The Patriot League is a mad, mad conference.
Just two weeks ago, Army was a top-five team and the only squad in the country that could claim a win over No. 1 Syracuse. Loyola, meanwhile, was an afterthought, and became even less relevant with a loss last week at Boston University that precipitated its ouster from the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20.
But Army, too, was upset last week, falling at archrival Navy and setting up Friday night’s showdown for a first-place finish.
Jay Drapeau scored four goals and added two assists, Pat Spencer had two and two, and Grant Limone made 12 saves to lift the Greyhounds to a 14-6 victory over the 13th-ranked Black Knights. Loyola (8-5, 6-2 Patriot League) clinched the top seed in the Patriot League tournament and will host the semifinals and championship game next week at Ridley Stadium. Army (10-3, 6-2) will be the No. 2 seed.
In other Patriot League action Friday, Cal Dearth scored in overtime to lift BU to a 12-11 win over Holy Cross, while Andrew Pettit’s four-goal performance paced Lehigh to a 9-6 victory over Bucknell that clinched the No. 6 seed for the Mountain Hawks and eliminated the Bison.
Patriot League seeds, in order: 1. Loyola, 2. Army, 3. BU, 4. Navy, 5. Holy Cross, 6. Lehigh.
Lehigh plays at BU and Holy Cross at Navy in the quarterfinals Tuesday with the winners advancing to face Loyola and Army, respectively, in the semifinals Friday.
Monmouth No. 1 in MAAC
Monmouth, in just its fourth season of existence, clinched the MAAC regular season title and top seed in the conference tournament with an 11-6 win Friday over Canisius. Bryce Wasserman scored five goals for the Hawks (11-3, 5-0 MAAC), who demonstrated suffocating defense again by allowing just two goals in the second half. Monmouth has won eight straight games and can complete an undefeated run through the MAAC with a win over Manhattan next Friday.
Wasserman, a junior attackman and the reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Week, said his performance was the least he could do for the 22 seniors who “built this program from absolutely nothing.”
Monmouth Lax Clinches MAAC Regular Season Championship! Suzi talks win over with Wasserman and Head Coach Fisher post-game pic.twitter.com/ZBeNGTZefh
— Mon Digital Network (@MDigitalNetwork) April 22, 2017
Stony Brook Survives a Scare
UMass Lowell scored the last three goals in regulation to force overtime, but Stony Brook’s Connor Grippe ended the upset bid with a man-up goal from just inside the restraining line to give the Seawolves an 11-10 victory and much-needed breathing room in the America East race.
Friday Scoreboard
Loyola 14, No. 13 Army 6
Boston University 12, Holy Cross 11 (OT)
Colgate 11, Lafayette 6
Lehigh 9, Bucknell 6
Monmouth 11, Canisius 6
Siena 10, Quinnipac 8
Stony Brook 12, UMass Lowell 11 (OT)