CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — The Patriot League Network (PLN) Top Play of the Year Challenge has reached its final week and it's down a pair of Bucknell Bison, Kimbal Mackenzie and Chloe Poltonavage, who will go head-to-head to decide the No. 1 play of 2017-18.
The voting for the championship round opens Tuesday, June 19, and fans can select the winner on the PLN’s official Twitter —
@PatriotLeagueTV. The Patriot League Top Play of the Year will be announced on June 26.
In the semifinals, 15th-seeded Mackenzie ran away with the votes as his buzzer-beating 3 that completed a huge last-minute comeback over Colgate won 56 percent of the vote against No. 3-seeded Loyola's Alexis Gray. The ninth seed, Poltonavage, had a much tighter battle with fifth-seeded Georgetown's Michael Dereus, and it was tied at 50 percent heading into the final day of voting, but a late push propeled the rising field hockey junior and her mid-air deflection on to the finals with a 53-47 win.
The second annual contest began with the opening round of 16 on Tuesday, May 29, with fan voting on Twitter narrowing the field down to two. Seeds were chosen at random and the 16 top play candidates were selected from the PLN's weekly show, "Patriot League Top 3 Plays of the Week." The weekly feature will continue in the fall and will air every Tuesday starting in September.
@PatriotLeagueTV Top Play Challenge on Twitter
* Championship – Voting opens Tuesday, June 19, and runs through Monday, June 25.
* Champion will be announced on Tuesday, June 26
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE NETWORK The PLN produces more than 300 on-demand video features and streams nearly 1,000 live events from its member institutions each year. Content can be found daily on PatriotLeague.tv and fans can keep up to date with the latest posts by following the PLN on Twitter at @PatriotLeagueTV
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The Patriot League is in its third decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes that are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.