North Park. While that name might not raise your adrenaline like “Iowa State” or “Wisconsin Milwaukee”, you should probably get used to it. Because that is who Eau Claire has the pleasure of matching up against at 9am on Saturday morning. The overall 3 seed at Frostbite. The North Park Lost Boys.
Eau Claire has played North Park once before at Frostbite in 2008, and recorded a 5-8 loss during a cold, blistery, snowy game. However, the most recently recorded game between the two teams came last year at DIII Nationals, where Eau Claire beat North Park 13-5. Even so, as any returning player from Eau Claire can tell you, a single year can make a huge difference, and Eau Claire’s 2009 roster is much different than their 2010 roster. If Eauzone is looking to make the noise they know they can, or even break seed, they are going to have to bring their A-Game.
The second team Eau Claire will play is against is Arkansas (6th seed overall). Eau Claire also played Arkansas at Frostbite in 2008, recording a 6-10 loss. Eau Claire has only seen Arkansas once since then, and that was a few months later at Music City Tune-Up, where they recorded a win. The final pool play game of the day will be against 14th seeded Nebraska. Eauzone will have either one or two crossover games leading into bracket play on Sunday.
Eau Claire is coming into Frostbite ranked 11th overall. Other notable teams at Frostbite are Wisconsin Whitewater (4th), Wisconsin Milwaukee (5th), Iowa State (7th), and Minnesota Duluth (10th). For Eau Claire, Frostbite will be, above all else, their first real test of this year. After this weekend, Eauzone will find out where they stand in their section and region, but most importantly where they stand with themselves. Eau Claire will finally know whether or not they are ready to make some noise.
You can view the full tournament standings and rankings at:
http://scores.upa.org/scores/#college-open/tournament/6811
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