Colgate Home for Eight Games; Captains Named as Fall Workouts Come to Close
Eight home games including the annual late-season matchup against Syracuse highlight the 2017 Colgate men’s lacrosse schedule.
The Raiders open Feb. 11 at home against Marist, one of six nonconference games on the slate. Four of those are at home, with Hobart in town March 7, Siena here March 19 and Syracuse visiting May 6. Road nonleague games are against Binghamton and Cornell.
Colgate and Syracuse are meeting for the fourth straight season in what amounts to the perfect tuneup to a potential NCAA tournament appearance. Two years ago, both the Raiders and Orange won their respective conference tournaments and played in Hamilton to a 9-7 Syracuse decision.
Patriot League play begins early for Colgate, with a Feb. 25 trip to Bucknell tipping off an eight-game conference schedule. The home conference opener is March 4 against Lehigh, with Senior Day set for Friday night, April 21, against Lafayette.
This year’s Patriot League tournament takes place April 25-30.
Captains Named
Jackson Patterson, Brandon Burke and Jack Stebbins were selected team captains for the 2017 campaign.
Murphy expects the trio to do great things for the program this year and said they all bring key characteristics to team leadership.
“Brandon is the emotional leader of the group,” Murphy said. “His the backstop of our defense. His competitive drive both of himself and of his teammates is second to none. Brandon is as fiery as they come and he will have to focus that energy to the best of his ability.
“Jackson is the mentor-leader. His ability to relate to all of his teammates on and off the field has really benefited this group. Watching Jackson grow as a player has been great, but watching him mature as leader has been very satisfying to our staff.
“Jack is the driver of our energy bus. His knack for staying even-keeled complements the fire of Brandon and Jackson. Don’t get me wrong; Jack’s big voice in our locker room is undeniable. But his ability to be positive in all situations is a great piece of his leadership style.”
Q&A with Head Coach Mike Murphy
● (On the fall season) “We’ve had a great fall. The most important part was the development of our players, but also the development of our leaders.”
● (On the 2017 season) “We’re looking forward a great year in 2017; hopefully, a bounce-back year. The guys have done an unbelievable job this fall in their development and in bringing their energy every single day to practice.
“We get up awfully early to practice around here, so they’ve been very good in their skill development and the development of our team. I’m looking forward to seeing what the 2017 version of Colgate Lacrosse is going to look like come January and February.”