By: Cody Bush, Associate Commissioner / Strategic Communications
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Sophomore midfielder Noah Pillow’s golden goal three minutes into overtime delivered Concordia University Irvine a 12-11 overtime victory against Westminster University in the championship game of the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championship Tournament on Sunday at Dumke Field in Salt Lake City.
The win is the Golden Eagles' first RMAC Men’s Lacrosse title of any type and secures the league’s automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship. That 18-team tournament field will be announced Sunday, May 3, on NCAA.com, with opening round action getting underway Wednesday, May 6.
Making their third consecutive RMAC Tournament championship game appearance, Concordia Irvine (11-6) wasted little time making a solid first impression. Max Texter and Cameron Regenstreif scored in a 30-second span, less than two minutes into the game, before Regenstreif’s second goal at the 11:54 mark of the first quarter gave the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead.
Westminster (11-5) rallied with the game’s next three goals as Ridge Crouch scored twice within two minutes before Luke Sillstrop tied the game with 6:48 remaining in the first quarter. The Golden Eagles scored twice after the game was tied, only to see the Griffins respond with two goals before the horn, and the game was level at 5-5 after the first quarter.
Defense carried the day in both the second and third quarters. Westminster shut out Concordia Irvine in the second quarter while scoring twice and took a 7-5 lead into halftime. The Golden Eagles returned the favor in the third, shutting out the Griffins by a 3-0 score and leading 8-7 after the third and cueing up a barnstorm finish in the fourth.
Westminster tied the game early in the fourth on Crouch’s third goal of the game. Concordia Irvine’s Regenstreif responded 28 seconds later and Barnes made it a two-goal game with 8:08 remaining. Westminster used goals from Crouch and Boden Laforce on each side of the five-minute mark to tie the game again at 10-10 with 4:43 left.
Concordia Irvine took advantage of a rare man-up opportunity to take the lead 11-10 on Max Texter’s goal with 45 seconds left. But Westminster would not be denied as Sillstrop took a pass right in front of the crease, turned, and found the back of the net to tie the game again with 11 seconds remaining.
In overtime, Westminster won the draw but turned the ball over on its possession. Concordia Irvine controlled the remainder of overtime, putting four shots on net and recovering another turnover in its offensive end. Pillow’s shot was the Golden Eagles’ fourth of the period and saw him drift to the right of the net before putting a shot past the Griffins’ goalkeeper for the win.
Regensteif scored four goals to lead the Golden Eagles in the championship game. Texter, Pillow, and Barnes had two goals each. CUI goalkeeper Brody Woods made 17 saves on 28 shots on goal and 53 total shots faced – he had 11 saves in the second half and overtime.
Crouch and Sillstrop scored four goals each to pace the Griffins offensive effort. Goalkeeper Christian Jones made 13 saves on 25 shots.
2026 RMAC Men’s Lacrosse Championship All-Tournament Team
MVP – Matt Carressi, Concordia Irvine
Dawson Loudermile, Concordia Irvine
Brody Woods, Concordia Irvine
Jeremy Barnes, Concordia Irvine
Jack Lepore, Concordia Irvine
Christian Jones, Westminster
Luke Sillstrop, Westminster
Harrison Edwards, Westminster
Ben Weber, Westminster
Boaz Brown, Colorado Mesa
Colton Altimus, Northwest Nazarene
About the RMAC
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 institutions located in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The RMAC currently competes in 22 NCAA Division II sports and has earned 71 national championships and 53 national runners-up since 1992. Founded in 1909, the RMAC is the most historic athletic conference in the western United States and Division II.
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