Army West Point Athletics
Monday, April 19 - WE BEAT NAVY
April 19, 2010 | General
Hello Black Knight Blog fans - Tim Volkmann coming to you today - and what a great day it is to be a Black Knight fan!!
As we speak, the Army lacrosse, baseball and softball teams are all perched atop the Patriot League standings, while the women's tennis team clinched its sixth straight Patriot League Tournament with a big win over Bucknell in the championship game over the weekend.
I traveled with the lacrosse team for its HUUUGE win over Navy on Saturday down at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in the second Smartlink Day of Rivals, hosted by Inside Lacrosse. We left bright and early on Friday morning, but not before some special guests addressed the team over at the Truxtun Lacrosse Center. Brigadier General William Rapp, the Commandant of Cadets, was among those that wished the team well against our service academy rivals, before taking a couple swings at the rock that has become a big part of the season's success.
If you haven't heard the story behind the rock, this might be a good time to check out assistant coach Mike Murphy's weekly blog that he recently started. His most recent installment explains what the rock symbolizes for this year's team.
I actually took a couple chops at the rock but decided to stop after I almost killed our back-up goalie Zach Palmieri when the hammer flew out of my hand and almost took his face off. Sorry Zach. I'll hold on tighter next time.
While the four-hour-plus bus ride to Baltimore can be a bit long, I knew it was going to be a good ride when the team popped in Braveheart to watch for the first leg of the trip. After a quick stop off at Starbucks for a mocha latte and a Baby Ruth bar, we were back on our way with "Wayne's World" taking us the rest of the way. I had forgotten how funny that movie was.
We arrived at M&T Bank Stadium (Home of the Baltimore Ravens) and had a light shoot-around and walk-through with the guys. Afterwards, I helped get some of the guys together with some of the ESPNU and Inside Lacrosse reporters that were on the scene for some interviews.
We then headed back to the hotel and had a couple hours to relax before dinner at 5:00 p.m. On our trip to Bucknell last weekend, Coach Murph mentioned that he had recently learned to play cribbage, so I brought my board with me to Baltimore just in case we had some time to fit a game in. As a seasoned cribbage veteran (my dad taught me how to play when I was pretty young) I jumped out to a pretty sizeable lead over my green counterpart, but I must admit he came back and won in the end. No more Mr. Nice Guy next time that is for sure.
We headed out for dinner at Bo Brooks Restaurant right on the water. I sat with Cody Chrusciel, who called Saturday's game on Knight Vision, as well as one of our bus drivers, Rich, who told some interesting stories about his former job working for the New York Transit Authority and how he was one of the people in charge of stopping all the trains in Manhattan during the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
On Saturday, everyone was up bright and early for breakfast at the hotel followed a couple hours later by pre-game meal before loading the bus a little before 2:00 p.m. to head over to the stadium for the game.
Once inside, I headed up the press box and found my seat for the game. I helped keep the stats for the game, along with the Navy lacrosse SID and the Johns Hopkins sports information staff that were on-hand for the day's doubleheader that also included a Johns Hopkins/Maryland showdown after our contest with Army.
For a complete summary of the game, click here. I've been here for three Army/Navy games now and there is no better feeling when you get a win (and not worse feeling when you lose) over Navy. It was a hard-fought defensive game and our guys dug down to get the win.
There is no rest for the weary, however as tomorrow, we head to Lafayette for another big game that will more than likely produce the top seed for next week's Patriot League Tournament. If Army wins, we would earn the top seed and host the tournament. Should we lose, we could still grab the top seed with a win over Holy Cross this Saturday, but Lehigh would also need to beat Lafayette in other action during the weekend.
Whoever the top seed is, the two semifinal games are scheduled for Friday, April 30, followed by the championship game on Sunday, May 2. The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It is always kind of nice to have control of your own destiny and not have to worry about anyone else doing something to help your cause. Win and you're in.
Talk to you next week when we will hopefully be talking about the Patriot League Tournament at Michie Stadium.
Go Army - Beat Everyone.
