There weren’t many huge surprises this week, but there were some close games in the NE10 that will be interesting to look back on as the Division II men’s lacrosse season continues.
NE10 AND SSC ARE BACK IN THE MIX – DII ROUND UP!
It was a massive week for DII as the rest of the conferences in the country get underway. We had our first glimpse of the Tampa machine as it took down the Lions of St. Leo in the first matchup of the season. Like every year, there’s a lot of buzz around Tampa, but this buzz seems different as the Spartans are looking to get to Championship Weekend. Coach Whipple will have his hands full as the rest of the conference is poised to take down the perennial conference power, but so far so good as Tampa easily dispatched PBA this past weekend.
Newberry 13 – Limestone 7
This one was a tale of two halves. A close game at halftime ended up blowing up in the Wolves’ favor in the second half as Newberry scored its biggest win in the short history of its program. Coach Cotter and staff have done a great job building this young program into a contender in arguably the strongest conference in DII. The team plays tough and doesn’t back down from anyone. This win isn’t a fluke for Newberry either. Its losses this season have been to teams all ranked in the top 20, and anyone who follows DII could see something like this was going to happen for them. Limestone continues to find its footing in the SAC, but this is a team that could easily make noise come conference tournament time. Up next for the Wolves is a date with the Wingate Bulldogs and Coach Cotter’s former coach Tim Boyle. Keep an eye out for this one as we get into the important month of April.
Adelphi 12 – Pace 11 (OT)
There was no way this game wasn’t going to be an exciting affair. There is no love loss between these programs, and it showed in a tightly contested midweek game. Credit goes to the coaching staffs, who have such short turnaround time to prepare their teams for important games that have tournament implications. Adelphi jumped out to a quick lead after the first quarter, but the Setters wouldn’t go away as this game came down to the wire. From a stats standpoint, this one was as close as it could get until Joe Duchnowski stuck the game winner in OT for the Panthers. This will be an interesting year in the NE10 with Adelphi, Pace, and LeMoyne separating themselves from the pack early in the season.
Mercyhurst 18 – Westminster 12
This game featured a full field long pole goal that would make Ric Beardsley proud. Westminster on another trip east ran into a Mercyhurst team that has serious championship aspirations. This was a dominant win for the Lakers and sets them up for a strong finish to the season, but they still have Mercy on the schedule with a game against a strong Frostburg State team.
Catch Up
Looking for more DII content? We’ve got plenty more from Coach Kuhn and Coach Ward below:
