The Lycoming football team pulled out a thrilling 26-24 upset of #13 Ithaca in Williamsport. As the 2-1 (close loss at Rowan in first game of season) Warriors head into the conference season next week, they have to be seen as a contender for the MAC crown. FDU (3-0) is the only undefeated MAC team at the end of non-conference play and is their best start since 1994. Albright knocked off ODAC foe Catholic to move to 2-1. Last year the conference received a Pool C bid (Albright) because of a great non-conference record; this year that record is spotty at 12-12, and conference play will inevitably mean at least two losses for a contending team. It is rare that a team with two losses is considered for an at-large berth in NCAA’s.

In perhaps their biggest win ever in women’s soccer, Lebanon Valley shutout #24 Eastern to pull to 5-4-1 in non-conference play. Messiah and Misericordia, both at the top of their conferences, knocked off two Ohio schools Saturday – the Falcons overwhelming Denison 4-0 and the Cougars slipping by Wooster 1-0.

Besides conference volleyball action this week, two big non-conference matches are scheduled. Elizabethtown attempts to upend #2 Juniata who prevailed over Eastern in three sets on Friday night to a packed house in St. Davids, and Lebanon Valley hopes to beat Haverford, a perennial Centennial power.

This is the last weekend for non-conference football as several teams take a bye before starting the conference schedule on October 2. Despite their loss to Wesley last weekend, Delaware Valley, ranked #13 nationally, remains the team to beat in the MAC. It has been a long time since FDU started a season 3-0, but they have that chance this weekend as they travel to Apprentice School in Newport News, Va. The Empire 8 has feasted on non-conference opponents by going 16-1 in the first three weeks. MAC teams hope to slow that momentum down as Ithaca visits Lycoming and Wilkes travels to Utica. Both Empire 8 opponents are 3-0 as Ithaca has outscored opponents 92-30 and Utica has prevailed with a 179-62 scoring advantage. In the only other MAC game, Catholic visits Albright. Catholic is 2-1 in 2010 (loss against McDaniel last weekend) and holds a 3-1 series advantage over the Lions. Under Coach Marzka, Albright is almost unbeatable at home; hopefully, that trend continues against their ODAC foe.

MAC field hockey rolls on with three teams (Messiah #1, LVC #5, and Eastern #9) in the top to nationally. Messiah will drop this coming week after a surprising loss to Lynchburg, a team LVC handled earlier in the season. Commonwealth field hockey is 36-14 against non-conference opponents, the MAC is 68-37 overall. At 5-1, Shenandoah is the biggest surprise in con-conference play as they enter their final season as a MAC affiliate. As all MAC schools start conference play this weekend, it will be interesting to see how the Hornets fair against an improved Albright team.

Fourteen of 16 MAC men’s soccer teams have winning records as they enter the last week of non-conference play. Three games against top tier opponents (Drew, Stevens, and Gettysburg) were postponed on Wednesday because of storms. The Commonwealth surprise is Alvernia as they have been giving up only .81 goals per game behind the goalkeeping prowess of Ben Diller who sports a .38 GAA. Although Messiah leads the conference with 2.86 goals per game, the leading scorer is David Reiser with 1.71 points per game. Derek Long (DeSales) is the top scorer in the MAC with 10 goals and a 2.5 points per game average, and his team leads the Freedom is goals per game with 2.75. Eastern has the stingiest defense allowing only .57 goals per game, while King’s goalkeeper Branden Raynor is dominating the nets with a .32 GAA.

Although there are plenty of intriguing volleyball matches this weekend, the big one is Juniata (#2 nationally) at Eastern (#6). While the Eagles are undefeated at 15-0, Juniata’s (also the Eagles) only loss was to #1 Washington University. After weekend action, teams return to conference play on Wednesday as LVC, Messiah, Wilkes, and Eastern try to extend their unbeaten record to 3-0.

Nationally #1 Messiah is the class of the MAC in women’s soccer as they had an easy time with Centennial foe Dickinson 6-0. All the Commonwealth teams have winning records against non-conference opponents as they head into the final week before MAC play. Not surprisingly, Messiah is a scoring machine with a 5 goals per game average (35 total) with Amanda Naeher leading the way with 13 goals and a 4.43 points per game average. Lycoming’s Kaitlin Horn is also producing ata 3.8 points per game clip (8 goals). Widener (32 goals, 4 per game) and Lycoming (25 goals, 4.17 per game are also displaying offensive muscle. Defensively, Messiah (.14 goals per game) and Widener (.37 goals per game) are leading the way. Albright goalie Olivia Giuliano is keeping her team in many games with 6.43 saves a game. The main reason Misericordia tops the league is because of their scoring prowess of 3.75 goals per game; Eastern hangs with them because of a stellar .6 goals per game allowed. Brady Walsh (DeSales) leads the Freedom offensively with 2.5 points per game, but Lora Fink (FDU) is close behind with 2.38. King’s goalie Danielle Johnson sees plenty of action and leads the conference with 7.62 saves per game.

After a 6-2 record in week #2, MAC football slipped this weekend with a 2-4 performance. On Friday night, FDU won 24-23 in overtime when TCNJ missed an extra point to tie the game. LVC won 21-6 as they sacked Moravian quarterbacks nine times, four by Zack Bleiler. It was a story of two halves as LVC dominated the first half on their way to a 21-0 lead, but they were unable to muster much offense in the last thirty minutes. When Brittany Ryan kicked the first extra point, she entered the NCAA record book as the leading female scorer with 88 points. In perhaps the Division III game of the day, #8 Delaware Valley lost a 4th quarter lead to succumb to #3 Wesley. Wesley jumped to a 14-0 halftime advantage, but the Aggies moved ahead 17-14 with eight minutes to go in the 4th, before the Wolverines went ahead for good 21-17.

#2 Messiah field hockey avenged a 1-0 defeat in the 2009 national championship game to Salisbury with a decisive 3-0 away win over the #1 Seagulls yesterday. Eastern knocked off neighbor Swarthmore 2-0 to maintain their winning streak against top teams. Commonwealth teams have a 32-9 record in non-conference play and Freedom teams are 29-19.

In a cross over men’s soccer game, #10 Messiah escaped Center Valley with a 3-2 win over the DeSales Bulldogs. Alvernia (5-0-1) and Albright (5-2) continued their winning ways over the weekend.

In women’s soccer, the #1 Messiah Falcons topped #23 Lynchburg 4-0 for their sixth straight shutout. In a special Friday night event, Widener beat Wilkes 1-0 at PP & L Park.

#10 Eastern volleyball swept the Salisbury tournament 4-0 to remain perfect at 14-0. They are poised to host perennial power #2 Juniata on Friday night.

Del Val’s Caitlin Dorgan won her third straight race, this time over some Division I competitors at the Monmouth Invitational. LVC’s Jenn Cronin was the top Division III runner and 4th over-all in a large multi-divisional field at Dickinson. Her team was 2nd out of 26! Also at Dickinson, the Widener men finished 6th out of 26th to record the best MAC performance

The big football game this weekend pits #8 Delaware Valley at #3 Wesley. In their current series, Wesley holds a 2-1 advantage, but the Aggies looked very strong last week against #20 W & J and hope to tie things up. With games against the Centennial, Empire 8, and NJAC this weekend, the MAC wants to build on their 6-2 record against the PAC last week in pursuit of a possible NCAA Pool C bid or ECAC bowl possibilities. The Empire 8 is off to a great start with an 11-0 record. Widener hosts Ithaca, a perennial DIII power, who has outscored opponents 61-23 this season. Widener is coming off their first shutout in six years and is 1-1. Springfield travels to Wilkes who won their home opener in a thriller on the new turf last week. Springfield, moving to Liberty League after this season, has topped this year’s opponents 82-7. In the NJAC games, 0-1 TCNJ visits their neighbor 1-0 FDU for a Friday night game. This has become a great in-state rivalry with many surprising finishes. After a strong showing last week, King’s heads to NJ to battle 1-0 William Paterson. With high expectations for the season, Lebanon Valley needs to rebound from two losses with a win over Centennial foe Moravian at home. The Greyhounds are 1-1 in defensive struggles, beating Susquehanna 12-6 and losing to McDaniel 13-10.

Most of the top cross country teams are heading to Dickinson for an early look at regional strength.

MAC field hockey remains dominant at 45-22 in the non-conference schedule (some of the losses are cross-conference match ups). The big story is Eastern ranked #14 nationally who knocked off #12 TCNJ this week, after disposing of MAC power Messiah the previous week. They host a strong Widener team this week. Some other interesting cross-conference match ups include LVC at DeSales and King’s at Elizabethtown. Delaware Valley (5-1) heads west to play a strong Juniata side. The match of the weekend has Messiah and Salisbury in a repeat of last year’s national championship.

There were two shockers in volleyball last night as perennial CC power Elizabethtown fell to Widener 3-1 and Delaware Valley topped King’s 3-0 for the first time in 13 years. Eastern, ranked #10, topped DeSales in an early look at the two top FC teams. The Eagles (10-0) head to Salisbury against a great field and hope to maintain their undefeated record. After losing their first two matches, Messiah has rebounded with nine straight wins, their most recent victim, Moravian 3-1.

In a special soccer feature Friday night, Widener hosts two games at PP& L Park in Chester. The women at 5-1 entertain Wilkes and the men take on Neumann. The Alvernia men are cruising at 4-0-1, but the big men’s game has #10 Messiah hosting a 5-1 DeSales team. The #1 Messiah women have outscored the opposition 25-0 in a 5-0 start and host Lynchburg, a team that has challenged them in the past. The #22 Eastern Eagles had a 1-0 setback at #2 TCNJ but topped Cabrini 2-1 to move to 5-1. The Misericordia women take their 4-0-1 record to Scranton for regional bragging rights.

It is with sadness that we wish Jim Miller, SID at Elizabethtown, a fond farewell as he heads to Division II Tusculum. Besides his time at Etown, Jim has been in the MAC for years, first as conference assistant and then SID at Susquehanna. He designed the first MAC web site. In particular, we will miss his work at the MAC indoor championships where he has been a one-man show for ten years – seeding and scoring the meet, announcing the results, and coordinating awards and other functions. Jim, from those of us in the MAC, best of luck in your new position.

In the first year of the MAC/PAC Football Challenge, the MAC prevailed 6-2, and the two losses were by a total of five points. After a disappointing first weekend, MAC teams have pulled to 7-7 against non-conference foes. With games against all regional conferences - NJAC (William Paterson and TCNJ), Centennial (Moravian), ODAC (Catholic), Empire 8 (2 with Ithaca, Springfield, and Utica) – and two independents (nationally ranked Wesley and Apprentice), they can improve their standing for a possible Pool C bid in the NCAA Tournament. In the top game this past weekend, #10 Delaware Valley shutout #20 Washington and Jefferson. The Aggies appear to be the team to beat in the conference and the East Region.

It is no surprise that the #16 Eastern volleyball team is off to a great start at 9-0, but they return from Colorado College after knocking off the #5 hosts twice.
In women’s soccer the favorites Eastern and Messiah are 4-0, but hanging with them is Misericordia with wins over solid programs - Lycoming, LVC, Susquehanna, and York.
MAC field hockey is among the strongest Division III conferences and their non-conference record of 37-20 reinforces that notion. In the biggest game of the week, Eastern defeated #2 Messiah 1-0 in a battle of the MAC favorites. LVC has maintained their undefeated ranking with wins over traditional powers Lynchburg and Mary Washington.

DeSales men’s soccer was cruising at 5-0 until a 2-1 loss at Stockton. DVC continues their winning ways at 4-1 by beating Goucher.
Three MAC women won their cross country races on Saturday – Kim Hummel of Albright at Kutztown, Jen Cronin of LVC at their invitational, and Caitlin Dorgan of DVC at Smith. Both LVC teams won their meet – men 1 of 12 and women 1 of 12. The best news is how they prevailed over ranked Gettysburg.

The DeSales fall sports season is off to a phenomenal start as three of four teams are undefeated after the first week of play. Field hockey is 3-0, men’s soccer 4-0, women’s soccer 4-0 and volleyball 2-1. The lone volleyball set back was to Moravian in 4 very competitive sets (28-26, 20-25, 22-25, 23-25), but the team recovered against Centennial foe Johns Hopkins and Landmark opponent Goucher. The teams put their records on the line over the next two days - tomorrow field hockey hosts Cedar Crest, and on Friday men’s soccer visits Richard Stockton, women’s soccer goes to Catholic, and volleyball travels across town to Muhlenberg. Congratulations to the Bulldogs on a great 2010 start!

MAC football had a shaky start this weekend winning only one of six games against non-conference opposition. Tenth ranked Delaware Valley prevailed over Muhlenberg to maintain their status as the conference team to beat. Last year Albright received an at-large bid because of MAC success against non-conference teams, including a sweep of the Centennial. With these early setbacks, it is unlikely we will have much chance getting a second team in, but a convincing show in the MAC/PAC Challenge this coming weekend might enhance the conference position.

The two top ten field hockey teams prevailed against other ranked powers – Messiah won at Ursinus and Lebanon Valley defeated Lynchburg.

Manhattanville has struggled for the past three years as a new volleyball program, but are off to a 3-0 start. It is no surprise that the 18th ranked Eastern Eagles are 3-0 with a strong performance at the Haverford tournament. Commonwealth top pick Lebanon Valley swept through the Cortland Tournament to bring home the championship hardware.

The big story of the weekend in men’s soccer was #1 Messiah being knocked off in overtime by Hobart. Lebanon Valley won the Goucher tournament in convincing fashion. DeSales and Widener also jumped out to 2-0 starts.

#1 Messiah women’s soccer beat Christopher Newport 7-0 and Virginia Wesleyan 2-0 with Earl as a threat on the trip to the Tidewater area.

The big cross country event occurred at Delaware Valley as a tune up for the conference championships in late October. Of the 18 women’s programs, MAC teams took the top three spots (Elizabethtown 21, Messiah 23, and Lebanon Valley 29). The Aggies Caitlin Dorgan won the race to the praise of the home crowd. With 21 points the Messiah men won among 22 teams as Junior Tyler Newhook lead the way with a third place finish.

September 1 is the traditional start date for Division III fall sports, and yesterday most MAC teams took advantage of the opportunity by going 27-20-1 against non-conference opponents.

In volleyball, perennial national power Eastern, an overwhelming pick to repeat as Freedom Conference champs for the third year, defeated neighbor Cabrini in three sets before a packed house. Alvernia, which has struggled over the past years, started the season with a 3-0 win over Keystone. Lebanon Valley, Commonwealth champions the last two years, and the pick to win it again this year, was idle but head to Cortland Friday night for tournament action.

The MAC is always a power in field hockey, and the two picks for this year’s conference championships displayed strength on Wednesday night against formidable foes. Messiah blanked Landmark representative Juniata 5-0, while Eastern had an easy time with the NJAC’s Montclair State 4-1.

Messiah men’s soccer, the reigning National Champion, is again picked to win the Commonwealth. They did not play yesterday, but host Hobart tomorrow night in Grantham at 7 PM. Manhattanville, last year’s Freedom regular season winner, and this year’s top pick in the Freedom, had a rough start against Richard Stockton, losing 5-2. In a MAC regional rivalry, Lycoming outlasted Misericordia 3-2 in overtime.

Eastern, the 2009 Freedom champion in women’s soccer and this year’s preseason favorite, got off to a slow start last year by losing to York. That didn’t happen this year, as the Eagles prevailed 4-1. Messiah, hoping to defend their 2009 Commonwealth and National Championship titles, heads to Christopher Newport on Friday to challenge a USA South power.

Many MAC cross country teams will head to Delaware Valley this weekend as a warm up for the conference meet that will be held there on October 30. For the women, Caitlin Dorgan, a DVC senior, and last year’s conference runner up, hopes to start the season in top form in front of the home crowd. LVC senior, Jenn Cronin, 3rd place at MAC’s last year, will probably be a challenger for the top spot as the season progresses. Two top juniors return from last year for the men. Tyler Newhook from Messiah placed first at MAC meet last year and Eric Reichert of Elizabethtown was second. Elizabethtown won both 2009 team championships with Messiah close behind.

Six of eight MAC football teams open the season this weekend. After a sweltering preseason, it looks as though Saturday will be a perfect day to start non-conference play.

The Delaware Valley College Aggies football team, ranked 10th in Division III and the pick to win the MAC, will open up the 2010 campaign at Muhlenberg College. The two schools will meet for the first time since 1972. Both squads return a high number of starters from last year (18 for Delaware Valley, 16 for Muhlenberg), but are coming off different results in 2009 and expectations for 2010. In ’09, the Aggies went 10-2 overall and reached the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Muhlenberg won the Centennial Conference in 2007 and 2008 including a second round appearance of its own in the ’07 NCAA playoffs, but just managed a 3-7 overall record last season. They have been picked to finish sixth in the 10-team conference this year.

The Lebanon Valley College Dutchmen begin one of the most anticipated seasons in its history Saturday against Gettysburg. Coming after a record-setting 9-2 season and an ECAC Southwest Bowl win, the Flying Dutchmen aim even higher in 2010 as they have been picked second in the MAC preseason poll and for the first time in program history received votes in the d3football.com preseason top 25 poll. Gettysburg coach Barry Streeter, a 1971 Lebanon Valley graduate, is facing his alma mater for the 17th time. Last year, LVC won at Gettysburg for the first time since 1979 with a 47-42 shootout win.

For the second consecutive season, the Albright College Lions were picked third in the MAC preseason poll. Last year they exceeded those expectations by taking second in the MAC and winning two games in the NCAA’s before succumbing to perennial national champions Mt. Union. This Saturday’s home opener will mark the 14th time that Albright has taken on Ursinus since their first meeting in 1912. On Saturday, the Ursinus Bears’ will bring a veteran core of players who earned a spot in an ECAC Bowl game last season. The Bears were selected to finish third in the 2010 Centennial Conference preseason poll.

The Lycoming College Warriors open the 2010 campaign at Rowan. Needing to replace 10 starters from the 4-6 2009 team, the Warriors will face a stiff test from the Rowan Profs, who finished 7-3 overall last year. At home in 2009, the Warriors could not muster much offense against Rowan in a 29-7 season opener loss. The Warriors are predicted to finish fourth in the 2010 MAC preseason poll. Lyco head coach Mike Clark was a graduate assistant with Rowan coach Jay Accorsi on the Prof’s staff in 1994-95. Lycoming defeated Rowan in the national semifinals 28-20 on Dec. 6, 1997 at David Person Field.

The Widener University Pride enter the 2010 season at Alfred as Isaac Collins takes over as the program’s 22nd head coach. He was defensive coordinator at The Citadel the last four years, an assistant coach at Delaware in 2005, and an assistant coach at Lehigh from 2000-03. Widener’s football squad has been picked to finish sixth in the Middle Atlantic Conference this season based on a vote by the league’s coaches. The 2009 Alfred Saxons claimed their first-ever Empire 8 Conference crown in which they went 8-2 and ended the year losing at home to Albright (MAC at-large team) in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The King’s College Monarchs, picked seventh in the MAC preseason poll, travel to Springfield College for a Friday night game at Amos Alonzo Stagg Field where one of the deepest football traditions in football began in 1890. King’s comes off a 3-7 campaign in 2009 while Springfield went 8-2 and won the 2009 ECAC Northeast Bowl. Jeff Knarr takes over at King’s as only the second head coach since the varsity program was reestablished in 1993. This is the second meeting between the teams as Springfield won a 57-30 shootout last season at King’s. Springfield head coach Mike Delong enters his 29th year as a collegiate head coach with a 150-110-2 record.