Oct. 22, 2002
It's "crunch time" for Patriot League fall teams.
It's the time of season that teams with championship aspirations will take charge. Contenders and pretenders fall into place.
The intensity level of the players and coaches rise, as does the level of play. Berths in post-season tournaments, both on the League and NCAA levels, can be affected by every match or game.
Standings can be greatly affected by the result of one event. Teams that were picked to finish near the bottom of the standings in the pre-season poll are in the running to host the post-season tournament as the top seed. Teams with lofty pre-season expectations struggle to survive.
It's one of the great times of year for Patriot League fans.
Volleyball teams are at the official halfway point in their season. The teams play a double round-robin schedule (14 matches), and entering the second half, American and Lehigh are once again battling for the top spot. Army, which lost the 2001 title match against AU, is battling with Bucknell, Holy Cross and Navy just to make the 2002 championship.
Most cross country teams will take this week off to prepare for the 2002 PL championship. Either Army or Bucknell have won the men's or women's titles in the last eight years. On the morning of Saturday, Nov. 2, at West Point, the remainder of the League will get an equal shot at upending the perennial champs.
Six of the eight football teams have completed their non-League slate and have five PL contests remaining. Fordham and Lafayette, which battled for last place just two years ago, will meet this week in the Bronx for first place. Four other teams - Colgate, Holy Cross, Lehigh and Towson - all have one loss entering this week's action and are on the verge of falling out of the championship chase. In the first 16 years of PL play, no team has ever won or shared the League title with two losses.
Field hockey and the soccer teams are closing in on "do-or-die" matches as they jockey for playoff seeding.
Holy Cross won the 2001 regular-season field hockey crown, but was upset by fourth-seeded Fairfield in the first round of the League playoffs. The Stags went on to win the title. This year, Lafayette is the only undefeated team with two matches to play prior to the championship tournament Nov. 8-9.
The women's soccer championship is the same weekend, and the military academies along with American are the frontrunners to host the tournament. A full slate of League matches are scheduled for Saturday (Oct. 26), which should go a long way to determine who will advance to the post-season.
The men's soccer programs have gained national acclaim as they head into the final month of the season. American, Holy Cross and Lehigh have all been nationally ranked this season while Bucknell and Colgate have earned spots in the regional polls. The Eagles and Mountain Hawks, ranked 18th nationally this week, square off in Bethlehem on Nov. 2 in a match that could determine which team hosts the PL Tournament two weeks later. However, both AU and LU have two other League matches to play, and foes will have two reasons to gear up - knock off the leaders and gain a spot in the tournament.
Across the board, the season-ending drive for each team will likely produce intense, hard-fought battles.
Then, after the game, the teams will line up, shake hands, respect the effort of their opponents and wish them well. It's the Patriot League way for all teams - even in "crunch time."