April 20, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After capturing a share of its fifth consecutive Patriot League regular-season lacrosse title, 10th-ranked Navy will travel to West Point, N.Y. for the 2008 Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Tournament slated for Friday and Sunday, April 25 and 27. Top-seeded Army will open up the tournament with a 4:00 pm matchup against No. 4 Bucknell, while the second-seeded Midshipmen will battle No. 3 Colgate in the nightcap beginning at approximately 7:00 pm.

The Patriot League Championship Game, meanwhile, is set for Sunday at 2:00 pm and will be televised live on CBS College Sports. Jason Chandler (play by play), Major League Lacrosse's Director of Broadcast Content, and former Syracuse All-American Paul Carcaterra (analyst) will call the action. The tournament winner will receive an automatic bid to play in the NCAA Championship.

While the four-team tournament field had been set for better than a week, it wasn't until late Saturday evening that the four teams knew not only their seeds, but also the location of the tournament. Bucknell looked to be the favorite heading into its game Saturday where they played host to Colgate. However, Colgate scored the final three goals of the game to take an 11-9 come-from-behind victory. The Colgate win not only pushed the postseason tournament from Bucknell to Army, it also sent the Bison tumbling from the No. 1 seed to now the No. 4 seed.

Navy has won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title all five years it has been a member of the conference (outright in 2004 and '07), while winning the Patriot League Tournament crown in 2004, '05, '06 and '07. This is just the second time in its five-year membership that Navy has not been the No. 1 seed and hosted the conference tournament (2004, '05, '07). In 2006, Navy dropped its regular-season matchup against Colgate, giving the Raiders the hosting rights.

After trailing 1-0, Navy rattled off eight consecutive goals to card an 8-3 victory over Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y. a month ago. Junior keeper Tommy Phelan (Towson, Md.) made a career-high 13 saves in what was his first collegiate start, while Nick Mirabito (Binghamton, N.Y.) scored three goals and added an assist to pace the Mids.

Meanwhile, the Bison handed Army its lone loss of the year after jumping out to a 6-0 halftime lead and an eventual 7-4 victory in Lewisburg, Pa.

2008 Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Championship Schedule

Friday, April 25
No. 1 Army vs. No. 4 Bucknell             4:00 pm
No. 2 Navy vs. No. 3 Colgate              7:00 pm
Sunday, April 27
Championship Game (CBS College Sports)    2:00 pm

Tickets:
Semifinals - $6 adults, $4 youth (18 and under), free for any students from participating schools with current school ID. For groups of 10 or more, tickets are available in advance only (no game day purchase) for $2 each.

Finals - $10 adult, $5 youth (18 and under), free for any students from participating schools with current school ID. For groups of 10 or more, tickets are available in advance only (no game day purchase) for $2 each.

For directions to the field and further information, visit either www.GoArmySports.com or www.PatriotLeague.com.