WEST POINT – A seven-minute hiccup by Army’s vaulted defense and faceoff games may end up being enough to knock the Black Knights out of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
Leading visiting Colgate 10-8 late in the third quarter, the Black Knights surrendered five quick goals to the Raiders to give Colgate an insurmountable three-goal lead early in the fourth quarter of their Patriot League semifinal. The Raiders held on to win 16-13 and will face Boston University, a 12-10 winner over Lafayette in the other semifinal contest, in the championship game at Michie Stadium on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
The winner of that game will earn the Patriot League’s automatic qualifier spot in the 18-team NCAA tournament that begins next week.
For Army, the loss may have squashed the Black Knights chances of making their first NCAA tournament since 2023.
Despite being ranked fourth in the nation with an impressive 12-1 record and having the nation’s best defense coming into the game, it is now less likely that the Black Knights will receive one of the eight at-large bids when the NCAA tournament pairings are announced on Sunday night. The NCAA tournament gives out automatic bids to the league champions of 10 conferences.
Making this even more difficult to swallow, Air Force, now 7-7 on the season, will play Utah (5-8) for the championship of the low-rated Atlantic Sun Conference on Sunday with the winner receiving that six-team conference’s automatic bid into the tournament.
In a game of momentum shifts, Army scored six of seven goals from late in the first half to 4:50 left in the third quarter to take a 10-8 lead over Colgate. But, the Raiders won four straight faceoffs and five of the next seven to grab the momentum back from the Black Knights and take a 13-10 lead and then a 14-11 lead with 10:26 left in the game.
Looking at the box score, this is a game Army should have won. The Black Knights outshot Colgate, 56-42, and had 37 shots on goal compared to just 27 for the Raiders. Colgate turned the ball over eight more times than the Black Knights, 21-13, and Army won both the ground balls and clears battles. And, despite the glitch at the faceoff in the third quarter, Army handily won that battle, 20-12, for the entire game.
The one statistic, besides the final score, that Colgate won: Senior goalie Matt LaCombe saved 24 of the 37 shots on goal, while Army junior Sean Byrne saved 11 of the 27 shots on goal he faced.
“I am just bitterly disappointed for our guys,” said Army coach Joe Alberici. “I thought they were ready to play. But I tip my hat to Colgate, they played great and clearly played the best game of the season for them. Their goalie played great with those 24 saves.”
Liam Connor, his brother Rory Connor, Jack Turner and Hunter Drouin each scored three goals for Colgate. Junior Gunnar Fellows led Army with four goals, while senior Jackson Eicher scored three times for the Black Knights.
“They are an explosive offensive team,” said Alberici. “Look at that attack, coming into the game the three (The Connor brothers and Turner) of them had 200 points this year.”
As for the NCAA tournament, Alberici is hopeful that the Black Knights get selected. According to college lacrosse experts, the last at-large spot in the tournament will be allotted to either the Black Knights, now 12-2, or Harvard, 10-4. The Crimson upset Syracuse earlier in the season, but also lost to Colgate in March.
