April 15, 2011
Center Valley, Pa. - Two weekends remain in the regular season for both men and women's lacrosse, and bids to the Patriot League Tournament are still up for grabs in each with crucial League games on the weekend schedule. Meanwhile, the schedules continue in softball and baseball as teams near the halfway point of their respective League slates.
Men's Lacrosse
Five games are scheduled over the weekend, and live coverage of three of the contests will be available through the Patriot League website here. Live blogging will start Friday night as Lehigh hosts No. 12/12 Bucknell at 7:30 p.m.
Weekly Release (4.12)
Updated Statistics
Composite Schedule/Results
Bucknell-Lehigh is a crucial League contest, as all are at this point in the season. The Bison already know they're in the Patriot League Tournament, and no matter what happens over the weekend for either them or Colgate, the two teams will slug it out April 23 in Hamilton with the No. 1 seed and hosting responsibilities in the League tournament at stake.
For Lehigh, the path to the Patriot League Tournament is simple. A win over either Bucknell Friday night or rival Lafayette next week gets the Mountain Hawks into the postseason for the first time since 2006. Before Lehigh can look forward to its annual matchup against its rival, the Mountain Hawks will face off against one of the nation's best scoring defenses. The Bison lead the League and are fourth nationally allowing just seven goals per game. It creates an interesting matchup, as the Mountain Hawks are tops in the League and 14th in the country averaging 10.75 goals a game.
Saturday's slate has three games, and it starts with perhaps the greatest rivalry in all of collegiate sports. Navy (4-7, 2-3) welcomes Army, ranked No. 18 in the latest Nike/Inside Lacrosse Poll and 17th by the USILA coaches, to Annapolis at 2 p.m. in a game that will be televised on CBS Sports Network. For the Black Knights (7-4, 2-2), the postseason implications are clear. A victory puts them into the Patriot League Tournament and secures them a chance to defend last season's title, though it'll have to be on the road. Army-Navy will be the second game with live coverage on the Patriot League website.
Navy's path to the postseason isn't nearly as cut and dry. If Lehigh defeats Bucknell Friday night, the Mids would clinch the last berth to the tournament with a victory over Army. If Lehigh loses to Bucknell, Navy would secure a tournament bid with a victory over the Black Knights by four or more goals. If Lehigh loses to Bucknell and Navy defeats Army by three or less, the Mids must hope Lafayette defeats the Mountain Hawks next week. A Navy loss and it is out of the postseason.
No. 16/16 Colgate (8-3, 4-0) became the second team to secure a bid to the League tournament with last week's 11-8 win at Lehigh. Jim Nagle's crew is back in the postseason after falling just short last season. The Raiders will entertain Bucknell next week on CBS Sports Network, but before they get there, they face off with Lafayette (2-9, 1-4) Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Easton, Pa. Colgate displayed its offensive depth in last week's win over the Mountain Hawks in which leading scorer Peter Baum was limited to just one assist. Ben McCabe stepped up with four goals, proving the Raiders have firepower that goes beyond Baum's team-high 29 goals.
It's a long shot, but Lafayette is still alive for a bid to the League tournament. A lot would have to bounce their way, but the Leopards would need victories over Colgate and Lehigh to complete the season, Lehigh would need to lose Friday to Bucknell and Army would have to beat Navy on Saturday and Holy Cross next week.
There are two non-League games scheduled this weekend. The first pits Holy Cross (1-10, 1-4) against Mercer Saturday at 5 p.m. in Worcester in the Crusaders' first home game since March 26. Holy Cross is coming off a 13-8 loss Tuesday at Bryant that wrapped up a 1-3 stretch on the road.
The final contest of the weekend features Lehigh playing its second games in three days. The Mountain Hawks will host North Carolina at Goodman Stadium Sunday at noon on CBS Sports Network. The Tar Heels are ranked 10th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and ninth by the USILA coaches. Live coverage of this contest will be available on the Patriot League website as well.
Women's Lacrosse
Weekly Release (4.11.11)
Composite Schedule
Cumulative Statistics
Navy became the first team to clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth Wednesday, and Colgate and Lehigh will look to follow in the Mids' footsteps on Saturday.
Navy (11-4, 4-1 Patriot League), the defending League champion, edged American (7-7, 3-3) 11-10 to clinch its fourth straight tournament berth. The Eagles will root for Lehigh and Colgate this weekend for the field of four will be set if the Mountain Hawks and Raiders both win. No one can clinch the No. 1 seed this weekend.
Colgate (6-6, 3-1) will host Lafayette (2-11, 1-3) and Lehigh (8-6, 3-1) will travel to Holy Cross (5-10), both games slated for a 1 p.m. start. Both Holy Cross and Lafayette need to win in order to remain alive in the postseason race.
For the Leopards, it will not be easy. Colgate boasts the top offense in the Patriot League, scoring 13.83 goals per game. The Raiders have been led by Colleen Bubnack's 41 goals and 15 assists and Courtney Miller's 25 goals and 28 assists. Colgate has won nine straight against Lafayette dating back to 2002. The Leopards won a pair from the Raiders in 2001, including a Patriot League semifinal contest. Lafayette has only won two games in 2011, but the younger players have been stepping up for the Leopards. Led by sophomore Addie Godfey and freshman Ana White, the Leopards have kept games close, losing five one-goal contests. Godfrey has scored a team-high 28 goals and six assists, and Ana White has 23 goals and 12 assists. White is second in the nation in caused turnovers with 2.58 per game. She'll look to use that defense to subdue the League's second-highest scoring offense in Lehigh (13.79 goals per game.)
Holy Cross doesn't have an easy task either, facing the test of going up against the Patriot League's all-time goal scorer in Lehigh midfielder Lauren Dykstra. She has 60 goals on the season and 245 for her career. The Crusaders' defense has been strong, holding opponents to 9.67 goals per game -- 9.00 in League play, which is tied for first with Lehigh. This contest would have matched up two goal scorers who had two of the nation's longest goal streaks, but Holy Cross junior midfielder Kat Sutton's impressive streak ended at 43 games Wednesday in a 10-6 loss to Harvard. It was only the fifth time in her collegiate career that she had been held without a goal as she was held scoreless in her first four games as a freshman. Lehigh's Dykstra improved her streak to 46 games Tuesday with two goals at No. 15 Penn State. Lehigh has won three of the last four meetings with Holy Cross, including two games last season. The Mountain Hawks won 14-7 during the regular season and ousted the Crusaders in the Patriot League semifinals 9-8.
Navy will travel to Longwood at noon Saturday for a non-League contest, and Bucknell (3-11, 0-5 is idle).
Baseball
Weekly Release (4.11.11)
Cumulative Statistics
Heading into the midseason point of the Patriot League baseball schedule, the third weekend of action presents an opportunity for the teams in the top of the standings to distance themselves further and the squads in the bottom half to play catch-up.
The weekend matchups each feature a team in the the top three against a squad in the bottom three. Army (13-16, 6-2 Patriot League) holds sole possession of first place as it heads to Lehigh (18-14, 3-5), while the teams tied for second each play at home as Navy (20-14-1, 5-3) welcomes Bucknell (14-20, 2-6) and Lafayette (11-18, 5-3) plays host to Holy Cross (15-17-1, 3-5).
Due to rain on Saturday, each four-game series will now be played on Sunday and Monday. The opener of each doubleheader is a seven-inning game, while the nightcap goes nine innings.
The Black Knights have already finished their Patriot League home slate after splitting with rival Navy last week. Now they play on the road for the first time in League action, and will have to take on a Lehigh team with revenge on its mind. Army swept the Mountain Hawks in four games last year on its way to claiming the regular-season Patriot League title, with Lehigh placing second.
Navy has gone the other direction, playing its first two series on the road and coming away with the 5-3 record at Lehigh and Army. Now the Mids play their first of two Patriot League home series when they take on defending champion Bucknell. The Bison are badly in need of a positive result to have a chance to defend their crown in the Patriot League Tournament as they come into the weekend with a 2-6 League record. Bucknell has dropped three of four to both Lafayette and Holy Cross, and is playing the second of three straight Patriot League road series.
It could be the battle of catchers in Easton, as reigning Patriot League Player of the Week Stephen Wadsworth leads Holy Cross up against Lafayette and A.J. Miller, the League's leader in batting average, on-base and slugging percentage and among the top players nationally in all three categories. Holy Cross got back on its feet last week by winning three of four against Bucknell, while Lafayette plays the second of three straight Patriot League home series.
For all live stat, audio and video links throughout the weekend, as well as the recap and stats from each game, go to the Patriot League Composite Schedule
Softball
Weekly Release (4.13)
Updated Statistics
Composite Schedule/Results
Colgate (17-14, 8-0 Patriot League) will look to bounce back after suffering a pair of defeats Thursday at Binghamton. The Raiders lost both contests by a combined three runs. On the other side, Lehigh (21-15, 7-1) has won four in a row after completing the four-game sweep of Lafayette Thursday with victories of 13-0 and 9-0. The Mountain Hawks' offense erupted for 33 runs in the series, and they're up to second in the League as a team hitting .287. The Raiders will try to silence Lehigh's bats with the pitching combination of Courtney O'Connell (6-8, 1.40 ERA) and Rachel LeCoq (11-5, 1.42), who sit 1-2, respectively, in the League in earned-run average. The series starts Saturday at noon and concludes Sunday at noon with doubleheaders both days.
Third-place Holy Cross (12-17, 6-2) trails Lehigh by a game and looks to stay firmly in the running for a bid to the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2003. The Crusaders have a four-game lead over Army, with whom they split a four-game series last weekend. Holy Cross hosts Bucknell (9-27, 1-7) for four games in Worcester starting Saturday, and the Crusaders are looking to bounce back from being swept Tuesday at Harvard. The Bison were swept at Colgate last weekend and rebounded with a split against Saint Francis (Pa.) in Lewisburg Thursday. Caitlin Belanger (.441, 1 HR, 10 RBI) and Keeley Seniuk (.404, 5 HR, 26 RBI) sit on top of the League standings in batting average, and will provide a tough matchup for Bucknell's pitching staff of Bridget Gates (4-13, 2.71) and Alex MacLean (5-14, 3.43). The Bison's Alison Ford will lead her team's offense, as she sits third in the League in batting average (.393) with two home runs, 16 RBIs and 11 doubles.
Army (18-17, 2-6) sits fourth in the League standings, which would garner them a berth to the Patriot League Tournament, but the Black Knights lead the defending champion Bison by just one game as the halfway mark approaches, and they'll look to create some breathing room when they visit Lafayette (2-29, 0-8) for four games starting Sunday. In anticipation of wet weather forecasted for the Lehigh Valley Saturday, the series will conclude with a doubleheader Monday starting at 2 p.m. Sunday's action will start at noon. Trailing 2-0, the Black Knights got one back late against visiting Iona but couldn't push the game-tying run across the plate in a 2-1 loss Thursday to the Gaels. Haley Pypes earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors Monday and was named ECAC Division I Softball Player of the Week Tuesday after socking six home runs and driving in 11 last week. She looks to keep pacing the Black Knights offense. The Leopards are looking for improvement in the circle, as it currently has a team ERA of 5.86.