ORANGE, Calif. – They’ve been ranked one-two in the polls for nearly the entire year and both are undefeated, but now either No. 1 Chapman and No. 4 Georgia Tech will come up one game shy of their season-long quest when they meet today in the semifinals of the 2016 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour.

With a powerful schedule and an unblemished record, Chapman (20-0) an easy pick for the top spot in the bracket, but the committee dinged the Yellow Jackets, ignoring their ranking and record while seeding them on the Panthers half of the bracket.

Chapman coach Dallas Hartley isn’t worried about the seeds because he knows the Ramblin’ Wreck is legit regardless of the number next to them.

“Georgia Tech has a great defense individually and collectively in front of one of the best goalies in the nation,” Hartley said. “They have very good faceoff play and an underrated offense.”

The Panthers enter today’s game on a roll, having dispatched both Purdue (14-2) and Arizona State (16-8) easily. They’ve been helped by the flexibility within their system.

“We have challenged our team to stick with the game plan and follow in-game adjustments on both sides of the ball at halftime of both of our tournament games,” Hartley said. “They have responded very well.”

Georgia Tech’s route has been much tougher as the Jackets have grinded out wins over Cal (5-3) and Brigham Young (7-5).

“Chapman is a superb team and we don’t have a lot of saved legs after our first two games,” said Tech coach Ken Lovic. “Beating them on their home field is an added challenge.”

As the two scores in the tournament – and pretty much the entire season – indicate, Georgia Tech is a gritty defensive teams that have been very difficult to crack this year. The Yellow Jackets will try to keep it in the single digits again.

“We have a tough, resilient group of guys who have answered every challenge,” Lovic said. “This will be their biggest one yet.”

In the other Division I semifinal, defending national champion and No. 3 Grand Canyon will try to keep its title defense alive against No. 2 Cal Poly.

Grand Canyon has dispatched Michigan State (10-7) and Boston College (11-8) by three goals each time and have built up some momentum after the loss to Chapman in the SLC title game.

"When we play together and follow the plan, we are hard to beat,” said GCU coach Manny Rapkin.

Rapkin is also well aware of the run that Cal Poly is currently on.

"They are on a 13-game winning streak and haven't lost since February 21st,” he said.

As one would expect, Cal Poly has a healthy respect for the champs and their crew of scoring threats.

“We can’t let them get into a rhythm offensively,” said Cal Poly coach Bobby Dabrieo. “They're an experienced and skilled team that can go on long runs and put opponents away early.”

The Mustangs had one of its strongest performances of the year in the quarterfinals against Colorado, doubling up the Buffs, 10-5, with a brutal defense and opportunistic offense.

“If we can handle the pressure both physically and mentally,” said Dabrieo. “We're a very young team that keeps on improving and is playing our best lacrosse right now.”