November 20, 2009

CROSS COUNTRY

The MAC is well-represented at the NCAA Cross Country meet at Baldwin Wallace College on November 21. The Elizabethtown men qualified as an at-large squad with their regional performance at Lehigh last weekend. Joining them is Messiah Junior Jeff Smeiles, third place finisher at the MAC meet three weeks ago. Four women represent the MAC this weekend. Jenn Cronin, Lebanon Valley Junior, and their first NCAA qualifier, won the regional meet and was third at the MAC meet; Caitlin Dorgan, a Delaware Valley Junior, placed second at the MAC meet; Megan Vanderhagel, a Junior from Elizabethtown, was MAC runner of the year after winning the MAC meet; and, a Senior from Messiah, Erin Rhodes, who finished fifth at the MAC meet, is our last contestant.

FOOTBALL

The MAC has two teams in the NCAA tournament field of 32 schools and two other schools in an ECAC Bowl game. Delaware Valley, 9-1 on the year and 7-0 in the conference, is the MAC's AQ and plays former conference member Susquehanna at James Work Stadium on Saturday at Noon. The last time these two schools met was in 2006 as the Crusaders, a 2-8 team that year, upset the Aggies 17-10. SU won the Liberty League with a win over perennial power and NCAA qualifier Union last week in their last year of play as they move to the Centennial in 2010. Head Coach Steve Brigg's team will be looking to senior running back Dave Paveletz, SU's all-time rushing leader, to lead the way against the #16 Aggies. Jim Clement's DVC squad is in their third NCAA appearance and will be lead by first team all-conference players Mike Isgro, Senior quarterback, and Matt Cook, Junior running back. SU and DVC had Lycoming as a common opponent in 2009, with the Aggies winning at Williamsport, and the Crusaders losing in Selinsgrove. The winner of this game will play the winner of Albright/Alfred next Saturday.

Albright (9-1, 6-1) received an at-large bid after their dramatic 44-43 win at home in double overtime over Lebanon Valley. They travel to Alfred (8-1, 4-1), a team they last faced in 1955. Both teams had a common opponent in FDU, Alfred squeaking by with a five point win, and the Lions prevailing by three touchdowns. Albright last played in the big show in 1996 with a win over powerful Washington & Jefferson. Last week Patrick Subers filled in for injured MAC offensive player of the year Tanner Kelly. For his 362 passing yards and 5 touchdown passes, he was named MAC player of the week. Dave Harig, Albright's solo tackle record holder with 17 last week, will lead the Lion defense.

Lebanon Valley (8-2, 5-2) have completed their best season by earning a postseason opportunity for the first time since 1951 when they faced Morris Harvey College and lost. Their last postseason win was in 1935 when they defeated Tampa. They host the ECAC Southwest Bowl against 5-5 Salisbury. Jim Mono's squad will look to cap a fine season with the strong running game of all-conference performers Senior Charlie Parker and Sophomore Ben Guiles. Many at LVC would have preferred a matchup with local rival F&M (8-2), but the Dips will host Wilkes (6-4) in the South Atlantic ECAC Bowl. Both teams beat Muhlenberg during the regular season and are each 3-3 in previous bowl games. The MAC has been 6-0 against Centennial teams this year and the Colonels hope to make that 7-0. At 3-0 in non-conference action, they also hope to extend that perfect record against stiff competition.

MESSIAH

Messiah fall teams are in their usual position - three teams deep in the NCAA tournament. Field Hockey (21-0), ranked #1 in the country most of the season, is in the Final Four for 13th time under head coach Jan Trapp's leadership. Their 11 AM foe tomorrow is Ursinus, 19-2 and ranked 3rd in the country, a team they beat earlier in the season. Annual postseason power Salisbury faces off with Tufts, the NESCAC representative. The Commonwealth and NESCAC are probably the two strongest NCAA Division III field hockey conferences. Regardless of who wins the other semi-final, the Falcons are ready to win that elusive national championship at 1 PM on Sunday.

The Messiah women's soccer team (21-0-1) travels to Johns Hopkins to face Otterbein (20-1-1) with a Noon start. Prolific Falcon scorers, Junior Erin Hench and Senior Amanda Naeher, combined last week for the winning goal against Endicott. Head coach Scott Frey is counting on these two to lead the way tomorrow on the Hopkins turf. JHU (18-2) plays Middlebury (14-3-2) after defeating MAC rep Eastern at home last weekend 2-1. The Falcons will play the winner of that game as they home to earn the right to head to San Antonio for the Final Four, and an opportunity to repeat as national champions.

After defeating Brockport 3-1, Brad McCarty's men's soccer team hosts Johns Hopkins (16-3-3) tomorrow evening. Messiah (20-1) continues defense of their 2008 national championship with a tough regional field. If they prevail against the Blue Jays, on Sunday they will face the winner of Wesleyan (12-1-5) and Rochester (13-1-3).

Hopefully this weekend gives the Falcons a shot at three national titles and Albright and Delaware Valley win and play each other on November 28!

November 11, 2009

CROSS COUNTRY

Muhlenburg College hosts the cross country regionals at Lehigh University on Saturday, November 14. The men's race is at 11 AM followed by the women at Noon. Two teams from each region automatically qualify for nationals and the NCAA committee then awards 16 at-large spots to the other best teams. Seven individuals also qualify out of each region - they are selected from the top competitors after the team qualifiers are removed. In the region, Elizabethtown's women are ranked sixth and the Messiah women seventh; based on the rankings, they will be competing against these top ranked teams: Johns Hopkins, Dickinson, Haverford, Grove City, and Gettysburg. MAC women challenging for individual spots are conference champion Megan VanDerHensel, a Senior from Elizabethtown, conference runner-up Caitlin Dorgan, a Junior from Delaware Valley, and third place finisher, Jenn Cronin, a Junior from Lebanon Valley. For the men, Elizabethtown is ranked 31st nationally and fifth regionally and Messiah is eighth in the region. Alleghany, Dickinson, Carnegie Mellon, and Haverford all are ahead of the Blue Jays. MAC champion Tyler Newhook, a Sophomore from Messiah, conference runner-up Eric Reichart, a Sophomore from Elizabethtown, and third place finisher Jeffrey Smeiles, a Senior from Messiah, will be competing for individual sports if their teams don't qualify.

November 10, 2009

MESSIAH IN PERENNIAL FALL POSITION

It will be a busy upcoming weekend on the Messiah College campus, as the NCAA released the national tournament brackets for men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey Monday — with Messiah serving as an opening-round host for each.“To say the least, it’s an exciting time to be a part of Messiah College athletics,” said Cory Furman, assistant athletics director for public relations and marketing. “I’m fairly confident that we’re the only NCAA Division III school in the country hosting an opening weekend in these three sports. It’s both a privilege and an honor to be hosting such important events.” Messiah will be defending national championships in men's and women's soccer and have been in the NCAA field hockey championship game several times without winning the title. Maybe this is the year?

MEN'S SOCCER

The Messiah men’s soccer team (19-1-0), Commonwealth Champion after defeating Arcadia, has a first-round bye and will host a second-round contest Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Shoemaker Field against the winner of the Ohio Northern and Brockport winner. First year Coach Brad McCarty has his team in a great position to continue the Falcon's national championship legacy. Misericordia (12-4-3), Freedom Conference Champion, travels to Salisbury to take on Centennial foe Johns Hopkins (15-3-2). Chuck Edkin's Cougars also earned the Freedom AQ last year, their first in the conference.



In ECAC action, #5 DeSales (10-7) travels to #4 Lebanon Valley (10-7-2) on Wednesday for a rematch of a regular season match where the Dutchmen prevailed 3-2.

FIELD HOCKEY

Messiah’s field hockey team (19-0) starts their pursuit of a national championship on Saturday at Anderson Field. Ranked #1 in the country for most of the season, the Falcons are making their 23rd straight tournament appearance. They will face the winner of the Eastern University (17-4)/Stevens Institute of Technology (17-3) game, slated to take place Wednesday afternoon in Hoboken, N.J. at 5 PM. Lebanon Valley College (17-3) plays Wittenberg University (12-5) at home on Wednesday, with the winner playing Rowan at 2 p.m. Saturday. The winners of those two games will then face off Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for the semi-final games at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. the following weekend. Conference fans are hoping for a Messiah-Lebanon Valley tilt on Sunday, the third meeting between those teams this season.

In ECAC action, #1 seed Wilkes (15-3) hosts Hartwick and #4 Alvernia (11-8) plays Wesley.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Messiah’s women’s soccer team (19-0-1) will take on Farmingdale State University (15-4-3) at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Falcons make their 10th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and are coming off their third-straight Commonwealth Conference Championship. Endicott College (17-4) faces off against SUNY Geneseo (14-4-2) in the other first-round contest at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night. The winner of that game then faces the winner of the Messiah-Farmingdale State contest at 6 p.m. Sunday evening. Eastern (10-7-2), Freedom Conference Champions after winning the AQ from the 3rd seed, play ODAC foe Virginia Wesleyan (17-3-1) at Johns Hopkins on Saturday at 2:30.

VOLLEYBALL

Perennial power Juniata, hosts the MAC champions this Thursday. At 12:30 Eastern (30-4), Freedom Champ, faces off with Frostburg (30-4) and at 5:30 Lebanon Valley, Commonwealth Conference winner, takes on Mount Union (21-6). Winners will continue play on Friday. The Eagles and Dutchmen were 2008 conference champions and took the same trip to Juniata where they were eliminated.

In ECAC action, the Freedom has another top seed as #1DeSales (21-8) hosts PSU-Altoona, #3 Widener hosts Swarthmore and in the Metro, #4 FDU (18-15) hosts #5 Ramapo.

Congratulations to all our postseason representatives - we are confident that you will do well in your respective brackets!

November 9, 2009

FOOTBALL

Although it would have been exciting to go into the final weekend with a possible three way tie for the championship, Delaware Valley dismissed that scenario with ease on Saturday as they won the MAC championship and the AQ to the NCAA championship. As they would have been on the outside looking in with a three way tie, they took matters into their own hands by handing Albright their first loss. This week Albright faces Lebanon Valley at home, with the winner eligible for a Pool C bid. This year because of our favorable results against East and South Region foes, the MAC should have the best chance of a Pool C nod over their local competitors the NEFC, Empire 8, NJAC, USA South, Liberty, ODAC, Centennial, and PAC. Albright or LVC will end up at 9-1 (only loss to DVC) in a conference that had great non-conference wins against many of the top teams in these conferences. Washington & Jefferson and Hampden Sydney are the only teams in this group that could be 2nd in their conference and have a 9-1 overall record.

PAC – Thomas More has the AQ. W & J wins this week and they are 9-1. If you look at the other teams in that conference, they don't have good non-conference wins and an overall record of 24-39 (conference wins/losses negate each other – 15 more non-conference losses than wins).

Centennial – Although Hopkins has the inside line on the AQ, if they end up as the 2nd team, they lost to DVC. Ursinus, Dickinson, and F&M could all mathematically tie for the championship (they each have more than one loss). Ursinus lost to LVC and Albright, our 9-1 contenders. We were 6-0 against this conference.

NEFC – Curry is in championship game against Maine Maritime – no matter who wins, Widener beat Curry and they have no claim to another spot.

Empire 8 – Alfred is likely to be the AQ and they only beat FDU by 5. The other contending teams have more than one loss.

Liberty – If Susquehanna beats Union they are the AQ and Union has 3 losses. If Union wins, Susquehanna has 3 losses, one of them to Lycoming.

NJAC – Montclair plays Kean for the AQ - Kean lost to DVC(30-17) and Montclair lost to Wilkes (37-10).

USA South – NC Wesleyan plays Averett for the AQ. The loser has 3 losses. Wilkes beat Christopher Newport and CNU beat Averett 43-12.

ODAC – Hampden Sydney plays Randolph Macon for the AQ. If HS wins, RM has 4 losses. If RM beats HS, HS is 9-1 but they only beat Gettysburg by 3 points (LVC beat Gettysburg) and the league champion (RM) lost to King’s.

November 6, 2009

FOOTBALL

If Delaware Valley beats Albright this weekend, they are the MAC AQ.

In the case where we have a three way tie (DVC, LVC, and Albright), these would be the tiebreakers:

Head-to-head results between and among the tied teams in traditional season conference contests (not applicable).

Tied teams’ traditional season won-loss records versus conference teams starting with #1, then #2, etc. (not applicable).

Goal, point, run differential between and among the tied teams, with a maximum differential of 3 goals in soccer and field hockey, 5 runs in baseball and softball, 6 goals in lacrosse, 15 points in basketball, and 3 points in football (not likely).

Tied teams’ goal, point, run differential in conference contests starting with #1, then #2, etc. with a maximum differential of 3 goals in soccer and field hockey, 5 runs in baseball and softball, 6 goals in lacrosse, 15 points in basketball, and 3 points in football (not likely).

Overall winning percentage (all games, conference and non-conference) (favors LVC at 9-1 with win over Albright (9-1); DVC ends at 8-2)

The team that has been out of the playoffs the longest (to LVC)

Coin flip

To have a three way tie:

Albright would beat DVC this weekend and LVC defeats Lycoming.

Next weekend LVC beats Albright and DVC defeats Widener.


We seem well positioned to get a Pool C berth (if anyone in East Region gets one) based on our non-conference record.


In region:

Widener beat Curry who leads Boyd in NEFC

Susquehanna lost to Lyco – they are 2nd in Liberty

DVC beat Kean and Wilkes beat Montclair – they lead NJAC

FDU lost to Empire 8 leader Alfred by 5 points

Out of region - these teams are in south:

6-0 against Centennial – MAC schools didn’t play Dickinson or F & M who are tied with Hopkins for 1st– but did beat Hopkins, Ursinus (4-2 and still in contention to tie for 1st), and Gettysburg (3-3).

Wilkes beat Christopher Newport – tied for 2nd in USA South

Randolph Macon is tied with Bridgewater for 2nd in ODAC – Lyco lost a close one to Bridgewater and King’s beat Randolph Macon

In other games this week FDU and King's play - with Devils trying to pick up first conference win and Monarchs trying to end season in middle of pack. Wilkes and Widener battle for end-of -season goals. If the Colonels win out, they will be 7-3 with an outside chance of an ECAC bowl game, particularly with their non-conference wins. The Pride can end the season at .500 with two wins.

November 5, 2009

VOLLEYBALL

Freedom Conference Eastern and Commonwealth Conference Lebanon Valley are in position to defend their 2008 titles as they both host conference championships on Saturday. To return to the NCAA tournament next week they first have to get by the two other top teams in their respective conferences. Eastern (29-4), ranked in the national coaches poll all year, will face DeSales (21-7) on Saturday night at 5 PM. They each got their with semi-final wins on Wednesday night - Eastern racked up aces against Wilkes to win 3-0, while DeSales got off to a slow start against FDU-Florham, but prevailed 3-1. In the regular season match, the Eagles defeated the Bulldogs 3-0, but DeSales ran off a record number of wins after that loss. Lebanon Valley avenged a 3-1 loss in the regular season to Widener with an easy 3-0 semi-final win last night; Elizabethtown knocked off the #3 ranked Messiah Falcons to earn a spot in the title game. Last week Lebanon Valley (30-2) defeated Elizabethtown (20-9) 3-2 in their regular season match. With an NCAA bid on the line, the return match up will be battle.

FIELD HOCKEY

The two tops seeds and defending conference champions, Eastern (16-4) and Messiah (18-0), won their semi-final matches on Wednesday, but in very different ways. Eastern had to pull out all the stops to beat Delaware Valley 2-1 while the Falcons had an easy time with the Widener Pride. In overtime, King's (9-8) upset nationally ranked Wilkes 2-1 to earn another shot at Eastern and the Freedom title. Eastern won the regular season game 3-1. It took the 7th ranked Lebanon Valley Dutchmen (17-2) most of the game to finally put away the Elizabethtown Blue Jays, but they are now in the perennial position of battling the Falcons, ranked #1 nationally for most of the season, for the Commonwealth title and seeding in the NCAA tournament. Messiah won the regular season game 4-1, but in this rivalry, previous scores mean little.

MEN'S SOCCER

Misericordia (11-4-3) battled Wilkes into overtime to earn a spot in the Freedom championship and defend their 2008 conference title against Manhattanville (13-4-1). Manhattanville also had a tough semi-final defeating #4 seed Kings 1-0. In the regular season the Valiants edged the Cougars 1-0. It should be a lively time in Purchase as the 4 PM men's championship follows the women's title game at 1. In the Commonwealth, six time national champion Messiah, hosts Arcadia (12-5-3), the most improved team in the conference, at 7:30 PM on Saturday. First-year head coach Rob Nydick has returned the Knights to prominence after a last place conference finish in 2008. Messiah (17-1) also enters new territory in the post-season under first-year coach Brad McCarty, a long-time assistant under Dave Brandt, now coach at Navy. Arcadia heads to the title game after winning a 1-0 semi-final match over perennial power Elizabethtown; Messiah had an easier time with a 3-0 win over the LVC Dutchmen. The Falcons, ranked 2nd in the nation, easily defeated Arcadia in the regular season, but the Knights have been showing well since then against top opponents.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Messiah (18-0-1), the top ranked team in the country and defending Division III champion, enters the post-season with hopes of a NCAA repeat, but they still have to get by the 15-1-3 Arcadia Knights to begin that NCAA title run with the top seed. If Arcadia can't beat the Falcons, they at least want a stronger showing than the regular season result (4-0) to possibly be considered for a Pool C nod. Messiah beat Albright and Arcadia defeated Elizabethtown in the semi-finals to earn a spot in the championship game. This Commonwealth final will be at Messiah at 4:30 on Saturday, one of three championships at the Grantham campus. Eastern (8-7-2), last years Freedom champion and one of the Elite 8 in the 2008 NCAA's (lost to Messiah), travels to Manhattanville (17-1-1) for a 1 PM game on Saturday. The Eagles had to score two late second half goals to get by Misericordia 2-1 on Tuesday in the semi-final tilt. The Valiants had an easier time with Wilkes 4-0 as they entered the post-season with their best showing ever, including a national ranking this past week. Manhattanville overpowered Eastern 3-0 in the regular season, but the Eagles have many players from last years championship run who want another shot at NCAA play.