March 26, 2010

Center Valley, Pa.—Six of the Patriot League’s seven teams will be in action this weekend with two League contests on the Saturday slate. Meanwhile, both of the Patriot League’s ranked squads will take on non-League foes.

Navy (4-4, 3-1) will hit the road to take on Colgate (1-6, 0-1) in a rematch from last year’s Patriot League Tournament semifinals, in which the Mids scored a triple-overtime victory. Navy enters the weekend with the most Patriot League victories, but the Mids currently trail Lafayette (6-0, 2-0) and Army (3-4, 1-0) in the League standings. The Mids are coming off a 12-3 victory over Holy Cross. Navy leads the Patriot League and ranks eighth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 7.75 goals per game. A key cog in the Mids’ success has been sophomore goalkeeper RJ Wickham, who ranks third in the nation with a .655 save percentage. Looking to crack Wickham will be the young attack of Colgate. Freshman Peter Baum and junior Ben McCabe combine to score 3.86 goals per game, with McCabe scoring a team-best 2.0 goals per outing. Baum was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday after scoring five goals in two games last week.

Also on the Patriot League schedule is a Saturday meeting between Lehigh (3-5, 0-2) and Holy Cross (2-6, 1-1) in Bethlehem, Pa. Holy Cross, which already owns a League victory over Colgate this season, will be chasing its first multiple-win season in League play since joining the Patriot League in 1991. Lehigh will be seeking to snap a three-game Patriot League losing streak dating back to last season. The Mountain Hawks’ last Patriot League victory was at Holy Cross on April 14, 2009. Lehigh is coming off a 9-4 home loss to Army on Tuesday. The Mountain Hawks enter Saturday’s game leading the Patriot League and ranking second in the nation in man-down defense at .852. Freshman Dan Carr has sent back 77 shots through eight games, having played 450 minutes during that time. Holy Cross has been paced by Edison Parzanese, who has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists). For his career, Parzanese has 112 points. He has recorded a point in at least 21 straight games.

Also on Saturday, No. 19/18 Bucknell (4-3, 0-2) will hit the road for a non-League contest at Albany. The Bison will aim to bounce back from a 16-15 Patriot League loss to Lafayette last weekend. All three of Bucknell’s losses have come by one goal, including two overtime defeats. All three losses have also come against teams that were ranked at the time, including two against top-10 foes. Junior Alex Lyons has recorded 2.43 caused turnovers per game, ranking him second in the Patriot League and seventh in the nation. As a team, the Bison have tallied a League-best 11.0 caused turnovers per game, which ranks them fifth in the country. Saturday’s game will mark the first meeting between Bucknell and the Great Danes.

Rounding out the weekend schedule will be a non-League match-up pitting a pair of ranked foes. Patriot League-leading Lafayette, which is ranked No. 8 and No. 10 in the country, will bring its unblemished record into a Sunday meeting with No. 11/14 Drexel. Just six games into the season, Lafayette has already matched its win total from last season. The Leopards finished 2009 with a 6-7 record, but Lafayette is currently 6-0 in 2010. With a 2-0 start, the Leopards have also matched their Patriot League win total from last season. Lafayette has won three games in Patriot League play just twice, last doing so in 1992. The Leopards lead the Patriot League in scoring offense and rank second in scoring defense. Lafayette has outscored its foes by a League-best 5.33 goals per game. Drexel enters the game with a 6-2 record after Villanova snapped the Dragons’ six-game winning streak on Wednesday.

The 2010 Patriot League Tournament will be contested at the site of the highest seed, with the top four teams qualifying. The semifinals will take place Friday, April 30, while the championship will be on Sunday, May 2. All three games will be carried by CBS College Sports Network.