Despite all the accolades of a 12-1 season and a No. 4 national ranking, Army men’s lacrosse understands the importance of winning the Patriot League postseason tournament.
Winning the Patriot League title guarantees a spot in the NCAA tournament and doesn’t leave its fate to at-large bid.
Army’s title quest starts Friday at 4:30 p.m. when the Black Knights host Colgate in the Patriot semifinals at Michie Stadium. A victory would move the Black Knights into the championship game Sunday for the league’s automatic NCAA spot.
A loss? Even with the best defense in the nation, giving up less than seven goals a game, the third-best goals scored per game and victories over No. 8 North Carolina and No. 17 Rutgers, there is no assurance the Black Knights will get a NCAA at-large bid.
In fact, recent history is working against Army. Last season, the Black Knights were ranked the top team in the nation for two weeks, won all five out-of-conference games, including against Syracuse and North Carolina, and finished the season with a stellar 11-3 record. But a loss to Boston University in the first round of the Patriot League playoffs knocked Army out of at-large consideration.
Army won the Patriot League postseason tournament in 2023 and proceeded to upset defending champion Maryland, 16-15, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Black Knights lost to Penn State, 10-9, in a nail-biter quarterfinal round game that season.
This season, Black Knights, who won the regular season Patriot League title and the right to host the semis and championship game, also received a bye into the semifinal round. Colgate, which finished in fifth place in the regular season with a 7-7 overall record, reached the semifinals with a 14-10 victory over Lehigh Tuesday evening.
In the other semifinal round game, Boston University, the second seed, will face third-seeded Lafayette, which beat sixth-seeded Navy, 9-5, in the other quarterfinal game. The championship game will be at Michie Stadium on Sunday, starting at noon.
Army defeated Colgate. 13-7, in early April behind five goals by Jackson Eicher and three goals from Gunnar Fellows. Goalie Sean Byrne also made 13 saves for the Black Knights, who held the Red Raiders’ big scorers, Rory and Liam Connor, to just a combined three goals on eight shots.
The league also announced its major awards for the 2025 season and the Black Knights had three players take home honors. Eicher, a senior, was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year. He played in all 13 games and scored 51 goals, tying a school-record previously set in 1971 for most goals in a season. Eicher also had 28 assists.
Senior AJ Pilate won his third league Defensive Player of the Year award. The Army senior caused 17 turnovers and scooped up 38 ground balls for the Black Knights this season. He also anchored an Army defense that gave up an NCAA-leading 89 goals against this season.
Junior goalie Sean Byrne was named the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year. Byrne finished with just a 6.77 goals against average and an impressive .633 save rate this season.
Eicher, Pilate and Byrne were joined on the first-team all-league roster by junior midfielder Evan Plunkett and, his brother, freshman midfielder Hill Plunkett as well as long-stick midfielder Christian Fournier and short-stick defensive midfielder Christian Mazur, both seniors.
Junior John Sullivan, a defensive standout, and faceoff specialist, senior Will Coletti, were named to the second team all-league roster.
