The Army Black Knights got a big win this past weekend on the road at North Carolina. They’ve now won all three of their monster out-of-conference road contests, and at least theoretically, they’ve set themselves up rather nicely for a potential at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament if one becomes necessary. 

2-0 in ACC play😏#NOW | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/csryPr5Thl

— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) March 30, 2024

The best part about this past weekend’s win was the way the team earned it. UNC has one of the best faceoff duo’s in the country. This meant that Army had to play good defense, create turnovers, and maximize their offensive possessions whenever they did manage to get the ball into their offensive end. Army FOGO Will Coletti still won a respectable 13/29 restarts, including 10/15 in the second half, but perhaps more impressively, the team out-shot the Tar Heels 47-42 despite getting fewer total possessions overall. More to the point, Army forced 14 turnovers and went 28/30 on clears. 

Yearling Goalie Sean Byrne made 19 saves against a whopping 31 shots-on-goal in his first start. He did a nice job directing the defense as well and was generally very aggressive in the cage, earning 3 ground balls in addition to everything else.

However, it doesn’t get any easier from here. Any theoretical at-large bid remains a possibility only so long as Army keeps winning. For better or worse, they’ve got several tough contests coming up.

Colgate Red Raiders

Though Colgate has been in and out of the national rankings all season, they come into Michie Stadium this weekend off a home loss to Navy and therefore just outside the Top 20 nationally. That puts the Red Raiders at 6-4, 3-1 in the Patriot League. 

Colgate started the season hot, winning 13-12 at Penn State. They then dropped a game at Syracuse, 18-10, beat Hobart and Albany, lost to both Yale, 21-11, and Villanova, 15-9, beat Loyola, Bucknell, and Lafayette, and then as noted, dropped a home heartbreaker to the Squids, 10-9. This Colgate team has loads of talent, but like a lot of the field in college lacrosse this season, they’ve struggled mightily to stay consistent.

The Red Raiders jumped out to a four-goal lead last week against Navy and held the Mids scoreless through the game’s entire first period. However, they won just 9/22 faceoffs over the course of the game, committed *23* turnovers, and allowed the Squids score 4 times on extra man chances.

So yeah. That’ll get you beat more times than not.

Sophomore A Hunter Druin led the team in scoring this past week with a hat-trick plus an assist. On the season, Druin has 25 goals and 8 assists on a substantial 42 shots-on-goal. He is arguably the team’s best attacker, though he is by no means their only scoring threat. Notably, Colgate has outshot nearly every team they’ve faced this season, even in games they’ve lost. 

Hunter with a dive to make it a one-goal game.

📺 https://t.co/IxfzBsG6mg | @espn#GGG pic.twitter.com/yYSKiNHR4g

— Colgate Men's Lacrosse (@ColgateMLax) March 30, 2024

Colgate junior G Matt LaCombe became this week’s Patriot League Goalie of the Week following an outstanding 20-save performance against the Mids. This dude has 140 saves this season against 121 goals allowed, giving him a 53.6% save percentage overall.

Friends, this kid is legit.

Alas, Colgate FOGO Kyle Rummel has struggled at times this season. He currently stands 88/201 on restarts, good for a pedestrian 43.8% winning percentage. Expect Army’s Will Coletti to make something with that.

We thrive in the hard moments 🫡#NOW pic.twitter.com/ubDDi2EXtP

— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) April 3, 2024

Final Thoughts

Colgate has a good defense and an outstanding goalie, but they’ve struggled at times this season on both restarts and on defense against power plays. It seems like the Black Knights have faced nothing but outstanding goalies all season, and even at North Carolina, when they faced a goalie who hasn’t been consistently outstanding all season, the kid had easily his best game of the entire year. Somehow, the Black Knights have still been able to make it work.

They’ll have to make it work again this weekend.

Coletti is going to give his team a serious possession advantage. If Army can make good passes and play disciplined settled offense, they ought to dominate time-of-possession, wear the Red Raiders down, and ultimately come away with a commanding victory. However, if we see wild offense, failed clears, and too many shots taken in transition, anything is liable to happen, especially against a team that is itself both good on defense and happy to shoot early and often.

This weekend’s forecast calls for cloudy skies with highs in the mid- to upper-40s. If you’re going to the game, you’re in for a good one but make sure to take a coat — and probably some gloves, too.

Faceoff this weekend goes at 3:00 pm. ESPN+ has coverage.

We are Will Coletti days away from our whiteout against Navy!👀 pic.twitter.com/o9pWhvyFJe

— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) April 4, 2024

Go Army! Colgate!!!

Cover image via Army West Point Lacrosse on Facebook.