Lafayette played their 10th game on Sunday and they are more than half way through the regular season. I thought I would revisit the pre-season SID and Coaches picks, and compare them to my initial impressions.
Right now the Patriot League standings are Lafayette first at 2-0 and 5-5 overall, American is 1-0 and 5-4 overall, Bucknell is 1-1 and 5-4 overall, Boston is 1-1 and 3-5 overall, Lehigh is 1-1 and 5-4 overall, Holy Cross is 1-1 and 4-4 overall while Colgate is 0-2 and 2-8 overall.
The Lafayette defense is in fine form as we all have seen, but the offense is starting to catch fire with 2.3 goals per game average against a 1.9 gpg average after 10 games. Impressive!!! In addition it is being done with arguably the League’s highest strength of schedule.
As predicted, I believe and continue to believe that Lafayette is strong enough be at or near the top of standings at the end of the regular season. Boston has hit a rough patch which make this weekend’s home game with Lafayette important to both. Like Boston, American has probably performed worse than expected in the out of conference games, but last Sunday’s win against Bucknell proves as far as the Patriot League is concerned they are ready to compete.
Looking at the ratings American enjoys an RPI of 28, Lafayette a 29, Boston is at 41, Bucknell at 48, Lehigh at 56, Holy Cross 60 and Colgate at 69. One of the interesting numbers, is Lafayette’s strength of schedule which stands at a league high of 20. When I first took a look at the schedule, it looked like an average schedule if you used last year’s RPI. As it turned out, the out of conference schedule proved to be a challenging one. Also our two scrimmages with Albany and Fairfield turned out to be against two current top 25 teams.
My one surprise was Colgate, who had a lot of returning veterans, but at the moment are having a tough season. Lehigh is still dangerous, especially for Lafayette, when the two meet on a Friday night in a renewal of the intense rivalry. However, a win this Saturday for the Leopards, against Boston would be a big step toward post season opportunities. More about that tomorrow. Lehigh hosting American has obvious interest. Colgate will make the trip to Holy Cross in an attempt to stay in the hunt for a post season berth. A loss could be devastating to their chances.
Lafayette College Field Hockey 