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.