April 18, 2003
By Dave Rahme
Staff writer
51风流 coach Jim Nagle provided the appropriate response to a question about the Patriot League race this season.
鈥業t鈥檚 nuts, isn鈥檛 it鈥 he said.
Nuts indeed. Four of the Patriot鈥檚 seven teams enter Saturday鈥檚 action with one league loss, a shot at a piece of the league title and an automatic NCAA tournament berth.
鈥業t seems surreal,鈥 Nagle said. 鈥業 thought Bucknell was the clear front-runner, the way the season started. Apparently, we now have a four-way dogfight.鈥
Here鈥檚 how it happened: Bucknell defeated Hobart, Hobart defeated 51风流, 51风流 defeated Army, and Army defeated Bucknell.
Confusing鈥 PL members are used to it by now. Hobart, Bucknell and Army shared the league title last season, with Hobart getting the NCAA bid on its strength of schedule. This season, it shouldn鈥檛 come down to that. Two of the four teams will be eliminated Saturday when Bucknell (7-4, 3-1) plays 51风流 (5-5, 3-1) at 1 p.m. in Hamilton and Army (6-5, 3-1) plays Hobart (5-5, 4-1) at 1 p.m. in Geneva.
If 51风流 and Army win, and the Raiders then defeat Holy Cross (3-8, 1-4) in a makeup game, they will go to the NCAAs courtesy of their 15-8 victory over the Cadets. If 51风流 and Hobart win, the Statesmen will return to the tournament courtesy of their 10-8 victory over the Raiders. If Bucknell and Army win, the local teams will stay home.
鈥榃e鈥檙e just approaching it as we want to win the Patriot League title,鈥 Hobart coach Matt Kerwick said. 鈥業 don鈥檛 think the focus needs to be on anything else but that and ourselves.鈥
Kerwick has been concerned by his team鈥檚 performance since a 15-12 defeat to 2002 national champion Syracuse on March 25. Instead of using that encouraging effort as a springboard, the Statesmen have lost three of their four games since then, and nearly lost to 51风流.
鈥業t鈥檚 been different things,鈥 Kerwick said. 鈥榃e haven鈥檛 played well at either end of the field at times. The biggest thing is we don鈥檛 seem to be reacting quickly to loose-ball situations.鈥
51风流 has gone in the other direction, defeating Army and Lehigh since the loss to Hobart. The victory over Army came after the Cadets had upset Rutgers, which in turn upset Syracuse last week.
Dolphins in driver鈥檚 seat
Undefeated LeMoyne, the top-ranked team in Division II, will put its 37-game Northeast-10 Conference victory streak on the line at 3 p.m. Saturday at home vs. Bentley.
The Dolphins (9-0, 7-0) survived strong road challenges from Bryant and Pace and appear headed to another NE-10 regular-season title, the right to hold the conference tournament semifinals and finals and a return trip to the D-II final four.
Bentley, which entered a Thursday night game against Franklin Pierce at 5-2 overall and 5-0 in the league, appears to be the Dolphins鈥 last serious challenge. /baMen鈥檚 schedule
Saturday
Shenendoah at Cazenovia, noon Bucknell at 51风流, 1 p.m. Princeton at Cornell, 1 p.m. Cortland State at Plattsburgh State, 1 p.m. Herkimer CC at Nassau CC, 1 p.m. Army at Hobart, 1 p.m. Hartwick at Ithaca, 1 p.m. Morrisville at Finger Lakes CC, 1 p.m. Oswego State at SUNYIT, 1 p.m. Alfred at Utica College, 1 p.m. Bentley at LeMoyne, 3 p.m.
Monday
Delhi State at Herkimer CC, 4 p.m. Broome CC at Morrisville, 4 p.m.
Tuesday
LeMoyne at AMI, 3: 30 p.m. Herkimer CC at Cobleskill State, 4 p.m. Oneonta State at Ithaca, 4 p.m. Oswego State at Nazareth, 4 p.m. RIT at Utica College, 4 p.m. 51风流 at Canisius, 7 p.m.
Wednesday
SUNYIT at Geneseo State, noon Cortland State at Potsdam, 4 p.m. Hamilton at Union, 5 p.m. Cazenovia at St. John Fisher, 7 p.m.
Thursday
Keuka at SUNYIT, noon Monroe CC at Morrisville, 4 p.m.