the voters gone by the then-existing legislation, the championship would have made dubious history by becoming the first in NCAA history to be eliminated because of insufficient sponsorship without leaving a National Collegiate alternative in place. The save came in the form of a 125-95, 17-abstention vote, thanks to the rationale of people like Salamone.

"We should be looking to add athletics opportunities rather than eliminate them," he said at the time.

What had to frustrate Division II lacrosse was that it had walked a similar plank before. In 1979, the then-Executive Committee created the 12-team Division III championship to start the following year, leaving Division II with too few for a tournament. The Executive Committee reduced the Division II field to two teams. That version was eliminated in 1981 because there were only 19 Division II teams. Those teams could then select whether they wanted to vie for the Division I or III tournaments, and the Division II championship didn't return until 12 years later.

From national to regional

Now the coaches can concentrate on adjusting to what for some of them is a realistic goal for the first time. Because of that, some have changed their schedule.

"The one drawback is that we've downgraded our schedule. Where we used to play seven or eight top teams, now we only play one or two. Our priority has shifted from being national to regional."

Which is what the Division II Championships Committee had in mind with its regionalization movement for all sports, which spurred the increase in bracket size.

Fritz said that Pfeiffer has replaced most of his team's former Northern foes with strong, relatively nearby Division III teams, since neither they nor Pfeiffer will hurt their division tournament hopes with a loss. He noted that North teams also are now reluctant to schedule Southern teams, which he fully understands.

"They have nothing to gain by playing those games, either," he said. "There are some drawbacks to this because you're not playing the best teams but overall, the positives outweigh the negatives."

One of Pfeiffer's rivals, Lantzy's Knights, have taken a different path, opting to keep their schedule essentially the same.

"We're one of the few teams that hasn't changed its schedule," Lantzy said. "We still like to play a lot of inter-regional teams. Playing teams from the North helps recruiting and we've had some longstanding rivalries with Northern teams that we would like to continue."

Fritz said the new format will help all Division II, just as the 1993 re-introduction of the championship did.

"There were five teams picked for the Division II poll in 1993 and you would have struggled with coming up with enough for a top 10," he said. "Now there are about 15 teams that are legitimately top teams. It shows that there is more depth. The most new lacrosse teams added in the last few years have been in Division II."

That's a trend that the four-team format can only help.