Feb. 11, 2010

Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Release 2.11.10

Center Valley, Pa.--The 2010 men's lacrosse season has arrived. Four of the Patriot League's seven teams are scheduled to be in action on Saturday. The remaining three teams will open their seasons on Feb. 20. Two of the Patriot League's ranked teams will take the field on Saturday. No. 19 Bucknell will square off against No. 2 Duke in Atlanta, Ga. No. 11 Navy will host VMI.

Patriot League Notebook

2010 Patriot League Season Gets Underway Saturday
Four Patriot League teams will commence the 2010 men’s lacrosse campaign with games on Saturday. In a battle of two ranked teams, No. 19/19 Bucknell will square off against No. 2/2 Duke in Atlanta, Ga. Another ranked team in action will be No. 11/11 Navy. The Midshipmen will host VMI at noon. The Patriot League’s two Lehigh Valley schools will also take the field on Saturday. Lehigh will make the short trip to Philadelphia to take on Saint Joseph’s, while Lafayette will host St. John’s.

Navy Picked To Win 2010 Patriot League Championship
Defending Patriot League Champion Navy was selected as the preseason favorite in a vote of coaches and sports information directors. The Midshipmen enter the season having won five Patriot League titles in their six years in the League. Navy received 11 first-place votes and a total of 71 points. Bucknell received the remaining three first-place votes and a total of 63 points. Colgate was picked third with 48 points, followed by Army (45), Lehigh (33), Lafayette (22) and Holy Cross. Coaches and SIDs could not vote for their own school.

Winter, Woeppel Honored By Patriot League
In addition to announcing the preseason poll, the Patriot League also named its 2010 preseason players of the year. Bucknell senior Austin Winter was tabbed the Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Navy senior Jaren Woeppel was voted Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Woeppel was an All-American selection in his junior campaign in Annapolis. He was named a Second-Team All-Patriot League honoree. Winter is a preseason All-American honorable mention selection after being named a First-Team All-Patriot League honoree for the third consecutive season last year. Winter has 94 assists in three seasons, a total that already ranks third on Bucknell's career charts. Last season Winter became the fifth two-time All-American in school history.

Preseason Rankings
Three Patriot League teams were included in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook 2010 Preseason Top-25 Poll.  Navy was the top-ranking Patriot League team at No. 11. Rounding out the Patriot League teams were Bucknell (19) and Army (22)  

Preseason All-America Status
A pair of Patriot League attackmen have been named honorable mention preseason All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse. Bucknell senior Austin Winter and Lafayette junior Tom Perini were honored by Inside Lacrosse prior to the 2010 campaign.

Veterans On The Sidelines
All seven head coaches on the sidelines for Patriot League games return from a year ago. Patriot League coaches have 59 years of combined experience and 458 victories to show for it. Navy head coach Richie Meade is the most tenured coach in the Patriot League, as he begins his 20th season of coaching, 14 of which have been in Annapolis. He has 158 wins to his credit. Lehigh’s Kevin Cassese is the most recent head coach to join the Patriot League ranks. The former Duke standout begins his third year as the coach of the Mountain Hawks.

Patriot League Branching Out
Patriot League squads will be showcasing their talents in various parts of the country with neutral-site games this season. Bucknell will play a pair of contests in the South, taking on Duke in Atlanta, Ga. before meeting Jacksonville in Winston-Salem, N.C. Lehigh will travel west to meet Air Force and Denver, while Army and Navy will square off during the Smartlink Day of Rivals in Baltimore, Md.

Patriot League, Inside Lacrosse Continue Agreement
In 2009, the Patriot League came to a multiple-year agreement with Inside Lacrosse. Inside Lacrosse has marketed and showcased Patriot League men and women's lacrosse programs, coaches, student-athletes and institutions. The agreement covers a variety of platforms including Inside Lacrosse magazine, Inside Lacrosse's Face-Off Yearbook as well as insidelacrosse.com. It also includes promotion of the Patriot League's men's and women's lacrosse championships, as well as other marketing opportunities to tell the story of the Patriot League.

Day of Rivals
The annual Army-Navy men's lacrosse rivalry will return to M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, for the second straight season. The game will be played in conjunction with the Inside Lacrosse "Day of Rivals" which will also feature a game between Johns Hopkins and Maryland.

Team Notebooks

Army The Black Knights, who closed 2009 with a 6-10 overall record and a 2-4 mark in Patriot League play, were picked fourth. Junior goalkeeper Tom Palesky is back in goal for Army. As a sophomore, he averaged a League-best 12.75 saves per game and allowed just 8.89 goals per contest. The Black Knights will commence the 2010 season with a Feb. 20 contest against VMI.

Bucknell Bucknell, which finished the 2009 Patriot League season with a perfect 6-0 mark, dropped a dramatic 9-8 championship game against Navy in last season’s Patriot League Tournament. The Bison were picked second in the preseason poll, thanks in large part to the return of Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Austin Winter. The senior is a preseason All-American honorable mention selection after being named to the First-Team All-Patriot League for the third consecutive season last year. Winter has 94 assists in three seasons, a total that already ranks third on Bucknell's career charts. Last season Winter became the fifth two-time All-American in school history. The Bison will take on No. 2/2 Duke in Atlanta on Saturday.

Colgate The Raiders were picked third in the preseason poll after finishing last season with a 5-1 mark in Patriot League play. Colgate was edged by eventual champion Navy in the Patriot League semifinals. The Raiders must replace three-time Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Brandon Corp, but will have the services of Mike Crown and Tim Harrington in the back. Harrington made 9.80 saves per game as a junior. The Raiders will play at Binghamton on Feb. 20.

Holy Cross The Crusaders were 0-6 in the Patriot League and 3-12 overall last season. They were picked seventh in the 2010 preseason poll. Coach Adam Pascal’s squad will return three-year starter Edison Parzanese. He will be flanked up front by two-time Rookie of the Week winner Colin McGeehin. Holy Cross will be the final Patriot League team to open the season, doing so at St. John’s on Feb. 20.

Lafayette The Leopards closed 2009 tied for fourth in the Patriot League, finishing one goal short of a Patriot League Tournament berth. Lafayette gets attackman Tom Perini back after a sophomore season during which he led the nation in goals per game. Perini produced three goals per contest and is expected to again lead the Leopards’ attack. Lafayette will host St. John’s on Saturday.

Lehigh Third-year coach Kevin Cassese and his Lehigh Mountain Hawks were picked third in the preseason poll. Lehigh was 4-11 and 2-4 during the League season in 2009. Lehigh finished the year tied for the fourth and final Patriot League Tournament berth, but was edged out on tiebreakers. Second-team All-Patriot League selection Evan Guerrero is back for his senior season and is expected to lead the Mountain Hawks’ defensively. Lehigh will be at Saint Joseph’s on Saturday.

Navy Navy enters the 2010 season ranked 11th nationally. The Midshipmen closed the 2009 Patriot League season with a 4-2 mark, giving them the No. 3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. Navy then tallied a pair of one-goal victories in the tournament to win the title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Midshipmen return the services of Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Woeppel and Frankie Coppola, both of whom were named Second-Team All-Patriot League selections a year ago. Woeppel was an All-American selection in his junior campaign in Annapolis. Navy will open the season on Saturday against VMI.