Army West Point Athletics
Thursday, April 22 - A Little Spring In Their Step
April 22, 2010 | General
As the weather heats up here at West Point, Army's spring sports have already generated some heat in the Patriot League standings. The women's tennis team became the first squad to sew up a league title last weekend and the men's lacrosse team clinched the conference's regular-season crown on Tuesday night with its win at Lafayette. In addition, the baseball and softball teams are both in first place heading into this weekend's action.
Brian Gunning at the controls this afternoon, basking the glow that is the Black Knights' performance so far this spring.
Last weekend was a microcosm of Army's success during the spring season. If you look at a the all-sports schedule portion of our site, you'll notice there is nary an L to be found. The baseball and softball teams both swept four-game series, the lacrosse team beat Navy for the second time in three years, the men's tennis team knocked off Boston University, while the women's tennis team won its sixth consecutive Patriot League title with a thrlling 4-3 win over Bucknell in the championship match on Sunday.
So it's one title down and many potential trophies on the horizon. Joe Alberici's men's lacrosse squad wrapped up its second Patriot League regular-season crown in three years and will host the conference tournament at Michie Stadium. The semifinals are Friday, April 30, and the championship game will be played on Sunday, May 2. All three games will be televised live by CBS College Sports Network. Stay tuned to www.goARMYsports.com for details about game times anc tickets.
The baseball and softball teams can clinch postseason spots this weekend when they host Lafayette. Joe Sottolano's squad is six games ahead of the fifth place team with eight games remaining and hold a three-game lead over second-place Holy Cross. The top two seeds in the tournament will host the semifinal best-of-three series starting May 15.
The softball team also sits atop the Patriot League standings with a 10-2 league mark. First-year head coach Michelle DePolo has her team two games in front Lehigh and Bucknell and six games out in front of the fifth-place team with eight to play. The Black Knights travel to Colgate this weekend for a pair of doubleheaders.
In addition, the men's golf team is gearing up for the Patriot League championship that will be held on Saturday and Sunday at Colgate. Army has won nine Patriot League corwns all-time, and were picked to finish third in the preseason coaches poll.
The men's tennis team will try to match its femail counterparts this weekend at Bucknell. The Black Knights enter the competition as the No. 1 seed and earned a bye directly into Saturday's semifinals. Army will face either fourth-seeded Colgate or fifth-seeded Lehigh with a berth in the title match on the line.
Bucknell will also play host to the Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Championship beginning April 30. The men's team will be trying to pull of its third straight sweep of the indoor and outdoor titles. On the women's side, the Black Knights will try to improve on their fifth-place finish at the indoor championships.
It wouldn't be a blog entry of mine if I didn't at least mention the men's basketball team. Heading into his second year at the helm, head coach Zach Spiker has added Jimmy Allen to his staff. Jimmy spent the past six seasons at Averett University, a Division III school in Danville, Va. During his time with the Cougars, Jimmy inherited a team that was 0-25 the year before his arrival and ended up winning three conference titles and earning three NCAA Tournament berths. He was named USA South Athletic Conference Coach of the Year three times. Jimmy is no stranger to West Point. His father is a 1967 graduate and Jimmy lived here from sixth through 10th grade while his dad was a chemistry instructor.Jimmy also spent six seasons as an assistant at Navy under Don DeVoe and helped the Mids to back-to-back Patriot League titles and NCAA Tournament berths (1997-98).
As you can see, it's been a fun spring to be a Black Knight.
GO ARMY!
