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NAVY TABBED AS PRESEASON FAVORITE IN PATRIOT
LEAGUE MEN'S SOCCER August 28. 2000
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -Navy, which garnered six
first-place votes, was selected
by coaches’ and sports information directors’ to win the
annual Patriot League men’s soccer championship, announced
today.
Holy Cross, the regular-season Patriot
League champion that finished with a 5-0-1 League and 9-4-4
overall mark, garnered one first-place vote and finished
second in the poll.
Lafayette, which lost to UMBC 6-5 on
penalty kicks in an NCAA Play-In Game, was selected third with
46 points and two first-place votes to defend its Patriot
League Tournament championship.
Lehigh, fourth with 39 points and three
first-place votes, Bucknell, two first-place votes and 37
points, and Colgate (34 points) were voted fourth, fifth and
sixth, respectively. Army rounds out the field with 26 points.
2000 Patriot League Men’s Soccer
Pre-Season Poll
1. Navy (6 first-place votes), 55 pts
2. Holy Cross (1 first-place votes), 47 pts
3. Lafayette (2 first-place votes), 46 pts
4. Lehigh, (3 first-place votes), 39 pts
5. Bucknell (2 first-place votes), 37 pts
6. Colgate, 34 points
TEAM NOTES
Senior leadership at forward will give
Army a boost this year. Led by
Patriot League second team selection Josh Summerlin (four
goals) and Thomas Obaseki (six goals), the Black Knights will
look to improve on last season’s 15 total team goals.
Eleven goal scorer Sam Chamovitz,
returns to lead Bucknell’s offensive
attack. The junior forward was a first team All-League
selection. The Bison also welcome back second team All-League
performers Bill Epley, a senior midfielder, and Nathan
Hopfinger, a junior defender.
Colgate, which is entering its 70th
season of play (368-342-74 overall
record), return five starters and 15 letterwinners. The Red
Raiders welcome 14 newcomers to the roster for 2000, joining
returning standouts Brendan Skonieczki (senior forward), Josh
Viel (senior defender) and Colyer Curtis (junior midfielder).
Holy Cross’s head coach Elvis Comrie,
the 1999 Patriot League Coach of the Year, looks to improve on
last season’s 9-4-4 overall record with the help of
sophomore defender Rusty Giudici, a first team All-League
performer, and sophomore forward Matt Ney, a second team
All-League selection.
Lafayette has reloaded again in an
effort to claim a third-straight Patriot League Championship.
Head coach Tim Lenahan welcomes a host of new players for the
2000 campaign. The Leopards, which finished with an 8-8-3
overall mark using a pair of double overtime wins to capture
the Patriot League Tournament, finished one penalty kick away
from consecutive berths into
the NCAA Tournament.
Lehigh returns Patriot League Rookie of
the Year in sophomore goalkeeper
Ryan Grzeszczak. The Medford, N.J. native record five shutouts
with a 1.00 GAA en route to a 6-6-2 record.
Navy, the preseason favorite, returns
the Patriot League Offensive Player
of the Year, senior forward Michael Paisant (seven goals, two
assists), and the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year,
junior defender Brian Steckroth.
LEAGUE NOTES
The winner of the 2000 Patriot League
Men’s Soccer Championship will be awarded with an automatic
berth into the NCAA Tournament. The 2000 Patriot League
Championship will be played Nov. 11-12 at the highest seed
following regular-season play.
Patriot League plays opens in 2000 with
Colgate visiting Navy on Sept.
6. Regular-season League competition concludes with Lehigh
hosting Bucknell on Nov. 4.
Bucknell opens the season at home on
Sept. 1, while Army, Holy Cross,
Lehigh and Navy all open the season on that same day on the
road. Colgate kicks off the season on the road Sept. 2, while
Lafayette opens the 2000 campaign at home the same day.
The first Patriot League Player of the
Week honors, presented by Brine,
will be released on Monday, Sept. 11.
Brine is the “Official Soccer Ball of
the Patriot League.”
A LOOK BACK
1999 Patriot League Standings
1999 Overall Record
| Team |
W-L-T |
Pct. |
GF |
GA |
Pts. |
W-L-T |
Pct. |
GF |
GA |
| Holy Cross |
5-0-1 |
.917 |
13 |
4 |
16 |
9-4-4 |
.647 |
30 |
21 |
| Navy |
5-1-0 |
.833 |
11 |
6 |
15 |
11-5-2 |
.706 |
30 |
26 |
| Colgate |
2-2-2 |
.500 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
6-8-4 |
.389 |
21 |
26 |
| Lafayette |
2-3-1 |
.417 |
7 |
10 |
7 |
8-8-3 |
.500 |
24 |
24 |
| Lehigh |
2-3-1 |
.417 |
9 |
6 |
7 |
8-7-2 |
.529 |
21 |
20 |
| Bucknell |
2-4-0 |
.333 |
10 |
14 |
6 |
9-7-1 |
.559 |
28 |
29 |
| Army |
0-5-1 |
.083 |
6 |
14 |
1 |
4-9-1 |
.321 |
15 |
27 |
*Patriot League Tournament Champion.
Lost to UMBC in NCAA Play-In Game on PKs
(6-5).
THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League, which is celebrating
its 10th anniversary as an all-sports conference, includes
Bucknell University, Colgate University, College
of the Holy Cross, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, the
U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy and competes
on the NCAA Division I
level in 22 sports. The League, which will add American
University to full membership in July 2001, has associate
members in field hockey,
football and men’s and women’s lacrosse. The League’s
members consistently rank among the Top 25 Division I programs
in the NCAA
Graduation Rates Report and ranks fifth
among Division I conferences in total number of sports offered
(22), including the second-highest total of women’s
sports (11).
####RED RAIDERS#####
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