11/10/02 (Tacoma, WA) Pacific Lutheran University's lacrosse team knew what home field advantage meant. Shaking off a 10-4 round robin loss to Oregon the previous day, coach Jason Stockton had PLU firing on all cylinders on Sunday as they successfully defended their Fall Brawl title from 2001, defeating Whitman College 8-6.

The round robin play saw Oregon State squeak by U. of Washington 11-10 (OT) and Whitman 11-9, while Oregon soundly defeated PLU and Puget Sound 11-3. Sundays playoff round, on the other hand, was another matter. PLU disposed of the Beavers 9-3, while Whitman grounded the Oregon machine to a halt 4-3 with only 13 players. The title game was dominated by PLU in the first half, as strong defense and offensive ball control got the champions out to a 5-1 lead. Whitman responded, tallying four scores to make it a one goal game at 6-5, but it was all the understrength squad could do to keep up. A couple of key goals by the Lutes put the game out of reach.

Ten games in two days on two fields saw intense lacrosse action from all teams involved. PLU coach Stockton commented "It was a great tournament with six quality teams. I am looking forward to spring season and returning to next years Fall Brawl." Moving the tournament to Tacoma from Portland in its second season, the Fall Brawl will continue to play in different cities throughout the Pacific Northwest each year. Next years Brawl looks to include teams from Montana, Idaho, Utah, and California. The site is TBD.