Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League

The Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCLL) is a conference in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The PCLL primarily incorporates teams in New England, New York, and New Jersey and is divided into two divisions, Division A and Division B. The conference is governed by a five member executive board and the team that wins the conference's divisional playoffs receive bids to the MCLA National Tournament.

History

In the spring of 1984, players from 15 colleges competed in a club All-Star game held at Dean Junior College. It was during this event that the idea of hosting a New England college club championship germinated.

The following fall, Dean hosted an open meeting for all regional schools, inviting them to organize their club lacrosse teams into a league so that a New England Champion could be crowned.

In the spring of 1986, four teams gathered at Dean for a single elimination tournament. In the semi-final match-ups, Boston University defeated the University of Connecticut, 6-5, and Dean Junior College defeated the University of Rhode Island, 14-2. That same day, Dean Junior became the first "New England Club Champion", defeating BU by a score of 6-5.

After two years of successful tournaments, six teams decided to petition the US Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association ("USILA") and the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association ("NEILA") for league sanctioning. At a winter meeting in 1987, five teams from Massachusetts (Assumption College, Bentley College, Clark University, Dean Junior College, & Worcester Polytechnic Institute) and one from Rhode Island (Roger Williams University) founded the Patriot Lacrosse League. The league's original purpose was to provide structure and legitimacy to the member teams, hoping their institutions would elevate them to varsity status. Five of those six founding Patriot League members were able to obtain their goal.

During the spring of 1988, the first Patriot League Championship was played. Dean Junior College defeated Bentley 18-9, claiming the title as the first Patriot League Champion.

The following year, although Roger Williams departed, the University of Rhode Island and Bryant College were accepted into the league and the championship tournament was expanded to four teams. In the spring of 1990, the USILA requested a name change to avoid confusion with the NCAA's Patriot League, and along with additions of the University of Connecticut and Northeastern University, the Pioneer League as we know it was born.

The Pioneer operated along the same lines for the next several seasons. Teams "graduated" to compete at the varsity level and new teams joined to fill their place, but in the fall of 1999, the league underwent a major change by joining what was then known as the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates, now the MCLA.

In 2000, the University of New Hampshire defeated Boston University to earn the league's first automatic qualification and represent the PCLL at its first national tournament as members of the USLIA. In St. Louis, Missouri, New Hampshire was eliminated in the first round by Brigham Young University, but represented the league through the rest of the tournament, culminating in a consolation round defeat of the University of Tennessee.

Past PCLL Champions

Year	League Champion	Runner-Up	Score
New England Club Champion
1986	Dean Junior College	University of Rhode Island	14-2
1987	"unknown"
Patriot Lacrosse League
1988	Dean Junior College	Bentley College	18-9
1989	"unknown"
Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (independent league)
1990	"unknown"
1991	"unknown"
1992	"unknown"
1993	"unknown"
1994	"unknown"
1995	"unknown"
1996	"unknown"
1997	"unknown"
1998	"unknown"
1999	"unknown"

Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (MCLA conference)
Year	Div.	League Champion	Runner-Up	Score	Nat'l Tournament Location	Nat'l Tournament Results
2000	N/A	University of New Hampshire	Boston University	"unknown"	St. Louis, Missouri	lost in first round to Brigham Young University
2001	N/A	University of Rhode Island	University of New Hampshire	"unknown"	St. Louis, Missouri	"unknown"
2002	N/A	University of New Hampshire	University of Connecticut	10-4	St. Louis, Missouri	lost in first round to Sonoma State University
2003	N/A	Boston College	University of New Hampshire	11-10	St. Louis, Missouri	lost in first round to Colorado State University
2004	A1	Boston College	University of New Hampshire	14-8	St. Louis, Missouri	lost in first round to University of Oregon
2005	A	Northeastern University	University of New Hampshire	15-12	Blaine, Minnesota	lost in first round to University of Michigan
2005	B	United States Coast Guard Academy	Framingham State College	10-6	Blaine, Minnesota	N/A2
2006	A	Northeastern University	University of New Hampshire	8-4	Plano, Texas	"unknown"
2006	B	Salem State College	University of New Haven	10-8	Plano, Texas	Did not attend
2007	A3	Northeastern University	Boston College	8-4	Plano, Texas	lost in second round to UC Santa Barbara
2008	A	Boston College	Boston University	12-4	Irving, Texas	lost in first round to Brigham Young University

¹ Division B only included one team (University of New Haven) in 2004 and therefore did not have playoffs.
² The PCLL did not have enough Division B teams in 2005 to receive an automatic bid to the national tournament.³ The PCLL(B) did not receive an automatic bid to nationals.

Current Teams

Former teams

*Assumption College (Worcester, Massachusetts)
*Bentley College (Waltham, Massachusetts)
*Bryant College (Smithfield, Rhode Island)
*Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts)
*Dean Junior College (Franklin, Massachusetts)
*New York University (New York City, New York)
*Roger Williams University (Bristol, Rhode Island)
*University of Rochester (Rochester, New York)
*University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont)

Current Executive Board

* Commissioner: Tim Gray
* Vice-Commissioner: Allyson Skeens
* Treasurer: Dan Morris
* Secretary: Ben Clark
* Communications/Membership: Ryan Larkin

External links

* [http://www.pioneerlacrosse.com Official PCLL website]
* [http://www.collegelax.us Official MCLA website]

ee also

*Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association