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Playoff Rematch with Michigan State

Apr. 26, 2011

As the 2011 season comes to an end, and with the Central Michigan 10-6 victory over Western Michigan, the play-off picture for the CCLA Division 1 tournament has taken shape.

CMU still has to play a rescheduled game vs Ball State, but this game has yet to be posted on the MCLA website. Even if they loose to the Cardinals and it falls to a 3 way tie, Central Michigan would still claim the play off berth due to previous games this season.

Based on this and current standings, the final four playoff picture at Saline High School will be as follows:

• 1 PM, Game 1: East #1 Michigan vs. West #2 Central Michigan
• 4 PM, Game 2: West #1 Michigan State vs. East #2 Pittsburgh

This matches up Pittsburgh and  #7 ranked Michigan State in a play off rematch from last year, which ended in 6-14 loss for the Panthers.  "We have a tremendous Opportunity ahead of us, coming into this game as an underdog we get to show everyone who we are and what we can do, " states sophomore attackman Tyler Novotny. "This is where we want to be this time of year getting to play in the post season, in one of the strongest conferences in the MCLA, and against a top-ten program."

Novotny finished the season tied for second in the CCLA for total Goals (36) and in 5th in the CCLA total Points (46), and leads the CCLA in Points Per Game while averaging 4.182 points per game.  (http://mcla.us/stats/2011/CCLA/field-1.html).  

Pitt has a very young roster this year with 16 of the total 39 players on the active roster being underclassmen, and 20 of the players being new to the team this year.  These 20 have been pivitol to the success of the team and continue to build the overall confidence in the program.  "This will be one of our biggest test of the year, " says freshmen defensemen Max Carlson.  "It will help show our team our potential and what we can really accomplish"

The Panthers practice schedule slows down this week due to final exams, and picks back up this weekend and next week as Pitt prepares for the second consecutive play off appearance with Head Coach Sean Buzzard's helm of the program.

"We are going to try and come out swinging and play our game to try and take them out of their comfort zone,"  continued Novotny. "If we can dictate the pace of the game, we can be succesful"