The Army Black Knights took care of business on both the Men’s and the Women’s sides last week. As predicted, both teams beat Bucknell handily. The Women then followed up by beating Colgate yesterday afternoon, 17-16. The Women will now head directly to the Patriot League Semifinals on Thursday, May 1st.
Lynn Fern’s Photobook: Women’s Lax Beats Bucknell
In many ways, Army’s Men had the more interesting game last week. The Bison Men have one of the Patriot League’s best offenses, but their defense has left a lot to be desired this season, leading Bucknell into a series of shootouts which they’ve lost all too often. Their game at West Point started out much the same way, with the Bison fighting back from an early 4-0 deficit to draw even at 4-4 by the end of the first quarter.
Army dropped the hammer in the second quarter and then put the Bison all the way down in the third, so that what started as a wild shootout ended with the Black Knights doubling the Bison up on the scoreboard. Indeed, all of the Black Knights’ starters had exited by the start of the fourth quarter, and damned near everyone on the roster saw the field before the end of the game. Along the way, firstie A Jackson Eicher scored a whopping 7 goals alongside 3 assists, while cow A Gunnar Fellows put up 5 goals plus 2 assists. Not to be outdone, firstie FOGO Will Coletti finished 19/25 at the faceoff dot while picking up 11 ground balls and 2 assists.
The Black Knights will host Loyola tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 pm in a game that suddenly looks like it might just turn into an honest-to-God deathmatch.
Our long poles were on FIRE on Saturday 🔥#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/xatYe4vraV
— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) April 23, 2025
Beat Loyola!
Though the Loyola Greyhounds were once the class of the Patriot League, time and League parity caught up with them a few years ago. This year, the team regressed all the way to collegiate lacrosse’s basement, starting the season a miserable 0-9. Loyola hit their nadir on March 1st with a blowout loss to conference foe Colgate, losing 18-6. Even then, though the team seemingly improved on the scoreboard, they still lost their next four straight — to Providence, BU, Lafayette, and Lehigh — before finally rebounding to beat lowly Bucknell in overtime, 12-11.
For most teams, this might have been too little, too late. However, Loyola took a good Towson team to double-overtime the next week, though the Greyhounds ultimately fell, 13-12. Loyola then beat the ever-living Hell out of Holy Cross, 21-10, before following up with a surprisingly commanding victory over Navy, 16-11. The Greyhounds now stand just 3-10 overall but 3-4 in the Patriot League, and if they can somehow beat Army this week, they’ll punch their ticket to the Patriot League Tournament despite everything.
At that point, the rest of their season might not matter.
Junior team co-captain A Matthew Minicus did a good bit of the damage against the Mids. He put up 5 goals plus 3 assists on just 8 total shots. That dude has been a sharpshooter this year. He’s put nearly 70% of his total shots actually on goal this season! A Mason Cook and M Brady West each added 2 goals as well with a handful of players making up the rest of the Greyhound’s scoring. FOGO Carson Hall went 15/29 against the Mids with about half coming against Navy starter Zach Hayashi and the other half coming against Colin Shadowens. D Joe Houlihan led the defense with 3 caused turnovers and 3 ground balls, while GK Max Watkinson made 12 saves against 11 goals allowed.
Both Teams Have a Lot at Stake
This might be a game that the Black Knights should win, perhaps handily, but they’re facing a team with some legitimately talented players who will be playing for their season. For Loyola, Saturday’s game means literally everything. This is win-or-go-home. Whatever this team has left, we’re gonna see every bit of it on the field.
Setting both records and expectations aside, we should expect a dogfight. Loyola has a proud program, and they’ve won at Michie Stadium many times. And now, because of the way this season has set itself up, they’re just one win away from turning around their season.
Army also has a lot at stake. A win this weekend secures the Black Knights home field advantage in the Patriot League Tournament, a tournament that the Black Knights suddenly need to win — despite everything! — if they want to definitely qualify for the NCAA Tournament. A loss, by comparison, opens the door for Boston University to host the Patriot League Tourney. Considering the success the Terriers have had against Army the last few years, no one wants that.
CBS Sports seemingly anticipated the magnitude of this weekend’s match-up. They picked up the game for television, setting it for a 4:30 pm start.Weather forecasts calls for rain Saturday, making it a good thing they scheduled this one for Friday afternoon. It should be sunny and nice tomorrow, and the game itself ought to be a good one.
Lynn Fern’s Photobook: Army Men’s Lacrosse Beats Bucknell
The Black Knights will need their very best stuff to get a win this week. That’s good. We want this team sharp when they head into the Patriot League Tournament. After cruising to victory last week, this weekend’s more competitive contest should get these guys ready for the postseason, where it’ll be win-or-go-home all the way around.
Go Army! Beat Loyola!!!
