The first week of MAC conference football games produced some interesting results. It was not a surprise that 13th ranked Delaware Valley (3-1) beat Lebanon Valley (1-3) 38-6, but it was that they got off to a 21-0 start in the first quarter and never looked back. Lycoming has to be considered the likely challenger for the Aggies as they move to 3-1 by defeating King’s 31-24 as Josh Kleinfelter had another brilliant day with 216 rushing yards. This was the third straight game where the Monarchs came up a little short. FDU travelled to Widener (2-2) with the only 3-0 record in the conference and looked good in the first half, leading 13-7. The second half was a nightmare for the Devils as their special teams broke down and allowed the Pride several big plays. Four touchdowns in the 2nd half resulted in a 35-20 win in front of a homecoming crowd that included the Stevenson football team. This is the first year of football for the Mustangs as they prepare to compete in the MAC starting in 2011. In the final MAC game, Wilkes (2-2) kicked a intercepted a pass and kicked a field goal late in the last minute of the game to win a scoring fest over visiting Albright (2-2) 38-35 for the homecoming crowd.

The first MAC cross over volleyball tournament ended with the Commonwealth winning 9 of 16 matches, but the Freedom (Eastern, FDU, DVC) won three of the four pods. Albright was the only CC pod winner at Lycoming. In the premier match of the day that pitted #5 Eastern versus top Commonwealth team Lebanon Valley, the Eagles held on to win 3-2.

Delaware Valley’s Caitlin Dorgan extended her cross country winning streak to four as she captured the individual championship at Wilkes to lead her team to a first place showing. Another DVC runner, Thomas Porter, also took the top hardware in the men’s race, but the Albright squad won the team championship. The Elizabethtown teams showed well in a competitive field at Slippery Rock, with the men 2nd of 10 teams, and the women 3rd of 10. In the biggest meet of the weekend, Paul Short at Lehigh, the Widener men has the top MAC finish (5th of 33) as Dennis Conn lead the way. LVC’s Jenn Cronin (team ranked 7th in region), running against mainly D I and II competitors, was 16th of 387.

Lots of men’s soccer results were decided by a goal or less. Manhattanville and DeSales, considered by many to be top contenders for the Freedom crown, played to a 0-0 draw. The 2009 champion Misericordia Cougars lost a 2-1 decision to Eastern, a young squad with championship aspirations. The Commonwealth games had Elizabethtown squeaking by a much improved Alvernia side 2-1, Albright prevailed over Widener 1-0, and Arcadia defeated Lycoming by the same score.

The three ranked field hockey teams continued to win. Lebanon Valley won their ninth straight toppling Eastern Mennonite 4-1. They host #19 F & M on Tuesday. Messiah beat William Smith 1-0 and looks to a conference match up with 5-1 Widener on Wednesday. #9 Eastern plays a couple on non-conference teams before returning to Freedom action of Saturday versus DeSales.