Lafayette Unveils 2017 Schedule

The Lafayette Leopards are the 50th team in our 2017 schedule preview (and still no ACC schedules are out!). The Leopards went 3-11 overall in 2016, and 0-8 in Patriot League play. Lafayette failed to make the Patriot League Tournament once again. The last time they made the Patriot League Tournament was 2010. Let’s dive into their schedule.

LAFAYETTE

The Leopards will open up their season in Ann Arbor to take on Michigan on February 11, followed by a trip to Staten Island to take on Wagner on the 17th. Their home opener is also their Patriot League opener against Loyola on February 25. Three days later, the team will be in Connecticut to take on Sacred Heart.

Patriot League play continues with the service academies back-to-back. Lafayette travels to take on Army West Point on March 4, followed by hosting Navy a week later. The annual Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry game is at Lehigh this year on the 18th. If the team’s PL schedule couldn’t get any more difficult to start, they’ll travel to take on Boston University on March 25. All five Patriot League games were against teams that received votes or were ranked in the Top 20 polls last season. The team ends March with a home game against Monmouth on the 28th.

The Leopards will continue nonconference play to kick on April on the first day of the month as they take on Binghamton. The team then kicks off a three-game homestand against Holy Cross on April 8, followed by NJIT on the 11th, and their Senior Day game against Bucknell on the 15th. Their regular season finale is against Colgate on April 21.

Lafayette returns leading scorer Eric Joseph and fellow senior attackmen Jason Sands and Kevin Lewis. Sophomore Conor Walters may get some time as well on attack. Midfielders Will McCarthy, Dillon Confalone, Matt Close, Connar Dehnert, and Luke Cummings also return, along with a few others. They will need to pick up their scoring, as the majority of last year’s points came from Joseph, Sands, and Lewis. On defense, the team returns defenseman and LSM Erik Cannon, along with Sean Andrews, Zack Merle, Josh Hubbard, and Charles McCooe. Keegan Hickey will be important as a defensive midfielder. With the departure of Ben Falcone in goal, sophomore Jonathan Anastos should be the clubhouse leading for the starting spot, with Matthew Cortese, Henry Vido, and freshman Wes Moshier as other possible candidates. Michael Sullivan is back to take the majority of the face-offs again this season.

Even with a ton of senior leadership returning, it’ll be very hard for Lafayette to compete in the Patriot League this season. The Leopards and head coach Jim Rogalski need to find something that can turn around this program soon.

To see every team’s schedule and which one’s we’ve highlighted, check our our master schedule list.