The Continental Lacrosse Conference (CLC) is a men's collegiate club lacrosse conference that competes within the

Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) is a national organization of non-NCAA men's college lacrosse programs. The MCLA oversees game play and conducts national championships for over 200 teams in ten conferences throughout the United ...

(MCLA), the national organization for non-

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

collegiate lacrosse programs across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The CLC was founded in 2018 following the reorganization and merger of the former Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) and Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCLL), aiming to streamline operations and better serve programs primarily located in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

. The CLC is structured into three divisions — Division I, Division II, and Division III — providing competitive opportunities for a wide range of collegiate programs. The conference features a mix of established and emerging lacrosse teams and regularly qualifies its champions for the annual MCLA National Championships. Notable programs in Division I include

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

, and the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

, all of which have been nationally ranked and have made deep runs in the MCLA postseason. In Division II, the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

and

Bridgewater State University Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Massachusetts, N ...

have consistently been among the top programs, earning multiple national tournament appearances. The CLC also launched Division III competition to support developing programs, such as

Fitchburg State University Fitchburg State University (Fitchburg State) is a public university in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. It has 3,421 undergraduate and 1,238 graduate/continuing education students, for a total student body enrollment of 4,659. The university offers und ...

and

Framingham State University Framingham State University (Framingham State or FSU) is a public university in Framingham, Massachusetts. The university, then known as the Normal School in Lexington was founded in 1839 as the first state-supported normal school in the United ...

, allowing them to compete at a level appropriate to their stage of development.

History

The Continental Lacrosse Conference (CLC) was established in 2018 through the merger of the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) and the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCLL), aiming to streamline operations and better serve programs primarily located in the Northeastern United States. In 2021, the University of Pittsburgh and Temple University departed the CLC to join the newly formed Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC). Conversely, Syracuse University joined the CLC's Division I ranks in 2025, bolstering the conference's profile. This addition enabled the CLC to secure automatic qualifying (AQ) bids for both its Division I and Division II champions to the MCLA National Championships.

Teams

Division 1

Division 2

Division 3

Independent

''Columbia was accepted to the CLC Division 2 for the Fall 2025 Season ''

Conference Championships

''* Note: Bold text denotes MCLA National Champion'' ''* Note: Italic text denotes MCLA National Champion runner-up''

References

External links

* 2019 establishments in the United States College lacrosse leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 2019 {{US-sport-org-stub Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association