16 | NOVEMBER 8, 2012 SPORTS theEAGLE
Top-seeded Eagles look to capture PL Tournament By ERIC SALTZMAN EAGLE STAFF WRITER
EMMA KNIGHT / THE EAGLE
Charlie Hunter and the AU men’s soccer team earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Holy Cross Nov. 3.
This year’s seniors on the AU men’s soccer team have done a lot throughout their career at AU, but one accomplishment has eluded them: a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles have played for the Patriot League Championship in each of the last three seasons, falling all three times. Last year, AU hosted the tournament after clinching the Patriot League regular-season title, but dropped a 2-0 decision to Colgate. 2012 looks to be different. “We’ve challenged our team to finish the job next week,” AU head coach Todd West said. Once again, the Eagles have clinched the PL reg-
ular-season title and will host the tournament with semifinal action starting Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. when the Eagles take on Bucknell. AU has finished with its first overall winning record since 2009. But more importantly, the Eagles finished the season undefeated (5-0-2) against conference foes for the first time in program history. The Eagles have also shown resiliency by winning two conference games in overtime, including a come-from-behind win against Navy Oct. 20. One key to AU’s success will be goalkeeper Billy Knutsen. He earned Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week honors for three weeks in a row while leading the conference with six shutouts, including one in the season finale against Holy Cross. Knutsen, along with the AU defense, has been responsible for allowing the fewest goals, 16, in
the Patriot League. “These are going to be some tough games, and we are going to have to grind through them,” AU’s Seth Goldman said of the upcoming tournament. Offensively, the Eagles will need a strong effort out of their “Big Three” of Colin Seigfreid, Alassane Kane and Dale McDonald. “The big key in those tight games is to get the first goal,” West said. “It takes the pressure off of you and puts it on the other team.” Seigfreid leads the Patriot League in points with 17 and is tied for sixth in the conference with five goals. Kane leads the Eagles in scoring and is tied for second in the PL with six goals. McDonald has chipped in five goals in his first year at AU. Momentum should be on AU’s side as it enters the tournament with four straight wins. West announced that the team took Sunday and Monday off to rest up and recover for the weekend’s tournament. The Eagles are looking for their first Patriot League Tournament title since 2004, and fourth NCAA Tournament appearance under West. ESALTZMAN@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM
SCHEDULE NOV. 9
No. 1 men’s soccer vs. No. 4 Bucknell at 11 a.m. (Patriot League Semifinals) Cross-country NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional @ Penn State at noon Volleyball vs. Colgate at 7 p.m. Men’s basketball @ Minnesota at 8 p.m.
NOV. 10
Wrestling Brockport/Oklahoma Invitational @ Brockport, N.Y., at 10 a.m. Women’s basketball @ Western Michigan at 2 p.m. Volleyball vs. Bucknell at 4 p.m.
NOV. 11
Men’s soccer Patriot League Championship @ Reeves Field at 1 p.m. Teams TBD.
NOV. 12
Women’s basketball @ Oakland at 6:30 p.m. Men’s basketball @ Quinnipiac at 7 p.m.
PATRIOT LEAGUE STANDINGS FIELD HOCKEY
SEMIFINALS (EASTON, PA.) No. 1 Lafayette defeats No. 4 Colgate, 4-3 (OT) ≥ No. 2 American defeats No. 3 Bucknell, 4-0
CHAMPIONSHIP: No. 1 Lafayette defeats No. 2 American, 2-1 (OT)
MEN’S SOCCER
≥ American 10-5-2, 5-0-2 PL
Field hockey suffers crushing loss in PL final By GENNARO FARONE EAGLE STAFF WRITER
The AU field hockey team stretched the Patriot League Championship into overtime against nationally-ranked Lafayette before falling, 2-1, Nov. 3 in Easton, Pa. “To beat [Lafayette], you have to have somebody do something with a fair amount of individual brilliance to create a breakdown scenario,” AU head coach Steve Jennings said. “They were really tough to kind of navigate
through.” AU’s Shelly Montgomery has shown such individual brilliance all season, and it was on display in the conference semifinals Nov. 2 against Bucknell. The junior scored two goals while leading the way in a 4-1 victory over the Bison, and she has proved to be key for the Eagles (10-10) all season. But Montgomery didn’t score against the Leopards, who entered the contest ranked 12th in the nation. In fact, she didn’t even get a shot off.
The Leopards (17-1) clamped down on Montgomery, and AU could not return the favor to Lafayette’s star player, Deanna DiCroce. DiCroce ranks seventh in the country in goals per game and was the difference in the match, scoring both Lafayette goals. The defeat marked the end of the AU’s season, a year in which the Eagles battled back from a 3-7 start to finish at .500. “In the first half of the season, we just relied on a lot of individual brilliance,” Jennings said. “When we got people to play in groups, that ended up changing things.” The Eagles had five players named to the All-Patriot League Team. Montgomery and Gina Hofmann were named to the AllPatriot League First Team, while
Hofmann also won PL Defensive Player of the Year. Julie Fosseprez won PL Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-Patriot League Second Team, along with teammates Jaclyn Anspach and Rebecca Treharne. Nearly the entire team will be back next season, including four of the five All-League players as the Eagles look to make another run at the conference crown. “The knowledge of what happened at the beginning of the year and then what happened at the end of the year is critical for the group to understand,” Jennings said. “If we use that in the right way, then I think that we’ll understand how to be at a totally different level just starting out of spring.” SPORTS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM
Colgate 5-7-6, 3-1-3 PL Lafayette 7-7-4, 3-1-3 PL Bucknell 7-7-5, 2-3-2 PL Holy Cross 5-9-2, 2-3-2 PL Lehigh 4-12-1, 2-4-1 PL Army 4-10-3, 1-3-3 PL Navy 7-7-3, 1-4-2 PL
WOMEN’S SOCCER SEMIFINALS (ANNAPOLIS, MD.) No. 1 Navy defeats No. 4 Lehigh, 4-1
≥ No. 2 Colgate defeats No. 3 American, 3-0
CHAMPIONSHIP: No. 2 Colgate defeats No. 1 Navy, 1-0
VOLLEYBALL Colgate 14-12, 11-1 PL ≥ American 18-9, 9-3 PL Army 18-8, 9-3 PL Lehigh 11-12, 7-5 PL Navy 10-14, 6-6 PL Bucknell 9-18, 3-9 PL Lafayette 9-15, 2-10 PL Holy Cross 2-26, 1-11 PL