The Lindenwood lacrosse program hosted two Division I teams on Oct. 5 at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium for the annual Fall Lacrosse Classic.

A few years ago, Division I teams were brought to St. Louis to meet in an exhibition match for the community to enjoy a high-level competition, as well as bringing back St. Louis native players to play in front of their home crowd.

However, that tradition ended.  With the same intent and in a combined effort between the Lindenwood lacrosse program, USA Lacrosse St. Louis Chapter and Hall of Famer Andrew Kay, they created the annual Fall Classic in 2018 to bring back the tradition. This year the Georgetown University and Rutgers University teams were flown into St. Louis.

Around $90,000 was raised this year between sponsorships, donors within the lacrosse community, game tickets and a Pappy Van Winkle bourbon raffle, which were $100 per ticket. Part of that money was used to fly the teams to St. Louis, and $15,000 was donated to the Children’s Hospital.

This is the second year that the Fall Classic was organized, and the total donations to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital since 2018 rounds up to $30,000. Last year, Lindenwood hosted the match on Oct. 21st, which featured Boston University against Michigan University.

Last year, one St. Louis native was part of the Michigan lacrosse team, and another one was committed to play in Boston. This year, two athletes that recently graduated from Mary Institute and Saint Louis County Day school, where Andrew Kay is the head coach of the lacrosse team and english professor, are set to compete for Georgetown.

The men’s lacrosse Associate Head Coach Scott Stark, is part of the team that puts together the fundraiser.

“This is a great event, it is something that myself and the other guys in the group [organizing the event] are super grateful to be a part of,” Stark said. “We do it for a good cause and for the lacrosse game.”